Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits he’s ‘never satisfied’ and reveals why he ‘started to become better’ when he reached 30.
The former Sweden international has been a vital member of Stefano Pioli’s squad since his return to San Siro in January.
But the veteran, who admits he needs more sleep and gets tired quicker now, insists he continues to push even harder at 39.
Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits he’s ‘never satisfied’ and reveals why he ‘started to become better’ when he reached 30.
The former Sweden international has been a vital member of Stefano Pioli’s squad since his return to San Siro in January.
But the veteran, who admits he needs more sleep and gets tired quicker now, insists he continues to push even harder at 39.
“I’m 39 and with what I have done, I have no obligation to work anymore, but I still have this passion for what I’m doing,” Zlatan told UEFA.com.
“I’m never satisfied, and I always want more. I don’t see a lot of players who are my age who were, or are, performing like I’m doing.
“The moment a player goes above 30 is [meant to be] when they start to go down and they quit. Above 30 is when I started to become even better.
“I hear athletes from [the] US say they spent more than $1m to keep their body in shape. I’m 39. I’m in shape. I perform at the highest level. I spend zero to stay in shape.
“The secret is not how much you spend, the secret is in your head – how much you want it, how much you’re willing to sacrifice.
“That’s the secret. It’s the mentality and mentality doesn’t cost anything.”
Ibrahimovic, who has scored 10 goals in 6 Serie A games this term, is recovering from a hamstring injury and could return against Sassuolo on Sunday.
But the former Juventus and Inter striker claims it’s a bit harder to recover at 39 and reveals he will quit football ‘the day I stop performing’.
“I would like to have the brain of Zlatan in a 25-year-old body! I get tired quicker now, compared to when I was younger,” he said.
“I’m sleeping a lot because I need to recover more. Let’s say after the games, before it probably took me one day to recover and to feel good and really fresh.
“Now, I need between two and three days, which is normal at my age.
“And as long as I can perform, I will play at a high level. The day I stop performing, I will not play anymore because I need to feel alive.
“I need to feel I give something back. I don’t want to have any advantages because I’m 39 and they say: ‘hey, you slow down’ and that.
“No, I want you to consider me on the world-class level and compare me to everybody else, because then I push myself even more.”
Zlatan said it would be easier for Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to continue playing until he’s 50, than for him, who has to ‘create and move around’.
“For him, it’s easy: he just needs to stand still and block balls,” Zlatan continued. “I need to move around, I need to create, I need to be able to shoot, I need to be able to battle with the defenders.
“So, he can probably go longer without really staying in shape, but I would give him a hard game.”
Zlatan said he’s ageing better than Benjamin Button.
“I’m doing better, because I’m a living proof of it,” he said. “Benjamin Button is just a made-up story. I’m the perfect profile for that movie.
“I’m doing the real movie, and Benjamin Button was a movie for the cinema.”