When Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Manchester United, he envisioned himself and his teammates winning trophies at Old Trafford. In addition to that claim, Ibrahimovic says that winning trophies gets better with age.
On Sunday, Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho became the first United boss ever to win a trophy during his season on the job. The Red Devils triumphed 3-2 over Southampton at Wembley Stadium in London, getting two goals, including the game winner from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic and Mourinho have won silverware everywhere that they have gone together and now the trend has continued. Mourinho hailed Ibra as the MVP, and Man United Twitter hailed him as the man of the match as well.
“This is what I predicted, everything I saw would happen. Others didn’t see it. I came here to show others what I saw,” Ibrahimovic said in his postgame interview with Sky Sports.
“It was nice, it was very nice. This is a team effort, this is not about an individual. This is collective. This is what I came for, I came to win and I’m winning so I just have to keep going because the more I win, the more satisfied I get.”
“It says we believe in what we are doing, we keep going, training hard, we make sacrifices and we are winning. After seven months I have two trophies with this club, there are other clubs who didn’t win for 10 years.”
“I think you appreciate it more the older you get, in the beginning you don’t realize what the trophy means. The older I got, the more mature I got, the more I understood it’s all about winning, it’s all about collecting these trophies. I think this was my 32nd trophy and I’m super happy.’
It was actually the 34th trophy for Ibrahimovic, but United still have more chances to win additional silverware. They’re in the race for a top four finish and a Champions League berth, as well as the FA Cup quarter-finals and Europa League round of 16. They could still achieve a so-called “plastic treble.”
On Tuesday, Ibrahimovic reiterated these thoughts and emotions in an interview with United’s official website.
“This is why I came. I came to win and I’m winning. This is what I said before I came, not like the other ones who use the situations when they win and they talk. I talk before and I do it, that’s the big difference,” Ibrahimovic said.
“I think, with the manager, he’s used to winning. When you bring in a manager like this, you know what you get and, when you bring me, you know what you get.”
“Every trophy is special, every trophy is important, this is what we play for. We don’t play for one trophy particularly, you have players that won one trophy — the World Cup, the Champions League… and then they didn’t win anything. You need to win every trophy you play for. That’s what I do.
“We have another three to play for. We work hard. We believe in what we are doing. Of course when you win a trophy, it gives you more confidence and the statistics speak for themselves — we could win five trophies, we have two and we have another three to play for. So let’s see what happens.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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