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Sulley Muntari recently opened up on why Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not win the Ballon d'Or during the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era. The Swedish superstar never won the award despite being one of the best players in the world during his playing career.
Muntari played 3449 minutes across 46 games with Ibrahimovic at both Milan clubs and combined with him for five goals. He believes the iconic striker was overlooked for the award because the latter likes to speak his mind.
Speaking with Flashscore via Goal, the former Ghanian international said:
“As a teammate Ibrahimovic wasn’t intimidating at all. He just wants the best out of you. He won games easily for whichever team I played. I managed to play with him during his early years in Inter during his first season then we met at Milan.”
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“Ibrahimovic is the top player, he's one of the best during his time. They didn't want to give him the Ballon d’Or because he speaks his mind. Sometimes they don't like to hear that but Ibrahimovic is massive. My best strikers of all time are [Samuel] Eto'o, Ibrahimovic and [Thierry] Henry," Muntari added.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was one of many players who missed out on the Ballon d'Or, thanks to the domination of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The legendary pair claimed the prize 13 times between themselves and are widely believed to be the two greatest players ever to play the sport.
“I think Messi is one of a kind. What he’s doing, I don’t know if we will see another player do the things that he does" - When Zlatan Ibrahimovic weighed in on the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate
In 2016, Zlatan Ibrahimovic weighed in on the eternal debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ibrahimovic played alongside Messi at Barcelona, sharing the pitch across 42 games and combining for 10 goals.
The Swedish superstar picked the Argentine star over his eternal rival, Telling GiveMeSport via All Football:
“I think Messi is one of a kind. What he’s doing, I don’t know if we will see another player do the things that he does. It is different [with Ronaldo] because he is the result of hard training. It is not natural.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has retired from professional football and is currently the director of AC Milan. Cristiano Ronaldo continues to play for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, while Lionel Messi plays for Inter Miami in the MLS.
