Zlatan Ibrahimovic has built a career on swagger, confidence and larger-than-life one-liners — but even the famously fearless football icon appears to have one thing that rattles him: helicopters.
The former Sweden striker jokingly confessed just how uneasy he felt about the flight, admitting with a nervous smile: “I’m s******* in my pants!”
Ibrahimovic, the 6ft 5in powerhouse who spent years intimidating defenders across Europe, looked visibly tense as he prepared to climb aboard a helicopter bound for the World Cup final.
After brushing sweat from his forehead, the football great tried to keep the mood light as he faced the trip to New Jersey for the showpiece final between Spain and Argentina.
“The adrenaline is pumping on the way,” Ibrahimovic said. “I’m s******* in my pants.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic joked that he was “s******* himself” before taking a helicopter to the World Cup final
“I don’t like helicopters but it’s okay,” he added, noting that presenter Rebecca Lowe was beside him, along with Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas.
“If we go down, we go down together.”
The former Manchester United, Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain striker was dressed to the nines in a cream suit for the air ride.
That was a departure from his attire on Saturday, when he went topless for a Cold as Balls interview show with Kevin Hart.
Zlatan doesn’t tend to show vulnerability. He is known for his grandiose one-liners and self-exaltation, though it is often seen as an act.
He had this side to him even when he was a teenager. Offered a trial at Arsenal by Arsene Wenger, he recalls saying: ‘I will not do a trial: either you take me or not, I’m not here to waste time.
‘When I was young, in my mind no one was better than me.’
He has also said: ‘I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am.’
Rebecca Lowe has spoken out on the tensions between Ibrahimovic and co-pundit Alexi Lalas
His personality has brought him into a jokey conflict with his co-pundit Lalas during the World Cup.
Recently, Fox World Cup host Lowe defiantly insisted that there is no tension between her colleagues Ibrahimovic and Lalas, despite multiple terse exchanges.
Ibrahimovic has branded Lalas ‘the past’ live on air and abruptly dismissed him for saying France were ‘arrogant’ in the first half against Senegal.
When Lalas then left the studio to report live from the Seattle stadium for the second United States group game, Ibrahimovic said: ‘You’re welcome, America.’
Footage also went viral from the Fox studio where the three analysts were playing soccer and Henry mercilessly tricked Lalas with a faked back heel while the cameras were rolling.
Host presenter Lowe, however, has insisted that the trio all get along fine when the cameras are off and claims that the suggestions of unrest behind the scenes is actually a source of amusement to all in the Fox setup.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Lowe said: ‘These stories do make me laugh and we do laugh about them. We’re like, “another one”? And it is getting a little out of hand.
‘We are going through every newspaper now. Like, okay guys, maybe let’s pivot and write about something else, that would be good. The football, maybe?’
Henry and Ibrahimovic posted a clip of themselves doing insane tricks, including one on Lalas
Lalas has attempted at times to get his own back, telling Ibrahimovic last weekend that his cream suit made him look like one of presenters on the 70s television show ‘Fantasy Island’.
But Lowe says that amid the jokes the trio trade off at each other, there is an underlying respect between them all.
‘There is nothing, there is no tension, nothing! We are laughing our heads off at all of this,’ she added.
‘Everybody respects everybody hugely. If people want to watch and listen to what the guys say to each other and work off each other, they would see that.
‘It’s a strange old narrative when you’re in the middle of the thunderstorm, and I am right in the middle of it with them all day every day, and it just doesn’t exist. It is crazy.’
