Zlatan: Why Ronaldo's The Greatest

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has explained why he believes Brazilian legend Ronaldo is the best footballer to have ever graced the game.

In an exclusive interview with the club's official match programme, United Review, Ibrahimovic described the two-time World Cup-winner as "phenomenal" and revealed how he idolised him as a youngster
Here's what Zlatan had to say when answering our 'Football & Me' questions...

You’ve said before that Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time – what made him so special?
I think Ronaldo was phenomenal. He was the player that whatever he did it became wow! He could do a difficult thing and it became magic. He would take the ball and it was like him saying ‘I’ll take care of it now’. You didn’t have that kind of football player before and you don’t have it today. He doesn’t exist. As a young player I watched him and said to myself ‘I want to be exactly like that’… the player who makes the difference, the shining light, simple as that. 

What’s the best goal you ever scored?
That’s easy, the one [bicycle kick] against England! [Laughs]

If you could play for any team in history in a one-off match, which team would it be?
I’m happy with the teams I played for because they did magic stuff.

What’s the best match you’ve ever watched as a spectator?
I don’t watch a lot of football because I’m playing football, I’m talking football… I see football every day. You need to keep a little bit of distance. It’s all about the balance but if I can choose one maybe the World Cup when France won against Brazil [in the 1998 final] because Ronaldo was playing obviously so you want to watch and [Zinedine] Zidane was playing so you want to watch. These are the kind of players you want to watch.