STOCKHOLM: Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dismissed his second-place finish on a list of Sweden’s all-time sporting greats behind tennis master Bjorn Borg.

“Thank you but to finish second is like finishing last,” he informed the Dagens Nyheter newspaper through his brand manager Mika Lepisto.

The 33-year-old Paris St Germain striker was second in the list of 150 Swedish sportspeople, created by the newspaper as part of their 150th-anniversary celebrations.

Asked where he would have put himself in the rankings, Ibra said: “On that list I would have been number one, two, three, four and five, with due respect to the others.” Instead, the newspaper jury selected tennis great Borg, who won 11 grand slam tournaments in a stellar career that Ibrahimovic acknowledged.

“Bjorn Borg is a cool person and a living legend,” said Ibra, who has scored 51 goals in 101 games for Sweden and has won titles at many of Europe’s leading clubs including Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Inter Milan. Barcelona, AC MIlan and PSG.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2014