The enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimović is well known for his amusingly confident comments, arrogant antics and entertaining press conferences, but he revealed the often-hidden compassionate side of his personality to the world after AC Milan defeated Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in in their Europa League qualifier in Dublin.
Zlatan learned beforehand that Aaron Greene’s son, a Rovers’ academy player, was on ball boy duty at the Tallaght Stadium at the moment.
The Swedish superstar promised Greene’s son his jersey before the match started: and he made sure to keep his word after the match got over as he gave Rovers forward Greene his shirt post-game, in order for him to pass it on to his son.
Such a brilliant gesture was appreciated by the Rovers’ social media page on different platforms, as pictures revealed a visibly satisfied Greene taking the charismatic forward’s jersey to his son Jack, who was ecstatic to pose with the jersey of one of the modern goalscoring greats of the game.
Zlatan learned that Aaron Greene's son, a Rovers Academy player, was a ballboy at the game. He promised him his jersey, he made sure that he got it 👌 pic.twitter.com/b3kyCgs0l6
— Shamrock Rovers FC ☘️ (@ShamrockRovers) September 18, 2020
The Dublin outfit put on a brave display at home as they went down fighting to the Italian giants who are also seven-time European champions, and it was a display that manager Stephen Bradley could take a few positives from, and be proud of.
The Irish Mirror reports Bradley’s post-game comments as: “I thought the players were fantastic. We were brave, we played our way and we got really good chances off the back of that.”
Ibrahimović has been one of the greatest nomadic footballers of our generation, as there are very few clubs in football where he has not left a massive impact on, both as an immaculate player and an immense character in the dressing room.
AC Milan will be hoping for him to leave a lasting legacy at the club in his second spell for them, as they look to be on the transitional path back to the days of glory.