STOCKHOLM, March 18, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Even though he's still an active
player, a new film premiering Friday is attempting to tell the story of
Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic by focusing on the star's childhood
growing up in a poor part of the city of Malmo.

   Ibrahimovic, Sweden's most successful player, still plays for AC Milan at
age 40, and is known for his bravado and swagger, standing in contrast to his
typically more humble compatriots.

   After starting out with Sweden's Malmo FF in 1999, he has gone on to play
for major teams including Ajax, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester
United.

   Pitched as a "true underdog story," the movie "Jag ar Zlatan" (I am
Zlatan), which premieres Friday, is based on the autobiographical book of the
same name, but director Jens Sjogren told AFP that he wanted to hone in on
the player's early years.

   "When I read the first chapters of the book I thought of my own
childhood," Sjogren said, adding that by focusing on the young Zlatan the
movie is likely to appeal to not just those who have followed "Ibra's"
football career.

   "Even though Zlatan had a rough childhood at times we have all been
children and struggled with different things," the 45-year-old director said.

   For Sjogren it was important for the film to also tell the story from a
child's perspective.

   "What's he's experiencing, we get to experience, but when there's things
he doesn't hear or doesn't understand then we as spectators shouldn't
understand that either," he said.

   - 'Big honour' -

   The film starts following Zlatan from about aged 12, when he struggled in
school. It also shows him moving away from his mother and in with his father
before moving on to his first years as a professional player at Malmo and
Ajax.

   The perhaps somewhat daunting task of portraying a still living icon on
screen was given to first-time actors Dominic Bajraktari Andersson, 15, and
Granit Rushiti, 22, who are both playing Zlatan at different ages.

  "He's a great footballer, one of the best in the world. He's a legend, so
it's of course a big honour for us to play him," Rushiti told AFP.

   As a former promising young footballer himself, though he had to retire
after an injury, Rushiti said Zlatan had already been an inspiration to him.

   "I've played football all my life so he's been a big part of my life and
my own football career. So I've taken a lot from him," Rushiti said.

   Both Rushiti and his younger co-star are, just like Zlatan himself, from
Scania in Sweden's far south.

   "I haven't always played football, but he's been a role model in other
ways. Like his demeanour and what he's like as a person. We are roughly from
the same area, the same city Malmo. So he's been a great role model,"
Andersson told AFP.

   - 'Living legend' -

   When the shooting of the movie was finished the two young actors also had
the opportunity to meet Zlatan in Milan.

   "Before we started recording the movie I thought that Zlatan was pretty
tough, he almost looked scary. But when I met him he was very kind, he was
very charming and joked around. He got me to relax and all the nervousness
just disappeared," Andersson said.

   "It was like meeting a living legend that you've looked up to."

   Friday's arrival of the film to cinemas is reserved for Zlatan's home
country of Sweden. More countries will follow though in the coming weeks.

   While Zlatan's status as the greatest football player Sweden has ever
produced is undisputed in his home country, his star in his hometown of Malmo
has faded somewhat.

   Just months after a statue of the local hero was erected in Malmo, it
became the target of multiple acts of vandalism after Ibrahimovic announced
that he was buying a stake in Stockholm-based club Hammarby, Malmo's rivals.

   Seen as a betrayal by fans, the statue has been spray-painted, knocked
over and parts of it have been sawn off.