Zlatan Ibrahimovic has many things – a larger than life personality, an enduring knack for goal-scoring, a famous ego that breeds boundless confidence, and a combined 12 league titles won across four different countries.
One thing the 41-year-old Swede doesn’t have is regret.
Ibrahimovic played for six months without an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last season, taking regular injections, draining fluid from his left knee, and gobbling painkillers, so he could fulfil his promise to the AC Milan faithful and help deliver a first scudetto to the Rossoneri since 2011.
He stayed true to his promise but also exacerbated his knee injury, needing surgery in May to reconstruct the ruptured ACL. He hasn’t competed since.
Currently in Dubai, where AC Milan are having a winter training camp, Ibrahimovic is following a strict rehabilitation programme for his knee, hoping to return to action at some point this season.
The former Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United forward knows he actively made his injury worse but insists it was a price he was willing to pay.
“So I was injured let’s say one year ago. And since then, every day I put my foot on the field was a consequence, but we knew, we knew every time I went out to try to do something, there was a consequence that things would get worse,” Ibrahimovic said in Dubai.
“But I have no regrets, I would redo it every time if I could choose, just to win the scudetto because my mentality is that.
“I mean the drive to win, do everything to win, help my team to win. And I knew I was not 100 percent in condition and every time it got worse and worse but I have no regrets and in the end we won, so now I am paying for what I went through.
“Let’s say every trophy has its price, and this price was my knee.”
Ibrahimovic says his rehab is going well but that it was a long process.
“The key here is having patience,” he added.
“There is no date where I’m supposed to be back or when I have to be back. Here it’s all about feeling good, with your health, and when the health is good, then the second step is to play football.”
Ibrahimovic’s triumph with Milan last season was his second Serie A success with the club, having also won with them in 2010-2011.
“We had a team that was really phenomenal and everybody expected us to win,” recalled Ibrahimovic of that squad from 11 years ago.
“We were one of the favourites to win and we had amazing players that won a lot of trophies and they were in the last part of their career, more or less like I am now. And individually they were really phenomenal.”
His second stint with the club has been quite a different story.
“I came to a second wave Milan this time and it was a different Milan. A Milan that even playing Champions League for I don’t know, eight, nine years, didn’t win any trophies,” he said.
“[No] Scudetto since 2011, and was a young team, different owner, so the situation was completely different. But the bigger satisfaction was this trophy because nobody expected us to win because everybody said we will not even come top four.
“When I came to the first press conference, I said I will bring them back to the top and we will win. And people were laughing, they said no chance, because they said I’m too old, I will not make it, I should stop playing football.
“Instead I’m sitting here a champion of Italy and I won. So people they should be careful before they judge my words. Because my words are very important.”
Milan lie second in the Serie A table at the moment, eight points adrift of leaders Napoli. Ibrahimovic is feeling “positive” about his side’s chances of catching up, and says a lot will depend on how teams react to the unusually long midseason break all leagues were forced to take because of the World Cup.
“It’s a different season. But we are ready, we work hard, we have experience from last year, we’re the reigning champion, so we know what we need to do,” he declared.
Although there is no concrete timeline for his recovery, Ibrahimovic refuses to entertain any talks of retirement. He doesn’t think too much about his future post-football, saying he prefers to “carpe diem, take the day like it comes”.
Either way, the Swede will never be short on options. He recently made his acting debut by taking on a role in the upcoming French action-comedy, 'Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom', and he has a wide range of businesses and investments in sports, food and finance.
Does he see himself coaching in the future?
“I don’t know,” he responds. “I think being a coach is not easy because, and I’m going against myself, because if you had a career like me, and you’re the player like me, it doesn’t mean you’ll be a great coach.
“Because I think once you start with something else, and not being an active football player, you should start from zero, and then you build yourself up. So if I choose to be a journalist, I’ll have to start from zero, and take my steps up and learn, develop, grow; and I think the same thing as a coach.
“You start as a novice, even if you have been a great player and had a fantastic career. Because being a coach is managing 25 players, being a player you’re managing yourself. So it’s not easy.
“But we have seen that great players have done a great job as a coach. But I’m not there yet. Because if I start to think about being a coach, it means in my mind I’m already retiring, so my football is not important. And in my mind I’m not retired, I’m still active.”
When the day eventually comes and Ibrahimovic decides to walk away from the sport, he knows it will be an emotional affair.
“I think whatever happens in that moment you should let it go because don’t act super mental, don’t act like a Hulk, don’t try to hold your tears, if the tears come,” he said.
“For sure it will be an emotional moment and it’s not easy. Because this is what we’ve been doing for all our life and we are the best in what we’re doing. And you will leave that thing in one day, that’s why you keep pushing always. You want to continue because you still want to have that feeling that you’re alive, because that’s how we feel alive.
“And then I think also you have to be realistic and ready for the second chapter of your life, that’s without football.”
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Results
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESteven%20Knight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMark%20Ruffalo%2C%20Hugh%20Laurie%2C%20Aria%20Mia%20Loberti%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
Afro%20salons
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