Roberto Mancini, Italian national team coach, spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport as he discussed differnet topics including AC Milan's star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The experienced Italian tactician belives that the Swede legend deserved to win the Ballon d'Or in his career. Here are his words:
"The best way to congratulate you, Zlatan, (for his 40th birthday) is to say thank you. Thank you for helping me win trophies. : not only for the Scudetto in the match against Parma, even if everyone thinks that it is the day and the match that have impressed me the most. Thank you for helping me in your own way: quality but above all professionalism, always perfect on and off the pitch. You missed the award of Ballon d'Or, the highest recognition for a footballer. But for me, you deserved to win as much as Messi and Ronaldo did in the recent years. You were no lesser player than them for what you have shown", concluded Roberto Mancini.