Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović – nytimes.com
4 matches: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss
We played against each other relatively often: 3 times with national teams and 1 time in the Champions League when I was playing for CSKA and he was at Inter. He was probably the hardest opponent I’ve ever had. His size, speed, ball control, etc. made it almost impossible to get near him. He’d head high balls off his chest and to be honest, I felt terrible in those situations.
Emile Heskey
Emile Heskey – independent.co.uk
1 match: 1 loss
Like Zlatan’s matches, it took just one game at Wembley for the national team (we lost 0:3) to realize how powerful English forwards are in the air.
I’m not sure I won a single aerial duel against Heskey. He jumped at the perfect time every time and sent the header down to Owen’s feet. Everyone remembers how quickly Owen could run. On that day he scored two goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo – bbc.com
6 matches: 1 win, 2 draws, 3 losses
It was his aggression and his drive to reach the ball in the box that surprised me the most. I defended him on set pieces and was impressed by his desire to be the first to the ball. He had an uncanny sense of timing and knew exactly when to start running and where the ball would fall.
To prevent him from jumping and getting to the ball, I would sometimes have to intervene with my hands and he would react with arrogance and claim a foul to the referee. However, he never got a penalty against me.
Raúl
Raúl – skysports.com
3 matches: 2 draws, 1 loss
My first encounter with Raúl was at 23 years old at Santiago Bernabéu when I was still with Lokomotiv. We played to a 2:2 draw in that game, although we led 2:1 for a couple of minutes. This was a serious lesson.
Raúl wasn’t fast and he wasn’t tall — no problem there. However, in one instant he completely turned me around right in the middle of the field. I still remember that turn. It was like something straight from a bullfight. He received the ball just in front of me, flicked it under my leg with the inside of his foot — and he was gone.
The entire stadium erupted. All I could do was chase after him and hope that my teammates would come to my aid.
Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti – skysports.com
4 matches: 1 draw, 3 losses
His exceptional football IQ and technical skills left me speechless. We played against Roma four times and once against the Italian national team.
Totti would follow me closely when playing as a striker and always tried to find the shortest route to our goal. After identifying my strengths, he began moving deeper into the midfield and directing the attack from there.
He was so well-rounded a player that he became the main attacking threat regardless of whether he was playing in the box or attacking from deeper positions.
