Diego Valeri Reveals Time He Was Told to Cut Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Shirt in Half

Four-time MLS All-Star Diego Valeri has revealed how he was once instructed to cut Zlatan Ibrahimovic's shirt in half, as he discussed his time with Portland Timbers facing some of football's biggest stars.

The 34-year-old Argentine has been one of the most successful South Americans in Major League Soccer history. The three-cap Argentina international won the MLS Cup in 2015 and was named the division's MVP two years later.

In his seven years in the USA, Valeri has come up against some of the beautiful games' biggest names.

Valeri told 90min.es: "I have played against David Villa, [Andrea] Pirlo, [Frank] Lampard, [Bastian] Schweinsteiger, [Thierry] Henry, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic. They were good players, [Sebastian] Giovinco came at a good level. Villa and Pirlo played in Champions League finals. 

"Ibrahimovic is now playing at a high level in the Italian league. They came to play at a certain age, but they were competitive, not retired."

On who his most surprising superstar opponent has been, Valeri has no doubt.

"Ibrahimovic is a monster," he said. "The first game we played against him we lost 2-1 and he won the game on his own. 

"He is a big guy but he has ability, a talent, calmness and a handling of his body, which is not normal for someone who is two metres tall.

"He has played a lot of football, he plays well, he understands, he makes decisions well, he heads well, he is a beast, he created everything. But in the second game, we beat him 4-0 at home here, it seems that the synthetic grass cost him!"

Valeri also noted just how popular Ibrahimovic was among his own Timbers teammates - and the Swede's unusual way of dealing with the attention.

He continued: "The last game we played here we sent him [Ibrahimovic] a shirt because my teammate Seba Blanco wanted to swap kits. When we gave it to him, Seba said 'you can give him yours too'.

"So we gave him both kits at the end of the match and he gave us back only one. Their kitman said 'he has only one, so cut it in the middle and divide it. Zlatan said to cut it down the middle!'

"Later, he did send us another one!"

For the full exclusive interview, visit 90min.es