Former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha has lifted the lid on his infamous feud with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their time as MLS opponents.
The pair almost came to blows in the locker room after the LA Galaxy’s match against Real Salt Lake in April 2019.
It came after the duo battled throughout the 90 minutes, with Ibrahimovic initially dragging Onuoha to the ground while preventing him from reaching the ball.
The Swede, who also played for AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in his illustrious career, then laughed straight in Onuoha’s face after scoring late on.
That led Ibrahimovic to enter the Real Salt Lake locker room and ask Onuoha, a former Manchester City player, if he had “calmed down.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Nedum Onuoha were involved in a fight during an MLS match in 2019
The Swedish striker dragged the defender to the ground before scoring the goal.
They then clashed in the locker room after Ibrahimovic asked if Onuoha had “calmed down”.
Onuoha admits this sparked a furious reaction and he had to be restrained while Ibrahimovic was escorted out of the dressing room.
Speaking on the FilthyFellas YouTube channel, Onuoha claimed that MLS players ‘danced’ around stars like Ibrahimovic and that he berated his teammates during matches.
He said: ‘With Ibrahimovic, we all know his career. The things he has done, the goals he has scored. You imagine him playing for Inter and AC (Milan), whatever, being great.
“I went to MLS the season after him. When I first went, he talked as much as he does. He said “I am a Ferrari among the Fiats” and I think he means this league, have a little respect.
“The guy I’m next to, an MLS player, laughs out loud and says, ‘That’s really funny, isn’t it?’ I said, ‘He’s talking about you.’ Why do you agree to this?”
‘What he did when he was there. He basically scored a lot of goals, but he always degraded the league, belittled the situation. Anyone who did well he would take down.
“When we played against him, it was the first time I played against him, it was 0-0 and a bit of a dead game. The ball goes over him and I stand behind him and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground .
‘I’m lying on the floor looking at him like “what are you doing?” and he said “get up.” I say “who are you talking to?”
‘So I got up and now I confronted him saying “who are you talking to?”, calling him this and that. For the rest of the game, we’ll be face to face, and every time he makes a mistake, I laugh. We were basically laughing at each other.
“His team was fired up, and this describes who he was at the time, his team was stinking at the back and all he was doing from the halfway line was shouting about how bad everyone is.
‘He was saying “you are no good, you are a disgrace, a disaster.” He’s not running channels, he’s just standing there. The people who played with him in MLS played with fear because they were worried about upsetting him.
Onuoha revealed that Ibrahimovic criticized his teammates in matches, making them “fear” him
“Then, late, the ball comes and he scores and I’m like, ‘for God’s sake.’” He comes right to the side of my head and laughs.
“The game ends and this is what happens with MLS, some guys are interested and some are not. They dance around their stars. So after the game, we lost, everyone knows I had some problems with this player and there is a guy in my gear trying to take pictures with him in the field.
“I get to the locker room and I’m very excited because the game went the way it did, it’s my first interaction with this guy, we’re away from home and we should have won.”
‘Two minutes later he came into the locker room and said: “Have you calmed down yet?” I don’t know this guy, and again I say “who are you talking to?”
‘So now I’m pushing it. I’m backed up by one or two people telling him to “get out or whatever”, but looking around only three of us stepped forward. The rest were simply shocked.
‘I was the first person to stand up to him and more people did after that. The next time we played them, I was ready for war and when I saw him he asked me how he was.
‘I think he respected me for approaching him because a lot of people wouldn’t have rejected me. I’m disappointed because he has one of the best careers but he also says things that I know people I know would never say about anyone.’
Ibrahimovic joined LA Galaxy after leaving Manchester United in March 2018.
He scored 53 goals in 58 appearances over two seasons in MLS, but was unable to lead them to a title. When he announced his departure, he told fans to “go back to watching baseball.”
Onuoha, meanwhile, made 53 appearances in three seasons with Real Salt Lake. He announced his retirement after the 2020 MLS season.