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There was a time when not even Ibrahimović was enough of a beast to go up against a former USMNT defender. And according to teammates, it would not have been a fair fight.
In an interview for the Desimpedidos, former AC Milan star, Alexandre Pato, went into detail about the famous brawl between legend Zlatan Ibrahimović and former USMNT defender, Oguchi Onyewu.
In 2009, headlines were hit with the breaking news of a 'heavyweight' altercation between Ibrahimović and Onyewu in a training session just hours before a match.
Initial reports revealed that Onyewu took on a heavy tackle from the Swedish striker in training, leading to an exchange of blows that forced players and coaches to intervene. Though, according to Pato, "who knows what could’ve happened to Zlatan" if they had not done so.
Onyewu-Zlatan brawl details: Alexandre Pato reveals USMNT defender 'could've killed' Zlatan
“Let me tell you in detail. So we went to play a little game, like five versus five.
“Onyewu is a big defender. Ibra had the ball, so he went to mark him, then Onyewu unintentionally hit him — ‘bam!’. The thing is Ibra’s foot is huge, so it was hard to tackle without hitting it.
“We knew it had no malice. Onyewu was just coming from an injury and starting to train again,” said Pato.
Onyewu, who had recently transferred to Milan, was returning from a serious one-year injury with the Rossoneri that forced him to miss all of the 2009-10 season. Ibra, however, as Pato explains, did not seem to have cared whether or not he was coming back into first-team rhythm.
“He controlled the ball with his back to Ibra, then Ibra went in with both feet on Onyewu, really trying to hurt him.
“They both fell to the ground. Onyewu got up calmly. He was really nice, with a heart of gold. Ibra is more repulsive, he got up immediately and started insulting him," Pato said.
“Ibra was cursing in Swedish, we didn’t understand what he was saying. He tried to grab Onyewu like this (by the collar), and tried to throw him to the ground.
“What did Onyewu do? He grabbed Ibra and ‘bam!’. He threw him down instead. It was easy for Onyewu, like drinking a glass of water."
The former U.S. men’s national team defender, who stands at 6 feet 4 inches, somehow made Zlatan, who stands at 6 feet 5 inches, look tiny. That’s just how humongous Oguchi Onyewu was.
“Imagine Ibra, that guy is huge. But Onyewu grabbed him and threw him to the ground easily. He then jumped on top of him, pinned him down, and raised his arm.
“When he did that, I said to him: ‘Stop, my God, stop. You’re going to kill him!’
“If we didn’t break it up, I don’t know what would’ve happened to Ibra."
Wow.
Fortunately (especially for Ibra), it was reported that both teammates quickly resolved the incident and continued sharing the locker room as normal throughout the season.
Now, unfortunately for Onyewu, this would turn out to be the most 'memorable' moment of his AC Milan career. Just two months after his brawl with Zlatan, Onyewu was loaned out to Dutch Eredivisie's FC Twente, with the former USMNT center back making zero league appearances during his two-year stint with the Italian giants.
