Zlatan Ibrahimovic: His star shines everywhere

PARIS - In a club packed with stars, Zlatan Ibrahimovic glittered brightest among them at Paris Saint-Germain. The top scorer's 23 league goals look set to fire PSG to their second consecutive title. Tomorrow morning (Singapore time), he can take PSG closer to the finishing line, when they take on St Etienne in a Ligue 1 encounter shown live on SingTel mio TV. The 32-year-old striker talks to Gary Lim in Paris.

Q: Do you think the standard of Ligue 1 has improved?

A: The Ligue 1 has developed a lot. The competition is harder.

Clubs like Monaco have invested a lot into their club.

The league is developing, and that's exactly what we want.

Q: Do you think the league is becoming more popular?

A: The competition, I think, with Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva and all the players who come, it creates some kind of attention and people get interested.

People follow them wherever they play - in Italy, Spain, or France. It's good for this country and Ligue 1.

Q: Is this the last stop of your career?

A: I think this will be my last contract in Europe. After 2016 (when his contract ends), then I don't know.

It's a couple of years, let's hope I'm still physically good. 

Q: After Spain, Italy, Holland and France, doesn't England feel like a missing piece of the jigsaw?

A: I have been everywhere and wherever I have been, I have been winning. So, I have the luck to enjoy the moments from every country.

England, I haven't been there. Probably not for me. Maybe this is destiny. I'm very happy here in Paris to play football.

Q: Your trophy hopes this season?

A: We have a good possibility in the French league, quite a big advantage. We can win. The Champions League? Let's see who we get now. If we get a good draw, we'll do well. 

Q: You're almost certain to finish as Ligue 1's top scorer. How important are awards such as these, to you?

A: It's good I continue to score goals, which is my job as a footballer. Thanks to my teammates, I score more goals than before.

But my target is not to be the top scorer or anything like that.

The more I score, the higher chance my team will win. That's more important.

Q: People talk about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best in the world. Where does Luis Suarez rank among them?

A: He's having a fantastic season.

In the beginning, he was suspended, then he came back and scored a lot of goals.

It's a pity he isn't playing in the Champions League, which is the main tournament in Europe.

I rank him pretty high. I would say in the top five.

Q: What makes Zlatan smile? You don't seem to smile much on the field.

A: There are two persons, the one who goes onto the field and the one who is outside.

I need to trigger myself to be very focused. I may look aggressive but that's the way my game is.

I need to be on top and bring results to my fans, myself, my teammates and the club.

After 90 minutes, there's a bigger chance that I smile.

Get The New Paper for more stories.