10 Football Teammates Who Absolutely Hated Each Other

4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Rafael Van Der Vaart

Bale Ronaldo Pissed Off
Francois Mori/AP/Matthias Schrader/AP/Press Association Images

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is as much a professional rabble-rouser as he is a footballer, and has made enemies of plenty of fellow players throughout his career. This includes a number of teammates, with one of his more infamous altercations coming through an AC Milan training ground bust-up with Oguchi Onyewu, who stepped up to Zlatan, a taekwondo black belt, after an unnecessarily rough tackle.

A more notable spat came several years prior, when Zlatan was still at Ajax. Him and teammate Rafael Van Der Vaart were still forging their reputations as players, but were seemingly okay with each other until Zlatan's Sweden met VDV's Holland in a post-Euro 2004 friendly. Ibrahimovic took Van Der Vaart out with a strong challenge, tearing the Dutchman's ankle ligament, and forcing him off the pitch on a stretcher.

Rafael told the press that Zlatan had injured him on purpose in the aftermath, and Zlatan was furious. The Swede told VDV that if he accused him again, "he'd break his legs, and this time it will be on purpose," as revealed in his 2013 autobiography. Unsurprisingly, Zlatan was suddenly sold to Juventus just 13 days later.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.