No disrespect man, but you really dont know what you are talking about. My guess would be that you just heard this from ferdosipor when he was commentating Iran-Sweden, but either way first of all he said this many years ago its nothing new, and second of all he was JOKING, it was a JOKE, just as in 9 out of 10 times when he says something like that it is not 100% serious. This is something that pretty much everyone in Sweden knows by now and that is the reason that he is rather loved by most other athlethes and people here than hated. This doesn't mean that he doesnt have a big ego though, he does, and if you had read his book or knew about his tough background you might have a bit more knowledge the reason behind it, but in either case you got to be able to see through when he is joking (which he does A LOT as in the case of your example) and when he is really serious.
As for criticizing him, I said it before and I say it again, many people have criticized him before and I havent even winked or reacted at all, but in your case iti started to feel like spamming so I felt like I wanted to remark on it.