Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been called up by Sweden for their European Championship qualifiers later this month, it has been confirmed.
Ibrahimovic’s long road to recovery was recently completed as he played segments of the games against Atalanta, Fiorentina and most recently Salernitana on Monday night, and it seems he is destined to further increase his playing time.
However, the 41-year-old has not started a game since 9 January 2022 against Venezia and Stefano Pioli said before the game on Monday night that he is not yet back to being fit enough to start.
Nonetheless, there has been speculation in the Swedish and Italian press over the past few days that Ibrahimovic would be called up for the next two matches against Belgium and Azerbaijan, both Euro 2024 qualifiers, and Sweden coach Janne Andersson has now confirmed it.
“Zlatan and I have always been in contact, including during his injury. Now he feels good, he can give his contribution on the pitch. His personality and experience also add a lot to the team.He’s unique in that sense, but the idea is that he comes in and contributes to the pitch, otherwise I wouldn’t have called him up,” he told Aftonbladet (via MilanNews).
“I don’t see him as a starter. He’ll be more like he’s used to at Milan for in-game situations. Then it depends on how things are in the games and on his possibilities. Zlatan is very eager and wants to contribute. That’s how it is today, then we’ll see how he plays out in the future.”
