After five years away from international football, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has announced he is returning in time for Euro 2020!
No matter if you love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is highly entertaining. The AC Milan striker is always in the headlines, whether it for scoring a ridiculous goal or comparing himself to a lion.
This time around, it is for coming out of international retirement at the age of 39. His last game for the national side was back in 2016 at the European Championships. Sweden lost 1-0 to Belgium and with it lost their star striker Ibrahimovic. He left with a record of 62 goals in 116 games, making him the countries highest ever goalscorer.
Shortly after this, he moved to Man United, with many assuming this would be his final move as a professional footballer. Since then, Ibrahimovic has scored 109 goals in 152 games, showing there is a lot of life left in the self-proclaimed God.
Ibrahimovic flirted with the idea of a return at the end of last season, which prompted Sweden manager Janne Andersson to go and meet him in Milan. It has resulted in him being called up to the next Sweden squad to face Georgia and Kosovo. This can only be with the intention of him going to this summers Euros.
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Can Ibrahimovic Be The Main Man?
Sweden have never won an international tournament, their best finish is runner up in the 1958 World Cup. In terms of the European Championships, their best finish was their first even back in 1992, in which they reached the semi-finals. They were beaten 3-2 by Germany.
The last Euro’s they went to was Euro 2016, which was very disappointing. They scored just one goal during the whole tournament, drawing one game and losing the other two.
This year, they will be hoping the return of Ibrahimovic brings them a lift. They are priced at 100/1 to go all the way. In Sweden’s group are Spain, Poland and Slovakia. This is a tough group, with Poland probably their biggest competitors to get out the group in second place.
Ibrahimovic is 33/1 to finish the tournament as the top goalscorer. This is a longshot but he has shown he is still amongst the goals and one thing is for sure, he won’t be doubting himself!
