Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be joining his nation at this summer’s World Cup.
The Swedish Football Association announced on Thursday that Ibrahimovic will not be playing for the national team in Russia.
The 36-year-old who currently plays for the LA Galaxy in MLS, represented Sweden at the World Cups in 2002 and 2006.
“Zlatan Ibrahimovic has previously said no to playing for the national team — and he hasn’t changed his mind. I talked to Zlatan on Tuesday. He told me he hasn’t changed his mind regarding playing for the national team — it’s still a no,” says sporting director Lars Richt.
“Zlatan Ibrahimovic is therefore, for the same reason as previous national team gatherings, not a candidate for the World Cup squad that coach Janne Andersson will present on May 15.”
After moving to MLS, Ibrahimovic hinted at a return to the Swedish National Team after they defeated Italy in a World Cup Qualification Playoff.
Wonder what happened?
Seemed like Zlatan got hot, dropped a few goals in for the Galaxy, and started thinking “World Cup”.
He was definitely trying to talk himself onto the squad…what it sounded like was, the coach wasn’t wild about the idea.
This seems like they’re pointing at Zlatan, but it definitely doesn’t appear they particularly wanted him either.
Pretty chickenshit of slatan to disrupt the team preparation for the sake of his ego.
Large egos often cry “Hey, Look at me”.
DRAMA