Will Zlatan Ibrahimovic play in Euro 2021?
Will Sweden’s superstar make his comeback at the 2021 European Championship?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the Euro 2021? What sounds like a pipe dream at first glance might actually become reality. The Swedish striker’s strong performances at AC Milan sparked speculation around the world.
After Ibrahimovic fueled the speculation himself in interviews and on social media, the enthusiasm in his home country is all the greater.
Even the best bookmakers have become aware of the possible comeback plans and are now offering betting odds on Ibrahimovic at the Euro 2021.
Betting odds: will Zlatan Ibrahimovic be nominated for the Euro 2021?
Is Ibrahimovic in the Euro 2021 squad for Sweden?
Betting Tips: Yes
Odds: 4.00
Betting Tips: No
Odds: 1.20
Ibrahimovic’s games in Milan generate a lot of demand
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who ended his national team career after the European Championship in 2016, is 39 years old. Around four and a half years later, speculation in his home country about a comeback of the old star is rampant.
The main reason for this is the strong performances he is currently putting on the pitch at AC Milan. He was in action six times in 2020/21 up to the 8th matchday of Serie A. The classic centre forward scored ten goals.
Ibrakadabra scored ten times for Milan in the last half of the season.
With 20 goals in 24 games (as of November 27, 2020), national coach Janne Andersson can also be picked up.
Profile of Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Born on October 3rd, 1981 in Malmö
Record scorer of the Swedish national team (62 hits)
Played for legendary clubs such as Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus Turin and FC Barcelona
12 times Swedish footballer of the year
At the end of 2012, he received an entry in the Swedish dictionary with “zlatanieren”
The 58-year-old only started his job after Ibrahimovic’s resignation and has therefore not yet enjoyed seeing the striker live-in training.
However, according to media reports in the Scandinavian country, he should also be interested.
The good news is that Ibrahimovic would definitely write the 2021 European Championship on his calendar. When he was named Sweden’s Footballer of the Year, he revealed in an interview with Aftonbladet: “Yes, I miss the national team. It’s not a secret. ”
His statistics in the national team are also convincing from the ground up. Ibrahimovic has scored 62 times in 116 international matches for his country so far. It is logical that he is also Sweden’s record scorer.
The Swedish national team’s record goal scorers
Player goals – goals per game
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 62 – 0.53
Sven Rydell – 49 – 1.14
Gunnar Nordahl – 43 – 1.30
Henrik Larsson – 37 – 0.35
Gunnar Gren – 33 – 0.58
How did it go to Sweden without Ibrahimovic?
At the 2018 World Cup, the Swedes did well without the top star. In the group stage, the Tre Kronor left the German national team behind and beat Switzerland in the round of 16, before the end of the quarter-finals against England.
In the end, the qualification for the European Championship 2021 was sovereign. In Group F, the Scandinavians finished second behind Spain. However, they were able to steal a point from the 2008 and 2012 European champions at home.
In the Nations League, without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he was promoted from Group B in 2018, before relegation had to be accepted in 2020 against the overwhelming competition France, Portugal and Croatia. Whether Ibrahimovic would have prevented this is just as questionable.
After all, the striker himself is dependent on the service of his teammates in order to get into a promising position in front of the goal in the end. Here the Swedes can definitely be certified as team growth.
Promising is a striker like Dejan Kulusevski, who was signed by Juventus in the summer. There he is mostly in the starting line-up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and can certainly learn a lot from the Portuguese.
And the Swedish squad has seen some positive developments in other ways too. Emil Forsberg has been an important player at RB Leipzig for many years, while Kristoffer Olsson has developed well at FK Krasnodar.
Could a Zlatan Ibrahimovic EURO 2021 comeback attack the structure?
With a grown team, coaches never find it easy to integrate old-school stars with strong opinions. Sweden’s national coach Andersson will also have to consider carefully whether he dares to risk the coherent structure – even if only for one last tournament.
Nevertheless, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has undisputed qualities on the offensive, which give the opponent the highest respect. His teammates have also not left a bad hair on him in the past, as he puts himself fully in the service of the team apart from his distinctive slogans.
With a goal quota as the 39-year-old currently has at AC Milan, Andersson would almost have to approach Joachim Löw’s stubbornness in the cases of Müller, Hummels and Boateng in order to leave the player at home.
He prefers to point out that the striker himself didn’t seem to know exactly what he wanted in recent years. “If that’s the case,” says Janne Andersson, “I have to decide.”
The betting odds: will Zlatan Ibrahimovic play the EURO 2021?
However, the current remarks by the striker at the awards ceremony for Sweden’s Footballer of the Year suggest different conclusions. It seems like Ibrahimovic is seriously considering a comeback to Euro 2021.
With his country, he would go to one (presumably) last major tournament and meet Spain, Poland and Slovakia in the preliminary round. Sweden can definitely use the class of an Ibrahimovic against teams of this quality.
It is known that the striker likes to play for his country and is worshipped there. Thus, despite Ibrahimovic’s willingness, disembarkation could cause even bigger waves than his nomination.
