Ibrahimovic´s Sweden return ruled out by Andersson

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s rumoured return to the Sweden national team has been ruled out by head coach Janne Andersson.

The Milan striker hinted earlier this week he is ready to come out of international retirement, more than four years on from last appearing for his country.

A day after scoring his eighth goal of the campaign – a brilliant overhead kick in Milan’s win over Udinese – he posted an image on social media of himself in a Sweden top.

Ibrahimovic captioned the picture: “Long time no see”.

However, the 39-year-old was left out of Sweden’s latest squad on Thursday and Andersson has confirmed the door is shut for any possible comeback.

“Some people have said there was a plan behind that photo,” Andersson told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. “But I don’t understand what it means. I don’t want to put too much energy into it.

Long time no see pic.twitter.com/1VQR3PMh4s

— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) November 2, 2020

“It’s been four and a half years since he said he had finished his career in the national team. We talked about it after the European Championship.

“I have the utmost respect for him, just like those of many other players who have made the same decision. So, the question is closed for me.”

After two seasons in MLS with Los Angeles Galaxy, Ibrahimovic returned to European football with Milan in January on an initial six-month deal that has been extended until the end of 2020-21.

Ibrahimovic has been in phenomenal form in his second spell with Milan, scoring 17 times and assisting six more in 22 Serie A outings – only Ciro Immobile (26) and Cristiano Ronaldo (31) have a better combined tally.

He scored 62 goals in 116 games for Sweden, meanwhile, making him his country’s all-time leading goalscorer.