Ibrahimovic shrugs off transfer speculation
STOCKHOLM - Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has put speculation over his future with Inter Milan out of his mind and is focused on the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Denmark on Saturday and Malta next week.
Ibrahimovic scored 25 goals as Inter retained their Serie A title but has been linked in the media with moves to Barcelona and Real Madrid.
"As soon as the (final Serie A) match was finished on Sunday, I began thinking about the national team," Ibrahimovic told reporters on Tuesday when he brushed off the questions about a potential move from Inter. "The season is not over yet, there are two matches left.
"It's a very important match and it will be a good match, a hard one but fun. It's always fun to face Denmark, it will be sold out, they're our neighbours and we'll get to show who's the best in Scandinavia."
Sweden coach Lars Lagerback said his side should not rely on Ibrahimovic replicating his superb club form.
"The more Zlatan gets to have the ball, the better it is for us. But he cannot create our game all by himself, no football player is that skilful," he said.
"Of course we could send a good luck ball to Zlatan and hope he does one of his wonders, but you can only make that once or twice in a match. We need to have a game of our own that works."
Sweden are fourth in Group One with six points from four games. Denmark lead with 13 points from five matches but have been hit by several injuries ahead of the match in Solna.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Fiorentina defender Per Kroldrup and, perhaps most notably, Feyenoord striker Jon Dahl Tomasson are both out.
Probable teams
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson; Adam Johansson, Olof Mellberg, Daniel Majstorovic, Mikael Nilsson; Daniel Andersson, Christian Wilhelmsson, Kim Kallstrom, Sebastian Larsson; Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Denmark: Thomas Sorensen; Lars Jacobsen, Daniel Agger, Simon Kjaer, William Kvist; Christian Poulsen, Jakob Poulsen, Thomas Kahlenberg; Jesper Gronkjaer, Dennis Rommedahl, Nicklas Bendtner
Referee: Mike Riley (England)
‘Maybe I’ll be signed by Wrexham, who knows? English football would suit me – if an offer came, I wouldn’t think twice, I’d go immediately’ Euro 2024 cult hero reveals his UK dream
‘Managing Leeds? It was an option that appeared, but it wasn’t the right timing. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the club I was at mid-season’: Premier League boss admits to turning down opportunity to replace Jesse Marsch in 2023