AC Milan star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken in the press conference with his national team earlier today. Here are his statements:
On the meeting in Milan with coach Andersson:
"It was a very positive meeting. We talked about everything, about my vision and his vision. We understood each other. In the end, it was about what is best for Sweden."
On returning to the national team:
"I don't come here because I'm Zlatan or Ibrahimovic. Everything I've done before doesn't matter, I'm here to give my contribution. I want to be physically well. Right now I feel good. here just to help and do my best. If you ask me, I'm the best in the world...".
On his return to the Rossoneri:
"After two years at the Galaxy, I felt alive. My agent (Raiola) said it was too easy for me to play in the United States. I asked 'who needs me most?'. He told me at Milan and that's what he called the Rossoneri."
On his role in Sweden:
"The coach Andersson plays with two strikers, sometimes we play like this at Milan. I have just arrived. I have only promised to decide the matches to the coach."
On the national team:
"It was fun to arrive at the hotel with all the players. Some of the pictures changed, but it was nice to see people like Sebastian Larsson and Emil Krafth. The only thing I asked is not to mention my age."
On his maturation:
"The older I get, the more I have patience. Both on and off the pitch. The negative is a fuel for me, I never look at the positive. Surely now I have a lot of experience, I know what to waste energy on. I like it. I train hard. Sometimes my teammates slow me down, sometimes I can't."
On his way of playing:
"I'm always the same as a player, but I play differently. Now I don't do the things I did five, ten, 15, 20 years ago. I do what I think is best for the team."
On the end of his career:
"It's not the time yet. I play as long as I can. I had this thought after my injury. I want to continue doing what I love, football is my passion."
On the captain's armband:
"In my head, Andreas Granqvist is the team captain. It's up to the coach to decide, but we already have a team captain."
On what drives him to continue playing:
"Yesterday I broke a record, but it is not a record I want. I want to play many games with Milan. For me it is a challenge to keep my body at its best every day."
On his age:
"I am very honest with myself. Many reach a certain age and think they can continue to play the same way. I do the opposite, I adapt."
On being a leader:
"I play in one of the youngest teams in Europe. A leader is not something you choose to be, it's something that just happens. I push my teammates every day. Some people take it right. But now I'm on the national team. These are such short days. It's a shame, you have to do everything in a few days. It's the hardest job in the world. As a leader, I'm myself and I try to make the others perform at their best."
On his jersey number:
"I kindly asked for 11. Alexander Isak said yes, he'll be able to take it back in six or seven years when I'll stop..."
On Sweden:
"The impression is positive. The coach's directives are clear. It all depends on how you train. I'm new here, but we all speak the language of football. It shouldn't be that hard when you play at this level."
On his physique:
"Sometimes it freezes. The head is sometimes faster than the legs can handle. But right now it's just about feeling good and playing, every time I go out on the pitch I'm like a child touching the ball for the first time. It wasn't like that before the injury, it came later. If it's the head that decides, I never stop. I'm not the same player as before, but I keep playing."
On young people:
"It's exciting. I'll keep their pace. If I'm their idol? I don't know. When we're on the pitch, we have to forget it, we're a team."
On his use:
"I am available to the coach, it will be up to him to evaluate and decide. I would have no problems starting from the bench, I am here to help the team. I do not expect anything."
On his desire to win:
"I believe in success. In everything I do I want to win. That's why I play."
On Milan:
"It had no objection to my return to the national team."
On the old problems with the coach:
"They are part of the past."
On his future as a manager:
"Right now I don't think about the role of manager. I think it is easier to be a football player than a coach. Especially if you have been a former player. I think it is very stressful to be a manager."
On his desire to return to the national team:
"When I returned from the United States and signed for Milan, I felt alive again and I felt that I could perform at a high level. The will grew more and more, I had followed the national team and playing in the national team is one of the best things in football. But it wasn't just up to me. It has to match what the coach wants. When I won the Swedish Ballon d'Or, I declared in a newspaper (Sportbladet) that I wanted to play back in the national team. We got in touch, me and the coach, and now I'm sitting here. I had a serious injury. When I was injured, I thought in my head that I was the best, but physically I was not. But now I'm here, this is my wish. I missed the national team."
On the family:
"I have two little ones at home who kick the ball, my wife asks me to tell them to stop but I say no, we can buy new things if they break...How did they take my return to the national team? I had Vincent here who really cried when I left. But now it's okay..."
Again on his return to the national team:
"I'm here to decide the matches, as happens to Milan too. I don't go out on the pitch to waste time, but to play 100%."
Again on Milan:
"I am optimistic. A day without AC Milan players is like a day without my children. This is the relationship we have created. It is as if we were sitting in a room and everyone was waiting for Zlatan to come and tell us what. I want to be part of it. I like the project that Milan is doing right now. It is not the same team as ten years ago, when they bought world players."
On the 2022 World Cup:
"It will depend on how I feel. I can dream, I can wish but when it comes to the playoffs and also about Milan. You said 41 years old. My job is to prove that my age on the plane is not 41 years old. But it's about the physical state."
