The 2020 UEFA European Championship, which includes 24 European countries, promises to be a carnival filled with soccer's biggest names. It is one of those stages where players fantasize about creating history with their country. Some of the game's top stars compete to establish their worth. However, some unlucky individuals are forced to skip the competition as a result of an injury, as in the case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Sweden was just beginning to dream a bit larger ahead of the European Championship, with their all-time best player, Ibrahimovic, returning to the squad after a five-year international hiatus. He featured in two of the Blue and Yellow's three international games in March, and despite failing to score a goal, he contributed with two assists, one against Georgia, and another one against Kosovo in the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers.
Then, he sat out the International Friendly against Estonia, when his country eventually grabbed a 1-0 victory. Everyone was getting excited about Ibra's UEFA Euro return, but all of that hope was unfortunately quickly dashed. Find out why Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn't feature for Sweden at Euro 2020.
Euro 2020: Why does Zlatan Ibrahimovic not play for Sweden at UEFA European Championship 2020?
Ibra suffered a knee injury in Milan's 3-0 trashing over Juventus in early May, sparking fears of a possible longer break of around six weeks. Both the Sweden coach Janne Andersson and the veteran chose to play on the safe side, as the veteran was not included in the final squad for the Euro. “I have had contact with Zlatan. He is not that advanced in recovery, as we had understood from the beginning. Of course, I did an extra check to see how his rehabilitation is going," Andersson said.
“We did not expect to be able to summon him, but I checked to be sure. He’s not that advanced in rehabilitation development. I would have spoken to him regardless of these forfeits but of course, I took the opportunity to check when this situation arose." However, a more serious injury seems to have been avoided in June, as the Rossoneri have announced that Ibrahimovic underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in an international hospital in Rome, Italy.
Milan confirmed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a successful knee operation and is expected to fully recover within two months. The recovery process will last four weeks for him to start running, while he is expected to be fully available to coach Stefano Pioli again in eight weeks, i.e. just before the start of the new Serie A season, according to Sky Itala. Zlatan will turn 40 in October and has just signed a new contract with the San Siro outfit running until June 2022.
