Ibrahimović made his debut in the
Swedish national team in a goal-less friendly match against
Faroe Islands January 31 2001. The match only featured players from the
Scandinavian Leagues. The first competitive game he played in for the national team was the
World Cup qualifying game against
Azerbaijan in
October 7 the same year. Ibrahimović was included in Sweden's
2002 World Cup squad that managed to go through to the finals despite playing in the
Group of Death against
Argentina, England and
Nigeria. He only played for 45 minutes but nearly made the telling contribution in Sweden's eventual
Golden Goal defeat at the hands of
Senegal.
Ibrahimović was a regular starter for Sweden in the campaign for
Euro 2004, and after a fine season in Ajax he was well prepared for
Euro 2004 in
Portugal. He joined a fine Swedish team featuring
Celtic star
Henrik Larsson and
Arsenal winger
Fredrik Ljungberg. Ibrahimović did well, scoring a penalty goal against
Bulgaria and rounding off a fine performance against the solid defense of
Italy by scoring an amazing late equaliser. He jumped up in the air with his back to goal and kicked the ball one-and-a-half meters above the ground with his back heel into
Buffon's top corner. Ibrahimović is well known for his agility and his ability to score goals with his feet high up in the air, and perhaps this stems from the fact that he practiced
tae kwon do as a youth. The tournament ended, though, with
Sweden losing to
Holland on penalties in the quarterfinals. Zlatan was one of the Swedes who missed a penalty.
Ibrahimović contributed heavily to
Sweden's successful attempt to qualify to the 2006
World Cup. Both Sweden and Ibrahimović were thought to under-achieve in the tournament, though. He was substituted at half time in one game, against
Paraguay, and did not participate in another, against
England, due to a
groin injury. How much his performances in the other games were affected by this is hard to know. Sweden was knocked out in the 2nd round by
Germany.
Not long after his awaited transfer to
Inter, Ibrahimović was called up to the Sweden squad to face Liechtenstein in the European Championship Qualifiers. While the squad was gathered at the players hotel, Zlatan and his teammates
Christian Wilhelmsson and
Olof Mellberg decided to break the squad curfew by going out to a nearby nightclub. Notable is that none of the players stated above had anything to drink.
The coaches of the national team,
Lars Lagerbäck and
Roland Andersson, decided that the three players should be sent home. Thus, they did not take part in the game against Liechtenstein.
Mellberg and Wilhelmsson grudgingly accepted the punishment, but Ibrahimović felt that it was unjust. Thus, he refused to take part in the following games against
Iceland and
Spain. Sweden went on to win these matches without Ibrahimović. He also refused to take part in a friendly match against
Egypt on
February 7, but it has been reported lately that Ibrahimović agreed to return to Swedish national team. On March 28th, 2007, in a European Championship Qualifier game, Zlatan made his return. In the last match against
Denmark Ibrahimović, responded to his critics, mesmerizing the audience with brilliant football, earning standing ovations as well as the
Man of the Match award.
