Ibrahimovic to return for Sweden against Scotland

Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named in Sweden’s 20-man squad to face Scotland in a friendly on Tuesday.

Ibrahimovic put his international career on hold at the end of 2009 – when the Swedes failed to qualify for the World Cup finals – but announced last month that he would be returning to the Sweden fold.

Sweden play Scotland on August 11 in Stockholm, and Ibrahimovic is sure to be given a warm welcome back.

Sweden coach Erik Hamren said: “It’s really satisfying to see Zlatan coming back and looking motivated.”

The friendly is Sweden’s last before they embark on the qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championships. Sweden play Hungary on September 3 then host San Marino eight days later in Malmo.

Sweden won their last friendly against the Scots 4-1 in Glasgow.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Johan Wiland (FC Copenhagen/DEN)

Defenders: Andreas Granqvist (Groningen/NED), Mikael Lustig (Rosenborg/NOR), Daniel Majstorovic (AEK Athens/GRE), Olof Mellberg (Olympiakos/GRE), Behrang Safari (FC Basel/SUI), Oskar Wendt (FC Copenhagen/DEN)

Midfielders: Kim Kallstrom (Lyon/FRA), Emir Bajrami (Twente/NED), Marcus Berg (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Tobias Hysen (IFK Gothenburg), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Ola Tovoinen (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Pontus Wernbloom (AZ Alkmaar/NED)

Strikers: Christian Wilhelmsson (Al Hilal Riyadh/KSA), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham/ENG), Martin Olsson (Blackburn/ENG), Johan Elmander (Bolton/ENG), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona/ESP)