Stockholm (AFP)

"A piece of the puzzle" among the others: at 39, stainless Zlatan Ibrahimovic will return to a Swedish team on Thursday very different from the one he left in 2016, a much anticipated international retirement at three months of the Euro.

The AC Milan striker, who had retired internationally after Euro-2016, will wear Thursday for the first time in nearly five years the Swedish jersey flanked by a new number, the 11. Opposite: the Georgia (19:45 GMT), driven by ex-French international Willy Sagnol, for a World Cup-2022 qualifying match.

A divisive personality and an oversized ego, Ibrahimovic assures us today that he will do "what he has to do to help the team in the best possible way".

"He is a very good footballer, the best we have had in Sweden," admitted coach Janne Andersson, who took charge of the team the day after Ibrahimovic left, earlier.

Under his era, the star players gave way to the collective.

"Ibra" therefore "enters" a much more horizontal hierarchy where he can not expect to be highlighted in the same way (as in 2016) ", assures AFP Noa Bachner, sports journalist for the tabloid Expressen.

- "Other dimension" -

This fall, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 116 caps and 62 goals in the selection, told the press that wearing the yellow jersey of Sweden "missed".

He then met the coach, with whom relations have been strained in the past.

If, according to specialists, the arrival of Ibrahimovic is unlikely to transform the national team, his presence can give it "another dimension", believes Olof Lundh, football reporter for the Swedish channel TV4.

The Milan player, in great shape this season despite several injuries and the approach of 40 years, has shown "that he is still a very good finisher and that is obviously something that any team would like to have", explains the expert. .

The risk?

That the game revolves too much around the star.

Before his departure "it was Zlatan's national team (...) today, the players might want to find Zlatan with the ball, concentrating the game around him," Olof Lundh said.

The return to the national team of its top scorer has often divided the Scandinavian nation, between fans wishing to see him again and those arguing that he no longer has his place in a team that has managed to qualify without him for international competitions.

- Euro in sight -

"The return of God", as the player himself launched, however, blows a wind of optimism in the ranks of Blagult.

"He comes with an incredible experience and has won a lot. He has a strong winning mentality that he is sure to pass on to us," captain Andreas Granqvist reacted in particular in the Swedish press - the same who claimed "no more egos , no more clans "in the absence of Ibrahimovic at the 2018 World Cup.

A balancing act now awaits the coach: "manage Zlatan's expectations of his teammates and his winning mentality at all costs, without harming others or the harmony within the group," explains Noa Bachner.

Without its giant of 1.95 m, Sweden qualified directly for the Euro, where it will face Spain, Poland and Slovakia in the first round group stage.

But the national team is emerging from a painful campaign in the League of Nations: 1 victory, 5 defeats, and a relegation.

If the list for the Euro will wait until May, the presence of Ibrahimovic is very likely, except for injury.

Until then, "God" Zlatan is also expected for the qualifying match against Kosovo on March 28, and Estonia in friendly on March 31.

© 2021 AFP