Sweden coach Janne Andersson was anything but happy with talk of Zlatan Ibrahimovic coming out of international retirement following his side securing passage to the World Cup last night.
The Swedes squeezed past Italy via a 1-0 aggregate scoreline in the play-offs, with Jakob Johansson's strike in the first leg, coupled with a dogged defensive performance at the San Siro last night, meaning the yellow and blues have qualified at the expense of the 2006 winners - as well as robbing us of another World Cup appearance for the legendary Gianluigi Buffon.
Images: PA
Not long after the memorable victory was secured, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the nation's top scorer, congratulated his compatriots in the only way he knows how to.
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He posted the following picture on Twitter, accompanied by the caption: "We are Zweden".
The 36-year old called time on his career in international football in July 2016, straight after Euro 2016.
But his aforementioned message has fuelled talk that he could be pulling on the yellow shirt once more - and compete in what would be his third World Cup. We really shouldn't put it past him.
Image: PA
However, when Andersson was quizzed about Zlatan after leading his country to an unlikely spot in next summer's showpiece in Russia, he didn't sound as though he was too keen on drafting the Manchester United striker back into the fold.
He wanted the focus to be on his current crop of players and what they had just achieved.
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As quoted by The Mirror, the 55-year old he said:
"This is incredible! This player has just stopped to play with Sweden one year and a half ago and we are still here talking about him," said Andersson after the match.
"Gosh, we need to talk about the great players we have in this team I believe.
"What I wanted to say was that this was the demonstration that our collective acted like this during the whole length of the play-offs. We have many heroes tonight. I am a bit moved but obviously very happy with the result."
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Ibrahimovic scored a total of 62 goals in 116 appearances and is widely recognised as the nation's greatest ever player.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, World Cup 2018, World Cup, Sweden
