Having come out of International retirement in March, Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of his country's Euro 2020 participation, following an injury sustained for AC Milan in their win over Juventus.
Sweden coach Janne Andersson confirmed the news in the aftermath of the knee injury sustained in Milan's 3-0 victory last weekend, with six weeks of treatment meaning he will not be able to make the swansong appearance anticipated. Following the win over Juventus, Dr. Volker Musahl assessed the injury, with experience of helping the player on the road to recovery when he performed surgery on a cruciate ligament injury, suffered by the Swede in a 2017 Europa League game against Anderlecht for Manchester United.
While the same level of seriousness of this injury is not as severe - the 2017 injury raised doubts as to whether he would play again - the six week lay-off is too tight a timeline in which to recover, with Sweden's opening game of the tournament just four weeks away, against Spain.
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Ibrahimovic had already proven his worth, with an assist on his return to the international fold in March, when he assisted Viktor Claesson to secure a narrow 1-0 win over Georgia in Sweden's first World Cup qualifying game of the new campaign. While he became the oldest player to represent his country in that game, and lasted a decent 84 minutes, it's now clear he won't be able to extend that record.
The record goalscorer for Sweden, with 62 international goals, will be a considerable absence for his country, despite the fact that he was not a part of the qualifying campaign. Sweden will have their work cut out at the tournament; in addition to the Spanish opener, the Swedes face Slovakia on the 18th of June followed by Poland in their last group game on the 23rd of June.