Zlatan Ibrahimovic is racing against time to be fit for Sweden’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Russia and Liechtenstein in Stockholm, but won’t risk playing with pain-killing injections.
The Sweden captain told a media conference in Stockholm that he is still suffering from a damaged heel tendon that has caused him to miss the last four games for Paris Saint Germain, and that he was still unsure if he would play any part in the qualifiers.
“I won’t play with painkillers, that can make things a lot worse,” Ibrahimovic told reporters, adding that he would wait until Thursday to decide if he would play that evening against Russia.
“Against Lyon I played with a painkilling injection and it lasted 45 minutes. After that it was chaos.”
Ibrahimovic said that his long career had taught him to listen to his body, rather than try to play when injured.
“If you play when you’re injured you punish yourself in the long run. I go around almost like a zombie when I’m injured.”
Despite his injury Sweden’s all-time leading goal-scorer was on good form, joking with media as he discussed his medical condition and whether he would one day make a good manager for the Swedish national side.
“Absolutely not,” he said, grinning. “I’d knock two of them out after the first half.”