Sweden’s goalkeeper, Andreas Isaakson, has 129 caps, is retiring from the national team, and plays occasionally for his club team (Kasimpasa – Turkey). The most the Guardian could muster is that Isaakson is a dependable old pro.

That same paper says that Andreas Granqvist (31, FF Krasnodar, Russia) is the “defensive mainstay”, and “One of the few players who dares to stand up to Zlatan.” Maybe for that reason El País, from Spain, projects that 21-year old Victor Nilsson Lindelöf (Benfica, nicknamed “Iceman” in Portugal), will start in his place. Coincidence, or happenstance? The other central defender is Erik Johansson (27, Copenhagen), who

admits being “completely uninterested” by football when he is not playing. “I prefer music and several of my friends are musicians. I sometimes feel like an alien when I sit in the changing room and listen to all the others talk football.”

Adjust your taeks accordingly.

On the sides, there’s Mikael Lustig (29, Celtic), and Martin Olsson (28, Norwich). In 2014-15, he was suspended three games in the EPL because he “appeared to push referee Simon Hooper” after a red card. I like him already—and screw the English obsession with “appearances”.

At midfield, Kim Källström (33, Grasshoppers, Switzerland) is in the middle, with Jimmy Durmaz (27, Olympiakos, Greece), Oscar Lewicki (23, Malmö FF, Sweden), and Emil Forsberg (24, Red Bull Leipzig, Germany). Per The Guardian, Red Bull Leipzig is hated in Germany because of a lack of tradition, which prompted this retort from Forsberg: “If people think I am stupid and that I have betrayed football then … well, they can think that”.

Emil Forsberg spits hot fire, via ironyogini.com

Projected starting forwards are Marcus Berg (29, Panathinaikos F.C., Greece), tasked recently with playing down a team fight at practice. Aside from the usual “This is nothing”, Berg explained: “There are bad losers – and bad winners who mock them. Some take it harder than others.” The other striker is the also easygoing and philosophical Zlatan Ibrahimović.

You might have heard about Zlatan. He has an insane amount of club championships (13 in 15 years). Or maybe you know him from this. Or this. This for country. (That last one deserves separate treatment.) Zlatan, 34, has said that Euro 2016 is his last international tournament. The Sweden team will carry on, but what’s above is the most interesting stuff on the rest of the guys that I found. Zlatan, well…

At 17, playing in Sweden, he turned down a try out for Arsenal because, he said, “Zlatan doesn’t do auditions”. He had loud arguments with Pep Guardiola in Barcelona and said of his former coach “He has no balls”. He created his own line of sporting apparel, and told Vogue “These clothes will not make you better. We do not have unnecessary details that promise to make you jump higher. But it is an easy, discreet, functional product—the best it can be for its job.” Basically, this is Zlatan (brunette) when life (blonde) tells him You Can’t Do / Say That:

Via ibbeachnana.files.wordpress.com

Sweden plays Ireland on Monday, June 13 (11 AM Central), Italy on Friday, June 17 (8 AM Central), and Belgium on Wednesday June 22 (3 PM Central). Italy and Belgium are the favorites. Four points might be enough to get past the group, perhaps a tie with Italy and a win against Ireland.

Sweden and Zlatan have yet to win international trophies. Why not both.

Banner image via zimbio.com; player info from The Guardian here (excellent stuff).