Ibrahimović predicts goals will come

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimović is confident he can reproduce his club form at UEFA EURO 2008™ to bring an end to his three-year international goal drought. The FC Internazionale Milano forward played a decisive role as his club retained the Italian title last month and he is now ready to provide his country with a cutting edge in Austria and Switzerland.

'A secret'
The Swedes begin their campaign on Tuesday with an opening Group D tie against defending champions Greece in Salzburg. The Greeks' surprise triumph in Portugal four years ago was based on their miserly defence, and though perhaps not quite the rearguard it once was, they remain formidably solid. Yet Ibrahimović believes he can escape their shackles. "How is it done? That's a secret," grinned the Inter man. "We won't reveal it now. You'll see during the 90 minutes on the pitch." While struggling in the yellow and blue of his country, Ibrahimović has had little problem finding the back of the net in the black and blue of his club. The 26-year-old struck 17 times in Serie A for the Nerazzurri, whose form not incoincidentally dipped at the same time they lost Ibrahimović to a knee injury.

Lagerbäck praise
When the Swede made his comeback against Parma FC in the last match of the season, he came off the bench to score twice and earn the three points which won Inter the title. His impressive ratio of 32 goals in 53 Italian top-flight matches dwarves the 18 he has scored in 50 internationals, but the former AFC Ajax striker has faith that "sooner or later the goals will come". For his part, Sweden coach Lars Lagerbäck sounded unconcerned by Ibrahimović's goalless run, which stretches back over 12 internationals. He said: "Zlatan remains involved in goals we've scored and in chances we create. We are trying to adjust our game so we can use his abilities in the best way. We need to get him involved as much as possible. He can make passes that no one else sees - you need to watch it on video afterwards to work out how he did it. Those are the qualities we want to get out of him and when we're in the penalty area, we want him to be there to finish the attacks."

'Heart and fight'
Ibrahimović also spoke about creating opportunities for others and the chief beneficiary could be Henrik Larsson, with the veteran striker likely to partner the No10 in attack after being coaxed out of international retirement for a second time. The pair will need to be on form if Sweden are to emerge from an evenly-balanced group, which also features Spain and Russia, and repeat their quarter-final appearance of four years ago. "We need to play our own game, to remain compact," said Ibrahimović. "And, of course, to play with a lot of heart and fight."