Zlatan Ibrahimovic tearful upon return to Sweden team after five-year hiatus

AC Milan striker and international superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic generated headlines last week when he confirmed that he was returning to the Sweden men's national team for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Kosovo after he retired from international football in the summer of 2016. 

Per Reuters (h/t ESPN), the 39-year-old forward was tearful when speaking with reporters on Monday about what featuring for his country once again meant to him, his 14-year-old son Maximilian and 12-year-old Vincent. 

"Vincent cried when I left him," Ibrahimovic explained before wiping tears away. 

"To play in the national team is the biggest thing you can do as a football player, and as I was following them [Sweden], inside me I was feeling I think I can help them, I think I can do something," he said.

Ibrahimovic added there's no guarantee Sweden manager Janne Andersson will start the striker for Thursday's showdown with Georgia or Sunday's match against Kosovo. 

"Obviously it's not up to me, what a player wants and what a coach wants, it has to go together," the star goal-scorer said. 

"I've got the opportunity now to play for my country and I do it with honor, but it's not only about that - it sounds like I'm only happy to be here ... but I'm here to get results, to bring results for the coach and my teammates and the whole country. As much as I talk here, if I don't bring results, here it means nothing."

Ibrahimovic is Sweden's record goal-scorer with 62 goals in 116 international appearances.