Former Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested the mental strength of newcomers to the squad to the limit, former international colleague Anders Svensson has told Vetlandaposten.
Manchester United striker Ibrahimovic, who retired from international football after Euro 2016, is Sweden's all-time leading scorer and record appearance-maker.
Svensson said Ibrahimovic's inexhaustible will to win and demands for the highest standards meant he could put pressure on people but added that he "cannot say I believe in that model."
"He can be as nice as you can be, but then in the next moment... Sometimes he's acted so terribly badly toward some players that you wondered what was really happening," the former Southampton midfielder said.
"I think he wants to test new players. It's like he wants to break them down to see what they can do, and it might be why he himself has become so good.
"But I cannot say I believe in that model.
"There has never been something between him and me. I think he always had some sort of respect for those of us who are a little older."