Ivan Rakitic. The best T-shirt in the world

11 July 2018, 21:03 | Football
Иван Ракитич, Getty Images
Text Size:

At the moment when my father pulled out a T-shirt ... My brother and I knew that we would never again take them off.

When this box was in our house in Switzerland, we did not guess what was inside. She came from Croatia, and this place we called our house, although never there were not. Despite the fact that at home we spoke Croatian, and there were many Croats in the city, Croatia itself was something unknown to us. Our parents moved to Switzerland in 1991, when the war began and more there were not returned. My brother Dejan and I were born in Switzerland, but we knew about Croatia only thanks to TV and photos.

When we were young, it was hard to understand what was happening in the Balkans. Parents did not tell us anything about the war, which is logical.. I remember how parents talked to someone on the phone from Croatia and cried. It was like a bad dream. But we were lucky, we were far from that ... But many of my parents' friends stayed in Croatia, and they lost their loved ones.

Once I saw on the TV pictures and videos of the war. How is this possible? How could this happen? Football for Croatia is extremely important. Judge for yourself: before Croatia declared independence, our team played a match. When my father took the knife to pull out two t-shirts out of the box for me and my brother, it was strong ... It was like: "We are also involved in this!". These T-shirts for me and my brother were special. We did not want to shoot them, we went with them to school. We also wanted ten such T-shirts, because we did not want to wear anything else.

I must admit, when I started playing football, I told everyone that I was a Swiss guy. "Seriously? Ivan Rakitic? Swiss?" - About this kind of reaction was in people. I was born and raised in Switzerland, here I have friends, I was proud to wear a T-shirt of Switzerland for five years, when I played for youth teams. However, most of my heart belongs to Croatia.

A few years after the end of the war, my parents and brother went to Croatia. Nobody wanted to talk about the war, everyone wanted to forget about it and move on.

In 1998, Croatia played at its first World Cup, everyone went crazy. We watched with the family behind Mundialem in Switzerland. We were silent, we could talk later, and now we need to watch the game. That's what Papa said.

Every Croat will remember the World Cup 1998! You will ask why? In 1992, our national team was officially recognized, and six years later we reached the quarter finals. My father Luke has lost his mind! I do not think I've seen anyone more crazy than his. When he played football, he was the defensive midfielder and performed under the fourth number.

After the victory of Croatia over Germany, he just flew! For him, as important as football, and Croatia. I remember when I talked to the coach of Switzerland, for which team I will perform, he walked under the door and listened ... Honestly, there was a time when I was sure that I would play for the national team of Switzerland. It was my team. But ten years ago Slaven Bilic and the president of the Croatian Football Federation came to watch my game, and later we met. Bilic suggested that I play for the Croatian national team, he gave me such confidence that I thought: "Wow, I want to go with you. Go! ".

Slaven Bilic is one of the most important people in my football career. It's special, it has something that you want to play for it. It allows you to reveal all of your best qualities as a player.

But, despite the above, I can not make a decision here and now, yet Switzerland gave me a lot, I needed time. My stage in Basel was over, I was preparing to go to Schalke and wanted to start a career in Germany with a fresh head. I wanted to decide before moving out, for which team I will perform.

I thought for a long time and decided to trust my heart. I took the phone and called the coach of the Swiss national team. I explained my decision to play for Croatia. This is not a decision against Switzerland ... Later I called Bilic and said that I want to be part of the Croatian national team. He told me: "The whole Croatian people will be proud of you, just enjoy football". Our conversation did not last long, but at the door I heard Daddy's steps. I opened the door and my dad looked at me.. He did not know that I made a decision for which country to speak, but said that he would support me in any case. I decided to joke a bit ... - I will play for Switzerland.

- Okay, fine..

- I was joking! No no! I chose Croatia!.

And then my father began to cry ... Now that I'm on the Croatian national team, I always think about my father and that moment. There is no word to describe what it is like to compete for a Croatian team. Croatia is a special people, with its own character.

Now I'm much older than I was when I was a kid, when my father took out a T-shirt from the Croatian national team, but the irony is that I still do not want to shoot it. Wearing this T-shirt is also a huge pressure, good pressure.



As you understand, my family grew up in different countries. My wife is Spanish, we grow two daughters in Barcelona. My daughters have the same experience as me - we are from different countries, we have our own view of life. My little girls are my biggest fans.

Before the start of the 2018 World Cup, I had a special order - I came home with a box for them, in which was a Croatian form. They said that they would never want to shoot her. I know what they feel!.




Add a comment
:D :lol: :-) ;-) 8) :-| :-* :oops: :sad: :cry: :o :-? :-x :eek: :zzz :P :roll: :sigh:
 Enter the correct answer