All the signs pointed to the same thing- that Croatian coach Slaven Bilić was headed to Germany after the completion of this summer’s Euro Championship with his bags already packed and his plane ticket booked. Croatian soccer president, Vlatko Marković, even admitted that he would not fight for Bilic when Hamburg started showing serious interest in the 39 year-old coach. It seemed that all was lost for a moment. Between this and Eduardo’s injury, who knew how Croatia would perform without their leading scorer in qualifying and knowing that their humble coach from the sidelines already signed with another team.
But no matter what the circumstances might have been, Bilić stood by his team and his country and showed us all what a man of character and principle is all about. Sure, he’s not getting the money he deserves and if Croatia doesn’t show the right results this summer might have blown the best coaching opportunity of his career.
Bilić isn’t taking the money or the easy way out and is sticking with his team; and that’s the kind of coach I want representing my country.