It has been a whirlwind of discussion this weekend regarding 23 year-old Borna Sosa’s decision to dump Croatia and get a German passport to play for the 4-time World Cup champions. Sosa was born in Zagreb to Croatian parents. He played three seasons for Dinamo Zagreb before heading to Stuttgart. He has been capped by the Croatia U21 side 19 times. He is regarded as one of the best up and coming left-backs in Europe. His mom was born in Berlin.
So what’s going on here? Did the HNS drop the ball by not giving Sosa a senior cap earlier or is he a snake for turning his back to the Vatreni?
Borna Sosa reveals what happened from his perspective in an Index.hr interview:
Why did you decide to play for Germany?
I decided to play for Germany because I’m already 23 years old and have been playing in the Bundesliga for three years; still without a senior cap for Croatia. I have realized that the HNS is not counting on me and they think that they have better players in my position. I respect their decision and there is no anger. We remain on good terms. It’s my decision to play for Germany.
Have you talked to the HNS about a senior call up before?
I’m not the type who waits for others to make moves. I make them when I think it’s good and necessary. I made the decision personally. This season I had no contact with people from the Croatian national team and no one ever called me from the HNS. I spoke with Dalić for the first time this morning, when the news came out that I had decided to play for the German national team.
Is it true you received a guarantee that you would make your debut against Malta in March during World Cup qualifiers?
That’s not true. Dalić did not tell me that I would make my debut against Malta, nor did we ever talk. There was speculation and there was talk about it. Officially, I never received any invitation from the Croatian national team.
Did former Croatia assistant coach Ivica Olić ever come to Stuttgart matches to follow your performances? We were told that Olić was in charge of following you and informing you about the plans of coach Dalić.
Olić did not come, as far as I know. I don’t know what his role was, but he told me through a third person that I would be invited to the senior side in March. I never talked to Olić, there were some messages through intermediaries and I didn’t take it seriously. The only invitation I ever received from Croatia was sent to me by the manager of the U21 team, Igor Bišćan, and, as you know, I responded. I played in the Euro qualifiers we qualified for.
If you had received Dalić’s call earlier, what would you have done?
If I had received Dalić’s invitation and played in March, or in September/October last year when there were opportunities, I would have played for Croatia. There have been a lot of opportunities and I am no longer 17, but 24 years old. Unfortunately, our paths never crossed and I never received a senior call up. I received Dalić’s support and understanding this morning and thanked him. He wished me luck, I wished him the same. Big things are waiting for me as the German national team is a spaceship. I’m looking forward to getting a chance to play with such greats, mostly Bayern players.
What impression did the director of the German federation, famous striker Oliver Bierhoff, leave on you?
The German alliance is the strongest alliance in the world, and Bierhoff as chief proved to be a man of his word. He is calm and sticks to what he says. That is the only way they operate in Germany.
How long did it take you to get to this point with the German federation?
The whole story takes place over 2/3 months. They did everything we could to resolve the citizenship as soon as possible and I am very grateful for that.
How did it start?
They found out that my mom was born in Germany and they got in touch with me. We started the process and we were constantly communicating. They came to every game I played. They said I was being considered to them as a player for the German national team system.
Have you ever met Dalić?
I don’t remember, I think I saw him once in my life, nothing official. The HNS had information for two months that I had an offer from Germany. I personally reported this to an HNS director. It’s over. I told them I had an offer from Germany and to talk to them. That was it, no one from the HNS contacted me after that. They made their decision, I made mine, and there is no bad blood.
You must have read the comments that some Croatians fans are not happy with your decision. What do you say to that?
I’ve said before that this is a business decision. Many call me a traitor, but they do not understand that I still love Croatia the most in the world and it will always be my country and the country of my family and friends. I will not play for the Croatian national team, but I still love my country. In the business world, I decided to play football for Germany.
Have you already been selected to play for Germany at EURO 2021?
I don’t know if I will reach the Euros. FIFA still has to change my citizenship and it’s a technical matter that may not be resolved before the Euros. But that’s not crucial for me, I’m thinking about the next 10 to 12 years of my career for the German national team.
Sosa has been on Bayern Munich’s radar for the past year. He could end up being a greater defender or a complete flop. Who knows? Sosa needed to be capped by the senior side during Nations League matches in 2020 without a doubt. That’s completely on the HNS. It’s a shame he has an exit strategy with his mother being born in Berlin.
But you know what? Wearing the checkers is special. It just is.
If Sosa can’t wait another month to be called up by the Vatreni after making national news, then this team isn’t for him. Being hard headed is part of the Croatian gig. If he feels slighted by miscommunication or thinks he’s not wanted – which absolutely is not the case – then I only have one thing to say: Auf Wiedersehen, Sosa!
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/sport/52899-borna-sosa-s-statement
His response
We are losing homegrown talent to Germany?
We had two years of getting our teeth kicked in and we couldn’t find ONE match for Sosa?
This is Balkan disfunction at its best.
He has been good enough for a call up these last two years.
Depth is the only way we are going to win a major tournament.
NOW more than ever.
Sve znaju ..
This arrogance is our teal Achilles heal.
Blame Sosa all you want.
Looks like Borna has been down-voting a lot of our comments here.
Haha…funny!
It’s nice not having those crazy anonymous commenters on here!
a german publication also now speculating that Sosa may be ineligible to play for them. We’ll see.
https://www.kicker.de/darf-sosa-gar-nicht-fuer-deutschland-spielen-804426/artikel
just copy and paste into google translate. They pretty much speculate on everything we’re saying here.
Sosa surname –
Spanish form of Sousa, one who came from Sousa (salty place), in Portugal.
I believe his decision was made from a salty place.
Prodigal son? I’m sure the Croats would take him back with open arms?
Ok if this is true can you ante or someone here on this board who have contacts within the savez take appropriate preventative action against Germany and Sosa
Both will need to be taught a lesson that Germany is to keep their dirty hands off our players and to prevent Sosa from ever playing for Germany
Further I personally do not take what it takes we need to make him an example to others that you cannot screw with us hrvati and our sacred grb
first of all, Dalic is just shit – losing some promising players is on the way!
|l we can just put him or the other players _o) who could have played for other countries, into a friendly match! –
LAknat always right ->
if Dalic still in this NT _o),
Stanisic will choose to play for Germany as well -0
or even Sucic: so it’s all about this stupid Dalic |+
You’re all gonna like this.
Apparently Sosa won’t be able to play for Germany since he played international games for Croatia after his 21h birthday.
I hope the Germans won’t manage to cheat their way past this.
That would mean that Sosa won’t play one single international senior game. The business world can be tough sometimes.
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/borna-sosa-je-usao-u-veliki-rizik-ugledni-pravnik-ne-vidim-kako-bi-on-mogao-igrati-za-njemacku-15071783
Bruh. I just posted it below. 😉
Here’s an even funnier update.
Sosa is now saying that he did communicate with Olić, and he’s saving face a little bit now and saying that he is fully aware that there was never a guarantee of getting his German footballing passport and that he could be left without either country.
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/hoce-li-ikad-igrati-za-elf-sosa-za-sn-svjestan-sam-rizika-ali-nisam-zelio-raditi-hns-u-iza-leda-15071816
Didn’t see it, Maminjo.
Hvala.
It’s gonna be a fun week.
So, I was wondering how it was possible that Sertić wasn’t allowed to play for us (as he was capped by the France juniors before he received his Croatian citizenship), yet Borna is allowed to play for Germany despite not being a citizen prior to being capped by Croatia’s juniors…
And now there is an article on Sportske Novosti that questions that exact issue.
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/borna-sosa-je-usao-u-veliki-rizik-ugledni-pravnik-ne-vidim-kako-bi-on-mogao-igrati-za-njemacku-15071783
If this is true… Then it means that Borna Sosa could have royally fucked up.
Apparently, the rules are set in stone and there’s no getting around it.
If he didn’t already have German citizenship PRIOR to being capped by Croatia’s junior team, then he’s not allowed to play for Germany.
It’s already too late, and I would never call this piece of shit up anyway… But it would be humiliating if his football passport was denied now.
So then what’s Bierhoff doing sending German Soccer Federation officials to Sosa’s games? Is he just stupid also or does Germany have someone on the inside that can pull strings on their behalf and make this happen for Sosa?
Yea, the article even questions this.
I would assume that the German FA wouldn’t be this incompetent as to proceed with pursuing Sosa, if there was no chance of him being able to receive his football passport.
But maybe they have some hookup in FIFA/UEFA that confirmed for them that it shouldn’t be a problem.
It’s disgusting to see somebody call national team football “business”. Playing for your national team is a huge honor, and any real Croatian would rather play for Croatia once than another nation 30 or 40 times. I know a lot of people respect his decision, but I have absolutely zero respect for this clown and his choice.
Should he have been selected for the national team sooner? Of course. But he’s acting like the HNS and Dalic owe him a callup when, in reality, he’s entitled to absolutely nothing.
Looks like Rijeka handed 3 free goals to Dinamo today!
Thanks to your people Armada!!
Rijeka’s defense has just been atrcious this year.
Dalic’s response:
Sosa ne krije da je očekivao kako će već imati pokoji nastup za Vatrene, kaže da ste razgovarali, ali mu nikakva obećanja niste dali.
– Sosa je bio na popisu A reprezentacije za kvalifikacijske utakmice u ožujku, jasno mu je rečeno da će debitirati protiv Malte. Morao je preskočiti Sloveniju i Cipar jer je imao crveni karton i dvije utakmice kazne iz mlade reprezentacije, što se prenosi i na A vrstu. O tome je i s njim, ali i drugim njegovom ljudima razgovarao Ivica Olić. Kazao mu je da će biti s nama, da ga vidimo, a i da se upozna s atmosferom u ekipi. Rekao je: “Super, hvala“. Međutim, nakon toga je Igor Bišćan zamolio da igrači koje on treba budu ustupljeni mladoj reprezentaciji. I meni je bio cilj da ona napravi što bolji rezultat, ne mogu biti sebičan i misliti samo na sebe. Gledao sam da hrvatska mlada reprezentacije napravi povijesti uspjeh, stoga sam kao uvijek ustupio Bišćanu igrače koje je tražio, pa tako i Bornu Sosu koji je trebao igrati protiv Engleske. Bišćan je rekao da mu je ta utakmica važna i da mu je Sosa bitan za taj susret. O tome je Borna odmah bio obaviješten, sve je znao. Ništa se nije događalo, a da Borna ne bi bio informiran. Međutim, na kraju nije došao na utakmicu s Engleskom jer je javio da je ozlijeđen.
At first, I was infuriated at the HNS’ response to this entire thing and the fact Borna hasn’t been called up. I still think he should’ve been called up much earlier. However as this story develops, I’m starting to really believe that the organization, as well as Dalic did make attempts to bring him into the team.
If Sosa really is like we are depicting him to be, then good riddance… we don’t need a player with that type of mentality. He can consider himself 100% german because EVERYONE will recognize him here and he will never have peace in Croatia again. Good luck trying to have a nice vacation here.
I dont have hard feelings best of luck to him this is on the HNS. Player selection has been very poor in my opinion sinve the silver in russia.
Sosa should have been infront of melnjak and even barisic imo
Gvardiol place is in A team aswell
Moro Majer Ivanusec Erlic Bradaric Basic also need to be atleast on bench for croatia need to build like bilic did 2006 for next 10 years not call has beens or never wases.
Im guessing this is one of the younger players that dont respect older players that Dalic and Lovren commented back in march?!
Lol no not Erlic, he isn’t NT quality
As for the other players, I agree with you
SOSA: “I have realized that the HNS is not counting on me and they think that they have better players in my position. I respect their decision and there is no anger.”
— He’s lying. He’s very bitter, but too cowardly to approach them about it (which is why Dalic and Biscan were still including him in their selections).
SOSA: “This season I had no contact with people from the Croatian national team and no one ever called me from the HNS. I spoke with Dalić for the first time this morning, when the news came out that I had decided to play for the German national team.”
— Are National Team coaches required to chat with every single upcoming prospect?
Do Majer, Moro, Ivanusec, Gvardiol and these players all have regular contact with Dalic?
These guys all know they are still eligible for U21 selection, and that’s the process. You don’t need to have regular conversations. Nobody has time for this. Biscan and the U21 squad have ambition to win something at that level. Sosa is trying to make it seem like he would not have been selected for the National Team after this, which is an obvious lie.
SOSA: “That’s not true. Dalić did not tell me that I would make my debut against Malta, nor did we ever talk.”
“He told me through a third person that I would be invited to the senior side in March”.
“The only invitation I ever received from Croatia was sent to me by the manager of the U21 team, Igor Bišćan, and, as you know, I responded. I played in the Euro qualifiers we qualified for.”
— More lies and ego problems. So, he doesn’t accept invitations unless it is directly from the coach himself, lol. But at the same time, he doesn’t voice any displeasure to anyone during this whole time.
He was accepting U21 invitations from Biscan and, at the same time, he was negotiating with the German FA (Sosa already admitted that he was talking to Bierhoff for three months now). So, he’s been offended that Dalic himself didn’t call him up (only through an intermediary), he’s in contact with his U21 teammates and accepting callups for the U21 team, and at the same time, he’s negotiating with Germany. This kid is a snake.
If I were one of his U21 teammates like Moro or Majer, I would publicly rip him in the media for being silent about all this. Call out the snake before any miserable anti-HNS folks use this as a way to create more discord.
SOSA: “I personally reported this to an HNS director”
— He’s lying again. He’s fine with naming names for all other parts of his story, but doesn’t want to say who he reported all this to. Why not tell his U21 coach in Biscan? Nor any of his teammates? You’d think he would tell those who were closest to him in the National Team setup. I doubt he would avoid mentioning this to Biscan, but go and find some faceless HNS director and tell him in confidence, lol.
SOSA: “I don’t know if I will reach the Euros. FIFA still has to change my citizenship and it’s a technical matter that may not be resolved before the Euros. But that’s not crucial for me, I’m thinking about the next 10 to 12 years of my career for the German national team”
— So this guy was upset that he wasn’t selected to play for Croatia last year, but he’s fine to wait for the Germans to select him (even if it’s after the Euros). He’s lying.
This is Bayern and Germany playing games. He’s likely been offered a transfer to Bayern, but it’s contingent on him playing for Germany’s National Team.
So he’s trading in his Nationality for a pay raise. He just needs to say it like it is.
Agree on all of the above. He knows the reaction he will be getting for the rest of his life whether it’s going back ‘home’ or a fan – and is trying to snake his way through it. He’s just pissed that Bradaric passed him in the pecking order. He sees Vlasic and Brekalo playing A team and is one of those jealous Me-first types thinking he should be there. The fact that Bradaric scored that dying minutes goal against England in the U21 was the mail in the coffin.
He was in the verge of being in the A team fold and he trades it away. Since the Germans can’t beat they are deciding to buy our players with promises…..dirty tactics.
The good thing that comes of this is tha the HNS likely doesn’t take players for granted that they will play. A kid like Sucic should be contacted regularly.
Other thing to note this was an index.hr interview – about as anti Cro as they come. Cigani.
I have been reading a lot of comments from these stories, and I actually now think that this is all fake (Sosa feeling slighted, and leaving because we never called him up).
It’s very likely that he was approached by Germany last year, around the same time as that Bayern transfer rumor came to light.
It’s possible he was offered a potential transfer to Bayern, if he plays for Germany.
However, there was a chance that he could be called up for Croatia in the meantime (as he was playing well) and the paperwork for Germany was still underway.
Some are suggesting he got that red card against Scotland on purpose so he would get a multi-game suspension (preventing him from any callups to the senior side too) and then the so-called injury came after that.
He didn’t want to be in a situation where he would have to reject a Croatia callup.
It would be a pretty hard sell to the public to claim that Dalic and the HNS didn’t want you, if they called him up.
So he had to delay things with red card suspensions and fake injuries until that paperwork was complete, and he could claim that nobody wanted him.
Yeah, yesterday I spent a lot of time reading several articles trying to piece together this scenario and it was clear to me that Sosa has no problems throwing all the blame to Dalic and the HNS while playing the victim…a cocky victim at that!
He’s arrogant and overly confident…even stating he’s been a top 3 defender in Germany for “3” seasons and not just this season…which is a flat out lie!
His “business decision” comment is another fluff, he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else while he’s the only smart businessman and the only superb quality player ever been faced with a challenging situation! Fucking arrogant and very conceited!
Me, me, me….if he’s like this now, who the fuck knows how he will be in the future!
Good riddance!
“If I had received Dalić’s invitation and played in March, or in September/October last year when there were opportunities, I would have played for Croatia.”
This kid is full of it. In March he was already working on getting his German papers. As soon as he got a whiff of playing for Germany, his heart was set on playing for the Elf.
He’s blaming it on not being called up, while the real motivation is to further his career. He should come out and say it.
This Kid is another N. Kalinič in the making. He would have been a cancerous presence in the dressing room. I’d argue we are actually better off with out him.
And to have the nerve to call this a “Business Decision!” This is your country and people. Mrš!!!
Yea. The more I read, the more I realize that this was a sneaky tactic to gain sympathy from the anti-HNS crowd.
He likely made this decision last year, and did what he could to avoid a callup in the meantime.
Would be nice actually if FIFA investigated this to see if the German FA advised him on any of these actions.
Kvartuc should write an article on it, and see if the Cro media picks it up (like they always do). 🙂
Ante…great work on the new website!!
F@#k him. I agree with everyone’s comments. This guy is a traitor, a snake, and he is dead to me. He is now our enemy, and I hope that everyone in Cro treats him that way. Throughout our history, Croatia’s worst enemy has always been from within. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to this story. Maybe he was a problem in the dressing room…was he faking an injury? All of the blame needs to sit firmly on sosa’s shoulders. If he was good enough and ready for a call up, then he would have got his chance soon. Anyone who views playing for your country a business decision can f@#k off.
I’m so mad at this situation that I can’t find the words.
If he’d actually wanted to play for Hrvatska, he could have spoken out much sooner. His agent could have contacted the NHS to inquire about his status with them and negotiate a timeline for a call-up. He could have pulled an Andrei Kramaric and spoken about his discontent at press conferences to generate buzz. The fact that he didn’t do any of this and instead waited for the federations to do what they would do suggests that his attitude is the exact opposite of what he claims when he says: “I’m not the type who waits for others to make moves.” Seems kind of hypocritical and passive-aggressive behavior that we don’t want on the repka, but maybe this will be a lesson for the HNS in the future.
Sounds like another Nikola Kalinic situation. Good thing this was identified early so he didn’t become a poison at the national team camp. Dalic knows how to deal with these types of people. Would be funny if one emotional interview ruined his chances of ever playing at an international summer tournament.
This is worse.
Kalinic had an ego, and wanted to start.
Sosa wants a transfer to Bayern, and is willing to trade his nationality for it.
Sosa is playing the “I want to play for the A team, but they don’t want me” card.
That’s a lie.
He never wanted to play for the A team, if it meant giving up that possible Bayern transfer.
Break a leg, you c$$t.
National disgrace.
If I was told that I was going to get 1 cap for Croatia at age 33 and that was it, I’d rather do that than play for another country for 10 years.
He’s made his decision and we need to look at him like he’s dead to us…which he is.
We all have buddies who got dumped by their GF’s or wives and you’re tired of listening to him for the 100th time.
It’s really going to hurt if he turns into a world class LB for the next decade but that’s highly unlikely?
Losing brekalo or Sucic to another country would be far more painful.
Let’s hope bradaric turns into a stud and SO SO flames out after making only a few appearances for the square heads.A reminder to future players of the repercussions about making rash decisions.
Sosa is moron. What do you expect?
But what about the German FA? That’s like a close friend who starts to send messages to your girlfriend the moment he finds out that your relationship is in a difficult phase.
To me it’s a money thing. Young Stanisic was almost forced to choose Germany over CroatiaU19. They want young Germans at Bayern, marketing is easier that way.
Sosa probably being told that if he chooses Germany, he would play for Bayern next season. Big salary, Champions League….
I think the FIFA should investigate this. Not to bring Sosa back (we don’t want him anymore) but to stop rich countries stealing kids from poor countries. Sosa is so stupid to say it himself: in the business world…. I’im sorry but that’s not what national team football is all about. Club football is about money, national football team shouldn’t be.
What’s gonna be next? Let’s say you’re born in Albania and you’re very talented. You simply turn down the Albanian team (since you won’t win anything with them anyway). You wait until you go to England. Become English and a few years later you could win the World Cup with England. Is that what we want?
Getting FIFA to investigate this will just make the HNS look petty, and it won’t stop FIFA from favouring the Germanys and Frances of the world.
I’d rather Sosa’s teammates call him a traitor to the media, and ensure that he carries the traitor mark for the rest of his life.
Germany is being sneaky, but it is Sosa who has to make the decision.
He’s already a young millionaire, but he wanted a few million more. This is what it is. He sold his passport.
This is exactly what I said on another site yesterday! He sold his football nationality to Germany!
A business decision!?! Playing for your country is a business decision!?!
Sramota
Absolutely clueless!
Sosa just did the personal equivalent of a Euro Super League…and we all know how well that went over with true fans of the sport.
There is no place for prima donnas like this on our national team.
Maybe he should have talked to Kalinic if he regrets playing politics.
If he had any brains he would’ve known that after this Euro all these young guns would be getting their chance to play. Aw, booohooo nobody talked to me…why would they talk to you, you’re playing for the U21’s, you qualified for the European Cup, everything is going to plan and then you decide to go off the reservation and label yourself a Judas for life among your own people!!!
Totally clueless!
Imagine trading the glorious Šahovnica of Croatia for that ugly Švabska ptica.
What an idiot!!!
Have fun vacationing in Crna Gora budala.
I am completely lost for words but I will muster up the following
I really hope he flops from here on here
That’s my business decision about his future career over the next 10 to 12 years
If he ever steps onto Croatian territory again I will not be surprised if he receives a difficult reception
Zbogom Borna I hope you enjoy the 12 silver coins you have collected
Further I thought Germany was Croatia’s best friend
How wrong was I