Former Croatian defender (105 caps) and current Croatia U19 manager, Josip Šimunić speaks about Borna Sosa snubbing the Croatian senior side to play for Germany. Joe says, “You can’t hold these kids’ hands and tell them how good they are playing everyday. You have to wait your turn.”
Interview available top of website.
Apparently he can’t even play for Germany anymore now due to some recent rule change at Fifa , is this true or did I misread the article ?
Thxs
So.so.so. so…………. will he be invited back into the fold?
He is 23, that is still very young, and people make stupid mistakes when influenced by powerful people. I was angry at what happened but we need to show mercy in this world to people who screw up. I’m fine, if he is good enough, to let him play for us. I know many will not agree.
well, the ball is in is court and he has some splainin to do!
As Dalic said…the first step has to come from Borna himself.
The HNS has already accepted Borna’s decision to play for Germany. Now it’s up to Borna to put in a request to get his Croatia role back (if he wants it). Then after that, it’s not just a coach’s decision. There are others in the HNS that have to approve it too.
This embarrassing episode will teach Borna some humility.
But I would be surprised if he decided to reach out to the HNS and try to get his spot back. It’s just too unlikely for anyone to do this after all he said.
He’s probably better off just doubling down and pretending like he doesn’t want to play international football, lol.
As upset as I get with Dalic for not calling up our young players earlier, he is a pretty classy guy.
He’s right about Sosa and all the sneaky people surrounding him. I like that he took a jab at the media who were so keen to report things negatively against the HNS.
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/jasno-je-tko-je-sosu-izmanipulirao-a-jako-me-smetaju-i-ove-njegove-izjave-puno-je-tu-neistina-15072228
But do you question why Dario Melnjak is being pushed into the NT? It’s because someone above Dalic has an interest in selling this guy hopefully Dalic isn’t making money here but someone is getting paid playing guys like this… point here is that HNS with there cocky ways think that they can cement anyone and they were way to forward looking on this expecting no reaction from Sosa but expecting to expose other players for there pockets… at the end of the day wouldn’t you want to make the NT the best it could be… give time for SOSA to gel with the team and of course get better results.. no it’s all business with HNS and I disagree with people who think we are led by good people in our Sports sector.. they are just like our commi politicians.. isto govno
https://bulinews.com/news/8408/bierhoff-confirms-borna-sosa-not-eligible-play-for-germany
Sosa not eligible for German Repka. now what. lol
Oliver Bierfhoff is a real piece of shit for doing this.
Did he not think of even consider reading the FIFA rulebook before having these discussions with Borna?
Now he tries to distance himself from all of it. He should have apologized to Borna for his inability to read.
As stupid as it sounds, I feel sorry for Borna now. He has a big ego, was being selfish and threw Dalic under the bus…but now he’s without a National Team (and likely for good). This hurts both us and him.
I hope we meet Germany in these Euros now.
“As stupid as it sounds, I feel sorry for Borna now. He has a big ego, was being selfish and threw Dalic under the bus…but now he’s without a National Team (and likely for good).”
Sosa bears responsibility for his own stupidity, he’s not a child and he’s obviously conceited and arrogant. These past several days demonstrate Sosa is a head-case and he lied on top of lies, then doubling down and behaving as if he’s gonna show the Savez what they are losing…then deleting any sign of himself in a Croatian uniform.
If you ask me, thats someone who has mental issues and someone that is capable of being a menace to the team and thinking he’s more important than the organization. He wasn’t treated poorly…Dalic probably could have/should have done more for him but even if he didn’t, I can’t imagine someone thinking they’re soo awesome while playing on a sub par team and performing for 6 months! His club played in 2nd division last season…he played a combined total of 24 games in the prior 2 seasons…when we look at the current situation and his past two seasons, could he have been selected earlier…YES…but is it fair to say he only recently got into good form…YES!
I’d like to see how he responds to this news! he royally fucked up without considering the consequences!
I agree with everything you said, but I still feel a bit sorry for him. This was such a bad decision, and he will always be remembered for this no matter what he does in his career.
He’s a stupid 23 year old who was too easily influenced by his handlers…and that idiot Oliver Bierhoff.
The German FA should accept some accountability too. Bierhoff should be fired for this incompetence, or at least called out for being such a fool. A simple Google search would have confirmed this.
In the end, both the HNS and Borna lose out. The German DFB is not affected.
We lost ourselves a quality LB, and now have to hope that Bradaric pans out in that role (better than Sosa).
Maminjo, its one thing to say “dear Croatia, I have decided I want my future football career to be with Germany”…and something along those lines but Sosa first criticized and over played the situation by stating he was never invited and nor did he know if he was invited…and then immediately and hastily removing every single photo of himself affiliated with Croatia…and to top it off, he said “no turning back”!
I mean, we can’t use his age or immaturity level for shit like that. He must have some advice from his parents and other relatives in Croatia that advised him to be level headed and yet, he said fuck you to them all, I guarantee you his parents are getting harassed today!
He looked as if he was confident, decisive and gave us the big FUCK YOU…how dare anyone treat herr Sosa with such disrespect!?
Yea, there’s definitely no turning back after that stupid Index interview (where he actually lied and changed his story a bit after).
I guess the good news in all this is that he looks like a complete fool, and we won’t be having any other young Croats trying to jump ship in the near future lol.
Nobody will want to get Sosa’ed after this.
https://bulinews.com/news/8408/bierhoff-confirms-borna-sosa-not-eligible-play-for-germany
You just have to love this, poetic justice! Can we make sure he never plays a international game again.
Jakov Fak? To train in Slovenia he had to represent Slovenia instead of Croatia having previously medalled for the Croats? “Sell out,” “traitor,” “turncoat”?
Guys I love bi Joe big fan pravi Ustasa in heart but I believe he is not being all truthfull here… why… I believe he won’t and can’t because unfortunately he indirectly represents works for the true thugs above him HNS and co.
Joe won’t expose the situation and maybe at this time I can understand him.. and maybe one day he will be true USTASA but we all know that he would need to expose this now to be!! This whole situation with Sosa unfortunately won’t expose these thugs because the media work with them too.. not the right questions here… there is an underlying issue within our system that allows situations like this to arise!!
Ajla Tomljanovic? Whore? Or do you not care because it’s not soccer, and tennis sucks?
Sosa cannot play for the German national team as the rules changed recently. So now he is stuck without a team.
Look, I just gotta laugh at the children of the diaspora taking umbrage at Sosa’s choice.
It is my opinion that a real patriot would rather be poor in Croatia, than rich in other lands, that’s my definition of a patriot. But that’s just my opinion, and I’m not asking people to agree with me, but if guys want to, instead of bashing Sosa, you could tell us what makes you Croatian patriots lol, and how you all came to make your decisions to stay in other lands rather than go live in free Croatia, like Joe is doing?
Fake frenchy you make some valid points as I’m one of the many sons of diaspora who choose to live in Canada and contribute nothing but Moral support to our teams and the odd donation to earth quake victims back home.
You’re an intelligent guy but obviously have a morbid obsession/envy of us Croats.
I’m curious as to where this stems from?Jealousy and hate are intertwined deep inside of you maybe we can help you …look at this as a therapeutic session where we can all help set that inner angst free like a caged bird.Did a Croat steal your GF in hi school or were your parents forced to flee Knin…maybe both ?
Your knowledge of all things Croatian is impressive for a “Frenchman”
You know who we are…probably 95% sons of diaspora spread out in North America or Australia.
Yet you hide behind a fake moniker and refuse to tell us your true background lying about being French.
If you want to have a true debate tell us if you’re an Aussie Serb …my guess or one from Novi sad or perhaps Chicago?
Quit hiding in the bushes like a coward throwing stones at those whom you wish to emulate.I dare you to find a Croat going into a Serb sports site and doing what you’re doing …wait 🤔 “What Serb sports site?”
We all know you won’t divulge your true background,because you’re a Coward and it will be far too easy to give you a taste of your own medicine which won’t cure your ills.
@Medo spot on about FRENCHMAN
Here’s an article that seems to explain it well.
https://www.croatiaweek.com/borna-sosa-choses-germany-over-croatia-but-now-faces-legal-hurdle/
@Ante
Nice work on the new site. Is there any way to have the comments default to oldest? That’s how I prefer reading them (it helps me not miss any). Right now it’s set to top rated and I have to change it every visit.
Hey Becar,
Top Rated will be default. I also have “oldest” and “newest”as options so you can change at your leisure.
Oh, just a funny side note… on friday on Sosa’s wikipedia page he was listed as a Croatian footballer, then yesterday(Sunday) it said Croatian/German footballer and today it says Croatian footballer again…hilarious…almost looks like ethnicity is as fluid as gender these days.
Joj meni!!!
Bože spasi nas
Would be pretty funny if Biscan called him up for the U21 quarterfinals like nothing happened.
Biscan really should do that, call him up to U21 quarterfinals to humiliate him.
Would be hilarious now if Sosa does another Index interview saying, well “After some soul searching, I decided to play for Croatia.”
Check the SBnation website
Article, in English, with the rule where he can’t switch to Germany. The rule appears pretty clear.
Talk about instant retribution.
Pride goeth before a fall…I think in the interview, Sosa said that they call him the ‘god’ of crossing in Germany.
Hahaha
Hey, at least bayern will be happy. A player that never has to go out on international duty.
Hahaha
But seriously Sosa should never have tried to pull this stunt. Totally idiotic move.
Hopefully this experience will humble him and make him more thoughtful in the future especially when it comes to loyalty.
It might even change this little turncoat into a genuine team player.
He can be forgiven…we’re Catholic after all…but penance MUST be performed for absolution to be effective. I wonder what the penance will be.
Hahaha a player that never has to go on international duty. That’s pretty good.
Ahahahaaa, ne seri Simunicu,Joe lupetaš po običaju.A šta sa liječnicima, profesorima……,koji poslije faksa otišli u Njemačku i Joe, isto tako je sramota živjeti u Hrvatskoj, a voziti auto sa njemačkim registracijskim oznakama. Kao što ti voziš svoj auto.
U tebe je uložila Australija, prošao si kroz čitav sustav i na kraju otišao igrati za Hrvatsku??? Zar to nije isto, ako je iz ljubavi ili iz koristi, ja ne vidim razliku. Jedina razlika je ta da Sosa nije napravio isti izbor kao ti, prema tome ti treba da si zadnji u redu za prigovore!
dobro si reako…ti jesi seronja!
Nije isto.
Joe je Hrvat (bez obzir da je roden u AUS). Roditelji su Hrvati, i Joe ima HRV domovnicu.
Sosa nije Njemac, i svabi mu nikad nebi dali drzavljanstvo da nije bio nogometas.
Nije bio problem kad je Emir Spahic (roden i odgojen u HR) igrao za BiH…jer mu roditelji su Bosnajci.
Joe i Emir imaju pravo. Sosa ne.
It turns out that SOSA can’t play for Germany! FIFA rule you have to change before your 21st birthday he was 22 when he played Scotland for the U21.
HA HA
Yea, it’s starting to look doubtful.
What a mess. He shouldn’t have opened his big mouth to Bundesliga TV and (worse off) given that terrible interview to Index.hr.
Good interview but a bit annoying to keep asking Joe if Dalic and HNS did enough. He answered it the first time. No reason to keep going back. Enough was done for the kid, let him go play elsewhere. Joe was great in his response. Borna reminds me of another problem child recently from the WC. Kalinic.
Croatia will do fine and this is a blessing. Can you imagine how this kid would behave if he doesn’t receive playing time at a major tournament.
We all know the almighty buck rules in the end and these kids are being auctioned off to the highest bidder like cattle.
That being said is there nothing the HNS can do going forward when a kid is potentially going to a German club?
First stanasic now sosa being strong armed behind the scenes by Bayern Munich and the German FA…once ok…twice …we all see a trend …there needs to be repercussions moving forward that this doesn’t happen to a potential young superstar whose grandfather drove a VW golf in the 90’s giving the kid” potential” German citizenship wink wink.
Do some research on the kids family between the HNS and the prva liga’s club directors to head this off at the pass.
Is it all about the almighty buck at these clubs you would think what’s best for club and country would still prevail like Bayern Munich and the German FA have going on.
Ok I admit I’m a dreamer but SOMETHING needs to be implemented to ensure this doesn’t keep happening.
Hasn’t left back been Croatia weakest position for a while? If he’s 24 and got no cap 🧢 then his chances are not looking good and honestly what chance would he have in Germany starting 11
Don’t be fooled.
He just turned 23, and has been a key player for our U21 team (along with several other 23 year-olds in Moro, Majer, Ivanusec, etc).
He’s been on the callup list for the A reprezentacija for a while, was told that he was part of the future, and it’s pretty much understood that once this U21 Euros are over next month, that these 23 year old guys are going to be on the National Team.
I, personally, don’t care for U21 tournaments and would have rather had these guys as backups for our senior squad for the past year or two.
But to say that Borna Sosa wasn’t wanted by the senior team, is just nonsense spewed by Borna himself to try and justify his move.
Very good chance to be honest, left back is their second worst position behind right back
A lot of what if’s with both positions. If Bradaric (and potentially Gvardiol, maybe Sosa too, depending how all this shakes out) continue to improve, in a few years, it could be a position of strength.
RB is similar. Vrsaljko could bounce back and still be solid for us (he’s 29 and assume he still has 2-3 years left in his prime). Maybe someone like Bosko Sutalo continues to improve and we slot him in at RB?
Yea, I think goalkeeper is (and will continue to be) our weakest position.
RB depth is a concern, but Vrsaljko is always good as starter when he’s in form.
Our LB depth is good right now, but we want to max out on our starter quality.
Barisic is decent but not high ceiling.
Sosa, Bradaric and Gvardiol are all in the same talent pool…and are early in their careers, so we’ll have to see how they progress.
You can argue that (this year) Sosa is our best option, but Bradaric is two years younger and on a better club team (and may have more potential), and Gvardiol is the biggest prospect (though it would be best to have him cover CB instead, to spread the wealth).
Without Sosa, we should still be fine for LB moving forward, and yea, it could be a real position of strength in the future.
Just a shame we lose that depth there. We can thank crooked Bayern and Bierhoff for that, by trying to pay players to play for Germany via a Bayern contract.
We have young talent in EVERY position. The thing is we are deeper in some (midfield, attackers, central defenders). There are guys like Silic, 16 year old Hajduk keeper who starts for their U19s, and Maro Katinic, 16 year old Dinamo CB who’s been beasting it in the U17s (will 100% play U19 nogomet next season). Katinic is like a right-footed Gvardiol so, as Gvardiol is able to play LB, this dude can play RB. Thing is, these guys are 16 so they’re still a very very long way from the repka.
Funny how we have our own turn their backs on us. Puslic Zlatan, now Sosa. They are chasing dollars. Typical globalist mentality. The HNS needs to do a better job of capping our youth or it will get worse. The WC has placed eyes on out talent. German team is typical of high dollar focus. They gave up their traditions along time ago. It’s all about the money.
Give me a black kid born in Croatia willing to wear the checks than these sell outs any day of the week.
Well technically Pulisic and Zlatan are not ‘our own’.
Zlatan is half Croat, and born and raised in Sweden. Never played or lived in Cro. Shouldn’t expect him to represent us, especially since he was in the Swedish junior ranks forever.
Same goes for Pulisic and America.
Sosa is really the only case I can think of where he was born and raised in Cro, was playing for our juniors, and went to play for a country he has no ties to.
Only other case I can think of was Emir Spahic, who is from Dubrovnik and played in the HNL for the early part of his career (and I believe still lives in Zagreb).
But he was never seen as a great prospect early on, so he was never part of our junior ranks nor was he considered for the senior team (so he switched to BiH).
Alen Halilovic (almost) played for BiH and he actually was part of our juniors.
But (ethnically) Emir is full Bosniak, and Alen is also part Bosniak. It is understandable if they want to play for BiH. It’s the same thing as with Rakitic and the Kovac Bros wanting to play for Cro, since they are ethnic Croats.
Croatian kids bailing on Croatia to play for other National Teams is not a thing. I don’t expect it to, just because of what Borna did.
I think that is one thing with our federation that differentiates us from other setups. It means something when you put on our dres and step onto the pitch. You’re representing more than just a FA. Been that way since the 90’s. For other countries, it different and thats fine. If Borna sees this whole scenario as a business item – while it would suck to see that talent walk out there door, but deciding to put our dres on doesn’t come down to a business scenario.
How old are you? There is not an example of this anywhere on the planet. The other things you mention are total nonsense.
I used to be a fan of Joe Simunic, but no longer.
Wtf was he going on about “Ireland” “Israel” and “Croatia,” wtf does that have anything to do with Borna Sosa’s football decision?
Someone should ask him what he thinks of his president Milanovic (ratni dezerter, just like Plenki & Skoro, hey, you can’t beg people to fight for Croatia), should he have been expected to stay and fight for Croatia? No, of course not. Can Milanovic come back to Croatia, a country he didn’t want to fight for, and become president? Yes, of course he can.
But you guys have that idiot Maminjo saying that Sosa should be “crucified” when he visits Croatia lol. At least Simunic said that Croats aren’t “divljaci” like Maminjo seems to believe they are.
So, what’s so wrong with Sosa wanting to play for Germany (a country he lives in, a country his mum was born in), and possibly Bayern Munich at Croatia’s expense? I say nothing, because football is just a game and not a moral compass by which you guys get to judge Sosa for making the wrong football choice according to yourselves.
So, did Croatia’s president make the right choice to flee Croatia when war was threatening? You guys will all answer yes, sram vas bilo.
Why if your president (Milanovic the ratni dezerter) didn’t owe Croatia anything, does Borna Sosa have to, in fact that’s Sosa’s only mistake, trying to explain himself to the Croatian public, for crying out loud he doesn’t owe them any explanation, do whatever the fuck you want, and know when you come back to Croatia, just like Milanovic, there will be no hard feelings lol!
LOL. Great example. Ha Ha!
Not sure if you’ll really get any Milanović supporters here (as I think everyone agrees that these politicians are opportunists), but avoiding being killed in a war is not the same thing as a millionaire kid sneakily negotiating with another federation (behind his coach and teammates backs) and trying to leverage the anti-HNS sentiment in the media to justify gaining a million more.
You’re right. He CAN do whatever he wants… but you gotta live with the decisions that you make (and that may include being “crucified” in the media or verbally by people who disagree with you). He’s a big boy. He made a big boy decision, so he can take the bad with the good.
These politicians get jeered and criticized all the time for their positions and what they did in the past. Plenky, Škoro and Zoran are all referred to as “deserters” by lots of people (just like how you referred to them), and they’ll carry that the rest of their lives. Sosa (just the same) will get called the same thing by those who disagree with what he did. It’s part of life and comes with the decisions you make.
You know an awful lot about Croatia bud… wanna reveal your true identity yet? Not such a “Frenchman” huh
as a Frenchman, you have no clue what patriotism is…you know more about a watered French culture that lost its identity…so fuck off!
Quebec has better french culture than France does today! Sad for them…
I doubt this guy is French, Slavonac….
Hvala for the interview and getting someone from the savez to explain what the hell has just happened
Go big joe I love that bloke as a fellow Aussie hrvat
However whilst I appreciated his attempts to calm the situation down and at the same time being honest as joe can be because he had a real upbringing he still absolved the Savez and the German FA
Ok I get it now let’s prevent Sosa from joining Germany
Teach him a life lesson he and his family won’t forget as it clear to me he wasn’t brought up right like big joe was from the other side of the world thousands of kilometres away
This guy is from Zagreb dont they teach patriotism anymore in Croatia
Big big disappointment I could see it joes eyes
I always like to hear every side of the story. Sosa seems like a little chirpy millennial that doesn’t feel appreciated and wants some instant gratification. Who knows what the German FA has promised him.
The best line Joe said was, “we’re not going to hold these kids’ hands every day of the week.”
They know what they’ve signed up for and they know what’s at the end of the tunnel. And he’s right, we shouldn’t have to beg anyone to put on the checkers and I stand by that.
I don’t think a Croatian player has ever snubbed Croatia from inside the Croatian system. This might be the first one.
Based on the information we’ve seen in the past 72 hours, this looks like Sosa is lying and he got caught! It also looks like Dalic knows this but really won’t firmly call him out…possibly hoping this can be handled without causing a major incident!
Sosa first said “nobody from the HNS contacted him and that Dalic never spoke to him”…and then when he was pressed, he said “well, Dalic never contacted me but I was contacted by a 3rd party”….well….doesn’t that 3rd party most likely work for the savez…ie…Olic? …and wouldn’t Olic be working on behalf of Dalic?
to consider playing for the Germans being a “business decision” really takes the cake! I’m pretty old school and I agree with Joe 100%! there is no benefit other than a few more sponsorship bucks and even then, he would have to be tearing it up to make some extra sponsorship dollars….is it really worth it to trade in your birth nationality for some extra money…and then blame your birth country for not tickling your ass with a feather?
Pa kad te toliko svrbi sto radis u Kanadi. sto se ne vratis u Hrvatsku. prodaj sve sto imas tamo, odrekni se stranog drzavljanstva ako ga imas i vrati se, upisi djecu u hrvatske skole, radi u hrvatskoj. Ahahahaaaa, svi vi po Kanadama, Australijama, Amerikama volite hrvatsku a sa puskom vas nebi mogli otjerati da se vratite zivjeti u hrvatsku.
Zar ne vidis razliku izmedu Borne…mladi milijunas ko bi htio igrati protiv HRV za par milijuna vise…
i Hrvati ko idu u inozemstvo (samo da nadu bar neki posao)?
In Zagreb? Not many live the ZDS lifestyle.
Solid interview.. well done.he was spot on, can’t hold these kids hands..Sosa will definitely regret this.. Definitely getting bad advise for his team