(Thank you to CroatianSports.com member Idemo for posting this article)
per·sist·ence (noun): firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
A good friend of mine in Croatia once told me, “Money and good looks don’t win over a woman, persistence does.”
Women like to be chased. They want to be wanted.
Now, hear me out, CroatianSports is not turning into a dating advice website. We simply try to humanize these superstar athletes through a more personalized approach the few times we are allowed to talk to them during the year.
Professional athletes are gods to some. Their skill alone puts them on a pedestal to millions let alone playing in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans on a weekly basis.
Sure, they make millions of dollars and live in the biggest houses and drive the best cars, but at the end of the day, they’re just regular dudes like you and I.
In this recent The Players Tribune article, one of Croatia’s most popular players, Ivan Rakitić, shares how persistence found him his wife and made him into the player he is today at Barcelona.
It’s very few times we get to see what makes these superstars tick, but this was a different look into a footballer’s life. A man who has won Champions League and played the world’s game at top level. Someone who has played across Europe and opened up the World Cup in Brazil.
Rakitić showed his tenacity and drive for his passions in life: his wife Raquel and football. I think it’s important for these world renown athletes to share some, not all of their personal story to their fanbase throughout their career. And that’s what Raktitć showed us with this piece.
“I think people don’t really understand how much footballers are affected by the people in their lives. When we’re interviewed, people always ask about managers and tactics and training, but they almost never ask about what’s going on off the pitch. And to me, that’s just as important to your career. In the span of six years, I moved from Switzerland to Germany to Spain, and it was a really intense and lonely experience at times. I was a pretty good player at Basel and Schalke, but I always felt like I was missing something.” -Ivan Rakitić
Yes Halilovic is currently injured he was playing good for Las Palmas. He was very quick on the wing assisting a goal. Our team is lacking some speed down the wings. I think even Ante Coric should be playing now shake up the side a bit after losing.
@Croatian Tony Montana
I’m guessing it’s because Kovacic seems like a really nice team player whereas Halilovic looks like a sulky little shit. He also had that non-committal drama when he was considering Bosna.
I’d love to see him get his shot but he needs to get in line and put together a few good months first.
The team needs an influx of speed. Whether its him or coric or fran tudor for that matter. Speed kills in any sport. Need another dimension !
Isn’t he hurt though ante?
Still very fishy how Alen Halilovic is not used off the bench for Croatia considering Kovacic’s form for Croatia has been well below average. He plays for Las Palmas in the Spanish Primera League.
Bz- wish jarni was 20 years younger.
Zee- if we don’t hear our Wingbacks’ name, we don’t go far in WC 2018.
I hope so. He was a no nonsense type of player which could translate into a no nonsense type of boss.
Is it one man, one vote…then probably yes!
Big fan of Simic’s.
Back when I enjoyed putting names on jerseys, Simic was what I wanted on my ’98 jersey.
Most importantly though does he have any chance of winning or is this just a forgone conclusion?
Ya he was good slavonac for sure. To your previous post you are correct we lack a Gattuso! We need a Gattuso badly.
he played right back at AC Milan and Inter Milan…yeah, he was a solid player!
Right on bro. Never heard his name in a contest. Which means he’s doing his job. Don’t want to hear a defenders name mentioned means he good.
absolutely Zee! my point was that nowadays we expect defenders to be attackers as well BUT sometimes you can’t sacrifice a very good defender just to get someone with more offensive abilities…and in our case, we have a lot of technical players that can create!
The position he played he had enough talent. Knew his role! Very important.
Simic was tough, less talent!
Tough like dario simic was? Wasn’t called pit bull for nothing.
Croatianperson85 – Bravo…you make some very good comments…logical and factual…well said!
I do believe its cultural! I remember playing with Vancouver Croatia in my 20’s…but also playing with Italians in tournaments…they were never even remotely close to our talent and technical levels, but they were extremely supportive of each other, positive talk, we can do this attitude, hard workers…lots of support…and they punched above their weight!
Buffon will scold you and 30 sends later he’ll make sure you know he loves you…he’ll try to lift you and inspire you….and he’s one of the most respected guys in the game, yes, this is culture 100%!
we need to invest in some role players…tough and dirty type of players that can change the game with a fair but hard tackle! I’d love nothing more than to see that cause the game requires fighters/borci…you just can’t win without them!
@Slavonac – interesting post. Good read. I agree that good D is needed/defensive minded players/or a good defensive midfielder and we haven’t had too many bigger name defenders over the years. Have we?
Do you not think it is partially a cultural thing as well? I don’t we traditionally play good defensive soccer. We rather come out and play technically vs technical teams. Sitting back and defending is not something in our DNA nor being able to hold small margin leads well.
Physically – Italians are inferior. Physically. However they have the mental composure most countries don’t. I also think it has to do with how a country’s domestic league is set up which heavily influences how players develop – habits, effort, performance, behaviour, mentality etc and that along with the individual players exposure outside of their league can partially determine how they perform for their national team. Italians have a good enough league to not leave Italy. We don’t but it can’t be only that considering there are great national teams with most of their players not playing at home although a good domestic league helps. Greeks won euro 2004 (ok they defended all tournament and scored from set pieces) but even they have a better league than we do.
Maybe she is the “root” of all evil France also had a good team at World Cup 2002 got knocked out in Group Stage. Maybe Germany can get knocked out in Group Stage like previous winners Spain 2014 Italy in 2010.
I just wrote something on another site…I’ll add my thoughts:
I’ve referred to the Italians on several occasions and I’ll do it again. They’ve always had some decent technical players but their overall strengths have been their role players…the guys that will sacrifice for the team. Psychologically, they are superior to us cause they all bond together, to get the result…and thats a totally different way of approaching the game that what I think our National team does. When has Italy ever missed a tournament? How many times have they been the favourite to get through a qualifying cycle not because they were the best but more-so because they rise to the occasion? Look at how they celebrate their stars….Gennaro Gattuso, Claudio Gentile, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Gaetano Scirea, Alessandro Nesta, Franco Baresi, Giorgio Chiellini, Antonio Cabrini….do you see a pattern here? All these players were defensive players that played a massive role and were instrumental in the Italian success for winning a World Cup. Name our super star role players…defenders…guys that we can easily say were beasts! We’ve had a few, but nowhere near what it takes to compete at the highest levels!
Germany: Franz Beckenbauer, Philipp Lahm, Jurgen Kohler, Paul Breitner, Andreas Brehmer, Lothar Matthaus…
Spain…look at this. Spain was always a strong side, but enever won a World Cup until these guys showed up: Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos..and then this guy…Xabi Alonso (defensive midfield)…
France 1998 Team: Vincent Candela, Bixente Lizarazu, Patrick Viera (midfield…tough player), Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps…
Do you notice anything here…about these celebrated hero’s and tough players? start naming our guys that are extra tough and smart role players!
This has some to do with the Uprava at the Savez, but there’s more than just the top level leadership…there’s individuals that help make a difference for their team! Each team can’t win with defensive players alone, good attackers are required, but even Greece showed us that character trumps skill in some cases!
@slavonac
regarding your second part
I think that just shows we might not be as good as we’d like to think we are.
there is genuinely a case for this being our golden generation, while Im on the fence, I think it speaks to our quality that our supposed best team ever has holes.
truth,
I somewhat agree but who’s better than him right now as an all around player? Kalinic is super hot and cold…he missed a sitter vs Iceland and the goes to Milan and scores. with regards to my comment about Mandzo, he may not be as effective as he was but isn’t it fair to say he works hard and when provided service he can usually score? He’s the type of guy that needs crosses to score.
Golden Generation what? who said that? we have holes in our line-ups and in the characters that play for us.
I don’t know if i would add mandzukic to that list. If you ask me, if he was told he’d no longer be the starter (which he shouldn’t be), i think he’d start to cool on the nt
well put maminjo but it can go both ways Brazil Italy Germany Spain,
@golden generation Luxembourg and Sweden got points off France are they a golden generation?
I also think this is Frances best team ever as well, we will see upcoming wc
@Maminjo
Those Portuguese players actually won back to back World Youth Cups (U-20’s) which is super impressive.
Them and our U-20 winners were some of the first teams I associated “golden generation” with.
Not our current bums or Belgiums current team or any other non champion.
I hate the term Golden Generation.
There’s only ever been one for us.
The ones (’87 U-20) that actally won something.
Modric, Rakitic and Mandza can shove those CL winners medals for all I care.
There are many cases where a ‘golden generation’ on paper, doesn’t actually produce results.
Look at Portugal’s case when they had their “Luka Modric caliber” superstar in Luis Figo.
During Figo’s reign, Portugal failed to qualify for two successive World Cup (1994 and 1998).
When they finally qualified for the 2002 World Cup, they got eliminated in the first round by South Korea and the USA (after being heavily favored to top the group).
They had guys like Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Joao Pinto, Fernando Couto, Vitor Baia, etc on that team.
This isn’t the only case. Even the Netherlands missed out on the 2002 World Cup
That team was stacked too…Van Nistelrooy, Kluivert, Cocu, Zenden, Seedorf, van Bommel, Overmars, Hasselbaink, etc. These guys were all in their prime too.
Then you have teams like Switzerland today, (who seem unstoppable right now) but their star player plays for Stoke City. Go figure.
If wer gonna get on rakitic, I think it’s not fair to leave Modric out.
While he does perform good for the NT I will classify it as being subtly good performances, but for real he has super star in your face performances. Even for the NT he knows how to go missing, the sentiment for a while has been he doesn’t perform same for country as he does club, do we over look this because of club success?
@ Ziva
actually a nice comment for once and I agree with the guys you brought up
@Slavonac
Agree with Vida and Mandza
Vida and Mandzukic belong in that list!
,@ iggy
Yes that was the same day. A lot of vojnoci i dobrovoljci nisu bili spremni on that day, in the same way hezonja, zizic, zubac, rakitic, cilic have recently not been spremni
The homeland war was won when it was convenient for the soldiers so good to see the current batch of athletes keep that mantra alive
If i did have to rate veliki hrvati that bleed for the colors though i would give as a preliminary list
Saric
Bogdanovic
Modric
Corluka
Srna
I always have a problem calling this our golden generation, sure I think it’s out best group of players
But at a certain point you have to ask…..wtf did they do……
If Rakitic did quit the national team I wouldn’t ridicule him at all, but I would ask, is this the end of our golden generation?
We need to be in the midst of a golden generation to have any chance of making a second round at a world cup.
If we’re not a golden generation then we wont even make the world cup, we can only make it if we’re a golden generation.
Maybe we are golden degenerates, we’ll have to wait and see. I for one will be happy either way, this team will get exactly what it deserves.
Turkey got 4 points off of our golden generation, but, is Turkey in the midst of a golden generation?
https://www.heymanga.me/manga/Captain_Tsubasa_Rising_Sun/36/4
@Iggy Calm Down l:
You have been waiting for the rest of match.
here is your favorite part
Iggy
You’re not going to get laid by pretending to be a feminist.
Feminists never sleep with the guys who protest with them in the streets. The funny thing is, feminists actually end up dating big biker dudes.
So, grow a beard. Buy a leather jacket and stop whining.
@Iggy-Relax. We are speculating. I am actually calling her a smart, shrewd, decision maker.
I stand by my take that I made before this article: if not for the public ridicule he would face, Rakitic would have quit the NT the day after his family was attacked with rocks. The decision being made mutually by his wife & himself. I wouldn’t blame him.
If Raquel was from a rich family, everyone would be saying she’s an entitled uppity controlling witch, if she’s poor she’s a gold digger, i mean there’s no way you can win. The man-children on this site need to actually learn to have some respect for women, as foreign a concept as that might seem, lol.
The Truth: was that the same group who didn’t fight due to blisters that you all reminded us about after Cilic’s Wimbledon loss or is this a separate group? lol
as for this quote from Slavonac:
or maybe Raquel is genuine, from a humble family and is truly a supportive and wonderful wife…we don’t know that?
Precisely. We dont know yet we have a bunch of man-children on this site who are very happy to lump all of Ivan’s performance issues on her for some inexplicable reason and to diagnose her as the root of all evil in the NT. Why? Cos she’s a female, a foreign female? Da fuck is wrong with you people? Do you know them personally and how their r’ship is? Get the fuck out of here..
How about we look up the WAGs of all the players who aren’t performing at 100% (so prolly everyone but Luka) and let’s pedantically go through all of their r’ship details and label all of them as harpies and gold diggers and controlling manipulative witches as well LOL
do you see the issue here? Honestly, it really does feel like im at returnofkings.com sometimes when i visit this site, which is a terrible, terrible indictment of the userbase!
anecdote?
https://www.tportal.hr/sport/clanak/dr-nemec-otkrio-nam-je-sve-o-glasinama-vezanim-uz-rakiticevu-ozljedu-foto-20170911
Ivan Rakitic must have paid for her breast implants and her tattoos.
You know slavonac, your anecdote about rakitic being told it’ll take four days to heal and then deciding to take off remind me of another story my brother told me about the oluja
It was the night before the big advance, and gotovina walks down and shouts, “za dom! ”
To which a bunch of guys reply “nismo spremni”
Gotovina looks up and asks, ” oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. What’s wrong? ”
They say, “ohhh, my foot you see. It hurts a little and will take four days to heal”
Gotovina responds, ” dont worrrrrrry about it!. Take some time off”..
They respond, ” oh cool, sounds good. Since we can’t fight, i think we’re just going to go get our vacation on in Greece?. Cool?. Can you send us a post card from knin? “
I read the story about how Ivan Rakitic kept on going to the Cafe where she worked to ask her out. If he never married her she would most likely be still working there earning a low income.
Dannyj,
you have the final say??? let me be clear for you bro…she lets you have the final say!
I usually have the final say of big purchases or any real major decisions…but for some damn reason, I end up making the decision she initially wanted…
as the marriage grows and the kids grow…she becomes more and more important…thats just how it is!
My girl runs the show a lot she brings home her own bacon we are both ok fir money she is a tough German girl but she still respects my decisions and I have the final say.
But I digress somehow it turned into rakitic and his wife
And roles in a relationship I think the story is cute as balls or something iggy would say
But you know what’s cuter qualifying for the World Cup and showing up and playing like u want to get a transfer to Barcelona. As my mom says Allo America.. time for us to vake up!!
And I will just say this to quote Kanye before he was super messed. I ain’t saying she a gold digger…but she ain’t messing with no broke nigger;)
haha…when I read some of the comments about women and their relationships with their Croatian husbands, I have to laugh.
I was brought up thinking the man is the man of the house and the woman should be a bit submissive. My dad was a hard-ass…so I thought thats how things are and I’ll control things in my house. how’d that work out you ask? it doesn’t work!
My wife is pretty and smart, she’s crazy about interior design and watches all the stupid shows about reno’s and tiny houses and all that crap! she’d rather spend an afternoon with me at Home Depot than at the Mall. when we talk about investing or where we might spend a few bucks…its always about something new to improve on our house…and…I swear…she usually does most of the upgrading…new floors, paint, vanity, shower (she removed and re-tiled)…and if for some reason I said NO, you can’t do it and we aren’t gonna do this, my life would be miserable!
women don’t necessarily control us men, but they see life through a different perspective so if we want harmony and a lot of shagging, we usually try to compromise, even give a little more than we’d like to just so she’s happy…and in the end we are happy also!
people are people. who knows what Rakitic’s intellect level is, or what luck he had with women prior to his wife? I have a Croatian friend thats always been a total stud, he’s pretty smart and he was always fun to be around BUT, for some reason he always tends to find the trashy girls. How many people do we know that we look at their significant other and say to ourselves …damn…whats up with that? just because Rakitic is a great player, doesn’t mean he’s a solid and concrete person inside. he may lack experience or vision…or just has different standards…or maybe Raquel is genuine, from a humble family and is truly a supportive and wonderful wife…we don’t know that?! my best friend, from Zadar was married to a Croatian girl who eventually left him…and left her 3 kids with him…she’s gorgeous and she’s also a mental case! we judge too much and we don’t know the details!
any news when he will be back? are we counting on him for October???
@Soul Champ-Lol, great read.
Ps- for those that care, I did some internet sleuthing & found Vrsaljko has an ankle injury on the same leg he injured last year. This is good news, in the sense he didn’t f up his knee again. I also found that ATletico fans are labeling him an injury prone player, similar to Bogut.
In my opinion, Vrsaljko’s marriage might be the hardest to overcome. She changed his entire look including his new tattoo sleeve in the course of a summer. I liked his old look better, someone I can root for; now he kinda looks like a slimy guido.
Moral of the story:Guys, if your wife asks you to try to look like a bad boy, it is likely she will cheat on you with a bad boy in the future. Bad taste in men lasts forever.
look at nemanja vidic you think Fergie didn’t have a direct impact from him retiring from nt? no secret forces at work.
family and health always first, I think one of Rakitic kids had some sort of surgeries as well
had a flight booked for the 9th totally slipped my mind. rebooking here I come.
@ BZ
Great points.
Ofcourse your wife is your life partner as you create a life together.
But from afar it looks like my man Rakitic needed to spend more time in Dalmacija during the summer as a young teen.
From the story you would think he never saw a hot girl in his life ?
My man is a top professional footballer ready to embark on a la Liga adventure in Seville and the hotel waitress at the first place he stays locks him down ?
Dude becomes captain of Sevilla and then a starter at Barca ?
Back at schalke he used to get drunk with some Serbian scrub teammate and it hindered his progress.
He seems like an impressionable cat.
He may need to channel more than Prosinečki ‘ s skills and some of his SWAG.
Be the Croatian beast that you are.
Enjoy the local fare but always remember that you are a Hrvat !
Lead us during Operation October and then you can go back to sweating your Spanish princess.
ZDS
@Iggy- not misogynist, same would apply to a man marrying a famous & rich female that pursuits him persistently.
There is no disputing marriage is bad for an athlete’s game. Marriage can be hard and takes time & effort to do properly. That is time & effort spent not focusing on your craft. I love Rakitic, and I still want him starting, but something changed recently.
His focus might be on his family & not his National team ( I don’t blame him, and I don’t blame her for whispering in his ear)
She can give a rat’s ass about Croatian football, especially if the rock throwing incident is true (which I am inclined to believe.)
I am not buying it is about money, cause he is extended to 2021. I am also sure his bosses at Barcelona, after watching RM win back to back CL titles, has something to do with his NT absences.
Very true slavonac, in the normal family dynamic that is. Multi million dollar fam much different, kiss a working women’s feet for caring for the kids and cooking and cleaning.
i doubt she has any bearing on his performances for the NT, DOES RAQUEL LIVE A ZDS LIFESTYLE DOES SHE
I don’t think she’s the problem and the theory is flawed! Rakitic has played the same style since the first day back in 2007, when he made his debut for Croatia. He started dating his wife at least 4 years after he started playing for us…the allegations that she is fucking him up is totally wrong. He’s a skilled player that’s always lacked that extra…nothing’s changed.
The NT doctor (Nemec) did a scan and saw he had issues and it was his decision to excuse Rakitic the last game vs Turkey. The strain was diagnosed to take 4-7 days to heal…so Rakitic took off…its his prerogative. I might have stayed with the team but since he couldn’t play…does it really matter if he left?!
Slavonac from canada. Im one too. I don’t care if he good guy. Let’s produce when the checkers are on. Chicks don’t matter for 90 minutes. He can’t do it. When ljepa nasa sings chicks are gonzo for 90 minutes.
Alert!
Most of us married men are papucars…there’s a lot of truth to the saying “happy wife, happy life”!
I highly doubt she’s a whore or is there just for the money. Maybe she was making sure not to let herself be another number, let’s not forget that most 1st team players at pro clubs can usually pick up quite easily.
When someone says his wife wears the pants, that’s usually the case in almost every normal marriage I’ve ever seen. When a woman is so passive, it’s usually a case of the guy being overly bearing.
Women are a big part of the family dynamic and they can make a massive difference with the harmony in the house. They are usually the ones nurturing the kids, keeping their man happy and then there are tons of other complications of life that they are usually tend to. Most guys can’t take all the pressures that women can handle.
Rakitic seems like a real good guy that adores his wife…well, I adore mine to…is that a bad thing? Having a healthy relationship is very important to the family, I’m a bit baffled why anyone would pick on his marriage.
Kinda reminds me of Ziva picking on Drazen Petrovic…his choice in women or making fun of dead people…or attacking someone for their lack of Catholicism…that’s some low shit!
We should be better than that guys!
@iggy. Read Dannyjs post. He nailed it. Not about chicks . We need performance. Lets do this together or we lose together.
I read three comments previous to mine either blaming her for his poor performances, or saying she’ll dump him when she feels like it or that she’s a gold digger
that’s to go with the dozens of comments in earlier threads saying similar things.
As soon as a WAG gets mentioned on this site she gets bashed into oblivion; it’s frankly disgusting and juvenile.
As far as backwards, 19th century sexist attitudes go, some of the commenters on this site are right up there!
It’s not about the chick that is silly guy bar talk after a hard day at work. Most are talking about his play with the checkers on! Dude needs to pick it up!
@iggy
I’m sorry man, but you’re not correct. “bunch of misogynist trash comments ” first off all bunch where?
and I really don’t see a misogynist comment
what BZ said is true. gold digging is real. don’t know about rakitic situation since I can’t speak on it but women marry guys for far smaller bank accounts.
I don’t think his kids will/do speak croatian
@nk Susak
3rd world? maybe you should get away from those people who can’t even point cro out on a map, cro 3rd world? whats Syria ?
@iggy
well said. Any sort of success or positive is quickly turned into a negative. Its the Croatian way. No knowledge or ability to handle and sustain any form of success. Unfortunately, it is why we are and will always be considered 3rd world by many.
Knew this would happen. Any thread even deigning to mention Ivan’s wife is gonna get a bunch of misogynist trash comments here. It’s almost as though there are a bunch of basement-dwelling virginal MRAs on this site who think all women are harpies that are out to get them or something.
Grow up ya pack of whiney pissbabies.
If you are a millionaire sports star & she makes you persist…she definitely doesn’t love you!!! She came around after mulling how much money she would lose if she didn’t marry him. She will now stay with to try & prove she didn’t marry him for the money. You see it all the time in the suburbs if NYC.
He knows she doesn’t love him as much as he loves her… so he’ll do whatever she commands eg “Don’t play for your NT because I don’t want you to risk getting injured! I need more shoes & jewelry to fill the the loveless void!”
The shitty part: even with a low effort Rakitic, we are better with him than without.
@Idemo- Vrsaljko has not made the roster since the qualifiers.
Nice piece. Back in 2009, i was having breakfast in a hotel in Zagreb the day after a qualifier against Ukraine. Ivan, both his parents, and Petric wound up sitting at a table right next to me and a friend. We didnt want to bother them but others in the hotel kept coming by. Ivan and his father were very nice to everyone. The father was quite the character and jokester. They were flying back to Germany that morning as Ivan was playing for Schalke at the time and Petric was with Hamburg. Petric sat there the whole time with a face like his shit dont stink and didnt acknowledge anyone. The Rakitic family treated everyone in the place, including the wait staff, with total class and friendliness.
The run Luka just made….abosolute pace him and Ronaldo 2v1 defender shades pass Luka can’t burry it
Take note of what?
Take note Canadian Croats.
Geez no vrsaljko even on bench is he injured
regarding Serb Croatian, it’s not a direct quote but the writer writes the sentence in first person…… classic ESL/ translator mistake
@Dannyj. Incredible post well done my bro! Perfectly said!
Yup nice story. It really was however Serbo Croatian threw me off
And ya please how bout some of that persistence
Make a couple of strong tackles and make something happen
This is the problem. These guys get paid too much back in the day I’ll use hockey as an example These bastards worked normal jobs they played professionally at night. Get their bells rung on the regular and also fought in wars
These guys are straight pussies these days. Let them go clean some toilets for couple of days for minimum wage and then they will gladly forget bout there perfect skin for the tv
I heard a story last week on Team 1040 for my fellow Vancouver boys or so I forget what Real Madrid player actually took the champions league off cause he had an ingrown hair infected from shaving. If that’s not nuff to turn in your man card I don’t know what is
If we play with some proper fire we can do this
How can modric do it. He is the one who should be taking days off. If anyone deserves it it’s him
I guess rakitic erks me a bit cause like others have pointed out besides a couple of games he pretty much shows up for our games for some palacinke
Only reason Iceland is doing so good is cause of the same pride we used to play with
Some war hero should knock some sense into some of these metros
Play for the checkers not your next contract
Thanks for letting me rant I just hate seeing us possibly waste away a good generation and someone like luka vida Mario who actually give a shit get the short end cause pussies who don’t leave it out there
@eric. I hear you bro!
I stopped reading the article at “serbo-croatian” part. I hope this was a translation error.
Bet if he married a Hrvatica he’d play a lot harder for his us.
She’ll leave him after he can’t play no more which looks like sooner rather than later. Happens to hockey players all the time.
nice write up ante
does anyone know which club tried to swoop him up under Sevilla?
Love the Prosinečki part!
Please channel your inner Prosinečki this October Ivan.
https://www.heymanga.me/manga/Captain_Tsubasa_Rising_Sun/35/1
This young soccer boy talks the word persistence after Maradona look-alike brace debacle. We need to learn from him!