Tiger Punch, July 10, 2017 Billy, who recently published a column in the London Evening Flag newspaper, talking about Croatia in the middle of summer, talking about the pragmatic Rakitic in the team...
The column reads as follows:
I once said that Luka Modric is the most well-rounded midfielder in football today, but let's not forget that Rakitic is equally important to the Croatian national team.
Croatia is a relatively small country, but we also have larger communities in various other parts of the world, such as Australia, Germany and Switzerland. With respect for football, we've also been keeping an eye on other countries because we don't have a base on our own to recruit players.
In Zagreb in 2006, we had just beaten England 2-0 in a match for euro 2008 qualification, and then the Croatian Football Association approached me and told me that there was a talented young player from Switzerland who was currently playing for Basel F.C. and was playing with Petritsch, who also happened to be in Zagreb.
They told me that the man's name was Ivan Rakitic. He was born in Switzerland in 1988 and has played for the U21 echelon in Switzerland, we met with him, I watched one of his games and talked to his parents.
Rakitic was a kid at the time, and then we left for some reason and then came back to him. His parents were pure Croats, and like many who went abroad, they tended to have stronger national convictions than Croats living in their home countries.
I don't have to convince Rakitic's parents to let this kid play for the Croatian national team, and I don't want to force Rakitic. You can't treat him very coldly or with a very professional attitude during the first 10 minutes of meeting him, and you can't say to him, "Listen, you have to make a choice." ”
I was very enthusiastic about him, I tried to explain to him the benefits of playing for the Croatian national team, I told him that Croatia is a really good team and we can really rely on his strength, even though at that time I couldn't promise him anything, like playing opportunities or anything, because at that time we were already a very good team, we had some very good young people, like Modric, Joel Luka, Eduardo, Kranica, he would like our style of playing.
I told him: "If you can play great in Switzerland, then it's good, but if you can come up with a sensational performance in Croatia, then the meaning goes beyond football, that's all!" ”
We talked for hours, and when I came back to him a few weeks later, he decided he wanted to join us. It was a decision he would never regret. There was news at the time that I had played a key role in convincing him to come to Croatia. In fact, he doesn't need to lobby that much, but I told him we're going to take care of him, he has a great chance to play, his technical characteristics are quite in tune with our style of play.
I also know him and his family very well. They have a lot of respect for Switzerland, which makes the decision extremely difficult. However, they are all Croatian.
If Rakitic were still in Switzerland, I'm pretty sure he could have had a great career too. He was only 18 years old at the time, and when we first met, his father told me that his child had received an offer from Chelsea. Schalke in the Bundesliga also wanted to sign him, and I told him that it might be too early to go to Chelsea, and Schalke was close to his house and he spoke German.
Still, it seems to me that Rakitic will succeed wherever he goes. I've always had a lot of respect for Switzerland because their national team has always done a great job and playing for Croatia allows you to take you up to another level.
If you were to ask me, what kind of person was Rakitic? First of all, he has a very good personality. He has a Croatian soul, but also a Swiss mind. He has great determination and a great professionalism, but the most important thing is his ability. He has incredible technology. Maybe he doesn't have the speed to go fast, but he has a very smart football brain and an incredible ability to touch the ball. He can read the game.
In his early days, Rakitic was a No. 10 player, who played that position while in Sevilla, and was captain when Sevilla won the Europa League in 2014. When he joined Barca, he changed his position, and that shift made him a more well-rounded midfielder.
Modric is the eye of Croatia, and Rakitic sacrificed himself for the team. Humble, he was happy to do dirty work. However, his strongest ability is exactly the moment he holds the ball. He has a very strong shooting ability, he can take on the responsibility of a team free kick, do you remember that game against Argentina, his free kick hit the goalpost and knocked on the mountain?
The game against Argentina was the best game I've ever seen Rakitic play. In recent games against Denmark and Russia, he has not been very prominent, but we have all won; he is part of the team, and in the crucial moments of both games, he has taken on the decisive penalty task of the team.
In 2008, we lost to Turkey in the quarter-finals of the European Cup, and he and Modric both missed their respective penalties, but he was only 19 years old. Rakitic is now very mature. Even with a lot of pressure around him, Rakitic can still keep a clear head, he is very calm and very professional, so he is definitely the most suitable candidate for the fifth penalty shootout in the team.
(Editor: Little Meteor)