After three consecutive extra-time matches, Croatia reached the final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and they will compete with France for the title next.
Croatia's midfielder Rakitic is now playing for Barcelona and is nicknamed the owner of the Maybrush group by fans. Rakitic's parents left Croatia to escape the war and moved to Switzerland, Rakitic was born in Switzerland, grew up in Switzerland, and made appearances for the Swiss u21 national team, but in the end, when choosing the adult national team, Rakitic chose Croatia.
Before the Start of the World Cup, the players tribune interviewed Rakitic. The tenacity of Croatian players has touched many people, and Rakitic's experience may give everyone a better understanding of why Croatians are so tough.
△ Rakitic inspires teammates
When my father took the clothes out of the box, my brother and I both knew...
We will never take them off.
Of course, when the box first appeared in our swiss home, we didn't know what was inside. Scribbles on the box are the addresses of the senders in Croatia. It was a place we called "home," but it was also a place my brother and I had never been before.
We communicate in Croatian at home and there are a lot of Croats in the small Swiss town where we live. But Croatia is still out of reach for me. My parents left Croatia when the war broke out, and my brother Dejan and I were born in Switzerland. Croatia as we know it is seen on television, or in photographs, and sometimes when parents are on the phone with friends and family in Croatia.
△ The Rakitic brothers
As a child, it was difficult to understand what was happening in the Balkans. My parents never told me about the war. I can understand them, they really don't want to talk about that war. I remember when they were on the phone with someone in Croatia, they would sometimes cry. It feels a bit like... I don't know how to explain it, maybe it's like a nightmare? Our brothers were lucky because we were far away from the war, so we didn't see what was going on. But our parents were in the middle of it, many of their friends and family stayed at home, and my parents lost a lot of loved ones.
Then, I remember when I was only four or five years old, I saw a news report on TV. I saw pictures and images of the Balkan war, and that night I lay in bed thinking, it's impossible. How can this happen?
Before Croatia's official independence, our national team had already played a game. I think it tells you how important football is to us, for any country and its people, no matter where people are, football is their way of thinking about it. So when my father opened the box that had been sent from Croatia with a knife and took out two Croatian national team jerseys, my brother and I had a sense of belonging, a very strong force, like we were part of Croatia at that moment.
We wore jerseys when we slept and when we went to school the next day. By the third day, I had no intention of taking it off. Our feeling at the time was, "Wow! We have Croatia jerseys!! Red and white plaid shirt! But neither shirt had a number printed on the back. At that time we wanted to have 10 Croatian shirts because we didn't want to wear other clothes. This shirt is so special to us.
When I started playing, I didn't wear the Croatian national team uniform. I was wearing a shirt from another country – Switzerland. I'm honest about this, and I often tell people "I'm a Swiss." Then everyone else would look at me strangely"A Swiss man named Ivan Rakitic?" But I was born in Switzerland, grew up in Switzerland, I went to school in Switzerland, and my friends are from Switzerland.
So when I played for the Swiss youth team, I was proud to wear the Swiss jersey for five years.
But most of my heart belongs to Croatia. This will never change.
A few years after the end of the war, my parents and our brothers finally returned to Croatia together. When we get there, war is a topic that anyone avoids talking about, as if we have to forget about war and we have to move forward and leave war behind.
The first trip to Croatia reminded me of my hometown of Maureen in Switzerland, where many Croats, like my family, moved there when the war broke out, so there were plenty of Croatian restaurants there. In 1998, when Croatia competed for the first time in the World Cup, Maureen flew the Croatian flag everywhere. Everyone is crazy.
During the 1998 World Cup, my brother, I, and my father watched the game together at home in Switzerland, we wore Croatian jerseys, we were forbidden to talk for 90 minutes of the game, and the game on TV was the most important. "We can talk after the game," the father would say, "for now, just watch the game." ”
If you ask the Croatians about the 1998 World Cup, they will tell you that the quarter-final with Germany is the most memorable moment. How can you forget? We were only officially recognised in 1992, and 6 years later we played in the World Cup for the first time in the quarter-finals against Germany! Fathers were already agitated to the point of incoherence. I think my father is probably the most crazy person in the world for football. My father got a job on a construction site after we moved to Switzerland, he was a strong man who was also a player when he was young, a defensive midfielder in the number 4 shirt.
△ 1998 World Cup Croatia vs Germany
How did my father react after Croatia's victory over Germany?
Yes... He's about to go to heaven. Many times, I feel that my life now is a fulfillment of the dream that my father and I share. Before deciding to move to Switzerland, my father was a high-level player in Bosnia. But in order to live, he came to Switzerland with his family. After he stops playing, he'll drop everything in his hand to watch me play.
Football and Croatia mean too much for him.
When I needed to make the decision whether to join the Croatian senior national team or the Swiss adult national team, I could hear my father's footsteps outside the door when I was on the phone with the Swiss national team coach.
To be honest, there was a time when I thought I would definitely choose Switzerland. I never thought of other possibilities. I've been playing systematically for the Swiss national team, this is my team. But 10 years ago, Slavin Bilic and the president of the Croatian Football Association came to see me in Basel. I met with them and talked.
Being able to be in a room with Slavin... Well, whatever he says I'll say, "Okay! I'm willing to go with you! "He was a heroic presence for me. But at that time 10 years ago, he never put any pressure on me. He just told me about the team's plan and he wanted me to be a part of that plan.
I've made up my mind and I want to go with him. He gave me a lot of confidence and it made me feel like I wanted to go with him right away.
△ Bilic and Rakitic
How should Slavin be evaluated? He was one of the most important people I've ever met in football and he meant me not just as an important coach, but as an important person. He's special. There's a trait in him, a charm that wants you to always play for him, whether it's today, tomorrow or forever, I want to play for him. And he's able to unleash the best part of your potential. You'd think, "This man is going to do everything for me." ”
But even sitting across from Slavin and talking to him on my knees, I knew I couldn't make a decision at that moment. Switzerland has given me a lot, so I spent some time thinking about my options. My season in Basel was over and I was at home for a while before going to Schalke 04. The decision of the national team has always bothered me, and I need to make a decision before I go to Germany. I want to keep a clear and focused mind to start a new career.
Sitting in the room, I still don't know if I'm going to choose Switzerland or Croatia. I kept thinking about the people and things that had brought me to where I am.
Then I asked myself: What does your heart tell you?
Without hesitation, I picked up the phone
The first call was made to the coach in Switzerland. I'm part of the Swiss team and I've spent my football career in Switzerland so far, so I'm going to start by telling him about my decision and why I chose Croatia. I told him the decision was not for Switzerland, but for Croatia. After making this call, I called Slavin.
I chose Croatia to make me a part of the Croatian team.
Slavin said, "All Croats will be proud of you!" Don't think too much about other chores, you just have to enjoy football. ”
Neither phone call took too long, but throughout the process I could hear my father's footsteps walking back and forth in the hallway.
When I opened the door, My father stopped and looked at me. I didn't tell him about the decision I made, but he told me he would support me no matter which national team I chose. For both of us, this is a moment that belongs only between our father and son.
I decided to make a joke with my father first.
"I chose to join the Swiss national team," I told him.
"Oh," said father, "well, that's fine too."
"No, no," I said with a smile, "I chose Croatia. ”
At that moment, my father burst into tears and cried.
Every time I step on the field for Croatia, I think of that moment with my father. I knew my father wanted to stand where I was and put on my sneakers. I know there are countless Croats who want to do that too. Being able to defend your country on your behalf is all indescribable.
The Croatian people are very special. They have a unique charm. When playing in front of Croatian fans, you never want the game to end. It's like, I don't know how to describe it, it's like you want to give everyone in this room a big hug. You don't want to leave the arena, you want to be with them every day, you want to spend every day on the field.
Interestingly, it's been many years since I received that package from Croatia, but I still don't want to take off my Croatian shirt.
There's a corresponding pressure to wear this shirt, but I think that pressure is beneficial. You want to show the world the strength of Croatia. You want to inherit the legends that Slavin and Sukh wrote back then.
I think we're still telling the world what we're like and what we can do. The game against Greece in the World Preliminary Play-offs was probably the best game we've played in the last five or six years. I told my teammates in the dressing room, "Let's move on like we are now!" ”
Modric and I looked at each other and smiled, and we both felt that it was long overdue to do so.
As you know before, my family also grew up in different countries. My wife is Spaniard and our two daughters grew up in Barcelona. It's all special, my two daughters have the same experience as me, we both have the experience of living in different countries, which allows us to understand life from different perspectives. On top of that, my two little princesses are my biggest fans.
So before the World Cup starts, I have to do something special.
That day, I took home a box to give to my daughters. Inside the box were two Croatian jerseys.
They told me I would never take the shirt off.
I know how they feel.
△ The Rakitic family