The famous Barcelona midfielder takes a break from Barcelona to revel in the best Advent in Europe.
Croatian national team footballer and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitić was spotted in Zagreb on Wednesday with his beautiful wife, Raquel. Rakitić arrived in the Croatian capital as part of a sponsorship deal, and while the footballer was in Zagreb to help to open a new store in the city center, Rakitić and his wife had plenty of time to stroll through the most beautiful Christmas fair in Europe, reports Goal.hr on December 14, 2017.
Even though a list of obligations awaited the famous Croatian footballer, apart from mingling with Dinamo players Ćorić, Olmo, Antolić, Lecjak and Rrahmanij, Rakitić patiently talked to fans, photographed with them and shared autographs – and he even answered a few questions from journalists.
When asked about the round of 16 draw for the Champions League (Barcelona will face Chelsea):
“Uh, we have some great matches coming up. We know that Chelsea will have their chances and will play for the win. They are among the best, and we want to measure them as such. We want to get to the end,” said Rakitić.
When HRT asked the question about former Barcelona player Neymar:
“His loss is felt because he is a unique player. I congratulate PSG because he has been a great player there, but we have improved other elements of our connecting and defensive game,” added the footballer, who recalled that El Clasico would be played next week.
“The date is not very good; people might be sad going into the holidays, haha. I’m kidding, another big game, we remember the beautiful moments from Madrid, we will certainly play to win this time, it would be a nice end to the year,” said Rakitić.
And what about the story of the Croat and Italian goalkeeper great Gigi Buffon? If you recall, Rakitić had publicly said that he would give up his spot in the World Cup so the Italian would have a place in Russia next year. The communication happened just before Barcelona and Juventus were set to play each other, and the meeting was meant to result in Buffon giving Rakitić his shirt.
“We had a very nice and emotional conversation before and after the match, on the pitch and in the dressing room. He brought me a jersey, printed with a special sentence intended for me, and it will have a nice spot in the house.”
The inevitable topic was, of course, the Croatian national team. Rakitić revealed his thoughts about Zlatko Dalić, Croatia’s new coach after defeating Ukraine and Greece.
“First I would like to thank the former coach, the change to Dalić came later. It was not easy, and we practically met at the airport before we took the journey to Kiev. It is no accident that Dalić worked six-seven years outside Croatia and did well over there. He is fully prepared, and no detail is left to coincidence. We have the right coach and headquarters,” concluded Rakitić.
Translated from Goal.hr
