Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitić penned a touching story for The Players’ Tribune about his life in Switzerland and how he decided to represent his homeland, Croatia.
“The moment my dad took them out of the box, my brother and I knew…We were never going to take them off,” begins Ivan Rakitić’s emotional Croatia tribute on The Player’s Tribune, which was published on June 21, 2018.
“Of course, when the box first arrived at our house in Switzerland, we didn’t know what was inside. Scribbled on the top was a return address in Croatia. It was a place we called home, but it was also a place that neither my brother nor I had ever been to before.”
Rakitić’s family left Croatia as war broke out in 1991 – and even though Croatian was spoken at home and many Croatian families lived in his hometown in Switzerland, Croatia was unfamiliar. All Rakitić and his brother knew of Croatia was through the television, the photos his parents shared with them, and the conversations they heard them having on the phone.
“It was hard as a kid to understand what was going on in the Balkans. My parents never really told me about the war — understandably, they didn’t really want to talk about it. I remember how they’d cry sometimes when they were on the phone with somebody back in Croatia. It just felt sort of like … I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe like a bad dream? We were lucky. We were far away from it, so we didn’t see what was happening. But it was never really far from my parents’ minds. A lot of their friends and family had stayed behind. My parents lost a lot of people who they loved.”
Rakitić then recalls being 4 or 5 and seeing photos and videos of Croatia during the war. The disturbing thoughts would keep him awake at night: This is impossible. How can this happen?
The package Rakitić mentions at the beginning of the story revealed two Croatian jerseys – one for Ivan and one for his brother.
“We slept in those shirts. We wore them to school the next day. And the day after that. We didn’t want to take them off. Wow, we have the Croatian shirt. The white-and-red checkers, but no name on the back. We wanted 10 of them because we didn’t want to wear anything else. They were so special to us.” The player claims the biggest part of his heart always belonged to Croatia.
Slobodan Kadić
After visiting Croatia for the first time once the war had ended, Rakitić remembers any mention of the war as taboo – as if everyone hoped to quickly forget everything they had just experienced.
He recalls watching the 1998 World Cup in his Croatia shirt with his father and brother in Switzerland, and not being allowed to speak for all 90 minutes – his father’s orders. He specifically remembers the quarterfinal against Germany and the emotions of his father, who Rakitić claims is the maddest person about football – and especially Croatian football.
When Rakitić’s football career soared and he was faced with deciding which national team he would choose – Switzerland or Croatia – the midfielder expressed that thanks to Slaven Bilić, the decision was easy.
“First of all to be in the same room as Slaven … yeah, he could’ve said anything and I would’ve been like, “O.K., I want to go with you, please.” He was a hero of mine. But in that moment, he never put any pressure on me. He just told me his plans for the team and how he wanted me to be a part of it. “Come with me,” he said. “Come to play with our country. We will do it in the best way.” In my mind, I thought, I’m with you. He just gave me so much confidence and it was like, Wow, just let me go with you. Let’s go!”
Bilić is said to be the most important person in Rakitić’s football career, as the Barcelona midfielder claimed that the coach has a way ofmaking you want to play for him over and over again.
After he finally decided that he would choose Croatia, he recalls first playing a joke on his father by telling him he chose Switzerland, though his father’s eyes welled with tears when he told him the truth.
“I think about my dad and that moment a lot when I step onto the field for Croatia. I know my father would like to be where I am, standing in my boots. I know so many Croatians would like to, as well. To be able to play for your country and defend your colors … there are no words to describe it.”
Slobodan Kadić
And he is especially touched by Croatia fans…
“The people from Croatia are special. They have this … character about them. When I’m out there with my team in front of our supporters, it’s almost like … you never want the game to end. It’s like, I don’t know, like … I just want to give everyone a big hug or something. You never want to leave. You want to play every day with them. You want to be there every day.”
It has been years since the package with Croatia shirts arrived at the midfielder’s home in Switzerland, but the footballer says he still never wants to take off the Croatia shirt to this day.
“There’s a pressure that comes with wearing that shirt. But it’s a good pressure, I think. You want to show the world what Croatia can do. You want to carry on the work of players like Slaven and Davor Šuker.”
The emotional tribute ends with Rakitić explaining that even though he has chosen to raise his family in Spain, keeping the spirit of Croatia alive at home is essential. Before the World Cup began, the footballer came home with a similar package to the one delivered to his home in Switzerland, with two Croatia shirts for his two daughters. They told him they never want to take them off.
You can read the full story on The Players’ Tribune here.
