July 16, 2020 – The President of the Croatian Football Federation, Davor Suker, hosted Eduardo Alves da Silva, the former prominent member of the Croatia national team, who will be the HNS ambassador at the European Championship next year.
Eduardo gladly accepted the proposal to be the ambassador of the Croatian Football Federation and the Croatia national team at Euro 2020, which has been postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The favorite ‘Dudu’ will once again be with the national team, for which he played 64 times and scored 29 goals, which makes him the third-best scorer of in Vatreni history, behind Suker (45) and Mario Mandzukic (33).
Eduardo interviewed for the official HNS website.
How did this cooperation with HNS come about?
Last Christmas I was in Zagreb, I visited President Suker and through a conversation, he suggested the idea to me. I gladly agreed. I will be honored to be the ambassador of HNS and the Croatia national team at the upcoming Euro.
EURO 2020 will be Croatia’s eleventh major competition in history. Is this confirmation of good work in Croatian football?
The results of the HNS speak for themselves. Croatia is continuously a participant in major competitions, and when you have two medals from world championships in 20 years, there is nothing more to add. I see that this high level is maintained even today, that great talents are being developed that will keep Croatia at a high level in the future as well. Quality work with young people is undoubtedly what sets Croatia apart from others, and I am thrilled that President Suker and the current leadership recognize this and invest in it.
Croatia is coming to the EURO as the World Cup finalist. How did you experience the World Cup in Russia?
Then I played in Poland, where I watched all the matches of our national team. I played for Croatia for ten years and I am aware of the quality that this national team has. Several times we really missed the chance for great success, especially in 2008 against Turkey and 2016 against Portugal. In 2012, we had an objectively difficult group with two finalists, but even then, we played very good football. So I’m not surprised that Croatia reached the final because I know these guys and I know how good they are. I played with 80 percent of these guys and I’m so glad they achieved such a fantastic success.
The captain of Vatreni, Luka Modric, also achieved incredible success, with whom you shared the locker room at Dinamo and the national team. Could you have predicted that Luka’s career would develop like this?
As a young footballer, each of us dreams of being the best in the world, like our role models like Zidane and Romario. I played a lot with Luka, even against him a few times when he was at Tottenham and at Real, and he really deserved everything that happened to him. He built his career carefully, step by step, and reached the highest possible level that he earned with his quality and his work.
Regardless of the departures of several essential players after the World Cup, Croatia triumphantly went through the qualifications. What can the Vatreni do at Euro 2020?
It was expected that there would be a small drop after the World Cup because every new team needs time to play. See how much time Klopp needed and now this Liverpool team is the champion of Europe and England. It is now clear that Croatia is again ready to be competitive at the Euro and come far again.
Everyone’s plans were thwarted by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Of course, we are all sorry that a virus has appeared that, among other things, has affected the football calendar in the same way. However, for Croatia as well as for others – I don’t think it will be too much of a problem. It remains to be seen what the situation will be with the fans because Croatia is used to playing with great support from the stands.
How do you view the opponents who await Croatia at the Euros?
Whoever qualifies for the big competition is a serious team. England and Croatia are the favorites on paper. England is the host and is of very high quality, and Croatia is a World Cup finalist. But the Czech Republic is a team that plays well in the final tournaments, and whoever comes as the fourth team in the group will also be a tough opponent. Still, of course, I see Croatia as one of the passengers in the next round.
As an extremely successful striker, how do you rate Croatia’s center forwards today?
The strikers are certainly among the most important figures on the pitch for any team. Football has changed a lot; there are not so many traditional “nines” but the striker is expected to work a lot for the team, cooperate and open the space with wings that score a lot of goals. Still, it’s important to have a striker who can score from nothing. I think that Croatia has excellent solutions in the attack in Petkovic and Kramaric, and we shouldn’t be worried about that position.
You can read the full interview on the HNS website.
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