Bayern Munich beat Arminia 3-0 away in the 30th round of the German Bundesliga, and two Croatians played for the Bavarian giant. Josip Stanišić entered the game in the 48th minute, while in the 89th minute, Gabriel Vidović replaced Gnabry and thus made his debut for the Bayern Munich senior team in a competitive match. Vidović thus became the 11th Croat in history to play for Bayern in a competitive game, but he can also boast that he is the youngest to do so, reports Vecernji List.
The oldest Croatian debutant for Bayern is Zlatko Škorić, who was 31 in 1972. Vidović replaced Josip Stanišić as the youngest, who made his debut for Bayern at 21. The third youngest is Mario Mandžukić, who made his debut at 26.
Gabriel Vidović is a child of the Croatian diaspora – his father, Zoran, is from Žepče, and his mother, Marijana, is from Kiseljak. Zoran Vidović has been living in Germany since 1995, and Gabriel was born on December 1, 2003.
Although he only came of age in December, Gabriel’s work and sacrifice at such a young age led him to share the pitch with players such as Lewandowski, Neuer, Müller, Kimmich, and many other Bayern stars.
“Everything is perfect. They accepted me as an equal; there is no hierarchy. Both the coach and the players talk to me in the most normal way; they share tips that will help me in my career. These are all international coaches and players, so you have to listen to them when they give you some advice because you know it will help you in the game. But yes, all these great players want and love to help,” Vidović said recently.
A few years ago, at the invitation of Petar Krpan, Gabriel decided to play for the Croatia national team over Germany.
“When it comes to playing for your country, you have to decide for yourself within your four walls, with your family. There is no one else to influence that decision. There was not much thinking in the conversation with mom and dad; I decided quickly and said that I wanted to play for Croatia. Germany also called me to come and play for them, but Croatia has always been number one,” said Vidović, who played in some friendly matches for the Germany U15 team.
Gabriel, by the way, was not born in Munich but in Augsburg, where he still lives with his family. However, he trains and plays in Munich.
“Four times a week, the Bayern driver comes to pick up Gabriel in Augsburg and drives him to train in Munich and to the games. It is a 120-kilometer drive in both directions, and it has been five years since Gabriel moved to Bayern,” Gabriel’s father, Zoran, said.
That may change now that Gabriel has become a member of Bayern’s first team. This debut for the first team confirmed that Bayern is seriously counting on Vidović for the future. Coach Julius Nagelsmann also supports this.
“He is an outstanding football player; he is our future!”
Vidović recently signed a contract with Bayern until the summer of 2025. :
“Gabriel is a player with fantastic technical abilities who creates many great opportunities in front of the opponent’s goal. He has been with us for six years, during which he has done numerous training at our academy, so the time has come for the next big step in his career and on the way to the first team,” said sports director Hasan Salihamidžić.
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