Josip Brekalo Responds to Critics about being Dropped from Croatia Squad

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić did not invite Josip Brekalo to the national team gathering for the September 2022 World Cup qualifying matches, which shocked many after the young football star has been a standard on the squad after the 2018 World Cup.

After Dalić released the latest player list, speculation followed that Brekalo might have been dropped for not respecting his senior teammates. However, the Wolfsberg winger responded to critics on social networks to clear the air. 

Brekalo primarily wanted to deny the stories that he is “a disobedient team member who does not respect his older teammates and undermines the cohesion in the team.”

You can read Brekalo’s statement transmitted below:

“I use this opportunity to announce my representative status and various media stories and speculations related to it.

The worst stories that prompted me to publish this are those where I am portrayed as a disobedient who disrespects older teammates and undermines team cohesion.

These are gross fabrications and absolute untruths, and as such, I have to deny them because, in these three years that I have been in the national team, I have never had a single problem, not with a single teammate. On the contrary and the only possible one, I respect them all, and I have a very good relationship with everyone.

The Croatia national team is sacred to my other family and me.

I am proud to have played 27 of 28 possible matches in these three years, and in the last year, I also scored four goals with assists.

Why I was not invited this time is not a question for me, but I know that every time I am invited, I will give my maximum. I believe in myself and look forward to the next opportunity and the call again.

I wish the national team, staff, and all players good luck in these 3 games, and I hope that we will record all three victories and pave the way to the World Cup,” wrote Brekalo with a photo in which he celebrates a goal in the Croatia jersey with Ivan Perišić.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

the fields marked with * are required

Email: *
First name:
Last name:
Gender:	Male Female
Country:
Birthday:	[DD] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 [MM] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 [YYYY] 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Please don't insert text in the box below!