Vice-captain of the Croatia national football team Ivan Rakitić is optimistic about the upcoming matches against Portugal and Spain, and looks forward to his 100th appearance in the famous checkered jersey.
“With all respect to everyone, all over the world, there is no better feeling than playing for Croatia,” said Rakitić for the Sport newspaper headquartered in Barcelona, reports Gol.hr September 1, 2018.
Since 2007, Rakitić has played 99 games for the Croatia national team and scored 15 goals.
“Playing for the national team is different, especially when you play for a small country like Croatia and when they do not give you great chances. The most beautiful thing was that the entire world fell in love with us. We received messages of support from around the world that they will be with us in the final, and that’s more than winning a thousand matches,” Rakitić pointed out.
Hardly anyone was expecting Croatia in the final against France.
“Everything happened because of us, there was nothing artificial there nor were we looking for a special way to achieve it. Our goal was simply to use all the team potential, to give it all as a team. We have shown to the whole world what Croatia means to us,” the 30-year-old midfielder added.
Next week, Rakitić will continue where he left off in Russia. However, in agreement with the coach, he will miss the friendly match between Portugal and Croatia on September 6th. Five days later, Croatia will visit Spain in Elche to begin the Nations League competition, where they will also face England.
Rakitić believes that they can win a medal in this competition.
“The future looks nice now, even though some players have retired. I hope the team and I will be even better now. You learn a lot of things at the World Cup. In each game, in every championship, you learn something, and at the World Cup with what we had, even more, and more,” Rakitić said.
The Barcelona footballer publicly congratulated Luka Modrić on Friday after he won UEFA’s ‘Player of the Year’.
“Just one: Deserved! Bravo brother, bravo captain… we are all proud of you,” said Rakitić on his Instagram.
