More than a job

When I made Luka Modric the captain of Croatia’s Under-21s, did I think that he would go on to win a Ballon d’Or? No, no, no. 

It would be a lie if I said that, but it is true that me and my assistant, Aljosa Asanovic, saw something special in Modric from day one. He was so obsessed with football, absolutely focused on every touch of every ball. He is still like that. 

Every ball matters, especially at a young age, but it also matters with senior, professional players. I see when some players make a mistake and they gesture to each other: “It’s no problem, it’s okay.” But you can’t do that. 

Yes, football is a game where people make mistakes, but it’s mathematics. I tell my players: “First half, we have the ball maybe 25 times. If, with those 25 times, we are going to miss the ball, miss the pass, 15 times, we will struggle, you know? So you have to be responsible. Don’t be afraid, but take care with what you do.”

"We gave him the Under-21 captaincy after just a couple of games, which was not normal"

We could see straight away how focused Modric was, how determined to become a player. He had quality, of course, but we saw something special in him, character-wise.

We gave him the Under-21 captaincy after just a couple of games, which was not normal. He was two years younger than most of his teammates, and not a very vocal guy at that time. But he installed himself as a leader on the pitch – not by shouting, but by taking responsibility: “Give me the ball under pressure. If you’re scared, I’m not scared. I’m going to help every one of you to get into the game.”

It was a good generation of players for Croatia. Vedran Corluka came along while I was coaching the Under-21s, too. Mario Mandzukic played for the Under-21s after I became national team manager – and there were others, like Ivan Perisic, a few years younger. I gave all of them their international debuts.

The Under-21 role was a good job that I liked a lot. It was ideal for me at that stage of my coaching career. It’s not like you are the manager of the senior team, where you are always under pressure every day. When you are manager of the national team, you could say that it is the second-biggest job after the prime minister. There is big pressure to cope with, spending a lot of energy answering questions and managing situations. 

With the Under-21s, there are not so many questions to answer. You can almost completely concentrate on the work. When you are the national team manager, there’s a bit of politics involved, especially in countries like Croatia. The domestic clubs live by selling players, and it doubles the price if they play for the national team. Even in Saudi, where I am managing now, they ask: “Why did the national team manager call up this player and not that one?”

And there are always stories being created: “Zlatko Dalic is calling up this player because of this, because of that.” You can waste a lot of energy dealing with these things, but it’s still a top job.

"It came as a surprise because I was 37 years old, which was young at that time for a job of that scale"

When I got the national team job it was not a shock, but I was surprised. I went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany as a scout for Croatia. Our national team manager at that time was Niko Kranjcar’s father, Zlatko Kranjcar, who sadly passed away in 2021. He was a top guy, very popular, and a legendary striker in his playing days with Dinamo Zagreb. 

Okay, Croatia didn’t pass the group stage at that tournament, but it wasn’t a disaster. We lost 1-0 to Brazil, and drew with Australia and Japan. I was there watching our opponents. 

Afterwards, I came home and was preparing for the next Under-21 qualification rounds.  When the manager got the sack, they asked if I would do the job. It came as a surprise because I was 37 years old, which was young at that time for a job of that scale. 

But I wanted it, did not hesitate and said yes, straight away. There were some players in the squad, like Nico and Robert Kovac, who I had played with. That can be a little bit awkward, but I was always going to say yes. 

These days, the Under-21s play in different places to the senior team, but back then they played the same countries as the seniors. It was a brilliant structure for young players. When I was Under-21s manager, we had the same countries in our qualification group as the senior team, so we travelled together. 

Let’s say Croatia played Sweden. The senior team played on Saturday, we played on Friday. Both teams flew on the same plane on Thursday. After the Under-21s played, we waited for the seniors – the kids got to watch the stars – and we flew back together.

"I knew the team, like I was managing them. That was my advantage"

It was like that when I was a player. You watched the big players, the big games, and dreamed about making that step up. It was a crucial part of development. The young players talked on the plane with the stars, asking questions – they were mates, basically. That meant a lot for the kids. With this new system, where they are separated, it is gone.

I was also watching the senior games with my players. I didn’t want the manager to get the sack, but as a young coach trying to improve, I watched games and thought: “Yeah, this is good, but maybe this thing I would do differently.” Subconsciously, I was more ready for the senior job than some other coach from abroad would have been. If they appointed him, he would go: “Okay, what’s the Croatian team? They play 3-5-2? Okay, who is in the middle?” Whereas I knew the team, like I was managing them. That was my advantage.

When I took over, some important players retired, like Dado Prso, who was a great striker for Croatia. That was a challenge, but I believed in the situation, and it wasn’t a surprise to me that we did well.

We were drawn in a tough group for Euro 2008 qualification. It was a new Russia, with Guus Hiddink in charge; then England, who we had yet to beat in three previous meetings. We also had Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra. Israel always enters the qualifications with expectations that this is going to be their time. Then Macedonia are our rivals from the ex-Yugoslavia. 

"Young players are great. They bring energy and are not afraid to take chances"

We started well, with a positive point in Russia, and then beat Andorra 7-0. Then we beat England at home and Israel away, and that gave us a boost. We became a very popular team, because we put a few young players from the Under-21s straight into the first XI.

Like Corluka, who was 20 years old and playing right-back, despite never playing in that position before. Croatia always used to play in a 3-5-2, which meant we were producing wing-backs and not full-backs. So Corluka was a good choice, with his stamina, skill and intelligence. Plus, I had known him from being Under-21 manager – that was my advantage again.

People asked: “What gave you the strength to put Modric, Eduardo, Corluka straight in the first XI?” I knew them. I had lived with them for two years, practically, so I knew straight away that they could do it. They were very confident and knew I had belief in them. For example, Eduardo was thinking: “I don’t have to score in the first half to prove myself. He’s not going to substitute me if I don’t score, because he knows me.” It was like a perfect storm in a positive way – for them, psychologically, but also for me.

Young players are great. They bring energy and are not afraid to take chances. They are enthusiastic and lift the whole team up, but they need cornerstones. It’s all good when it’s going well, but young players need the pillars when things get tough. A game is like life – in 90 minutes you have everything, ups and downs, so you need cornerstones.

Modric was great, of course, but he needed Niko Kovac then. He needed Niko Kovac, who was in his late 30s, a captain and an experienced guy. And they clicked. Same with Robert Kovac and Corluka. Or Eduardo, with whoever was his partner up front: one of Ivica Olic, Mladen Petric or Ivan Klasnic. We had the ingredients that were perfect for my philosophy and understanding of a team. 

"you have these few moments – crossroads – that can change things"

In the first game of the Euro 2008 finals, we played against the co-hosts, Austria. Although we scored straight away, it was a nervy game. In the second half they were attacking, attacking, attacking. We couldn’t score a second to kill the game, but we did win.

The second game was a great match against Germany. It was one of those games that is a key moment. If you are lucky, life will last 100 years; every year is important, but you have these few moments – crossroads – that can change things.

You can tell a player: “You are the best, you are this, you are that.” And they trust you, right? But until they get proof, they don’t completely trust in what you are saying. When they get proof from the big games, that is when things can change. That was the game against Germany. We won 2-1, and it was the proof. 

My aim was to win Euro 2008. I mean, every nation that qualified aimed to win the tournament, but I really trusted that we could do it. When I was playing for Croatia at Euro ’96, we lost to Germany in the quarter finals because we didn’t believe. We needed that defeat to beat them at the 1998 World Cup.

In 2008, we had a good team. There was no one we couldn’t beat. Maybe there were better teams on paper, but in 90 minutes we could beat anyone. That is what we – myself and the coaching staff: Asanovic, Robert Prosinecki, Nikola Jurcevic and Marijan Mrmic – wanted to instil into the players.

"People still ask me about the Turkey game. The penalties and THAT Goal"

At that time, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta were dominating the best midfielders. Before the game against Austria, I had told Luka: “I’m not saying you are better than Xavi, but I really believe that you are on that level. Now it is your stage. Don’t be under big pressure, but do embrace the pressure. The people are expecting from you, and you can do it.”

And he did it. We then beat Poland in our last group game, to have three wins from three. Suddenly everyone following the team was very excited. Before the quarter final against Turkey, there were 200,000 Croatians in the town, because Zagreb is only a few hours from Vienna. It was buzzing.

People still ask me about the Turkey game. The penalties and that goal. I don’t know how it happened. We were a bit better than Turkey, and tried changing the players and formation. We started 4-2-3-1, then we ended 4-4-2, with two strikers, but we didn’t create a lot and neither did they.

It was a nervy game, typical for knockout stages. When we scored in the 119th minute, we celebrated. People say that the reason we lost is because we celebrated and lost focus. I have seen many managers celebrating a moment like that and they didn’t lose. But okay, we lost, so they will say that.

"I'm not saying that we would have won the Euros, but I really think that we were rising"

I remember saying to the players: “Listen, guys, there’s one more minute. Focus. They are going to throw numbers up front and hit long balls. Let’s concentrate. When we have the ball, play wide. Don’t play through the middle, play in the corners.”

But unfortunately we conceded a goal. Straight after that it was penalties, and it was very difficult. I noticed straight away when I spoke to my players, that the psychology for them was like: “Oh my God, penalties.” Whereas the Turks were like: “Yes, penalties!”

We lost, and it was a big blow. I’m not saying that we would have won the Euros, but I really think that we were rising. 

You learn. In that tournament, we won our first couple of games and in the third game against Poland we rested the first team. Turkey didn’t, because they had to win their last group game.

Holland against Russia in the quarter finals had the same situation. Holland won their first couple of games, rested players in their final group game. Russia didn’t, and they beat Holland.

"England were crazy motivated against us, because we had beaten them in Euro 2008 qualification"

Portugal won their first couple of games, then rested players. Germany had to beat Austria because they lost against us. They didn’t rest players, then they smashed Portugal in their quarter final.

You have sports scientists discussing with you what you’re going to do next week, but when you are in a rhythm, riding a wave – physically, psychologically, everything in a good way – don’t stop it. Especially if you are stopping it for a short period. It’s different if you’re going to rest players for three weeks and they properly recharge. But if they are playing Monday, Thursday, Monday, Thursday, Monday, then you stop Thursday, but they are playing Monday again anyway. It’s not enough for them to recharge.

After the Euros, there was a big blow when we didn’t qualify for the 2010 World Cup. We were changing the team, bringing in the new generation, and had a difficult group. England were crazy motivated against us, because we had beaten them in Euro 2008 qualification. Against Ukraine we were unlucky, but I take responsibility. 

We managed to change the generation, though, and had a really good Euro 2012, where we were unlucky to lose against the champions, Spain, with an 88th-minute goal.

"I am very proud of my time in charge of Croatia. It was more than a job"

Six years later, I was a pundit on the 2018 World Cup. Of the XI that played for Croatia in the semi-final win against England, only two players didn’t play when I was the manager.

I told the English media before that game that we were an experienced team. England only had one player who’d been at the previous World Cup, whereas Croatia’s team had grown. Modric, Corluka, Ivan Rakitic – they were there in 2008. They felt the disappointment of Turkey in 2008, not qualifying in 2010, Spain in 2012, just missing the knockouts in 2014. At Euro 2016 they lost against the eventual winners Portugal at the end of extra-time. By 2018, they were ready for everything – both as individuals and as a group.

As for me, six years was not a short time to do the job. Only Miroslav Blazevic, the legendary Dalic – who has done a tremendous job – and myself have managed Croatia for six years or more.

I am very proud of my time in charge of Croatia. It was more than a job. After managing the national team, no matter who I managed after, it would never be a job on that scale. Not even Real Madrid, because it is my country.