Talk about next year's World Cup
We are very close to the World Cup now, just need one more point. But the World Cup is next summer. I am currently focusing on everything about the Premier League and Manchester City. When the season is over, I will start thinking about the World Cup. Of course, it is a great achievement for our country to participate in the World Cup again. If given the chance, I hope to make some breakthroughs there. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was the first time that many people really knew me, and I received a lot of praise at that event. For me, it really made me famous. It was my first World Cup and I didn’t realize how big the World Cup was. But every game is a new challenge for me. Now I understand better the difficulty of participating in the World Cup and feel more pressure.
Is feeling more pressure a good thing or a bad thing?
When you are young, you just want to go ahead and do it without thinking too much. I think that state was good at that time. Now I regard pressure as something that will not make you too relaxed, focused, and engaged.
How does Croatia, a country with a population of only 4 million, continue to produce so many outstanding players?
I don’t think anyone knows the answer, it’s hard to tell. All I can say is that we have a lot of good players and most of them are playing in top teams. Although it cannot be explained, I am sure that when we play for the national team, we always give our best and get huge support from the fans. Even though we are a small country, our fans are always with us.