Jozo Simunovic, the new "Dragon": Croatia is my homeland, and Bosnia is my grandfather

Two days of preparation have already taken place, which is enough to settle the first impressions and emotions, and bring the first assessments of the team whose member he just became.

It is about Joze Simunovic who, at the invitation of the coach, Mehmed Baždarević, decided to perform for the selection of BiH, although he already had a jersey of younger Croatian national teams.

"Everything is great. Boys surprise me, they are very positive, they have accepted me well and I am very happy that I am here and that they can be part of the team, "the new BiH national representative begins.

What does this call for you mean for you?

"It means a lot, primarily because we talked and expressed the desire that he would like to have me on the team, which of course is a privilege but a great challenge. That is why I decided to play for the national team of BiH. Again, this call means to me a lot, it also represents a new experience for me personally, I am again active in representative breaks, and I hope to help the team in these qualifications. "

Your parents are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but you were born in Zagreb. Was it difficult to make a decision to play for BiH and not for Croatia for which you already played in the younger national selections?

"We talked about everything for a long time, and Croatia is my homeland, and Bosnia is my grandfather. Simply emotions were divided and after I sat down and talked with my family I decided to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is my definitive decision, I really look forward to it and I can hardly wait for the upcoming matches. "

Your arrival in the national team surely got a lot, are you expecting to sign the first appearance in the next encounters?

"I also hope that the team with the arrival of me gets quality, but we will see that we have to go day by day. I believe I can help and I want to show everyone that, now on this gathering or next, I just want to be part of this team and my chance will certainly come. "

Your decision has caused a lot of media attention. How did you react to that?

"The call was a lot of BH journalists, I want to apologize for not answering those calls, but I was simply in club duties and I hope that when I come to BiH for a new gathering, I will have the opportunity to talk to them. I believe that we will cooperate well and I would not promise too much, but the best I can promise is that I will do my best, I want to play, I want to enjoy football. "

• 30 Aug, 2017
• 2072 views