January 17, 2023 • 32 mins
Twenty years after their first World Cup, Croatia was mired in a corruption scandal that threatened to jail their best player. And somehow, they still finished second in World Cup 2018.
Back in 1998, Croatia rode the pot-clanging enthusiasm of winning a civil war and a hell of a talented generation into the World Cup semifinals. Twenty years later they rode—well, nothing really. The country’s soccer scene was mired in a corruption scandal that threatened to jail their best players, and they had an unknown coach who had spent three games total with the team. So they took all this and … somehow made it to the final? The world is terrifying and unknowable, and things do not happen for a reason. Croatia making the final of the 2018 World Cup proves this.
The Best Soccer Podcast In The World is a bilingual podcast that tells your soon-to-be favorite soccer stories. The host, Nando Vila, will crack open some of the most iconic World Cup moments, putting them in cultural and geopolitical contexts. From legendary players to silly hairdos to heart-wrenching losses.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Humans love predicting the future. We place bets, we fill
out World Cup brackets, We tell anyone willing to listen,
who will win, and who will score, and who is overrated,
and who will finally, finally prove we were right all along.
It's bailed by the way, of course, the solace we
(00:21):
seek in telling ourselves we know what will happen in
the future is bullshit. Case in point Croatia, two thousand eighteen.
But first let's rewind to you. Remember amidst the backdrop
of great boy bands taking over the pop charts, Croatia
was emerging victorious. Croatia wrote a putt clingy enthusiasm, from
(00:45):
winning a civil war to entering the World Cup semifinals
with one hell of a talented roster. Fast forward twenty
years later, and they rode well nothing really. Croatia's soccer
scene was mired into corruption scandal that threatened to jail
their best players, and they had an unknown coach who
had spent just three games total with the team, And
(01:06):
they had one of the oldest squads and not one
of the most talented ones either. So they took all
of that and somehow made it to the final. What
I'm trying to say is that the world is a
terrifying and unnable place and that things do not happen
for a reason. Croatia's winding path to make it to
the final of the World Cup proves this. I'm Nando
(01:29):
Vila and this is the best soccer podcast in the world.
Goes with them, but it's still Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, Yes,
(01:54):
Team Wonderful, Never sin. This episode is Croatia Part two.
(02:16):
In case you didn't hear it or just playing forgot
what happened in part one, here's a short reminder. Our
producers were very kind to put together for you. Yugoslavia
were like the Brazilians of Europe. It was an absolutely
magnificent They qualified for Your ninety two in Sweden, but
then the bar started and they were thrown out of
the tournament. The war in Yugoslava, it was a huge
(02:38):
tragedy for the people, but the Yugoslavitia broke up. So
Croatia's motivation was that it had just was emerging from
a not very happy union, the state of Yugoslavia the
decades between two thousand eighteen. We're not very kind to
our Croatian victors. Let's recap what our main characters got
(02:59):
up to. And then coach Cito Blazevich, who claims he
invented the three five to formation, moved on to a
new team managing Iran. He promised to hang himself from
the gold post if Iran didn't qualify for the World Cup.
They didn't qualify, he didn't follow through. Zvonimde Boban studied
(03:23):
history at Zagadab University in Croatia. His thesis was titled
Christianity in the Roman Empire. He eventually became the Deputy
Secretary General at FIFA, where he oversaw the implementation of
v a R or video assistant referee. Davosuka retired and
spent a decade lounging around the tropics devouring shrimp on
endless vacations. He denied receiving betting tips from a convicted
(03:46):
match fixer in Germany. He also found thirty thousand dollars
worth of antique gold coins left on a plane and
he just kept them. This earned him a fine of
eight thousand euros, but these petty crimes prepped him for
his next job. In two thousand twelve, suked became the
president of the Croatian Football Federation compared to the optimistic,
(04:06):
brimming patriotism of Croatia. The two following decades were rough.
Croatia was considered the least developed nation in the U,
The population experienced and exodus. In two thousand eighteen, it
had decreased by three thousand people, with many forced to
leave to find work, and Croatia's soccer ecosystem plunged into
(04:27):
a widespread corruption scandal, one that upended its federation and
its biggest club. One man embezzled over fifteen million dollars
and claims to have bribed fifty referees before fleeing the
country to escape the prison sentence. Well, yes, the football
in Croatia has been a corrupt for quite a while.
(04:47):
This is Michael Yoakin, a freelance soccer writer. By the
time the World Cup rolled around, this scandal had ensnared.
Even Croatia's best player was interesting because Croatia, again, you
had a genius midfield of driving them, Luka Modrid, But
the mood behind, the mood around the team was different
in some pretty significant ways, not least the fact that Modric,
(05:10):
Croatia's best player, was actually facing potential jail time for perjury,
having taken the stand in defense of the erstwhile Croatian
f a boss, Dravco Mammage, who was accused of pretty
much having run Creation Football as his own, as his
own kind of fifer for his own ends, shall we say,
having a hand in transfers, having in hands in national
(05:32):
team selections, and taking a percentage of whatever he could.
That was the accusation. He added, this is James Richardson
posted the totally Football Shop. But anyway, Modrid had stepped
up to say that I believe he stepped up to
say that manage hadn't received money for a move that
he'd made. And then it turned out that dear actually
yes he had, And then Modrid was in a bit
of a position, and against the backdrop of the fact
(05:54):
that he was effectively banged to rights for perjury, which
was a jailable offense. So how did the ageless real
Madrid midfielder get involved in all of this in the
first place. It's messy. As you may remember from the
(06:15):
last episode, when Luca Madrich was six, his grandfather was
murdered by Serbian rebels. The Madrid family fled and joined
other refugees in the Hotel Colovade Mudrid spent his childhood
playing soccer in the car park or between mortar craters outside,
and Madrid's childhood team had duck Split rejected him after
a trial because he was too small and scrawny. He
(06:37):
then spent a year in the Bosnian league, which was
known for its aggression and one player of the year.
When Lucas signed a tenure contract with Dina Mozagadeb, the
first thing he did was by his parents a house
his family could move out of hotel Is, where they'd
spent most of the thirteen years since they fled their
village during the Civil War. At the time, a man
(06:57):
by the name of Draco Mamas was something like an agent.
He would float players financially and in return they would
sign over a percentage of all future wages to him.
This was dubiously legal. Mamage made his money when he
bought discounted shares of the company in the wood industry
that was privatized as croatia transition to capitalism, also dubiously legal.
(07:24):
In the wake of communism, nepotism and corruption took over Croatia.
Mamage became the executive director of the Na mos agative
and vice president of the Croatian Federation, running Croatian soccer
like a mob boss for about a decade. He appointed
his brother as Dna was coach and his son was
an agent. They did things like have the transfer fees
(07:44):
skip the club and go straight to themselves. And that's
what happened in Madrid's case. When Tottenham Hotspur bought him
for a club record of almost twenty million dollars, part
of it was structured to go to Madrid, who in
turn passed it along to Manage. In the court case,
Mamage didn't even argue this sequence of events, He just
claimed it was legal. Modred's got tangled up in statements
(08:07):
he'd made when the deal between him and Mamage was signed.
Croatia and Liverpool defender de John Lavran was in the
same predicament. Fans turned on them. They were fed up
with Mamach calling the shots at Dinamo and at Croatia.
The Dinamo Ultras boycotted the team for years. Ja Jaw
(08:36):
Once when fans confronted him, Mama yelled, quote I'll mall
you one by one face to face, and quote, I'll
beat you like cats. Listeners, please don't beat cats. There
was even an assassination attempt. Mamage was shot above the
knee while visiting his father's grave site, which he did
(08:56):
once a year. This sounds like it's lifted from a
mob movie, but I swear it's true. Double Sucker's connections
with Mammages went a long way to sink his reputation
as the nation's greatest ever soccer player. And it was
very said to see how Double Shuger, the brilliant, brilliant player,
striker Real Madrid, the striker who was the great style
(09:19):
top scorer at that World Cup in France and ninety eight,
became a very very corrupt president of the football federation.
Sucker did things like claim he was working pro bono
while collecting a salary and he was adored. Really he
was a huge idol as a player, but then he
became hated this passion as a politician and if you
(09:44):
ask an never expiation. Now they just had really really
despising which is very very sad because he turned out
to be a crew. You'd have to ask creation if
his reputation was yeah, sukatn Mamage appointed Anti Sacage to
manage the national team. Sacha was a former TV repairman
(10:08):
who had an extremely average coaching career with a bunch
of low level Croatian clubs. He had been unemployed for
four years running a cafe. When Davco Mamage first called,
Sacha took the job and it didn't go well. The
fans turned on the team. There were a lot of
protests during the Croatia national team matches, especially tall and
(10:30):
sometimes as a stands were empty. The Croatian Federation responded
to aggressive fans by labeling all fans who boycotted games
as hooligans. The tension came to a climax and culminated
in a game against the Czech Republic. If you think
(10:50):
back to euro the one where they flew where they protested,
and you know they fired all the flares onto the pitch,
Croatia fans are angry and their cynical. This is a
senior writer for ESPN. He was at this game. Flares
rained down, fans attacked each other, the game was halted.
(11:13):
Called the fans sporting terrorists and unfortunately there's a cynicism
where unfortunately, I think it may well be justified that
they believe people in power are corrupt and take advantage
of them. And there's no question that they viewed Davis
Suger that way, and of course Momach and MoMA's brother
and and Luka Modrich as well. I mean, when you
(11:35):
go and you testifying the trial the way he did,
they really turned badly on this team fans saying Luca
Madrid little ship during Croatian League matches in Zadar. Graffiti
on hotel is read manages bitch. You will remember this day, Modrich.
I think it said the football fans are stupid. It's
just that they end up separating who the person is
(11:58):
off the pitch, who the person is an individual, from
what he can contribute for their team. So it's almost
like they're they're cheering the shirt more than the guy
in it. And again, I'm sure there's gonna be Croatia
fans who don't care and they love Modrid, and but
I think the vast majority of Croatia fans probably love
what Modrids did for their country and admire his ability
(12:20):
and his sense of sacrifice and whatever. But equally they
would question his character and maybe they'll justify by saying, well,
he made a mistake when he was very young, and
then he kind of doubled down on it, doubled down
on it and out of a sense of loyalty or
maybe out of his sense of fear, because those are
some some pretty nasty people, pretty dangerous people, who knows,
(12:41):
And I hope they don't listen to this podcast because
I don't know. I don't want to give myself into
any more trouble. You know, the public record, he's there
for everybody to say. At the club level, Madrid did
pretty well, with Real Madrid winning four champions leagues, but
the Croatian national team was in danger of missing out
(13:02):
on the World Cup. They lost to Iceland and Turkey
and had a draw with Finland. Sacha was properly dismissed.
They hastily replaced him with a man named Latko Dalis,
who was appointed Forty eight hours before the final match
against Ukraine. Dallage met the players for the first time
in the airport on the way to Kiev. The entire
(13:22):
coaching staff had been fired. According to that firing all
of the coaching staff was like a form of shock therapy,
much like the transition to capitalism. It seemed hopeless, but
Croatia needed to win in Kiev to stay alive Kritia's
World Up times up traction. They are in the comfort
(13:43):
zone and just like that, somehow Croatia was back in
the running. Croatia stumbled into a do or die playoff
against Greece. They won for one and qualified for the
(14:04):
World Cup. So who was this new coach? Zlatkotdal It
had bounced around some minor clubs in Croatia and Albania
without winning anything of note before landing in the Middle East.
He won the league in the UAE and was runner
(14:26):
up in the Asian Champions League. That's it, that's his resume.
He was coaching in Abu Dhabi when he took over Croatia. Yes,
and most of the Croatians thought that he was another
puppet because that football federation only avoided puppets to the job.
The managed court case was closing in, but he still
hadn't resigned his position. A lot of funs thought that
(14:48):
Croatia basically arrived to the tournament without a coach. A
toll and Modric should have a Modric and racket Tish
and the more experienced players should have done the job
the quotch themselves. But it turned out that did a
decent joke anyway. Ivan racket was the Barcelona midfielder who
had played for Switzerland's youth teams. He formed an impressive
(15:12):
midfield base with Madrich. The rest of the team was
more pedestrian. The lineups average age was nearly thirty, one
of the oldest at the World Cup. The goalkeeper Danielle
Superstitch was a reserve at Monaco. In defense, Dian Lovern
was world renowned for making bone headed mistakes, right, you know,
on his day, he's fantastic. I think the difference was
(15:34):
that the team wasn't wasn't as good you had, you know,
the stars were in their palm. You could say Modride
was on top of his game. Racketitch, I think was
already in this, you know, on the slide a little bit.
You know, up front you had Mario Manzokich, who you know,
old warrior type. But what you had was individuals who
(15:58):
who rose to the occasion. And you get this in
every World Cup, no one outside of Croatia expected much
and no one inside Croatia expected much either for that matter.
So I spoke with quite a few Croatian and journalists
before the tournament and the general idea was that absolutely
everything was possible. This team had telled to win the tournament,
(16:20):
but the same well, they could also very very easily
have gone home after the group stage and they finished
last in their group. Absolutely everything anything was possible. Corruption, confusion, ambivalence.
That was the scene as Croatia headed to the World
Cup in the summer of two thousand eighteen. It was
only four years ago, but a lot has changed. More
(16:43):
about what happened next after the break. Hey remember the
pre pandemic world when you were taking part in the
tide pot of Challenge while this thing to childish gambinos,
This is America on YouTube, Black Panther said all sorts
(17:07):
of box office records and Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer.
Prince Harry married Megan markle uh non royal billionaire. Union buster.
Elon Musk was dating Grhymes when he wasn't pretending to
help at tie youth soccer team trapped in an underground cave.
Indris Elba was named People's Sexiest Man alive a banks
he sold for one point four million, and then self
(17:28):
destructive private Equity sucked the last out of toys r US,
which filed for bankruptcy, snuffing out the last remnants of
your childhood, and the world turned its attention to Russia
for the World Cup. It's weird today Russia is this
(17:49):
global pariah, understatably so. But at the time people seemed
quite happy to include Vladimir Putin in all their photo
shoots with Moscow's colorful skyline in the background. And he
wasn't the only politician using the tournament to boost his image.
Croatian President Kalinda Grabar Katarovitch became a meme. People couldn't
get enough of her wild celebrations of Croatia's goals and
(18:10):
awkward hugs with topless players in the locker room. The
great adventure begins for Croatia and Nigeria. Croatia beat Nigeria
two nil with one moderate goal and another assist now
Leshae sensational goal from Luka Modrich and surely now Croatia's
(18:31):
Golden generation are on their way to the last sixteen.
Then they beat Argentina three nil. A win over Iceland
made it three out of three and put Croatia into
the knockout rounds. But it's Croatia who can finish it now.
In style, even parish full time in rostov Iceland out.
(18:55):
Croatia win Group D, winning too where Croatia drew Denmark.
Up against Denmark, but one of those flags where we
folded away for a few years after tonight. Both goals
came within the first five minutes, both from weird lucky
deflections in the box. I turned, I came from the equalizer.
Mario Manzukich. What's a start for funds? Have they sights?
(19:24):
Mario Manzukich was once fined a hundred thousand euros by
his club Dina Mozagreb for a lack of effort in
the Europa League game, which is weird because he went
on to make a name for himself as a Yeoman
center forward who was more of a laborer than a finisher.
Manzukich played for some of the world's biggest clubs a
Littio Madri, Bayron, Munich Juventus. He won league titles and
(19:44):
a Champions League, but despite that, he never quite convinced
his coaches that he belonged there as a full time starter.
But he scored here in a World Cup knockout game.
It was enough to force penalties. Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmichael
saved two of them, but it wasn't enough, and Croatia
no that if they score the next penalty, they are
(20:06):
through and he's done it. Croatians celebrations. Ivan Racketage held
his nerve to put Croatia into the quarterfinals. President Grabar
Katarovitch hugged as many sweaty players as she could, while
her PR team posted videos on social media. Would it
(20:29):
surprise you if I told you that Mamage funded her
election campaign? She was again in attendance as Croatia took
on the host's Russia in the quarterfinal. Putin was there too.
Chary Chef's not stopped. Dennis Jerysha love, He's quite something.
The boys a star. A goal each in ninety minutes,
(20:52):
a goal each an extra time. Yep, it went to
penalties again. Yep. Racketage held his nerve again. Ivan Racketache
with the opportunity to strike the telling glow to when
the Russian carnival, Racketage and Russia dissolved entitiest but it
(21:15):
is Croatia for free on penalties. The lasting image of
this game is grab Ar Kitarovich in a red and
white checkered jersey holding her hands aloft and cheering over
Vladimir Putin himself in the heavily guarded box seats semifinal
nights in Moscow, as Croatia and England set out each
(21:36):
to clear the last turtle before the World Cup final itself,
England took the lead. It is character plays delicious Croatia
in the last World Cup We're not a magnificent phenomenon
took an Abati's breath away. But they were solid, and
they were good at times, and they were lucky. But
(21:57):
yet again Croatia equalized, enforced extra time. Fine, oh boy,
parasite proacous crimings are satisfied, at least for now. Ivan
Parrishitge was a forward and wore the number four. That's weird,
but he was always a little bit unconventional. At seventeen,
Parrisage left home to save his father's chicken farm. He
(22:20):
still hadn't broken through to the senior team and how
did split When the French team so show sent a
private jet with the family chicken farm in debt, the
family decided he should take the offer. After a few
years in Belgium, Parrisage burst through it. You're in clubs
Barussia Dortmund. When he got dropped, he complained publicly, quote
when I'm on the bench, I'm dying. Club handled it calmly,
(22:43):
just kidding. Clubs said quote, public winding belongs to kindergarten,
and he told him to shut his mouth. Needless to say,
Parrishage left later when his club in Debt turned through
three coaches in a disappointing season, Parishadge selected an odd
summer activity. He represented Asia at the Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Some would call him a renaissance man, but here he
(23:08):
was back on the pitch in the World Cup, using
his feet, not his hands, hitting the net against England
in a semifinal. This time Croatia was a little too
lazy to go through the rigamarole of penalties and decided
to finish off the English in extra time instead. Mario
mans And and Croatia, for the first time ever will
(23:34):
play in a World Cup final. In the semifinal against England,
you know, they were just a lot smarter than England.
You know. I don't want to pick on Gara Southgate
because he is a very very nice man, and he's
a good person, and he's done a lot of important things.
But that semifinal is kind of on him. You know,
(23:57):
how do you let a lead slip when you've got
this tremendous counter hackers, when Croatia are exhausted and you
kind of throw that game away. And again I'm not
I don't want to take credit away from Croatia, right,
but it takes two the and I think it's also
a skill too, as Doledge did, to maximize your strengths
(24:17):
and and be smarter than the opposition, and to drive
home your advantages and to you know, to react to
what the opposition does to regain your edge when you
lose it. And Croatia did all those things in that game.
Robert Pressinski from tam said, quote, we murdered the English
in the second half. One Croatian newspaper published the headline
(24:38):
Football's not coming home, as well as a photo gallery
titled look how the English cry after losing to Croatia.
Isn't that nice? The team celebrated back at the hotel
with the famous pop singer. Players stood on tables, clapping
and singing because twenty years after reaching the Seven Eyes
(25:00):
in their first ever appearance, Croatia was going to the
World Cup final. They are the second smallest country ever
to play in one. More about what happened next after
the break, j thirty teams, thirty countries had their chance.
(25:28):
There were only two left. It's the pandit's ultimate game,
the final of the twenty one Football World Cup. Now
Croatia meant France on the field. The match was played
in Moscow and then parisage La France took the lead,
Ivan Parisitch equalized. The French just screaming at bowl and
(25:50):
the referee is choosing to look himself. What a cool
to have to make. He's given a penalty, A penalty
for France in the World Cup final. A World Cup
final first a v A R penalty call Vonna me
Bob and the Croatian legend who helped over ce v
a RS introduction must have been wishing that he hadn't
(26:13):
and Paris Whitch may have been regretting that little volleyball
detour penalty goal. Griesman did a silly little Fortnite dance halftime. Eventually,
I thought that the first half was actually one of
the best half. Croatia a head in that tolerance was
fatigue beginning to show an aging roster. Three one and
(26:36):
twenty minute matches in a row, one fewer day of
rest than France. I don't think so. You always have fatigue,
but if you speak to the footballers, and I've had
the opportunity speak to many throughout my career, the adrenaline
kicks in. So as long as you're not injured, you know,
being fatigue, you're in the World Cup final, you may
most people don't get to ever play in the World
Cup final. I'm sure he was in the background because
(26:57):
they played a lot of minutes. And I also believe
they had a one day if you were rent, one
day less rest than than France did. But no, I
think France is just a better team. France pulled away
in the second half. France and possibly now the world.
It's by the first teenage World Cup final goal since
(27:26):
play himself. Eventually Croatia scored another consolation goal, but by
then the result was settled. France beat Croatia four to
two on July eighteen in the World Cup Final. Just
like twenty years prior, France was the better team. But
(27:46):
then again, if you look at the roster, there were
plenty of better teams than Croatia, and they weren't in
the final Croatia was a World Cup is seven games long.
Hit a hot streak and you'll make history for those
seven games. Transfer fees don't matter, ye a. Sports stats
don't matter, perjury cases don't matter, Coaching resumes don't matter.
(28:09):
The socioeconomic and demographic disintegration of your country also doesn't matter.
And predictions don't matter. We'll still keep making them, of course,
but it'll just make wild, unpredictable runs like Croatia's in
that brief summer of all the sweeter you it's we.
We've had so much important to the World Cup. But
(28:30):
we should know after all these years that average players
can become good players, and good players can become great players.
For a couple of games at a time, they became
for seven matches at least great Croatia, a country that
didn't exist when most of its players were born, got
to a World Cup final. A PostScript worth mentioning about
(28:52):
that final game. The second half was interrupted and stopped
when members from the punk band Pussy Riot stormed onto
the field to protest Putin. They were dressed like Russian policemen,
with white shirts, skinny ties, and blue berets. They were
dragged off the field. Back when Russia switched over to
(29:12):
a capitalist economic system, oligarchs took advantage by gobbling up
newly privatized industries, just like mamage. They put a guy
in charge named Vladimir Putin, who eventually consolidated near complete power.
There's a lasting image from the trophy presentation. French President
(29:34):
Emmanuel McCrone is there, Croatian President Colinda Grabber Katarovitch is there.
It's pouring rain, so both of them are soaked, and
standing ominously behind them is Vladimir Putin with a lackey,
holding an umbrella over his head. He's dry. The camera
zooms out, everyone's cheering, loudspeaker music, confetti, downpour the cup,
(29:59):
France players diving and sliding across the water log grass.
It makes sense that politicians and oligarchs and petrol states
use sports to launder their images. The emotions we get
from them are so pure and so fun and so tingly.
Of course they're going to co opt that. It doesn't
make the emotions less fun or less tingly, And I
think it's all the more important to enjoy them while
(30:20):
we still can. So Croatia did enjoy it half a
million fans, over ten percent of the country's population turned
out to welcome the players home to Zagreb. Croatian railways
cut prices by so as many as possible could be there.
(30:40):
The city of Osak rented an entire train just to
join them. Is it fair to say that Croatious players
walked away with heads held a little higher? Luca Mudrid
was cleared of his perjury charge. The reigning sexiest man
alive it or Sell but presented him with the award
for best player in the world. So here we are
The best best faith men's player of the year award
(31:03):
goes to Manzukich retired and became Dolledge's assistant. The Parishitge
family chicken farm went bankrupt anyway, Ivan now has a
tattoo of a chicken with a soccer ball on his
calf and Zavco Manage was sentenced to six and a
half years in prison for embezzling fifteen million dollars. He
(31:25):
fled to Bosnia or Zegovina, where he has citizenship and
therefore won't be extradited. Three referees were arrested trying to
launder four hundred thousand euros. Manage allegedly bribe them with
Mamage himself turned them in. The Best Soccer Podcast in
(31:46):
the World is a production of Exiled Content Studios in
partnership with I Heart Michael Dura podcast Network, and is
hosted by me Nando Vila, produced by Anna and zach
Lee Rigg, Written by Zach Lee Rigg. Production assistants by
Stella Emmett. Our executive producers are Isaac Lee Rose Reed
and myself named Avila. Our executive producers that I Heart
(32:08):
are Gisel Vances and Arlene Santana. Sound designed by Ula
Mendoza Are Awesome. Theme song is by lu j Special
thanks to all the voices who participated in this episode,
Michael Yokin, James Richardson, and Gabriele Marcoti. For more podcasts,
listen to the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Humans love predicting the future. We place bets, we fill
out World Cup brackets, We tell anyone willing to listen,
who will win, and who will score, and who is overrated,
and who will finally, finally prove we were right all along.
It's bailed by the way, of course, the solace we
(00:21):
seek in telling ourselves we know what will happen in
the future is bullshit. Case in point Croatia, two thousand eighteen.
But first let's rewind to you. Remember amidst the backdrop
of great boy bands taking over the pop charts, Croatia
was emerging victorious. Croatia wrote a putt clingy enthusiasm, from
(00:45):
winning a civil war to entering the World Cup semifinals
with one hell of a talented roster. Fast forward twenty
years later, and they rode well nothing really. Croatia's soccer
scene was mired into corruption scandal that threatened to jail
their best players, and they had an unknown coach who
had spent just three games total with the team, And
(01:06):
they had one of the oldest squads and not one
of the most talented ones either. So they took all
of that and somehow made it to the final. What
I'm trying to say is that the world is a
terrifying and unnable place and that things do not happen
for a reason. Croatia's winding path to make it to
the final of the World Cup proves this. I'm Nando
(01:29):
Vila and this is the best soccer podcast in the world.
Goes with them, but it's still Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, Yes,
(01:54):
Team Wonderful, Never sin. This episode is Croatia Part two.
(02:16):
In case you didn't hear it or just playing forgot
what happened in part one, here's a short reminder. Our
producers were very kind to put together for you. Yugoslavia
were like the Brazilians of Europe. It was an absolutely
magnificent They qualified for Your ninety two in Sweden, but
then the bar started and they were thrown out of
the tournament. The war in Yugoslava, it was a huge
(02:38):
tragedy for the people, but the Yugoslavitia broke up. So
Croatia's motivation was that it had just was emerging from
a not very happy union, the state of Yugoslavia the
decades between two thousand eighteen. We're not very kind to
our Croatian victors. Let's recap what our main characters got
(02:59):
up to. And then coach Cito Blazevich, who claims he
invented the three five to formation, moved on to a
new team managing Iran. He promised to hang himself from
the gold post if Iran didn't qualify for the World Cup.
They didn't qualify, he didn't follow through. Zvonimde Boban studied
(03:23):
history at Zagadab University in Croatia. His thesis was titled
Christianity in the Roman Empire. He eventually became the Deputy
Secretary General at FIFA, where he oversaw the implementation of
v a R or video assistant referee. Davosuka retired and
spent a decade lounging around the tropics devouring shrimp on
endless vacations. He denied receiving betting tips from a convicted
(03:46):
match fixer in Germany. He also found thirty thousand dollars
worth of antique gold coins left on a plane and
he just kept them. This earned him a fine of
eight thousand euros, but these petty crimes prepped him for
his next job. In two thousand twelve, suked became the
president of the Croatian Football Federation compared to the optimistic,
(04:06):
brimming patriotism of Croatia. The two following decades were rough.
Croatia was considered the least developed nation in the U,
The population experienced and exodus. In two thousand eighteen, it
had decreased by three thousand people, with many forced to
leave to find work, and Croatia's soccer ecosystem plunged into
(04:27):
a widespread corruption scandal, one that upended its federation and
its biggest club. One man embezzled over fifteen million dollars
and claims to have bribed fifty referees before fleeing the
country to escape the prison sentence. Well, yes, the football
in Croatia has been a corrupt for quite a while.
(04:47):
This is Michael Yoakin, a freelance soccer writer. By the
time the World Cup rolled around, this scandal had ensnared.
Even Croatia's best player was interesting because Croatia, again, you
had a genius midfield of driving them, Luka Modrid, But
the mood behind, the mood around the team was different
in some pretty significant ways, not least the fact that Modric,
(05:10):
Croatia's best player, was actually facing potential jail time for perjury,
having taken the stand in defense of the erstwhile Croatian
f a boss, Dravco Mammage, who was accused of pretty
much having run Creation Football as his own, as his
own kind of fifer for his own ends, shall we say,
having a hand in transfers, having in hands in national
(05:32):
team selections, and taking a percentage of whatever he could.
That was the accusation. He added, this is James Richardson
posted the totally Football Shop. But anyway, Modrid had stepped
up to say that I believe he stepped up to
say that manage hadn't received money for a move that
he'd made. And then it turned out that dear actually
yes he had, And then Modrid was in a bit
of a position, and against the backdrop of the fact
(05:54):
that he was effectively banged to rights for perjury, which
was a jailable offense. So how did the ageless real
Madrid midfielder get involved in all of this in the
first place. It's messy. As you may remember from the
(06:15):
last episode, when Luca Madrich was six, his grandfather was
murdered by Serbian rebels. The Madrid family fled and joined
other refugees in the Hotel Colovade Mudrid spent his childhood
playing soccer in the car park or between mortar craters outside,
and Madrid's childhood team had duck Split rejected him after
a trial because he was too small and scrawny. He
(06:37):
then spent a year in the Bosnian league, which was
known for its aggression and one player of the year.
When Lucas signed a tenure contract with Dina Mozagadeb, the
first thing he did was by his parents a house
his family could move out of hotel Is, where they'd
spent most of the thirteen years since they fled their
village during the Civil War. At the time, a man
(06:57):
by the name of Draco Mamas was something like an agent.
He would float players financially and in return they would
sign over a percentage of all future wages to him.
This was dubiously legal. Mamage made his money when he
bought discounted shares of the company in the wood industry
that was privatized as croatia transition to capitalism, also dubiously legal.
(07:24):
In the wake of communism, nepotism and corruption took over Croatia.
Mamage became the executive director of the Na mos agative
and vice president of the Croatian Federation, running Croatian soccer
like a mob boss for about a decade. He appointed
his brother as Dna was coach and his son was
an agent. They did things like have the transfer fees
(07:44):
skip the club and go straight to themselves. And that's
what happened in Madrid's case. When Tottenham Hotspur bought him
for a club record of almost twenty million dollars, part
of it was structured to go to Madrid, who in
turn passed it along to Manage. In the court case,
Mamage didn't even argue this sequence of events, He just
claimed it was legal. Modred's got tangled up in statements
(08:07):
he'd made when the deal between him and Mamage was signed.
Croatia and Liverpool defender de John Lavran was in the
same predicament. Fans turned on them. They were fed up
with Mamach calling the shots at Dinamo and at Croatia.
The Dinamo Ultras boycotted the team for years. Ja Jaw
(08:36):
Once when fans confronted him, Mama yelled, quote I'll mall
you one by one face to face, and quote, I'll
beat you like cats. Listeners, please don't beat cats. There
was even an assassination attempt. Mamage was shot above the
knee while visiting his father's grave site, which he did
(08:56):
once a year. This sounds like it's lifted from a
mob movie, but I swear it's true. Double Sucker's connections
with Mammages went a long way to sink his reputation
as the nation's greatest ever soccer player. And it was
very said to see how Double Shuger, the brilliant, brilliant player,
striker Real Madrid, the striker who was the great style
(09:19):
top scorer at that World Cup in France and ninety eight,
became a very very corrupt president of the football federation.
Sucker did things like claim he was working pro bono
while collecting a salary and he was adored. Really he
was a huge idol as a player, but then he
became hated this passion as a politician and if you
(09:44):
ask an never expiation. Now they just had really really
despising which is very very sad because he turned out
to be a crew. You'd have to ask creation if
his reputation was yeah, sukatn Mamage appointed Anti Sacage to
manage the national team. Sacha was a former TV repairman
(10:08):
who had an extremely average coaching career with a bunch
of low level Croatian clubs. He had been unemployed for
four years running a cafe. When Davco Mamage first called,
Sacha took the job and it didn't go well. The
fans turned on the team. There were a lot of
protests during the Croatia national team matches, especially tall and
(10:30):
sometimes as a stands were empty. The Croatian Federation responded
to aggressive fans by labeling all fans who boycotted games
as hooligans. The tension came to a climax and culminated
in a game against the Czech Republic. If you think
(10:50):
back to euro the one where they flew where they protested,
and you know they fired all the flares onto the pitch,
Croatia fans are angry and their cynical. This is a
senior writer for ESPN. He was at this game. Flares
rained down, fans attacked each other, the game was halted.
(11:13):
Called the fans sporting terrorists and unfortunately there's a cynicism
where unfortunately, I think it may well be justified that
they believe people in power are corrupt and take advantage
of them. And there's no question that they viewed Davis
Suger that way, and of course Momach and MoMA's brother
and and Luka Modrich as well. I mean, when you
(11:35):
go and you testifying the trial the way he did,
they really turned badly on this team fans saying Luca
Madrid little ship during Croatian League matches in Zadar. Graffiti
on hotel is read manages bitch. You will remember this day, Modrich.
I think it said the football fans are stupid. It's
just that they end up separating who the person is
(11:58):
off the pitch, who the person is an individual, from
what he can contribute for their team. So it's almost
like they're they're cheering the shirt more than the guy
in it. And again, I'm sure there's gonna be Croatia
fans who don't care and they love Modrid, and but
I think the vast majority of Croatia fans probably love
what Modrids did for their country and admire his ability
(12:20):
and his sense of sacrifice and whatever. But equally they
would question his character and maybe they'll justify by saying, well,
he made a mistake when he was very young, and
then he kind of doubled down on it, doubled down
on it and out of a sense of loyalty or
maybe out of his sense of fear, because those are
some some pretty nasty people, pretty dangerous people, who knows,
(12:41):
And I hope they don't listen to this podcast because
I don't know. I don't want to give myself into
any more trouble. You know, the public record, he's there
for everybody to say. At the club level, Madrid did
pretty well, with Real Madrid winning four champions leagues, but
the Croatian national team was in danger of missing out
(13:02):
on the World Cup. They lost to Iceland and Turkey
and had a draw with Finland. Sacha was properly dismissed.
They hastily replaced him with a man named Latko Dalis,
who was appointed Forty eight hours before the final match
against Ukraine. Dallage met the players for the first time
in the airport on the way to Kiev. The entire
(13:22):
coaching staff had been fired. According to that firing all
of the coaching staff was like a form of shock therapy,
much like the transition to capitalism. It seemed hopeless, but
Croatia needed to win in Kiev to stay alive Kritia's
World Up times up traction. They are in the comfort
(13:43):
zone and just like that, somehow Croatia was back in
the running. Croatia stumbled into a do or die playoff
against Greece. They won for one and qualified for the
(14:04):
World Cup. So who was this new coach? Zlatkotdal It
had bounced around some minor clubs in Croatia and Albania
without winning anything of note before landing in the Middle East.
He won the league in the UAE and was runner
(14:26):
up in the Asian Champions League. That's it, that's his resume.
He was coaching in Abu Dhabi when he took over Croatia. Yes,
and most of the Croatians thought that he was another
puppet because that football federation only avoided puppets to the job.
The managed court case was closing in, but he still
hadn't resigned his position. A lot of funs thought that
(14:48):
Croatia basically arrived to the tournament without a coach. A
toll and Modric should have a Modric and racket Tish
and the more experienced players should have done the job
the quotch themselves. But it turned out that did a
decent joke anyway. Ivan racket was the Barcelona midfielder who
had played for Switzerland's youth teams. He formed an impressive
(15:12):
midfield base with Madrich. The rest of the team was
more pedestrian. The lineups average age was nearly thirty, one
of the oldest at the World Cup. The goalkeeper Danielle
Superstitch was a reserve at Monaco. In defense, Dian Lovern
was world renowned for making bone headed mistakes, right, you know,
on his day, he's fantastic. I think the difference was
(15:34):
that the team wasn't wasn't as good you had, you know,
the stars were in their palm. You could say Modride
was on top of his game. Racketitch, I think was
already in this, you know, on the slide a little bit.
You know, up front you had Mario Manzokich, who you know,
old warrior type. But what you had was individuals who
(15:58):
who rose to the occasion. And you get this in
every World Cup, no one outside of Croatia expected much
and no one inside Croatia expected much either for that matter.
So I spoke with quite a few Croatian and journalists
before the tournament and the general idea was that absolutely
everything was possible. This team had telled to win the tournament,
(16:20):
but the same well, they could also very very easily
have gone home after the group stage and they finished
last in their group. Absolutely everything anything was possible. Corruption, confusion, ambivalence.
That was the scene as Croatia headed to the World
Cup in the summer of two thousand eighteen. It was
only four years ago, but a lot has changed. More
(16:43):
about what happened next after the break. Hey remember the
pre pandemic world when you were taking part in the
tide pot of Challenge while this thing to childish gambinos,
This is America on YouTube, Black Panther said all sorts
(17:07):
of box office records and Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer.
Prince Harry married Megan markle uh non royal billionaire. Union buster.
Elon Musk was dating Grhymes when he wasn't pretending to
help at tie youth soccer team trapped in an underground cave.
Indris Elba was named People's Sexiest Man alive a banks
he sold for one point four million, and then self
(17:28):
destructive private Equity sucked the last out of toys r US,
which filed for bankruptcy, snuffing out the last remnants of
your childhood, and the world turned its attention to Russia
for the World Cup. It's weird today Russia is this
(17:49):
global pariah, understatably so. But at the time people seemed
quite happy to include Vladimir Putin in all their photo
shoots with Moscow's colorful skyline in the background. And he
wasn't the only politician using the tournament to boost his image.
Croatian President Kalinda Grabar Katarovitch became a meme. People couldn't
get enough of her wild celebrations of Croatia's goals and
(18:10):
awkward hugs with topless players in the locker room. The
great adventure begins for Croatia and Nigeria. Croatia beat Nigeria
two nil with one moderate goal and another assist now
Leshae sensational goal from Luka Modrich and surely now Croatia's
(18:31):
Golden generation are on their way to the last sixteen.
Then they beat Argentina three nil. A win over Iceland
made it three out of three and put Croatia into
the knockout rounds. But it's Croatia who can finish it now.
In style, even parish full time in rostov Iceland out.
(18:55):
Croatia win Group D, winning too where Croatia drew Denmark.
Up against Denmark, but one of those flags where we
folded away for a few years after tonight. Both goals
came within the first five minutes, both from weird lucky
deflections in the box. I turned, I came from the equalizer.
Mario Manzukich. What's a start for funds? Have they sights?
(19:24):
Mario Manzukich was once fined a hundred thousand euros by
his club Dina Mozagreb for a lack of effort in
the Europa League game, which is weird because he went
on to make a name for himself as a Yeoman
center forward who was more of a laborer than a finisher.
Manzukich played for some of the world's biggest clubs a
Littio Madri, Bayron, Munich Juventus. He won league titles and
(19:44):
a Champions League, but despite that, he never quite convinced
his coaches that he belonged there as a full time starter.
But he scored here in a World Cup knockout game.
It was enough to force penalties. Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmichael
saved two of them, but it wasn't enough, and Croatia
no that if they score the next penalty, they are
(20:06):
through and he's done it. Croatians celebrations. Ivan Racketage held
his nerve to put Croatia into the quarterfinals. President Grabar
Katarovitch hugged as many sweaty players as she could, while
her PR team posted videos on social media. Would it
(20:29):
surprise you if I told you that Mamage funded her
election campaign? She was again in attendance as Croatia took
on the host's Russia in the quarterfinal. Putin was there too.
Chary Chef's not stopped. Dennis Jerysha love, He's quite something.
The boys a star. A goal each in ninety minutes,
(20:52):
a goal each an extra time. Yep, it went to
penalties again. Yep. Racketage held his nerve again. Ivan Racketache
with the opportunity to strike the telling glow to when
the Russian carnival, Racketage and Russia dissolved entitiest but it
(21:15):
is Croatia for free on penalties. The lasting image of
this game is grab Ar Kitarovich in a red and
white checkered jersey holding her hands aloft and cheering over
Vladimir Putin himself in the heavily guarded box seats semifinal
nights in Moscow, as Croatia and England set out each
(21:36):
to clear the last turtle before the World Cup final itself,
England took the lead. It is character plays delicious Croatia
in the last World Cup We're not a magnificent phenomenon
took an Abati's breath away. But they were solid, and
they were good at times, and they were lucky. But
(21:57):
yet again Croatia equalized, enforced extra time. Fine, oh boy,
parasite proacous crimings are satisfied, at least for now. Ivan
Parrishitge was a forward and wore the number four. That's weird,
but he was always a little bit unconventional. At seventeen,
Parrisage left home to save his father's chicken farm. He
(22:20):
still hadn't broken through to the senior team and how
did split When the French team so show sent a
private jet with the family chicken farm in debt, the
family decided he should take the offer. After a few
years in Belgium, Parrisage burst through it. You're in clubs
Barussia Dortmund. When he got dropped, he complained publicly, quote
when I'm on the bench, I'm dying. Club handled it calmly,
(22:43):
just kidding. Clubs said quote, public winding belongs to kindergarten,
and he told him to shut his mouth. Needless to say,
Parrishage left later when his club in Debt turned through
three coaches in a disappointing season, Parishadge selected an odd
summer activity. He represented Asia at the Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Some would call him a renaissance man, but here he
(23:08):
was back on the pitch in the World Cup, using
his feet, not his hands, hitting the net against England
in a semifinal. This time Croatia was a little too
lazy to go through the rigamarole of penalties and decided
to finish off the English in extra time instead. Mario
mans And and Croatia, for the first time ever will
(23:34):
play in a World Cup final. In the semifinal against England,
you know, they were just a lot smarter than England.
You know. I don't want to pick on Gara Southgate
because he is a very very nice man, and he's
a good person, and he's done a lot of important things.
But that semifinal is kind of on him. You know,
(23:57):
how do you let a lead slip when you've got
this tremendous counter hackers, when Croatia are exhausted and you
kind of throw that game away. And again I'm not
I don't want to take credit away from Croatia, right,
but it takes two the and I think it's also
a skill too, as Doledge did, to maximize your strengths
(24:17):
and and be smarter than the opposition, and to drive
home your advantages and to you know, to react to
what the opposition does to regain your edge when you
lose it. And Croatia did all those things in that game.
Robert Pressinski from tam said, quote, we murdered the English
in the second half. One Croatian newspaper published the headline
(24:38):
Football's not coming home, as well as a photo gallery
titled look how the English cry after losing to Croatia.
Isn't that nice? The team celebrated back at the hotel
with the famous pop singer. Players stood on tables, clapping
and singing because twenty years after reaching the Seven Eyes
(25:00):
in their first ever appearance, Croatia was going to the
World Cup final. They are the second smallest country ever
to play in one. More about what happened next after
the break, j thirty teams, thirty countries had their chance.
(25:28):
There were only two left. It's the pandit's ultimate game,
the final of the twenty one Football World Cup. Now
Croatia meant France on the field. The match was played
in Moscow and then parisage La France took the lead,
Ivan Parisitch equalized. The French just screaming at bowl and
(25:50):
the referee is choosing to look himself. What a cool
to have to make. He's given a penalty, A penalty
for France in the World Cup final. A World Cup
final first a v A R penalty call Vonna me
Bob and the Croatian legend who helped over ce v
a RS introduction must have been wishing that he hadn't
(26:13):
and Paris Whitch may have been regretting that little volleyball
detour penalty goal. Griesman did a silly little Fortnite dance halftime. Eventually,
I thought that the first half was actually one of
the best half. Croatia a head in that tolerance was
fatigue beginning to show an aging roster. Three one and
(26:36):
twenty minute matches in a row, one fewer day of
rest than France. I don't think so. You always have fatigue,
but if you speak to the footballers, and I've had
the opportunity speak to many throughout my career, the adrenaline
kicks in. So as long as you're not injured, you know,
being fatigue, you're in the World Cup final, you may
most people don't get to ever play in the World
Cup final. I'm sure he was in the background because
(26:57):
they played a lot of minutes. And I also believe
they had a one day if you were rent, one
day less rest than than France did. But no, I
think France is just a better team. France pulled away
in the second half. France and possibly now the world.
It's by the first teenage World Cup final goal since
(27:26):
play himself. Eventually Croatia scored another consolation goal, but by
then the result was settled. France beat Croatia four to
two on July eighteen in the World Cup Final. Just
like twenty years prior, France was the better team. But
(27:46):
then again, if you look at the roster, there were
plenty of better teams than Croatia, and they weren't in
the final Croatia was a World Cup is seven games long.
Hit a hot streak and you'll make history for those
seven games. Transfer fees don't matter, ye a. Sports stats
don't matter, perjury cases don't matter, Coaching resumes don't matter.
(28:09):
The socioeconomic and demographic disintegration of your country also doesn't matter.
And predictions don't matter. We'll still keep making them, of course,
but it'll just make wild, unpredictable runs like Croatia's in
that brief summer of all the sweeter you it's we.
We've had so much important to the World Cup. But
(28:30):
we should know after all these years that average players
can become good players, and good players can become great players.
For a couple of games at a time, they became
for seven matches at least great Croatia, a country that
didn't exist when most of its players were born, got
to a World Cup final. A PostScript worth mentioning about
(28:52):
that final game. The second half was interrupted and stopped
when members from the punk band Pussy Riot stormed onto
the field to protest Putin. They were dressed like Russian policemen,
with white shirts, skinny ties, and blue berets. They were
dragged off the field. Back when Russia switched over to
(29:12):
a capitalist economic system, oligarchs took advantage by gobbling up
newly privatized industries, just like mamage. They put a guy
in charge named Vladimir Putin, who eventually consolidated near complete power.
There's a lasting image from the trophy presentation. French President
(29:34):
Emmanuel McCrone is there, Croatian President Colinda Grabber Katarovitch is there.
It's pouring rain, so both of them are soaked, and
standing ominously behind them is Vladimir Putin with a lackey,
holding an umbrella over his head. He's dry. The camera
zooms out, everyone's cheering, loudspeaker music, confetti, downpour the cup,
(29:59):
France players diving and sliding across the water log grass.
It makes sense that politicians and oligarchs and petrol states
use sports to launder their images. The emotions we get
from them are so pure and so fun and so tingly.
Of course they're going to co opt that. It doesn't
make the emotions less fun or less tingly, And I
think it's all the more important to enjoy them while
(30:20):
we still can. So Croatia did enjoy it half a
million fans, over ten percent of the country's population turned
out to welcome the players home to Zagreb. Croatian railways
cut prices by so as many as possible could be there.
(30:40):
The city of Osak rented an entire train just to
join them. Is it fair to say that Croatious players
walked away with heads held a little higher? Luca Mudrid
was cleared of his perjury charge. The reigning sexiest man
alive it or Sell but presented him with the award
for best player in the world. So here we are
The best best faith men's player of the year award
(31:03):
goes to Manzukich retired and became Dolledge's assistant. The Parishitge
family chicken farm went bankrupt anyway, Ivan now has a
tattoo of a chicken with a soccer ball on his
calf and Zavco Manage was sentenced to six and a
half years in prison for embezzling fifteen million dollars. He
(31:25):
fled to Bosnia or Zegovina, where he has citizenship and
therefore won't be extradited. Three referees were arrested trying to
launder four hundred thousand euros. Manage allegedly bribe them with
Mamage himself turned them in. The Best Soccer Podcast in
(31:46):
the World is a production of Exiled Content Studios in
partnership with I Heart Michael Dura podcast Network, and is
hosted by me Nando Vila, produced by Anna and zach
Lee Rigg, Written by Zach Lee Rigg. Production assistants by
Stella Emmett. Our executive producers are Isaac Lee Rose Reed
and myself named Avila. Our executive producers that I Heart
(32:08):
are Gisel Vances and Arlene Santana. Sound designed by Ula
Mendoza Are Awesome. Theme song is by lu j Special
thanks to all the voices who participated in this episode,
Michael Yokin, James Richardson, and Gabriele Marcoti. For more podcasts,
listen to the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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