Zlatko Dalic is not surprised by the fallout to the Portuguese being snubbed for a top UEFA award, with a global superstar only concerned with himself. Cristiano Ronaldo has seen his attitude slammed by Zlatko Dalic, with the Croatia boss claiming that the Portuguese is an “egotist and I’d never want him in my team”.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been hitting the headlines again after being overlooked by UEFA for their Player of the Year award. That prize went to his former Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric, much to the disgust of the Juventus forward’s agent and close family. Dalic is not surprised to see Ronaldo expressing his anger at missing out on another major honour, with the 33-year-old having only ever been concerned with furthering himself.
A man who led Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final told Sportske novosti : “Ronaldo not attending the UEFA ceremony and those comments about Luka winning it… it is not worthy of my comment! “It only proves what I keep saying: Ronaldo is an egotist and I’d never want him in my team! “He is the kind of player that only thinks ‘no matter if we lose, the only thing that matters is that I score a goal!’.”
While Dalic is not a fan of Ronaldo, he is delighted to have seen Modric’s efforts acknowledged on the back of a stunning 2017-18 campaign for club and country. He added: “Luka Modric is a great player and person and all of the fame and glory, titles with Real, didn’t change him at all.
“He’s gone through things the hard way, but that’s the way every player should go, not leave the Croatian league at age of 18. “It would have been too early for him to retire [from international duty], he should be at his peak at Euro 2020.” While expecting Modric to remain part of his plans for the foreseeable future, Dalic has seen Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic rule himself out of contention.
He said of the 32-year-old’s decision to walk away from international football: “Mandzukic called me one evening and we chatted for a long time about this and that… and the next morning he calls me again!? So I think ‘Why is he calling me now, we spoke last night?!’ “It is then that he announced his decision to quit. Can you imagine, such a fighter, warrior, and he didn’t have the strength to tell me he will not play for Croatia anymore? That’s how hard it was for him.” Goal.com
Pix: Cristiano Ronaldo
