Bilić Addresses the Public and Immediately Writes Off Two Players
In October 2009, the coach removed Josip Šimunić and Ivica Križanac from the national team for breaching discipline.
In October 2009, the coach removed Josip Šimunić and Ivica Križanac from the national team for breaching discipline.
The current and former coach of the Croatian national football team, Slaven Bilić, has never shied away from drastic measures to maintain order and discipline within the squad. Besides the well-known story of players who fled from preparations in Čateške Toplice, Bilić made another tough decision in October 2009, removing two experienced internationals from the team.
Namely, the coach struck Josip Šimunić and Ivica Križanac off the squad list. The reason was a breach of discipline during a night out and an incident on the team bus ahead of the end of the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which Croatia ultimately failed to reach. The event took place in Rovinj, where the players left the hotel after official duties and dinner, much to the anger of the coaching staff. Tensions arose, and there was an alleged scuffle with some teammates, including captain Niko Kovač, who tried to calm the situation.
Bilić did not want to sweep the incident under the rug; instead, he called an emergency press conference. "Šimunić and Križanac have violated discipline and the code of conduct set from day one. They crossed the line, and I made the decision to remove them from the national team. I'm sorry, but this was the only way!" the coach said at the time.
He added that the situation wasn't so severe that it couldn't have been covered up, but he chose not to. "It wasn't anything terrible; we could have hushed it up, but I didn't want to. I won't go into specifics about what happened, but as I said, they crossed the line."
On the same occasion, due to alcohol consumption, Bilić imposed lighter sanctions on Anas Sharbini and Nikica Jelavić, who got off with just a warning. Explaining the difference in penalties, the coach said: "Those two are young, and they can still be forgiven. But I couldn't overlook what Šimunić and Križanac did."
Interestingly, Bilić admitted that most people would probably be surprised by the harsh punishment. "Although, if you knew what it was about, you'd understand it's not such a big deal. Moreover, 80 percent of people would wonder why I punished them so severely," he stated. While the details of the incident remained shrouded in secrecy, it was mentioned that Šimunić and Križanac nearly came to blows before teammates managed to calm them down.
Šimunić and Križanac publicly expressed regret and surprise at the harsh punishment. Although tensions later eased, this event marked the end or a later phase of their status in the national team under Slaven Bilić.
This was not the first time Bilić resorted to radical measures. Before the start of the qualifying cycle for Euro 2008, three players-Balaban, Srna, and Olić-fled from preparations in Čateške Toplice to Zagreb and the nightclub "Fontana" ahead of a match against Russia in Moscow. All three were then removed from the squad and fined, but they later returned to the national team.
