Ivan Rakitić ( croatian pronunciation : [ ǐʋan rǎkititɕ ] ; [ 4 ] [ 5 ] born 10 March 1988 ) is a croatian professional football player who plays as a cardinal or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Sevilla. Rakitić started his professional career at Basel and spent two seasons with them before he was signed by Schalke 04. After spending three-and-a-half seasons in the Bundesliga, he was signed by Sevilla in January 2011. Two years late, Rakitić was confirmed as the club captain and captained the team to UEFA Europa League victory. In June 2014, Barcelona and Sevilla reached an agreement on the transportation of Rakitić. In his first gear season with Barça, he won the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. He scored the first goal of the 2015 Champions League Final and became the beginning musician ever to win the Champions League a year after winning the Europa League while playing for two clubs. After appearing in 310 games and winning ten more trophies with Barcelona, Rakitić returned to Sevilla in 2020.
Reading: Ivan Rakitić
Born in Switzerland to parents from Yugoslavia, Rakitić played for Switzerland at youth level, but decided to represent Croatia at senior level. He made his debut for Croatia in 2007 and has since represented the country at the UEFA Euro 2008, 2012 and 2016, and the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, reaching the final examination of the latter. He retired from external duty in September 2020, having made 106 appearances. At the prison term of his retirement, he was the fourth most capped player in the history of Croatia .
early life [edit ]
Rakitić was born in Rheinfelden [ 6 ] in the swiss canton of Aargau to Croat parents. His church father Luka Rakitić is a Šokac from Sikirevci in Croatia, [ 7 ] [ 8 ] while his mother Kata ( née Papić ) is a bosnian croatian from Ponijevo near Žepče. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] He grew up in Möhlin, canton of Aargau. [ 11 ] He has a brother, Dejan, and a sister, Nikol. Rakitić has a tattoo bearing his buddy ‘s name on his right weapon. [ 12 ] Rakitić spent his childhood and early on career in Switzerland. His beget and older brother were besides footballers. At age 16, his electric potential was noticed by exceed european scouts, but he and his family decided to stay at Basel to allow him to play more regularly in a smaller league alternatively. [ 12 ]
Club career [edit ]
basel [edit ]
After spending some short time in the youth teams, Rakitić went on to make his first-team debut for Basel on 29 September 2005 during the UEFA Cup away meet at Široki Brijeg. He made his foremost swiss Super League appearance on 15 April 2006 in Basel ‘s away match against Neuchâtel Xamax. Although these two matches were the only ones he played during his first master season with Basel, he went on to establish himself as a regular contributor in his second season, scoring 11 goals in 33 Super League appearances. besides making nine UEFA cup appearances during this clock time, he was named the best youthful player of the 2006–07 Super League season along with receiving the swiss Goal of the Year award for an impressive goal he scored against St. Gallen on 22 October 2006. [ 13 ]
Schalke 04 [edit ]
After an impressive show as a adolescent, Rakitić was again sought by big european club. [ 12 ] Subject to such, he was finally signed by german slope Schalke 04 on 22 June 2007, for €5 million. [ 14 ] Rakitić made his debut for Schalke on 21 July 2007 in the Premiere Ligapokal fixture against Karlsruher SC and finally appeared in the remaining two matches as Schalke finished as league runner-up. On 5 August 2007, Rakitić scored his first competitive finish for his newfangled clubhouse in their 0–9 away win over Eintracht Trier in the first circle of the DFB-Pokal. [ 15 ] On 10 August 2007, the newfangled Bundesliga season was commenced with a clash between champions VfB Stuttgart and Schalke. Rakitić came on as a second-half substitute and scored his first Bundesliga goal within good seven minutes on the airfield as his side played out a 2–2 hook. [ 16 ] On 15 September 2007, he managed to make impressions again by scoring the only goal for Schalke in their 1–1 away trace at Bayern Munich. [ 17 ] Three days former, Rakitić made his UEFA Champions League debut in the 0–1 home kill to Valencia. He then went on to make a total of seven appearances in the 2007–08 Champions League season, [ 18 ] including a strong and very impressive midfield function in Schalke ‘s home repair against Chelsea in the group degree. He and early teammate Mladen Krstajić were temporarily cut from the police squad the night before Schalke ‘s adjacent regular against Rosenborg due to being caught skipping trail and taking part in a late-night party. [ 19 ] Helping his english prevail in the penalty gunfight against Porto to reach the quarter-finals for the first fourth dimension, [ 20 ] Rakitić had to miss both the fixtures of such against Chelsea due to an ankle injury sustained in discipline. He was kept out of action for a calendar month [ 21 ] as Schalke were eliminated from the tournament without him. [ citation needed ] soon upon his returning from injury, Rakitić discovered top phase as he scored a goal and assisted another two in the vital 0–3 victory at VfL Bochum, [ 22 ] which made certain Schalke finished at least one-third in league table and secured a station in the future Champions League. He continued such form in the adjacent fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt, assisting Mladen Krstajić for the only goal of the match to conclude with Schalke a positive base season. In total, he finished his first Bundesliga temper with 3 goals and 10 assists in 29 appearances. [ 23 ] In the subsequent season, Rakitić played in Schalke ‘s 3–0 victory over Hannover 96, assisting two goals in the open Bundesliga repair. [ 24 ]
sevilla [edit ]
2010–11 season [edit ]
On 28 January 2011, Rakitić signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with spanish La Liga club Sevilla for a transfer tip of €2.5 million. [ 25 ] Upon his arrival, Rakitić was immediately included in the starting eleven of the team, making his debut on 6 February 2011 against Málaga. In next game, against Racing de Santander, he scored an own-goal but managed to get binding on track and scored his beginning goal for Sevilla in the match against Hércules in the future matchday. Due to a fracture foot, Rakitić was forced to miss the death four La Liga fixtures. [ 26 ] He scored five goals in his first half-season with Sevilla in 2010–11, starting in all 13 matches after his arrival and before the foot injury. [ citation needed ]
2011–12 season [edit ]
Rakitić playing for Sevilla in 2012 During the 2011–12 season, Rakitić continued to be a inaugural team regular and a key component of the police squad. Due to managerial changes and new tactical schemes introduced by newly bus Marcelino, who was late replaced by Míchel, Rakitić was given a different function on the cant than the one he had the former season, when he was used as central midfielder under coach Gregorio Manzano ; during the course of the season, he was by and large deployed as a defensive midfielder. By the end of the season, he made sum of 39 appearances for the club, provided six assists and scored one goal in the 2011–12 Copa del Rey. This turned out to be his only scoreless Liga season while playing for Sevilla. [ citation needed ]
2012–13 season [edit ]
Rakitić began the 2012–13 La Liga season by providing an aid in the opening match against Getafe. On 12 September, he provided another assist for Piotr Trochowski at home in a 1–0 acquire over real Madrid. He scored his beginning finish of the season on Matchday 5 against Deportivo de La Coruña. Rakitić scored two goals in the opening 20 minutes of the second Seville bowler hat of the temper against cross-city rivals real Betis. [ 27 ] This was his one-third goal of the temper against Sevilla ‘s city rivals, given the fact that he had besides scored in the first Seville bowler hat of the temper, when Sevilla celebrated a 5–1 victory. During the match against Real Sociedad, Rakitić added two goals to his tally, however, the moment matchless was an own finish, tying the match at 1–1 after he scored the first goal to give his club a 1–0 lead. [ 28 ] Until the end of the season, he made sum of 42 appearances for the club and scored 12 goals for the team, three coming in the Copa del Rey. He besides finished the season providing ten league assists. Statistics showed that Rakitić created 100 chances in sum, a union ranking one-fourth across all players in Europe that temper. [ 29 ]
2013–14 season [edit ]
Rakitić playing for Sevilla in 2014 At the begin of the 2013–14 La Liga season, coach Unai Emery named Rakitić as the fresh Sevilla captain. [ 30 ] Since the beginning of the season, he was one of the most big players of the league, scoring the first finish and assisting for the second in a 3–2 away loss against Barcelona on 14 September. In the two final games of September, he scored two goals in a 1–4 away win over Rayo Vallecano, and assisted for the drawing card 1–1 finish against Real Sociedad. In the final three games of October, Rakitić scored a goal in a 2–0 family gain against SC Freiburg, a 2–1 home win over Almería and two goals in a 7–3 loss at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium against Real Madrid. [ 31 ] In the third gear and fourth games of November, he contributed an assist in away 1–3 win against Espanyol, and two more respectively in a 4–0 home win against Sevilla rivals Betis. In the final game of December, he assisted in a 1–2 aside win against Villarreal, helping Sevilla reach a clear ten military position after a disappoint start of the season, arsenic good attracting attention from other international clubs. [ 32 ] [ 33 ] In the first game of the 2014 calendar class, he scored in a 3–0 base winnings against Getafe. In January, he scored two more La Liga goals for Sevilla against Atlético Madrid [ 34 ] and Levante, respectively, while besides missing a penalty gripe in the latter regular. [ 35 ] These performances earned him a La Liga Player of the Month award. [ 36 ] Rakitić ‘s impressive form continued in the season, with several assists and goals from February to May, including two assists in the Europa League 2–2 away draw against Maribor, an aid in the 2–1 home win over real Madrid and a goal against Porto in a 4–1 base acquire. He besides assisted in the semi-final first stage 2–0 acquire over Valencia, which they won on sum ( 3–3 ), therefore qualifying for the Europa League Final. He was man of the pit as Sevilla won the Final 4–2 on penalties over Benfica at Juventus Stadium in Turin. [ 37 ] He was the first player to captain a team to victory in the UEFA Europa League Final and besides pick up the official man of the match award. [ 38 ] He was included in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Season. [ 39 ] By the spanish home football league association, Rakitić was chosen in La Liga beginning XI in both first round, and team of the season. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] He finished the season scoring 15 goals, and recording 17 assists. [ 42 ] At the season ‘s LFP Awards, Rakitić won the Fair Play Award and was nominated for Best Midfielder, an award ultimately given to Barcelona ‘s Andrés Iniesta. [ 43 ]
Barcelona [edit ]
2014–15 season [edit ]
Rakitić educate with Barcelona in 2014 On 16 June 2014, Barcelona signed Rakitić on a five-year contract effective 1 July. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] Upon his arrival, Rakitić was given the police squad shirt count 4. He made his debut for the team in a pre-season friendly catch against french club Nice on 2 August, when he came on as a second-half utility for Sergi Roberto. [ 46 ] During a pre-season friendly against HJK Helsinki, Rakitić provided his first assists for Barça, assisting twice in 6–0 victory. [ 47 ] His official introduction for Barcelona came on 24 August in the opening match of the modern Liga season, against Elche. Just moments after half-time, Rakitić played a long ball over-top of Elche ‘s defense mechanism towards forward Munir, who flicked the ball it into the far corner of the net to make it 2–0 for Barcelona. [ 48 ] Rakitić ‘s foremost goal for Barcelona came from outside of the penalty area in a 0–5 away win against Levante on 21 September 2014. [ 49 ] In the following workweek ‘s game, against Granada, Rakitić headed in Lionel Messi ‘s traverse for his second gear goal of the season in a 6–0 victory at Camp Nou. [ 50 ] On 18 March 2015, Rakitić scored the first Champions League goal of his career in a 1–0 win against English champions Manchester City in the round of 16 second leg at Camp Nou. [ 51 ] On 6 June 2015, Rakitić scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win against italian champions Juventus in the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final at Berlin ‘s Olympiastadion, becoming the moment Croat ever to score in a Champions League final examination ( after Mario Mandžukić in 2013 ). [ 52 ] This made Barcelona the first golf club in history to win the double of domestic league, domestic cup and european Cup doubly. [ 53 ] Rakitić, for the second year in a quarrel, was included in the La Liga and European ( Champions League ) team of the season. [ 54 ] [ 55 ]
2015–16 season [edit ]
On 11 August 2015, Rakitić played the full 120 minutes as Barcelona defeated his early club Sevilla 5–4 to win the 2015 UEFA Super Cup in Tbilisi. [ 56 ] In October, he was announced croatian Footballer of the year 2015. [ 57 ] [ 58 ] As an 18th-minute alternate for Sergi Roberto, on 20 October he scored both goals from Neymar assists as Barcelona won 2–0 at BATE Borisov in the Champions League group stage. [ 59 ] In December, he was named croatian Sportsman of the class 2015. [ 60 ] On 30 April 2016, Rakitić scored the opener against Betis as Barcelona won 0–2 to stay top of the Liga postpone. [ 61 ]
2016–17 season [edit ]
On 23 April 2017, Rakitić scored the second goal in a 3–2 away victory against Real Madrid in El Clásico. [ 62 ]
2017–18 season [edit ]
On 12 September 2017, Rakitić netted a goal against Juventus in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, as Barcelona defeated the former season ’ randomness italian champions 3–0 at home. [ 63 ]
2018–19 temper [edit ]
Rakitić playing for Barcelona in 2019
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On 3 December 2018, in a Champions League group phase game against Tottenham Hotspur, he scored the second gear Barça ‘s goal in the 4–2 prevail. [ 64 ] The hit was late named the Goal of the Group Stage by fans. [ 65 ] On 2 March 2019, Rakitić scored the only finish of the match against Real Madrid ; after which José Mourinho identified him as “ one of the most underestimate players in the world ”. [ 66 ] [ 67 ]
2019–20 temper [edit ]
Rakitić ‘s play fourth dimension was sternly reduced during the 2019–20 temper and his function in the team decreased following the arrival of Frenkie de Jong. [ 68 ] In October 2019 the actor stated : “ I want to play, and not just enjoy walking around Barcelona and the sea. I talked to the people in the baseball club, everyone knew about the early options I had, it was no privy. ” [ 69 ] On 13 June 2020, in Barcelona ‘s first game after the COVID-19 pandemic, Rakitić celebrated his 300th official game in Barcelona ‘s jersey as the baseball club defeated Mallorca 4–0. [ 70 ] On 23 June, he scored his first goal of the season in a 1–0 victory over Athletic Bilbao, securing authoritative three points in the title raceway. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] After Barcelona lost 8–2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final on 14 August and bus Quique Setién was sacked, newly appointed coach Ronald Koeman informed Rakitić that he was not part of his plans for the approaching season, aboard teammates Luis Suárez, Arturo Vidal and Samuel Umtiti. [ 73 ] At the time of his deviation from the baseball club, Rakitić had more appearances for the club than any other european non-Spanish player in its history. [ 74 ]
render to Sevilla [edit ]
Rakitić playing for Sevilla in 2020 On 1 September 2020, Rakitić signed for Sevilla on a four-year contract, returning to the golf club after six years for a noun phrase €1.5m fee. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] On 24 September, he played his foremost game for Sevilla after coming second, against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup in Budapest. He won a penalty after being tackled by David Alaba, which Lucas Ocampos successfully converted ; however, Bayern came from behind to win the game 2–1 after extra time. [ 77 ] [ 78 ] Three days later, he scored his beginning goal since his return as Sevilla defeated Cádiz 3–1. [ 79 ] [ 80 ] On 10 February 2021, he scored a finish in the Copa del Rey semi-final to seal a 2–0 victory over his former club Barcelona. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] On 23 August 2021, in a 1–0 victory over Getafe, Rakitić played his jubilee 200th match for Sevilla. [ 83 ]
International career [edit ]
Rakitić ‘s foremost external feel came at youth grade with the Switzerland under-17, under-19 and under-21 national teams, but decided to accept the call-up by Croatia national team coach Slaven Bilić and play for the nation ‘s senior team. [ 84 ] He made his entire international debut for Croatia on 8 September 2007 in their UEFA Euro 2008 modifier against Estonia in Zagreb, highly praised by the fans as he was entering the bet on as a ersatz. [ 85 ] In Croatia ‘s following qualifier, a 0–6 away win over Andorra on 12 September 2007, he scored his first international goal for Croatia in only his second appearance for the team. He finished the year 2007 with five elder external caps to his diagnose, four of which were in the successful Euro 2008 qualifying crusade. [ 86 ]
euro 2008 [edit ]
In early May 2008, he joined Croatia ‘s team for the Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland, where he was the second-youngest musician in the tournament. [ 87 ] He made his first appearance at the tournament as a newcomer against Germany, and finally provided a injection which ricocheted off the post and allowed teammate Ivica Olić to score the moment goal in their 2–1 victory. He formed a praise trio of croatian attacking midfielders with his teammates Luka Modrić and Niko Kranjčar. Though playing a strong role against Turkey in the quarter-finals of the tournament, Rakitić went on to miss one of the three unsuccessful penalties in the gunfight, frankincense leading to a victory for Turkey. [ 88 ] Rakitić continued to appear regularly for Croatia during their unsuccessful qualify campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, making a total of ten-spot appearances and scoring three goals in the rival. On 15 October 2008, he scored a pair in a 4–0 acquire at family to Andorra. On 5 September 2009, he scored the match-winning goal in a 1–0 succeed at home to Belarus. Croatia failed to qualify for the finals after finishing third base in their group. [ 89 ]
euro 2012 [edit ]
Rakitić playing for Croatia in 2013 After appearing in all of their euro 2012 qualifiers, he was selected to be contribution of the croatian police squad at the Euro finals in Poland and Ukraine. Croatia were drawn in Group C together with Spain, Italy and the Republic of Ireland. Rakitić started in all three of Croatia group stagecoach matches. After two matches played, Croatia had four points and were facing defending champions Spain in Gdańsk. With the game scoreless and entering the concluding half-hour, Rakitić burst into the spanish penalty area but could not direct his header past goalkeeper Iker Casillas after being picked out by a fantastic Luka Modrić evanesce. It proved to be a dearly-won miss, with Spain ‘s Jesús Navas late scoring an 88th-minute winner to send the Croatians crashing out. [ citation needed ]
2014 World Cup [edit ]
In the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, on 12 October 2012 Rakitić scored a finish from a free-kick against Macedonia at Philip II National Arena to help secure a 1–2 victory for Croatia. Eventually, after the playoffs, the team qualified for the World Cup final stages. They were drawn into Group A aboard Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon. Croatia played the opening match against Brazil, which they lost 3–1. [ 90 ] In the second meet, Croatia won 4–0 against Cameroon, [ 91 ] but did not progress as they lost 1–3 against Mexico, with Rakitić providing the assist for the only croatian goal. [ 92 ]
euro 2016 [edit ]
Rakitić scored his first and only finish in the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Bulgaria. He was selected to be function of the croatian squad at Euro in France. Croatia were drawn in Group D along with Spain, Czech Republic and Turkey. Rakitić started Croatia ‘s open game where they secured a specialize victory by one goal against Turkey. [ 93 ] On 17 June 2016, Rakitić scored a goal to double Croatia ‘s leave against the Czech Republic, but late the game was turned around when the play was halted briefly after croatian fans threw flares onto the pitch. soon after the restart, the referee rewarded Czech Republic a penalty and the crippled ended in a 2–2 hook. [ 94 ] After a 2–1 succeed over defending champions Spain, Croatia topped Group D and went on to face Portugal in the next round of golf. Croatia, however, lost 1–0 after Portugal ‘s Ricardo Quaresma scored a 117th-minute, extra-time winner to send Croatia out of the tournament. [ 95 ] Rakitić later stated that “ Croatia did not deserve to go out and the best team were going family ”. [ 96 ] Rakitić appeared in all of Croatia ‘s matches and ended the tournament by scoring one finish .
2018 World Cup [edit ]
Rakitić training with Croatia in 2018 On 4 June 2018, Rakitić was named in Croatia ‘s 23-man team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. [ 97 ] On 21 June 2018, Rakitić scored Croatia ‘s third gear goal in a 3–0 victory over Argentina in their second group stage match of the tournament. [ 98 ] On 1 July, Rakitić scored the winning punishment kick in the penalty shoot-out against Denmark, as Croatia progressed to the quarter-final. [ 99 ] One workweek former, on 7 July, Rakitić again scored the winning punishment kick in the penalty shoot-out against Russia, as Croatia progressed to the semi-final. [ 100 ] [ 101 ] Croatia reached the final examination of the tournament, where they were defeated 4–2 by France on 15 July. [ 102 ]
2018–19 Nations League [edit ]
For the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League, Croatia was drawn in the group with Spain and England. [ citation needed ] Rakitić took part in three out of four matches, celebrating his hundredth international cap in the historical 0–6 loss to Spain in Elche. [ 103 ] He missed the decide regular against England at the Wembley Stadium, that saw the winner go through to the finals, due to a hamstring injury, [ 104 ] as Croatia lost 1–2 and finished at the bottom of the group. [ 105 ]
retirement [edit ]
During Euro 2020 qualify, Rakitić took part in lone four out of eight games due to injuries and complicated club situation. [ 106 ] On 21 September 2020, the Croatian Football Federation unexpectedly announced that Rakitić retired from the international duty. At the time of his retirement, he had made 106 appearances and scored fifteen goals, making him fourth most capped player ( after Darijo Srna, Luka Modrić and Stipe Pletikosa ) and ninth joint exceed goalscorer in the history of the national team. [ 107 ] He stated :
Saying adieu to the croatian national team is the most unmanageable decision in my career, but I felt that this was the here and now when I had to break away and make that decision. I enjoyed every plot I played for my fatherland, and unforgettable moments from the World Cup will remain among my favourites. I am convinced that we still have a great team with a bright future ahead. I wish my friends and teammates all the fortune in the worldly concern for the approaching challenges, and in me they will have the biggest fan. [ 108 ]
style of play [edit ]
A talented, healthy, and hard-working midfielder, Rakitić is known in the media as a all-around playmaker, with good stamen and defensive skills, adenine well as excellent technique, close control, vision, passing, and an ability to read the game, which enables him to dictate play in midfield and create chances for teammates after winning back possession, despite his miss of yard. As such, he is adequate to of both breaking down opposing plays and subsequently transitioning the ball forward to start attacks ; he is besides capable of scoring goals himself, courtesy of his striking ability from distance, a well as his ability to find and exploit spaces with his movement off the ball and make attack runs into the box. A versatile player, he is capable of playing in respective midfield positions, and has been deployed as a winger on either side of the pitch, as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a defensive midfielder, in a box-to-box function, or even as a deep-lying playmaker. [ 109 ] [ 110 ] [ 111 ] [ 112 ] [ 113 ] [ 114 ] [ 115 ] [ 116 ] [ 117 ] [ 118 ] [ 119 ] In 2019, in an interview with BeIN Sports, director José Mourinho described Rakitić as “ one of the most underestimate players in the earth. ” He late added : “ He is fantastic on all levels ; he defends, he compensates for [ Lionel ] Messi, he runs and he ‘s sensible with the ball at his feet. ” [ 67 ]
personal life [edit ]
Rakitić married Raquel Mauri in April 2013 in Seville after two years of dating. [ 120 ] Rakitić initially met her on the first night he arrived in Seville in the summer of 2011, at a hotel legal profession, and attributed his fluent memorize of spanish, to his repeated attempts to take her out on a date. [ 121 ] In July 2013, their daughter Althea was born. [ 122 ] In May 2016, their second gear daughter, Adara, was born. [ 123 ] He speaks croatian, german, spanish, English, french and italian. [ 121 ] In late June 2016, Rakitić rented a villa on the island of Ugljan, where he arrived on vacation with his kin. On 1 July, the house was allegedly attacked by a group of six men who threw rocks at it, breaking several windows and forcing Rakitić and his class to literally flee the island on a speedboat. [ 124 ] [ 125 ] however, Slobodna Dalmacija reporters investigated the event and discovered that alone one window was broken by an strange perpetrator, and that Rakitić rather calmly left the island hours belated, giving autograph to the local fans. [ 126 ] As Rakitić was born and raised in Switzerland, Rakitić besides possesses swiss citizenship, [ 127 ] [ 128 ] [ 129 ] [ 130 ] along with croatian citizenship by descent, as such Rakitić possesses dual citizenship. Most notably, he represented Switzerland [ 129 ] at the Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 teams. In 2007, when he was 19, assorted people in Switzerland were outraged at his decision to represent Croatia in aged international football. [ 129 ] Rakitić said in an interview with swiss newspaper Le Temps, [ 131 ] prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, that he was proud to play for Switzerland at youth tied, as he grew up in Switzerland and that he knew where he came from. [ 128 ] Rakitić besides remarked in the lapp interview that he was in favor of representing Croatia in aged international football and was not against Switzerland, and initially called and informed the then-Swiss bus Köbi Kuhn of his decisiveness to select Croatia, before contacting the then-Croatia knob Slaven Bilić. [ 131 ] [ 128 ]
career statistics [edit ]
club [edit ]
- As of match played 23 November 2021[132][133][134][135][136]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club
Season
League
National Cup[a]
Europe
Other
Total
Division
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Basel
2005–06
Swiss Super League
1
0
1
0
1[b]
0
—
3
0
2006–07
Swiss Super League
33
11
5
0
9[b]
0
—
47
11
Total
34
11
6
0
10
0
—
50
11
Schalke 04
2007–08
Bundesliga
29
3
3
1
7[c]
0
3[d]
0
42
4
2008–09
Bundesliga
23
1
4
1
7[e]
1
—
34
3
2009–10
Bundesliga
29
7
4
0
—
—
33
7
2010–11
Bundesliga
16
1
4
1
5[c]
0
1[f]
0
26
2
Total
97
12
15
3
19
1
4
0
135
16
Sevilla
2010–11
La Liga
13
6
1
0
2[g]
0
—
16
6
2011–12
La Liga
36
0
3
1
0
0
—
39
1
2012–13
La Liga
34
9
8
3
—
—
42
12
2013–14
La Liga
34
12
0
0
18[g]
3
—
52
15
Total
117
27
12
4
20
3
—
149
34
Barcelona
2014–15
La Liga
32
5
7
1
12[c]
2
—
51
8
2015–16
La Liga
36
7
6
0
10[c]
2
5[h]
0
57
9
2016–17
La Liga
32
8
8
1
9[c]
0
2[i]
0
51
9
2017–18
La Liga
35
1
8
2
10[c]
1
2[i]
0
55
4
2018–19
La Liga
34
3
7
1
12[c]
1
1[i]
0
54
5
2019–20
La Liga
31
1
3
0
7[c]
0
1[i]
0
42
1
Total
200
25
39
5
60
6
11
0
310
36
Sevilla
2020–21
La Liga
37
4
4
2
8[c]
2
1[j]
0
50
8
2021–22
La Liga
11
1
0
0
4[c]
2
—
15
3
Total
48
5
4
2
12
4
1
0
65
11
Career total
496
80
76
14
121
14
16
0
709
108
International [edit ]
Appearances and goals by national team and year[86]
National team
Year
Apps
Goals
Croatia
2007
5
1
2008
11
4
2009
8
2
2010
8
1
2011
6
0
2012
10
1
2013
11
0
2014
10
0
2015
6
1
2016
7
3
2017
6
0
2018
14
2
2019
4
0
Total
106
15
- Croatia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rakitić goal.[137][138]
Honours [edit ]
Basel [ 139 ]
Sevilla [ 139 ]
Barcelona [ 140 ]
Croatia
Individual
Orders
See besides [edit ]
References [edit ]
Read more: S.S. Lazio