"Congratulations, Mario! It's like a rare flower blooming!"
Inside the dormitory, Suker raised his drink loudly.
Modrić, Srna, Duijmovic, Vukojević, Pranjić, Mandžukić, and others were having a gathering.
This party was to celebrate Mandžukić's first goal of the season.
"Thanks! Thanks!" Mandžukić smiled broadly and asked, "What does 'a rare flower blooming' mean?"
Suker replied, "It means a fool finally comes to his senses!"
"Oh!" Mandžukić nodded.
Everyone gathered around the dining table, eating French takeout.
This kind of fancy food was usually unaffordable for them.
But since Mandžukić had just signed a new contract, this meal was on him.
"Our current performance is pretty good. Let's work harder and try not to lose games in the latter half of the league!" Srna said with a smile.
Suker said grumpily, "Have some ambition! Don't talk about losing! We want to win the championship undefeated!"
Everyone looked at Suker in surprise.
"That's too difficult. Even if other teams give up, teams like Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk won't just watch us go undefeated!" Dujmovic said while stuffing foie gras in his mouth.
"Actually, it's not impossible," Modrić suddenly said. "If we manage to keep a winning streak for half the season, then during the winter break adjust our condition and restore fitness, we can keep pushing in the second half!"
Pranjić added, "Hajduk's form isn't good either. They just finished the Champions League qualifiers and apparently lost badly!"
"Lost badly?"
Suker looked over.
Pranjić nodded, "They met Chelsea in the third round."
Suker grinned.
In 2003, Chelsea had just been bought by the Russian billionaire Abramovich, who started splurging on players.
Although the "Special One" Mourinho wasn't yet their coach, Chelsea was already a strong team in the big five European leagues with championship ambitions.
What could Hajduk do against them?
"What was the score?"
Pranjić: "Two legs, 11-0!"
"That bad?"
Everyone was stunned.
They thought it might be around 6-1 over two legs.
But 11-0!
That was a massacre!
"That's right, total slaughter! So their form has been terrible lately, and apparently there are some internal problems after that loss."
Suker said, "That's good news for us. Our next match is against them, perfect to further hit their morale."
Mandžukić said, "I wonder if I can even play in the next game!"
"Don't worry!" Suker patted Mandžukić on the shoulder.
"Scoring a goal as a substitute means Besic can't ignore you, and re-signing your contract means you're recognized. You'll get more chances!"
Hearing Suker's explanation, Mandžukić immediately felt more confident.
Suker looked at Mandžukić — this guy recently had a bad case of overthinking.
The proud look he used to have was gone.
Probably beaten down hard by Besic!
Everyone chatted while eating.
Time quickly came to 8 PM.
Modrić finished a phone call and said, "My father is here to pick me up. I'm going home."
Suker nodded.
"Be safe!"
Watching Modrić leave, Suker glanced at Srna and the others.
They had no intention of leaving.
"You just played a game, you must be tired. Go home early and rest."
But they didn't get the hint.
"We're not tired!"
"I'm going to play some more games!"
"Three hundred rounds of battle!"
Suker's forehead veins bulged.
Living here, the hardest part was that if you spoke indirectly, these guys just didn't understand.
"Get lost! Get lost! I'm tired as hell, don't disturb my rest!"
Suker urged them to leave.
Srna and the others reluctantly looked at the game console, then finally left.
After everyone left, Mandžukić started cleaning the messy table on his own.
Suker didn't bother helping.
"Rest early today. Training starts at 6 AM tomorrow!"
Hearing this, Mandžukić instantly perked up.
"Six o'clock, I got you!"
Suker nodded and went back to his room.
On September 15th, Dinamo Zagreb welcomed a special guest:
Zvonimir Boban!
Former Croatian captain, who led Croatia's golden generation to the 1998 World Cup semifinals.
Former main player of the Italian Serie A giant AC Milan and the foreign player with the most honors at AC Milan.
Boban at his peak was unquestionably one of the world's top attacking midfielders.
His skills, dribbling, and explosive breakthroughs were outstanding.
He also came from Dinamo Zagreb.
Dinamo Zagreb was truly Croatia's star-making machine.
Many players from the golden generation came from this club.
It was their stepping stone to the top five European leagues.
"Hey, buddy!"
Inside Besic's office,
Davor Suker and Boban hugged happily.
They were best friends from the national team, so their bond was strong.
"I already heard Dinamo Zagreb is doing very well before I came," Boban said, looking at Besic. "You're not that great a player, but as a coach you're quite reliable!"
Besic smiled bitterly.
Back when they both played for Dinamo Zagreb, Boban was the captain and Besic was only a substitute.
"Alright, what do you want to talk about?"
Boban sat on the sofa and looked at the two.
Besic also looked at Davor Suker.
Actually, it was Davor Suker who invited Boban here. Besic had no idea what he wanted.
Davor Suker cleared his throat and first addressed Besic:
"From now on, just pretend you didn't hear this."
Besic raised an eyebrow.
Boban chuckled, "Trying to silence me on my own turf?"
Suker smiled awkwardly.
Besic shrugged, signaling he understood.
Then Davor suddenly became serious:
"I want to activate some of our connections."
Boban looked surprised.
"You mean over there?"
"Yes!" Davor nodded. "There are some very good young players here, and I want them to get into the top five European leagues as soon as possible, not stuck in lower divisions. That wouldn't help them."
"Especially these two!"
Davor pulled two photos out of his pocket.
They were of Suker and Modrić.
"These two kids are already good enough for the top leagues. I've sent their resumes to clubs in La Liga, Premier League, and Bundesliga."
Boban was surprised, "Real Madrid and Arsenal?"
Davor: "Also West Ham and Munich 1860!"
Boban frowned, "Real Madrid? Not very likely."
Not likely means basically no chance.
But Davor Suker was just trying.
At that time, Real Madrid was implementing a star policy.
Players had to be not only stars but also good-looking!
Neither Suker nor Modrić met these standards.
"I have no connections in Serie A, so I want you to try."
Boban paused, "You want me to contact AC Milan?"
Suker nodded, "Ancelotti is great at developing young players. With these two's performance, they should be interested!"
AC Milan was a club with a lot of humanity.
Boban's peak years were with the Rossoneri, so he still had influence there.
Boban was determined to get one or both of them in, which wasn't impossible.
But AC Milan's lineup was star-studded.
Inzaghi, Maldini, Cafu, Shevchenko, Gattuso, Nesta, Dida...
Even the bench was luxurious.
The Brazilian talent Kaká had just joined.
Boban had watched Kaká's performance — very impressive.
But even so, he was still a substitute at AC Milan.
Boban didn't think that was a good idea.
The benches of big clubs killed many talents!
Seeing Boban hesitate, Davor got frustrated.
"Don't be wishy-washy! In that World Cup semifinal, if you had crossed the ball, I would have scored with my great run!"
"Shut up!" Boban snapped, "You ran so fast that even if I passed it, you'd be offside!"
"How do you know if you don't try?"
Davor suddenly pointed hard at the photos, eyes full of strong dissatisfaction, speaking slowly and clearly:
"No! Try! Try! And! You! Will! Know!"
Boban suddenly fell silent.
He looked at Davor Suker seriously.
For their generation, that semifinal was an eternal wound.
Even now, every detail of that game was etched in their minds.
Late at night, they felt bitter, regretful, helpless...
Davor had brought it up, showing he was really serious.
After a moment of silence, Boban said:
"I can't guarantee I'll get it to Ancelotti, but I can get it on AC Milan's sporting director's desk!"
Davor sighed.
"That's enough!"
Then added, "Should we send one to Inter Milan too?"
Boban laughed and said, "Get lost!"
They looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
At that moment, Besic suddenly coughed.
"Ahem!"
"Done talking?"
They turned to him.
"I didn't want to hear, but..." Besic looked displeased. "You two are here discussing how to sell the team's core players right in front of me, the Dinamo Zagreb coach. Is that appropriate?"
SDavor uker: "Don't worry! We'll get a good price!"
Boban: "You can expect the big clubs' big bucks!"
Besic pursed his lips but said nothing.