Talented Petar Sučić switches allegiance to Croatia

(Photo credit: Светлана Бекетова/ soccer.ru/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Young, 20-year-old midfielder of Dinamo Zagreb, Petar Sučić, has decided that he wants to represent Croatia, and the Croatian Football Federation has prepared the documentation for the change of his football citizenship.

Petar Sučić, who hails from Iskra in Bugojno and Zrinjski in Mostar before joining Dinamo Zagreb, has chosen Croatia, after representing Bosnia and Herzegovina age group teams over the past few years.

Sučić has already informed the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina about his decision.

“The decision wasn’t easy, and I would like to thank everyone in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian federation and the national teams there for their understanding. However, as a Croat, my greatest desire is to represent Croatia, which is my homeland. I want to thank the leaders of the Croatian Football Federation for their expressed desire for me to represent Croatia, as well as Dinamo, which has enabled my football development. I will continue to work hard to fulfill my dream and play for the Croatian national football team,” said Petar Sučić.

The Croatian Football Federation has prepared the necessary documentation for the change of Sučić’s football citizenship and will submit it to FIFA for approval. Upon completion of the process, in the event of a positive outcome, Sučić would have the right to wear the Croatian jersey.

“We are pleased with Petar’s decision, made with his family, to represent the Croatian national team in the future. I thank the technical director Pletikosa and the administration of the Federation for their engagement with Petar, who has certainly earned our attention with his performances. In the past period, we have placed great emphasis on monitoring all footballers of Croatian descent, and I consider it a great achievement that we have practically persuaded all the players we identified as top potentials to choose Croatia. This primarily speaks to the great patriotism of the Croatian people and the families of the players, who have successfully passed on their love for Croatia to their children. I believe in a positive outcome of this matter with FIFA, after which, hopefully, we will be able to tell Petar – welcome to the Croatian football family,” said the president of the Croatian Football Federation, Marijan Kustić.

“Kao Hrvatu, najveća mi je želja predstavljati Hrvatsku koja je moja domovina. Pritom želim zahvaliti čelnicima HNS-a na iskazanoj želji da predstavljam Hrvatsku te ću nastaviti naporno raditi kako bih ispunio san i zaigrao za hrvatsku reprezentaciju” 🗨️

🇭🇷❤️ Mladi, 20-godišnji… pic.twitter.com/j5XEIkToJm

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) March 8, 2024

“Petar Sučić is a very talented midfielder whose development we have been closely monitoring, and we have been in contact for some time. We are delighted with his decision and hope for a positive completion of the administrative process before the appropriate bodies of the World Football Organization. Sučić’s choice is another proof of how much the Vatreni mean to our people all over the world and how strong the patriotic zeal is within the Croatian national football team,” said the technical director of the A and U-21 national teams, Stipe Pletikosa.