I well remember the first time I met Zvonimir Boban, AC Milan midfielder and captain of Croatia. It was on a sunny spring day five years ago at AC Milan's celebrated Milanello training ground. News was in the air that his homeland, Croatia, an independent republic since 1992, was about to take its place among the footballing nations of the world. I asked Boban, somewhat too nonchalantly: "Well, Zvonimir, what sort of side will you Croats be able to put together?"
The soon-to-be Croatia captain's eyes flashed angrily at me: "You should know the answer to that yourself, if you just look at the names of our players and their clubs . . . We have Boksic at Lazio, Sukor in Seville, Prosinecki at Oviedo, Asanovic in Montpelier . . . We have plenty of good players and we'll be able to put together a good team, don't you worry."
One year later, in October 1994, Croatia celebrated its coming of international age with its first official home fixture and a 2-0 win over Lithuania in Zagreb. That was the first step along a road which saw Croatia cruise into the finals of a major tournament at its first attempt, defeating Italy, no less, along the way to qualification for Euro '96.
In England, millions saw for themselves what Boban and a few of us already knew only too well - namely, that Croatia had well and truly arrived on the international stage, going out of Euro '96 only after a controversial quarter-final 21 defeat by Germany.
Two years later, Croatia are again in the international limelight as one of the 32 World Cup finallists, drawn in a seemingly soft Group H where their opponents include Argentina, Japan and Jamaica. Two years later, Boban is the first to admit that his national team have perhaps lost some of the fierce national pride which underpinned their "overnight sensation" arrival on the international scene.
Talking last week at Milanello, Boban was relieved to turn his attention away from AC Milan's currently far from all-conquering season and direct his attention on Croatia. Reserved and intelligent, he has all the international star player's weariness when faced with TV cameras, microphones and reporters' notebooks. At 29, and now in his seventh season in Italy (all but one of them with AC Milan, the exception being a half-season loan to Bari in 1991-92), Boban has seen it all before. But any expatriate rarely likes to let a chance to talk about the homeland go unseized, and so it is with the Croatia captain, notwithstanding that he has just finished a two-hour training session and has yet to eat lunch.
Dressed in a fashionable cashmere sweater and light-coloured denims, Boban settles down, ready for action. Although he speaks a more than passable English, he prefers to be interviewed in Italian, beginning with a few thoughts on the current state of the Croatia team.
"It's true that this time around, it was more difficult for us, we had to struggle to qualify . . . The same motivation was not there, and then our qualifying group (Denmark, Greece, Slovenia, Bosnia) was difficult for us because Denmark are a good side. However, when it came down to it in the play-off against Ukraine, we refound ourselves and played really well and I'm glad about that."
Boban is nothing if not an intelligent footballer, someone who long ago understood that soccer can be much more than just a game. Following an infamous, 1990 Yugoslav league game between his Dinamo Zagreb (Croat) and Red Star Belgrade (Serb), Boban had to live on the run as a fugitive from Serb justice. He was wanted in connection with a pre-match altercation with a distinctly unfriendly Serb policeman. The altercation ended with Boban delivering a famous and very public kick to the policeman, hence prompting his need to go on the lamb.
Times have changed, but the fighting spirit is still there. Boban is not one to make grandiose predictions, but he believes that the stimulus of the world stage in France will prompt his side and one or two ageing companions to refind their best form.
He also believes Croatia will into the tournament all the wiser for their experiences in the Euro'96 finals.
"I think we were a better side than Germany in England, but they beat us because they played more with their heads than we did . . . We played the better soccer, but they were very strong, mentally. I hope that we can pick up something from this.
"The side has not changed much, our game is still very attack-oriented since that's the only way we could ever be expected to play. If we sat back and tried to play for a draw, it would be a disaster.
"As for our first round group, obviously we know Argentina and they will be difficult. But I cannot really say much about the other two sides, Japan and Jamaica. In theory, we should be able to beat them but . . . This will be our first ever World Cup finals and it is important for us to at least make it into the second round, after that who knows how it will go?"
Indeed, who knows?
