Zlatko Dalić is back in Podgorica.
When he came for the first time, in December 1989, to wear the blue jersey of Buducnost, he was greeted by a rally in front of the then "Crna Gora" hotel, the AB revolution, "an event of the people", as he himself described it.
Now, at the same place, in the "Hilton", he comes as the coach of the bronze medal team from the last World Cup.
Dalić looked around at the photographs hanging on the walls of the House of Football, and before the press conference, he recalled, as he says, the beautiful days of spring 1990 that he spent in the then Titograd.
"I looked at the pictures a little. I recognized the players I played with. I recognized Branko Brnović. After many years I'm here, I had a great half year, I played with great players. Mijatović, Drobnjak, Saveljić, Petrović, Brnović... I have fond memories of that."
Now - on a new mission.
How well he does it is also evidenced by the fact that under his leadership Croatia came second, then third at the World Cup.
Dalić has built a superpower, with which he secured his third trip to the World Cup three days ago. Is he preparing a miracle in America?
Before the group draw (December 5th) and the definitive focus on the World Cup, the Croats have one more game left, tomorrow evening in Gorica (8:45 PM).
And they want to do it - to the maximum.
"We secured a place in the World Cup and celebrated that, but the qualifications are not over for us. We have a tough match and a motivated opponent ahead of us, we want to finish the qualifications as we started. To have the best qualifications so far. We have an opponent who has a new coach and a few new young players, they certainly want to give us a hard time and beat us, but we want to too. We will give a chance to some players who have played less before, but our goal is to achieve a good result in Podgorica," emphasized the long-time Croatian strategist.
All those who come to the stadium will see Luka Modrić, one of the best football players of the last decade, in action, Dalić promised.
"Luka will definitely play. The people of Montenegro deserve to experience it and greet him with a big round of applause, because I think he deserves it. He is definitely a great man and one of the best football players in the world. You will not be deprived of his playing time," Dalić emphasized.
And more about Montenegro:
"They changed some things since the last game in Zagreb. Jovetić is the best player and I see him coming back. Krstović can cause problems in attack. There are many players in midfield, Vukotic and others. We have to be ready for a race and a lot of spending. This is a young team that is in the process of creating something new, and young players always have a great motivation to prove themselves. We have to be motivated to respond seriously," he said.
And a little more about the past:
"The most complete players in the history of Montenegro? Savićević and Mijatović. They played in big clubs, Milan and Real Madrid, won European titles."
Bonus video:
