Daniel Olmo insists he was only waiting to play for Spain before turning down the chance to play for Croatia at the 2018 World Cup.
Barcelona midfielder Daniel Olmo, 26, has revealed that the Croatian Football Federation approached him to play for the Croatians in 2018, but he turned it down due to his commitment to play for Spain, he told GQ Espana on Friday.
Olmo signed for Dinamo Zagreb from Barcelona in the summer of 2014 at the age of 16, and the player has revealed that he was approached to play for the Croatian national team in 2018, but he turned it down in order to wait ทางเข้า UFABET สำหรับสมาชิกใหม่ สมัครวันนี้ รับโบนัสฟรี for the opportunity from Spain, until his wish came true when he was called up to the national team for the first time in November 2019 and has played an important role ever since.
‘I’m Spanish and that’s how I’ve always felt. Croatia wanted to take me to the 2018 World Cup. Maybe they offered me more confidence, but I knew the chance would come from Spain. When I saw them reach the final against France, I was so happy, but I never thought I could be there, or maybe I made a mistake. I was with the Under-21s and my dream was to play for Spain. You can’t change that for the World Cup,’ Olmo said.
The 26-year-old midfielder also spoke about his decision to leave La Masia for Dinamo Zagreb. As he saw a better opportunity in Croatia before returning to Barcelona this summer.
‘When Dinamo contacted me, I intended to move from the youth team to the youth team. The usual thing would be to go to a team in England, but my dream was to play for Barcelona. At that time, I felt that they did not trust me in the future. Dinamo convinced me with a short-term and medium-term project. I was trained by professionals and I knew it was the best thing for me. ‘