I have a story for Hollywood. Itâs a romantic comedy. But itâs actually real. It starts with a Croatian guy walking into a bar âŚ
It was 2011. I was 21 years old. I arrived in Spain really late â maybe 10 oâclock at night. I had been playing for Schalke in Germany for the past four years, and Seville were all set to sign me the next morning. All I had to do was take my medical test and sign the papers. My older brother Dejan was traveling with me, and when we got to the hotel, we had a late dinner with some people from the club. For whatever reason, I was a little bit nervous after dinner, and I knew I wouldnât be able to sleep. So I said to my brother, âLetâs have a drink and then weâll go to bed.â
Those words changed my life.
Because the woman who happened to be working at the hotel bar was ⌠Wow. This is the part of the movie where everything goes into slow motion, you know? She was so beautiful. I said to myself, O.K., Seville. Wow. I like this place.But I couldnât say anything to her other than âHola,â because I didnât know any Spanish. I spoke German, English, Italian, French and Serbo-Croatian, but no Spanish. It was terrible.
So my brother and I were just sitting there, having a chat, when someone from another big European club called my brother on the phone. They said that they had heard that we had arrived in Seville, and they wanted to send a plane to come pick us up so I could go and sign with them instead.
We didnât have a formal agreement with Seville yet. It was a big step for me to move to Spain, and maybe a big risk. New country, new language. I didnât know anyone there. The team who wanted to send the plane for me â letâs just say it might have been an easier adjustment. So my brother said, âWhat do you want to do?â I told him, âWell ⌠I said âYesâ to the president of Seville already, and my words are worth more than a signature.â He said, âAlright, Iâll tell them.â
Then I pointed across the bar and I said, âYou see our waitress? I am going to play here for Seville, and I am going to marry this woman.â My brother was laughing. He said, âO.K., whatever you say.â He thought I was joking. The waitress came back and asked if we were finished, and I said to my brother, âYou know, Iâm still a bit nervous. I donât think I can sleep. Letâs have another drink.â
The next day, I signed my contract with Seville, and I lived in that hotel for three months while I searched for a house. So every single morning, I went to the hotel bar for a coffee and an orange Fanta so that I could see the beautiful waitress. All I knew was that her name was Raquel. She didnât speak any English, and I didnât speak any Spanish. So every single day âŚÂ âBuenos dĂas, Raquel. Un cafĂŠ y un Fanta naranja.â
I donât know how to explain it. Sometimes, you meet someone and you just have a different feeling. Whenever I saw her, it was like a bomb went off inside me. Week after week, I slowly started to learn some Spanish words, and if I was struggling, I would use my hands a lot to try to explain what I was trying to say to her. She thought that was funny. She was like, âMe ⌠ Jane. You ⌠Tarzan.â I was drinking so much coffee it was ridiculous. I probably asked her out 20 or 30 times.
She never said no, but she always made an excuse that she had to work and then go to bed. After three months, I moved into my house, and I remember feeling really sad, because I thought maybe it was over. But I didnât give up. I would still drive into town and go for a coffee at the hotel all the time.
If she wasnât working, Iâd walk straight back out the door and go to another place. If she was there, it made my day.
One day, Raquel finally explained why she wouldnât go out with me. She said, âYouâre a footballer. You could be moving to another country next year. Sorry, but no.â You know, Iâm not the biggest guy in the world, so I thought, Shit, maybe she sees me and she doesnât think Iâm going to be very good and Seville will sell me in the summer.
Part of my motivation when I went to training was to establish myself in the squad so that I would be around for awhile and this girl would finally have dinner with me. It literally took me seven months. I arrived on January 27. On August 20, I got a text: Sheâs in the bar with her sister having a drink! Not working! See, at this point, pretty much everybody in the town knew my story, so someone was in the bar and they tipped me off with a text. I refuse to name my source. I called a friend and we drove right to the hotel, and I took a seat right next to Raquel, and I said, âO.K., youâre not working. You finally have time to come to dinner with me.â
She was surprised. She said she didnât know, maybe âŚI said, âNo. Iâm not leaving. I know youâre with your sister and everything, but we have to start today. Letâs go. Weâll all go.â So we all went out together.
The next day, we met for lunch, and we have been together ever since. Six years together, with two beautiful daughters now. And it was the hardest thing Iâve done in my life. It was harder than winning the Champions League, and it took nearly as long.- Ivan Rakitic in The Playersâ Tribune
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