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The story of Josip Ilicic’s Slovenia return at EURO 2024

The story of Josip Ilicic’s Slovenia return at EURO 2024

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Josip Iličić came on for Slovenia in their final group stage game against England and the moment’s importance extends far beyond just the game. It is the story of a comeback that deserves plaudits, as Slovenia prepare to take on Portugal on Monday.

By Kaustubh Pandey

After his appearance against England last week, Iličić just seemed glad he was back playing international football. It was the very idea that he played in the game that seemed moving after years of struggle and a journey that could break anyone.

He was asked by Sky Italia whether he realises how inspirational his story is for fans and the media alike and the humble 36-year-old responded:

“I am sincerely pleased, even today when I entered the pitch a player complimented me and told me that he respects me a lot, this pleases me.”

He went onto reveal that Declan Rice spoke to him personally during the game, informing him about how he was inspired by his comeback at the highest level of the sport after a topsy turvy journey of struggle.

To many, Iličić’s wand of a left foot and his trademark drop of a shoulder was almost Lionel Messi-like despite his tall frame. His spell at Atalanta dazzled European football, even if that only happened for a brief period as he became a serial goal scorer and assister for Gian Piero Gasperini‘s side when they were playing in the Champions League and lighting up Serie A with their brand of ‘organised-chaos’ football.

Iličić and his teammate Papu Gómez had this effortless way of doing things, as they took defences apart while operating as inside forwards in a 3-4-2-1 formation. The club famously came seconds away from going past Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019/20 season, only for the French giants to turn it around in stoppage time and progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Iličić hadn’t featured in the games against PSG but weeks before that, he had turned on the style against Valencia in the Round of 16, bringing joy to the hearts of thousands of La Dea fans and showing his technical class at the highest level of club football. 

It was during that period that COVID 19 was raging through Bergamo and the city was becoming synonymous with the disease. But Iličić and Atalanta were constantly making sure that the city was associated with the sport that they were redefining.

While the world watched Iličić weave his magic every week, things weren’t quite right for him. Battles with mental health, as we generally know, aren’t linear. Struggles often come and go and that is precisely what had been going on with the Slovenian, who was reminded of his war-torn Yugoslavia by the sirens that blared through Bergamo during lockdown. It was PTSD.

Iličić was born to a Croatian mother and Slovenian father in modern-day Bosnia when the region was still collectively recognised as Yugoslavia. That is when Yugoslavia was in the middle of ethnic warfare.

When war raged in Bosnia, Iličić’s father died of illness in the city that his family lived in – Prijedor. Iličić later admitted to not knowing what the word ‘Dad’ meant until his schoolmates told him about it.

Soon after, his mother fled to the north Slovenian city of Kranj and took a very young Josip and his brother with her. The Bosnian city they had fleed from – Prijedor, turned out to be one of the most adversely affected regions during the war, which later took the lives of around 5000 people who lived there.

Iličić’s mother worked multiple jobs to make ends meet for the family and it is in Slovenia that Iličić first fell in love with football, as he played the sport after school and was essentially a self-taught player who kicked the ball against a wall at a young age, if he wasn’t skipping school to play with his friends.

His mother later enrolled Iličić into the NK Triglava football club based in Kranj and that is when his footballing journey really kicked off. He initially started with futsal before playing pro football with lower division sides Britof and Bonifika. The decision to stay in the lower divisions was deliberate as he revealed in an interview in 2015 that he only wanted to impress and play more football. In 2008, a move to the top flight with Interblock followed after the club scouted him extensively and his previous clubs had faced huge financial worries. 

Interblock didn’t last long in the Slovenian top flight though, as relegation followed and that is when a crucial turning point arrived in Iličić’s life. He considered leaving football to go back to playing futsal, as a move to a Moldovan club fell through because of a fraudulent agent. When no club came calling, Iličić looked for odd jobs and was sitting at home doing just that for two weeks. He even considered premature retirement, until the then sporting director of Slovenian giants Maribor – Zlatko Zahovič, called and offered him a contract.

Iličić’s first two training sessions impressed Maribor boss Darko Milanič so much that he was soon in the first team fold, despite him not having kicked a ball for several weeks before that. Perhaps, that itself is a fine indicator of Iličić’s natural talent.

It was at Maribor that Iličić tasted European football again after doing the same at Interblock, playing in the Europa League qualifying stages twice and he also scored for the club against Hibernian. Weeks later, he also scored against Palermo while playing on the right wing. It was the club he would go on to join and an agreement was already in place before Iličić had even celebrated his goal with the move to Palermo confirmed a day later.

Iličić had grown up watching Serie A icons from the 1990s and just weeks after he had considered leaving the sport, he had become a Serie A player. The Sicilians were in the hunt for attacking quality in the side, as they had sold Edinson Cavani to Napoli in 2010. Iličić’s Maribor teammate Armin Bačinovič also arrived at Palermo but it was the winger who made the bigger impact and Iličić went on to become one of the most important signings even made by famed sporting director Walter Sabatini.

His first goal for Palermo came against Inter as he shared the dressing room with a certain Javier Pastore and played in midfield. Some days later, he also scored against Juventus as Palermo took down the Bianconeri. In his first season in Italy, Iličić scored eight times and racked up eight assists, with some goals being absolute screamers. Even in the limited time, Iličić had made a name for himself. As Pastore left for Paris Saint-Germain soon after, Iličić’s role in the side was going to become more prominent.

But the opposite happened, through not much fault of his own, as Palermo found themselves in a crisis. The club went through multiple managers and Iličić was used in a host of different positions, as he scored just two goals in the 2011/12 season. It was in 2013 though, that Iličić played under Gian Piero Gasperini for the first time.

Back then, Gasperini had arrived at the back of a horror stint at Inter, who had sacked him months after his summer appointment. At Palermo, he made sure that Iličić was a constant presence on the right flank and this sparked the Slovenian’s resurgence, as he scored ten times that season – his highest tally in a single season up to that point. Gasperini was strangely sacked twice by Palermo in the same season but that peculiarity aside, he had given future managers the template on how to use Iličić.

A big move to Fiorentina followed for Iličić, who would play on the right in Vincenzo Montella‘s possession-based system at La Viola. A controlled approach suited him and covered up for his occasional weaknesses in possession, as he scored 37 times in his stint at the Artemio Franchi. He endeared himself to La Viola’s faithful and grew close with the players, finishing the 2014/15 season as the club’s highest goalscorer with ten goals. A move to Atalanta beckoned in the summer of 2017.

In March 2018 though, tragedy struck everyone associated with Fiorentina. Club captain – Davide Astori, died in his sleep in March 2018. Days later, Iličić broke down in tears during Atalanta’s game against Fiorentina and it was clear that the tragedy had affected him deeply.

Later in 2018, Iličić’s own health worsened. He was suffering from lymphadenitis and as his health didn’t improve as expected, he was placed on an antibiotics drip in hospital. The Slovenian later admitted to thinking a lot about the late Astori during those times, as he told Croatian outlet 24Sata:

“In those days I thought a lot about Davide, I was afraid of going to sleep and not waking up, not seeing my loved ones again.”

Those were, as he admitted, difficult times for him. Things did get better, with Iličić reaching his peak under Gasperini at La Dea, propelling them to the Champions League and that is when his stock reached an all-time high, especially after that memorable performance against Valencia. Before the huge game against PSG though, things took a turn again.

The thoughts that had delayed his recovery in 2018 returned during lockdown, coupled with mental health problems and PTSD. Gasperini later revealed that his player had shown signs of isolation already and he was struck down by something worse than COVID.

Gasperini had visited Iličić at the hospital a week before the PSG game and he told Sky Italia:

“I went to see him in hospital. He has lost about 10-12 kilograms… I picked him up like a puppet and said to him: ‘Come, Josip, come with us.”

What Bergamo was going through affected the player, who sought permission from Atalanta to go back to Slovenia, with the club accepting his request. He was, as many reports have suggested, on the verge of retirement. The news of hundreds of people losing their lives to the virus and coffins being carried around the affected city of Bergamo disturbed Iličić, who had witnessed something similar years ago. But he would return and impress again in the 2021/22 season, only for his mental health struggles to return in 2022 when he missed a large part of the campaign.

In the summer of 2022, both parties mutually agreed to terminate Iličić’s contract and he returned to Maribor. Months after his return to his former club, Iličić was handed a pleasant surprise by Atalanta fans, who took their time to meet the ex La Dea hero before their game against Sturm Graz. They greeted him with chants and also unfurled a special banner for him, just showing how invaluable his contributions will always be for the club.

After suffering from fitness problems early on in his stint at Maribor, Iličić looked back to his old self during the 2023/24 season, scoring ten times in domestic competition. It is a fine return to form for someone who has been through so much – physically and mentally. And he was then rewarded with a return to the Slovenian national team.

Whether he features against Portugal remains to be seen, but his very presence in the side makes him a hero for the fans and players alike. If he does get some minutes today, he could definitely make an impact. He is, after all, someone that the game will not forget in a long, long time and he should be considered a role model.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

The story of Josip Ilicic’s Slovenia return at EURO 2024

Josip Iličić came on for Slovenia in their final group stage game against England and the moment’s importance extends far beyond just the game. It is the story of a comeback that deserves plaudits, as Slovenia prepare to take on Portugal on Monday.

By Kaustubh Pandey

After his appearance against England last week, Iličić just seemed glad he was back playing international football. It was the very idea that he played in the game that seemed moving after years of struggle and a journey that could break anyone.

He was asked by Sky Italia whether he realises how inspirational his story is for fans and the media alike and the humble 36-year-old responded:

“I am sincerely pleased, even today when I entered the pitch a player complimented me and told me that he respects me a lot, this pleases me.”

He went onto reveal that Declan Rice spoke to him personally during the game, informing him about how he was inspired by his comeback at the highest level of the sport after a topsy turvy journey of struggle.

To many, Iličić’s wand of a left foot and his trademark drop of a shoulder was almost Lionel Messi-like despite his tall frame. His spell at Atalanta dazzled European football, even if that only happened for a brief period as he became a serial goal scorer and assister for Gian Piero Gasperini‘s side when they were playing in the Champions League and lighting up Serie A with their brand of ‘organised-chaos’ football.

Iličić and his teammate Papu Gómez had this effortless way of doing things, as they took defences apart while operating as inside forwards in a 3-4-2-1 formation. The club famously came seconds away from going past Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019/20 season, only for the French giants to turn it around in stoppage time and progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Iličić hadn’t featured in the games against PSG but weeks before that, he had turned on the style against Valencia in the Round of 16, bringing joy to the hearts of thousands of La Dea fans and showing his technical class at the highest level of club football. 

It was during that period that COVID 19 was raging through Bergamo and the city was becoming synonymous with the disease. But Iličić and Atalanta were constantly making sure that the city was associated with the sport that they were redefining.

While the world watched Iličić weave his magic every week, things weren’t quite right for him. Battles with mental health, as we generally know, aren’t linear. Struggles often come and go and that is precisely what had been going on with the Slovenian, who was reminded of his war-torn Yugoslavia by the sirens that blared through Bergamo during lockdown. It was PTSD.

Iličić was born to a Croatian mother and Slovenian father in modern-day Bosnia when the region was still collectively recognised as Yugoslavia. That is when Yugoslavia was in the middle of ethnic warfare.

When war raged in Bosnia, Iličić’s father died of illness in the city that his family lived in – Prijedor. Iličić later admitted to not knowing what the word ‘Dad’ meant until his schoolmates told him about it.

Soon after, his mother fled to the north Slovenian city of Kranj and took a very young Josip and his brother with her. The Bosnian city they had fleed from – Prijedor, turned out to be one of the most adversely affected regions during the war, which later took the lives of around 5000 people who lived there.

Iličić’s mother worked multiple jobs to make ends meet for the family and it is in Slovenia that Iličić first fell in love with football, as he played the sport after school and was essentially a self-taught player who kicked the ball against a wall at a young age, if he wasn’t skipping school to play with his friends.

His mother later enrolled Iličić into the NK Triglava football club based in Kranj and that is when his footballing journey really kicked off. He initially started with futsal before playing pro football with lower division sides Britof and Bonifika. The decision to stay in the lower divisions was deliberate as he revealed in an interview in 2015 that he only wanted to impress and play more football. In 2008, a move to the top flight with Interblock followed after the club scouted him extensively and his previous clubs had faced huge financial worries. 

Interblock didn’t last long in the Slovenian top flight though, as relegation followed and that is when a crucial turning point arrived in Iličić’s life. He considered leaving football to go back to playing futsal, as a move to a Moldovan club fell through because of a fraudulent agent. When no club came calling, Iličić looked for odd jobs and was sitting at home doing just that for two weeks. He even considered premature retirement, until the then sporting director of Slovenian giants Maribor – Zlatko Zahovič, called and offered him a contract.

Iličić’s first two training sessions impressed Maribor boss Darko Milanič so much that he was soon in the first team fold, despite him not having kicked a ball for several weeks before that. Perhaps, that itself is a fine indicator of Iličić’s natural talent.

It was at Maribor that Iličić tasted European football again after doing the same at Interblock, playing in the Europa League qualifying stages twice and he also scored for the club against Hibernian. Weeks later, he also scored against Palermo while playing on the right wing. It was the club he would go on to join and an agreement was already in place before Iličić had even celebrated his goal with the move to Palermo confirmed a day later.

Iličić had grown up watching Serie A icons from the 1990s and just weeks after he had considered leaving the sport, he had become a Serie A player. The Sicilians were in the hunt for attacking quality in the side, as they had sold Edinson Cavani to Napoli in 2010. Iličić’s Maribor teammate Armin Bačinovič also arrived at Palermo but it was the winger who made the bigger impact and Iličić went on to become one of the most important signings even made by famed sporting director Walter Sabatini.

His first goal for Palermo came against Inter as he shared the dressing room with a certain Javier Pastore and played in midfield. Some days later, he also scored against Juventus as Palermo took down the Bianconeri. In his first season in Italy, Iličić scored eight times and racked up eight assists, with some goals being absolute screamers. Even in the limited time, Iličić had made a name for himself. As Pastore left for Paris Saint-Germain soon after, Iličić’s role in the side was going to become more prominent.

But the opposite happened, through not much fault of his own, as Palermo found themselves in a crisis. The club went through multiple managers and Iličić was used in a host of different positions, as he scored just two goals in the 2011/12 season. It was in 2013 though, that Iličić played under Gian Piero Gasperini for the first time.

Back then, Gasperini had arrived at the back of a horror stint at Inter, who had sacked him months after his summer appointment. At Palermo, he made sure that Iličić was a constant presence on the right flank and this sparked the Slovenian’s resurgence, as he scored ten times that season – his highest tally in a single season up to that point. Gasperini was strangely sacked twice by Palermo in the same season but that peculiarity aside, he had given future managers the template on how to use Iličić.

A big move to Fiorentina followed for Iličić, who would play on the right in Vincenzo Montella‘s possession-based system at La Viola. A controlled approach suited him and covered up for his occasional weaknesses in possession, as he scored 37 times in his stint at the Artemio Franchi. He endeared himself to La Viola’s faithful and grew close with the players, finishing the 2014/15 season as the club’s highest goalscorer with ten goals. A move to Atalanta beckoned in the summer of 2017.

In March 2018 though, tragedy struck everyone associated with Fiorentina. Club captain – Davide Astori, died in his sleep in March 2018. Days later, Iličić broke down in tears during Atalanta’s game against Fiorentina and it was clear that the tragedy had affected him deeply.

Later in 2018, Iličić’s own health worsened. He was suffering from lymphadenitis and as his health didn’t improve as expected, he was placed on an antibiotics drip in hospital. The Slovenian later admitted to thinking a lot about the late Astori during those times, as he told Croatian outlet 24Sata:

“In those days I thought a lot about Davide, I was afraid of going to sleep and not waking up, not seeing my loved ones again.”

Those were, as he admitted, difficult times for him. Things did get better, with Iličić reaching his peak under Gasperini at La Dea, propelling them to the Champions League and that is when his stock reached an all-time high, especially after that memorable performance against Valencia. Before the huge game against PSG though, things took a turn again.

The thoughts that had delayed his recovery in 2018 returned during lockdown, coupled with mental health problems and PTSD. Gasperini later revealed that his player had shown signs of isolation already and he was struck down by something worse than COVID.

Gasperini had visited Iličić at the hospital a week before the PSG game and he told Sky Italia:

“I went to see him in hospital. He has lost about 10-12 kilograms… I picked him up like a puppet and said to him: ‘Come, Josip, come with us.”

What Bergamo was going through affected the player, who sought permission from Atalanta to go back to Slovenia, with the club accepting his request. He was, as many reports have suggested, on the verge of retirement. The news of hundreds of people losing their lives to the virus and coffins being carried around the affected city of Bergamo disturbed Iličić, who had witnessed something similar years ago. But he would return and impress again in the 2021/22 season, only for his mental health struggles to return in 2022 when he missed a large part of the campaign.

In the summer of 2022, both parties mutually agreed to terminate Iličić’s contract and he returned to Maribor. Months after his return to his former club, Iličić was handed a pleasant surprise by Atalanta fans, who took their time to meet the ex La Dea hero before their game against Sturm Graz. They greeted him with chants and also unfurled a special banner for him, just showing how invaluable his contributions will always be for the club.

After suffering from fitness problems early on in his stint at Maribor, Iličić looked back to his old self during the 2023/24 season, scoring ten times in domestic competition. It is a fine return to form for someone who has been through so much – physically and mentally. And he was then rewarded with a return to the Slovenian national team.

Whether he features against Portugal remains to be seen, but his very presence in the side makes him a hero for the fans and players alike. If he does get some minutes today, he could definitely make an impact. He is, after all, someone that the game will not forget in a long, long time and he should be considered a role model.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.