36-year-old Josip Iličić is part of Slovenia’s EC squad. Few would have believed that a year ago. – He was certainly one of the best players in Europe. Especially in 2019/2020. That season was absolutely incredible. There has been a sharp drop after that, explains news’s football writer Thore Haugstad. Iličić’s special story started in March 2020. The coronavirus had seriously made its way into Europe and worst of all, in Bergamo. At this time, the attacking player was at the peak of his career. He had just scored four goals for Atalanta in the Meisterliga’s round of 16 away to Valencia. – At the time, I think he was probably among the candidates to win the Ballon d’Or. He was definitely among the best in Europe. Atalanta’s head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has stated this to Serie A’s official YouTube channel. SCORE FOUR: Josip Iličić wreaked havoc for Atalanta against Valencia in 2020. Shortly afterwards, life changed for the Slovenian. Photo: HANDOUT / Reuters – I will always remember the Valencia match. Both the negative and the positive sides. Especially since it was in the blink of an eye. We all know what happened afterwards, Iličić himself said to Atalanta’s YouTube channel. After returning from Valencia, the players and coaches of the club had to be isolated from friends and family for three weeks, in order to follow the infection control rules. They lived in separate rooms on the training field and ate separately. During this period, Iličić himself got corona and completely isolated himself from the rest of the team, according to Gasperini. – He could not bear not being at home, far away from his family. That was where the difficult period came from, said Gasperini. SUPPORT PLAYER: Atalanta’s head coach Gian Piero Gasperinis supported Josip Iličić during the tough period. Photo: AFP – Lost many kilos Iličić is said to have seen the army trucks carrying bodies out of the city, heard the constant sound of ambulances and followed the ever-increasing death toll in Bergamo. According to the newspaper Koha Dit, it is said to be based on old memories from the time when he, his mother and brother left war-torn Bosnia in favor of Slovenia, when Iličić was a small child. He became depressed and was very close to putting his football boots on the shelf. The depression lasted and lasted. Iličić lost a double-digit number of kilos, and when the Meisterliga started again in August, he did not take part against Paris Saint-Germain. Rather, he was given permission by the club to travel home to Slovenia. He received treatment there. – We went to Lisbon to meet PSG. I visited him at the clinic the week before, and he had lost 10-12 kilos. It was shocking. I lifted him up like a mannequin and said “come on Josip. Come with us …, Gasperini told Serie A, moved to tears. The treatment helped Iličić, and he resumed his football career. He played for Atalanta for large parts of 2021, but the football joy was short-lived. One year later, the depression returned in earnest. – A sad story For almost the whole of 2022, he struggled with depression so much that he hardly played a football match. He even decided to leave Atalanta by mutual consent in the summer of 2022. By then he had played five years at the club and managed to become a favorite among the fans. BE THANKED: Here, Iličić will be honored by the Atalanta fans in 2022. Photo: Spada / AP – The mental problems have come at a time when you lose a bit of your explosiveness and endurance anyway. So perhaps the two things have gone a little hand in hand. It’s a bit of a sad story, says Haugstad. – Must see the whole person Tom Henning Øvrebø, former top referee and current psychologist specialist, says that some research has been done in the field of football players and depression in recent years. – Many people can have psychological problems, without having mental disorders. It is important to distinguish between problems and suffering, and most of the research in elite sports has focused on psychological problems, Øvrebø told news. CLEAR ADVICE: Tom Henning Øvrebø believes it is important to seek help quickly if you develop symptoms of depression. Photo: Per Kjærbye / NTB scanpix According to Øvrebø, research from 2015 shows that 38 per cent of football players have symptoms of anxiety and depression, but the number varies greatly. – Nevertheless, we know that football players can also struggle with depressive symptoms and depressive disorders, he says. – What is your best tip for athletes who have symptoms of depression? – If it lasts over time, it may be a good idea to talk to support staff or professionals quickly. If you get early help, it takes less time to fully recover. And even if you struggle with mild to moderate depression, you will still often be able to play while you are under treatment. And if we manage to see the whole person, and not just the athlete, it will often be of great help, Øvrebø believes. NATIONAL TEAM PROFILE: Russian Fedor Kudryashov (left) in a duel with Josip Iličić from the international match between Russia and Slovenia in October 2021. Now he is back in the light blue national team uniform. Photo: AP The story of Iličić shows that it is possible to come back strong from deep troughs. Things were so bad that he was about to give up his career. But in October 2022, he decided to give it a chance and signed for his youth club, Slovenian Maribor. They had continued to believe in him, and from then on the upswing started. Need someone to talk to? If you need to talk to someone, there are several helplines, chat services and support groups where you can share your thoughts and feelings completely anonymously, and get support, advice and guidance: Mental health on the helpline 116 123 Mental health also has a chat, which you can find at mentalhelse.no. Mental health youth has a chat service that is open seven days a week. You can find it at mentalhelseungdom.no Church SOS chat service: soschat.no Young Conversation: [email protected] Church SOS also has a helpline on 22 40 00 40 Cross on the neck from the Red Cross: 800 33 321 (for children and young people up to 18 years.) Kors på halsen also has a chat: korspåhalsen.no (for children and young people up to 18 years old.) The emergency telephone for children and young people: 116 111 Sami national competence service – mental health care and substance abuse 78 96 74 00 SnakkOmPsyken.no: Chat service run by Blå Kors Livslosen is a non-clinical low-threshold service where you can come and stay for 5 days: 45 84 54 63 In urgent cases, call 113 You can find more helplines here – It could have been much worse He scored in his debut, but that was only in the latter half of the season he began to play regularly. And he delivered. With eight goals and 11 assists, in April this year he was awarded his first national team minutes since November 2021. – It’s fun to see him back in the EC. It could have gone a lot worse, Haugstad points out. – It is a sunny story, even though he has been through a difficult time, Øvrebø believes. He thanked for the trust in the national team by scoring after only four minutes on the pitch. It resulted in a new national team selection two months later, and finally a place in the EC squad. He has not been given playing time in the championship this year so far, but that may change in the match against England on Tuesday. There, Slovenia probably needs points to progress in the EC. You can watch and follow the match on news TV and on news.no from 21:00 Watch the highlights here 03:47 Spain in full control against Albania 02:30 This goal was canceled for offside 00:20 Commentator against beer-throwing: – End 00:16 Show more Published 25.06.2024, at 14.12
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Here Josip Iličić scored four goals – then he “suddenly” disappeared – Football EC 2024
