Croatia President Wins Everyone’s Heart With Her Huge Support For The Team

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It’s not often you see a president of a country dressing down. Normally they’re in a smart suit or formal attire for whatever high profile meeting they’re about to attend.

Even at the World Cup, we saw Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and others watching the games, stiff as boards in suits and ties.

That was until Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, rocked up at the final yesterday (July 16).

In case you missed it, France beat Croatia in a thrilling game which ended 4-2. While Macron was obviously pretty pleased with his country’s win, and Putin was somehow the only one with an umbrella at the end, the Croatian president stole the show by wearing her team’s red and white jersey and cheering them on, kind of like a normal football supporter. Weird.

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President Grabar-Kitarovic was seen jumping and cheering throughout the match, and embracing all the players at the end of the game, congratulating them on their valiant efforts both in the final and in the rest of the tournament.

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Of course, French president Macron was beaming from ear to ear after his side won the game, and rightly so.

However, Croatia’s president, Grabar-Kitarovic, seemed just as ecstatic, obviously having a great time at the final and showing nothing less than absolute pride and joy for her team.

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Of course, fans were quick to spot the president’s passion, too, with one person tweeting:

Great respect to the President of Croatia:

1. She did not miss a single match.
2. Travelled in economy class.
3. Always in the stands with the fans.
4. Values football.
5. Loves everyone. #WorldCupFinal

While another tweeted:

I think I have a new role model.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Croatia’s President is teaching the world to be open and to stay humble. This is how a president supposed to be. [sic]

This is how a true leader supposed to be.Congratulations for this [sic]

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has been president of Croatia since 2015, and was the first woman to be elected to the office since the country’s first multi-party elections in 1990.

At age 46, she also became the youngest person to take on the presidency.

While the Croatia side played well, they couldn’t keep France at bay during the final.

It was a tense game full of drama and goals in both halves, as the two sides battled to get their hands on the World Cup trophy.

France drew first blood managing to score in the 22nd minute thanks to an own goal from Mario Mandzukic.

Croatia didn’t take it lying down though and managed to equalise just six minutes later, when Ivan Perisic smashed the ball past Hugo Lloris with a powerful left-footed strike.

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The French were far from beaten though and a late first-half penalty from Antoine Griezmann gave the French side the opportunity they needed to take lead once again.

The second half began with Croatia a goal behind but, despite their best efforts, they were unable to stop Paul Pogba from scoring in the 59th minute. Though Mandzukic pulled another one back for Croatia, the French side just kept on attacking, eventually being crowned winners, 4-2.

What a tournament it’s been!

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.