Ivan Rakitić

**Ivan Rakitić** (born 10 Mairch 1988) is a Croatie profeesional fitbawer who plays for Spainyie club Sevilla, as a central or attackin midfielder. Rakitić stairtit his profeesional career at FC Basel an spent twa saisons wi thaim afore he wis signed bi Schalke 04. Efter spendin three an a hauf saisons in the German Bundesliga, he wis signed bi Sevilla in Januar 2011. Twa years later, Rakitić wis confirmit as the club captain an caiptained the team tae UEFA Europa League triumph.

On the internaitional level, Rakitić plays for the Croatie naitional team. Awtho naturally a product o Swisserland's youth level, Rakitić pledgit his internaitional career tae his native parentage o Croatie insteid. He made his debut for Croatie in 2007 an haes syne representit the kintra at UEFA Euro 2008, UEFA Euro 2012 an 2014 FIFA Warld Cup.

## Early life
Rakitić wis born in Rheinfelden in the Swiss canton o Aargau tae a Croatie faimily. His faither, Luka, an his faimily are oreeginally frae Sikirevci, while his mither's faimily are Bosnie Croats frae Žepče. He haes a brither Dejan, an haes a tattoo supportin him wi the wird "Dejan" on his richt airm. Rakitić spent his bairnheid an early career in Swisserland. His faither an aulder brither wur fitbawers an aw. Wi such a backgrund, it wis nae surprise when Rakitić teuk a strang interest in the same aspirations, even as he wis completin his primar schuil studies. Subsequent tae doin so, he began tae concentrate on his sportin career, wi his faimily's encouragement. At age 16, he wis noticit bi top European scouts who acclaimit his young potential, awtho he an his faimily decidit tae stay in Basel tae allou him tae play mair regularly in a smawer league insteid.

## Club career
### Basel
Efter spending some short time in the youth teams, Rakitić went on tae mak his first-team debut for Basel on 29 September 2005 durin the UEFA Cup awa match at Široki Brijeg. He made his first Swiss Super League appearance on 15 Apryle 2006 in Basel's awa match against Neuchâtel Xamax. Awtho these twa matches wur the anerly anes he played durin his first profeesional saison wi Basel, he went on tae establish hissel as a regular contributor in his seicont saison, scorin 11 goals in 33 Super League appearances. An aw makkin nine UEFA cup appearances durin this time, he wis namit the best young player o the 2006–07 Super League saison alang wi receivin the Swiss *Goal o the Year* awaird for a impressive goal he scored against St Gallen.

### Schalke 04

Efter a impressive showin as a teenager, Rakitić wis again acclaimit bi lairge European clubs who expressed interest in his young ability. Subject tae such, he wis eventually signed bi German side Schalke 04 on 22 Juin 2007, for €5 million.

He made his debut for Schalke on 21 Julie 2007 in the Premiere Ligapokal fixtur against Karlsruher SC, an eventually appeared in the remainin twa matches as Schalke feenished runners-up. On 5 August 2007, Rakitić scored his first competitive goal for his new club in their 9–0 awa win ower Eintracht Trier in the first roond o the German Cup.

On 15 September 2007, he managit tae mak impressions again bi scorin the anerly goal for Schalke in their 1–1 awa draw at Bayern Munich. Three days later, Rakitić made his Champions League debut in the 1–0 hame defeat tae Valencia. Helpin his side prevail in the penalty shuitoot against Porto tae reach the quairter feenals for the first time, Rakitić haed tae miss baith the fixturs o such against Chelsea due tae a ankle injury sustained in trainin. He wis kept oot o action for a month as Schalke wur eliminatit frae the tournament athoot him.
Shortly upon his returning frae injury, Rakitić discovered top form as he scored a goal an assistit anither twa in the vital 3–0 victory at Bochum, which made sur Schalke feenished at least third in league table an secured a place in the next Champions League. He continued such form in the next fixtur against Eintracht Frankfurt, assistin Mladen Krstajić for the anerly goal o the match tae conclude wi Schalke a positive hame saison. In total, he feenished his first Bundesliga saison wi three goals an ten assists in 29 appearances.
The subsequent saison stairtit well for Rakitić as he played in Schalke's 3–0 victory ower Hannover 96, assistin twa goals in the openin fixtur.

### Sevilla
#### 2010–11 saison
On 28 Januar 2011, Rakitić signed a fower-an-a-hauf-year contract wi Spainyie club Sevilla FC, for a fee of €2.5 million. Upon his arrival, Rakitić wis immediately includit in the stairtin eleiven o the team, makkin his debut on 6 Februar 2011 against Málaga CF. In next gemme against Racing de Santander he scored a awn-goal, but managit taae get back on the track an scored his first goal for Sevilla in the match against Hércules CF in the next roond. Due tae a fractured fuit, Rakitić haed tae miss the last fower La Liga fixturs. He scored five goals in his first hauf-saison wi Sevilla in 2010–11 La Liga, bein a stairter in aw 13 matches syne his arrival an afore the fuit injury.

#### 2011–12 saison
Durin the 2011–12 La Liga, he continued tae be the first team regular an ane o the crucial Sevilla players. Due tae managerial chynges an new tactical schemes introducit bi the new coach Marcelino, who wis later replacit bi Míchel, Rakitić wis gien a different role on the pitch than the ane he haed the previous saison, when he wis uised as central midfielder unner coach Gregorio Manzano. Durin the course o the saison he wis maistly deployed as a defensive midfielder. Bi the end of the season he made total o 39 appearances for the club, providit sax assists, an scored ane goal in the Spainyie Cup. This turned oot tae be his anerly goalless La Liga saison while playin for Sevilla.

#### 2012–13 saison

Rakitić stairtit the 2012–13 La Liga saison bi providin a assist in the openin match against Getafe CF. On 12 September, he providit anither assist for Piotr Trochowski in hame 1–0 win against Real Madrid. He scored his first goal o the saison in the Matchday 5 against Deportivo de La Coruña. Rakitić scored twa goals in the openin 20 minutes o the seicont Seville derby o the saison, against their cross-ceety rivals Real Betis. This wis his third goal o the saison against Sevilla's cross-ceety rivals, gien the fact that he haed scored in the first Seville derby o the saison, when Sevilla celebratit 5–1 victory. Durin the match against Real Sociedad Rakitić addit twa goals tae his tally, housomeivver, the seicont ane wis a awn goal, tyin things up at 1–1 efter he scored the first goal tae gie his club 1–0 lead. Till the end o the saison, he made total o 42 appearances for the club, an scored twal goals for the team, o that three in the Spainyie Cup. He feenished the saison wi 10 league assists. Statistics showed that Rakitić creatit 100 chances in total an rankit fowert athort aw players in Europe that saison in terms o chances creatit.

#### 2013–14 saison
In the beginnin o the 2013–14 La Liga saison, coach Unai Emery namit Rakitić as the new Sevilla's caiptain. Syne the beginnin o the saison he wis ane of the maist prominent players of the league, scoring the first goal and assisting for the second in away 3–2 loss against FC Barcelona on 14 September. In the twa last gemmes o September he scored twa goals in awa 4–1 win against Rayo Vallecano, an assistit for the draw 1–1 goal against Real Sociedad. In the three last gemmes o October, Rakitić scored a goal in hame 2–0 win against SC Freiburg, hame 2–1 win against UD Almería, an twa goals in awa 7–3 lose against Real Madrid. In the third an fowert gemmes o November he contributed an assist in away 1–3 win against RCD Espanyol, an twa mair respectively in hame 4–0 win against Real Betis. In the last gemme o Dizember, an first pairt o the saison, he assistit in awa 1–2 win against Villarreal CF, helpin the team reach a top ten position efter a disappointin stairt o the saison, as well attractin attention frae ither internaitional clubs. In the first gemme o 2014, he scored a goal in hame 3–0 win against Getafe CF. Durin Januar he scored twa mair La Liga goals for Sevilla, against Atlético Madrid an Levante UD, while missin a penalty kick in the latter fixtur. These performances earned him a La Liga Player of the Month award.

His guid fuirm continued in the saison, wi several assists an goals frae Februar tae Mey, like the twa assists in the Europa League awa 2–2 draw against NK Maribor or when wi sombrero skippit a player an assistit for hame 2–1 win ower Real Madrid, an against F.C. Porto scored a goal for a 4–1 hame win. He assistit in the semi-feenal first leg 2–0 win ower Valencia CF, which they wan on aggregate (3–3), an qualifee'd for the Europa League feenal. He wis man o the match as Sevilla wan the feenal 4–2 on penalties ower Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy. He wis the first player tae caiptain a team tae victory in the UEFA Europa League feenal an pick up the offeecial man o the match awaird an aw. He wis included in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Season. Bi the Spainyie naitional fitbaw league association, Rakitić wis chosen in La Liga first eleiven in baith first roond, an team o the saison. He feenished the saison scorin 15 goals, an recordin 17 assists.

### Barcelona
On 16 Juin 2014, FC Barcelona signed Rakitić on a five-year contract effective frae 1 Julie.

## International career

Rakitić's first internaitional experience came at youth level, while competit wi the Swiss unner-17, unner-19 an unner-21 naitional teams, but decidit tae tak up the caw bi Slaven Bilić an play for the Croatie senior naitional team. He made his full internaitional debut for Croatie on 8 September 2007 in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonie in Zagreb, Croatie, heichly praised bi the fans as he wis enterin the game as a substitute. In Croatie's follaein qualifier, a 6–0 awa win ower Andorrae on 12 September 2007, he scored his first internaitional goal for Croatie in anerly his seicont appearance for the team. He feenished the year 2007 wi five senior internaitional caps tae his name, fower o which wur in the successful Euro 2008 qualifyin campaign.

### Euro 2008
In early May 2008, he joined Croatie's squad for the Euro 2008 tournament in Austrick an Swisserland, whaur he wis the seicont-youngest player. He made his first appearance at the tournament as a stairter against Germany, an eventually providit a shot which ricocheted aff the post an alloued teammate Ivica Olić tae score the seicont goal in their 2–1 victory. He formit a praised trio o Croatie attackin midfielders wi his teammates Luka Modrić an Niko Kranjčar. Tho playin a strang role against Turkey in the quairter finals o the tournament, Rakitić went on tae miss ane o the three unsuccessful penalties in the shuitoot, thus leadin tae a victory for Turkey.

Rakitić continued tae appear regularly for Croatie durin their unsuccessful qualifyin campaign for the 2010 FIFA Warld Cup, makkin a total o 10 appearances an scorin three goals in the competition. On 15 October 2008, he scored a brace in a 4–0 win at hame tae Andorrae. On 5 September 2009, he scored the match-winnin goal in a 1–0 win at hame tae Belaroushie. Croatie failed tae qualifee for the feenals efter feenishin third in their group.

### Euro 2012
Efter appearin in aw o their Euro 2012 qualifiers, he wis selectit tae be pairt o the Croatian squad at Euro in Poland an Ukraine. Croatie wur drawn in Group C thegither wi Spain, Italy an Ireland. Rakitić started in aw three o Croatie group stage matches against Republic o Ireland, Italy an Spain. Efter twa matches played, Croatie haed 4 points an wur facin defendin champions Spain in Gdansk. Wi the game goalless an enterin the feenal hauf hour, Rakitić burst intae the Spainyie penalty aurie but coud no direct his heider past Iker Casillas efter bein pickit oot bi a wanderful Luka Modrić pass. It pruivit tae be a costly miss, wi Spain's Jesus Navas tuckin hame a 88t-minute winner tae send the Croaties crashin oot. Despite missin the best chance o the game, Rakitić wis Croatie's busiest player wi 53 touches, their maist frequent crosser wi sax crosses an shuiter wi twa shots.

### 2014 Warld Cup
In the 2014 FIFA Warld Cup qualifyin campaign, on 12 October 2012 he scored a goal frae free kick against Macedonie in Philip II Arena, tae help secur a 2–1 victory for Croatie. Eventually, efter the playoffs, the team qualifee'd for the Warld Cup. They entered the Group A wi Brazil, Mexico an Cameroon. Croatie played the openin game against Brazil, which they eventually lost 3–1. In the second game won 0–4 against Cameroon.

## Personal life
Rakitić marriet Raquel Mauri in Apryle 2013 in Sevilla, Spain, after two years of dating . In July 2013, their dochter, Althea, was born.

## Career statistics
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## Honours

### Club
;FC Basel
* Swiss Cup: 2006–07

;Sevilla
*UEFA Europa League: 2013–14

## References

## Freemit airtins

*Sevilla official profile 
*La Liga profile
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