Suker's current popularity is absolutely number one in the football world.
His phenomenal performance has reached an unbelievable level.
After winning the Champions League and then clinching the Serie A title again, Suker's momentum has hit its peak.
With his impressive credentials, AC Milan's campaign to promote Suker for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA Best Player award has been very effective.
When Suker returned to Croatia, Zagreb Airport was completely swarmed with Croatian fans.
They all came just for Suker.
For a small Eastern European country, there aren't many things they can proudly show off—football is one of them.
Suker's phenomenal form makes Croatia immensely proud.
Croatian fans are eagerly awaiting to see Suker running on the pitch again.
As for Suker himself, he only arrived at the national team training base on May 29.
His first act upon returning was to generously treat everyone to a meal.
At a Chinese restaurant in Zagreb, the Croatian national team players gathered in two connected private rooms.
Basically, the starters sat at one table, and the substitutes at another.
At Suker's table, the talkative Duimovic started his usual rambling.
"I met a girl, and I feel like I'm in true love. My head's telling me I want to be with her!"
"Was it your little buddy telling you that?" Mandzukic teased.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Duimovic angrily snapped, "Shut up!"
"And then?"
Vukojevic asked, clearly intrigued.
Duimovic said, "Then I told her I wanted to sleep with her."
So direct?
Suker almost spit out his tea.
"She told me we could only sleep together after marriage, so I proposed to her. But since then, she disappeared."
"You scared her away!" Modric shook his head.
Duimovic was confused: "Why? I said I want to marry her. I really want to sleep with her—uh, I mean marry her!"
Suker sighed: "Why so impatient? Dating requires taking it step by step."
"How can I not be impatient!" Duimovic yelled. "Look around here! Everyone has a girlfriend except me!"
He pointed at Modric.
"Even Luka has a girlfriend, and I don't!"
Modric frowned: "Are you saying something against me?"
Duimovic got close to Modric's face.
"What am I lacking?"
Everyone rolled their eyes.
This guy had zero self-awareness—besides his height, he was lacking in every way.
Clap clap!
Suker clapped his hands: "Alright, enough nonsense. I'm paying for this meal!"
Duimovic immediately sat down.
"Thanks, boss!"
Suker rolled his eyes: "Next match is against Estonia. After that, the first half of the group stage ends, and then we face Russia."
"Estonia and Andorra are easy matches, so probably the starters won't play," Mandzukic said.
Suker called out to the substitutes: "Your chance to shine is coming. Go beat us."
The substitutes glared back angrily.
Out of courtesy for the meal, they held back.
The lunch ended in a happy atmosphere.
Suker really didn't let Duimovic pay, even though Duimovic still owed him five meals.
Compared to Gattuso's 100 meals, that's nothing.
After eating, the team returned to the training base.
Since the season just ended, Suker and Srna hadn't joined the full training yet.
Even the training was just light warm-ups.
Croatia had two upcoming Euro qualifiers:
June 2, Round 6: Estonia vs. Croatia
June 6, Round 7: Croatia vs. Russia
The first match would be taken easy.
The second was the real challenge.
Current Euro qualifiers standings:
Croatia – 5 matches, 4 wins, 1 draw, 0 loss, 13 points
Israel – 6 matches, 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, 11 points
England – 6 matches, 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, 11 points
Russia – 5 matches, 3 wins, 2 draws, 0 loss, 11 points
Macedonia – 6 matches, 2 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, 7 points
Estonia – 5 matches, 0 wins, 0 draws, 5 losses, 0 points
Andorra – 5 matches, 0 wins, 0 draws, 5 losses, 0 points
Croatia leads the group comfortably, even with one game fewer played.
Israel, England, and Russia are tightly contested, creating a chaotic race.
At the bottom, Estonia and Andorra are struggling.
Both teams have miserable records:
Estonia: 0 wins, 0 goals scored, 10 conceded
Andorra: 0 wins, 1 goal scored, 22 conceded
This explains why Croatia might send their full substitutes squad against Estonia.
On one hand to sharpen the reserves, on the other to rest the starters.
Croatia now has the depth to do this.
The main squad is saved for the Russia match.
On June 1, the Croatian team, led by head coach Bilic, traveled to Estonia.
Upon arrival, Suker, Modric, Vukojevic, and others received huge cheers.
Especially Suker, who was mobbed from the airport onward.
On the bus, Estonian fans shouted Suker's name with passion.
For Estonia, winning this match was no longer important.
There was no chance to beat Croatia—even if Croatia fielded all substitutes.
Since victory was unlikely, they just chose to worship their star players.
As expected, Bilic planned to play a full substitute lineup, with starters on the bench in case of emergencies.
Even on the bench, Suker was surrounded by Estonian players before the match.
They used broken English to ask for jersey swaps.
Suker smiled wryly.
Not only fans, but even opposing players idolized Suker.
This showed just how popular Suker was.
Even with a substitute lineup, Croatia was expected to perform very well.
Especially Duimovic, who sometimes acted like a wild card against strong teams.
Against weak teams, he ran around like crazy, appearing everywhere from his own penalty box to the opponent's.
Modric joked:
"If he played like this against strong teams, he wouldn't be a substitute."
Suker nodded in agreement.
During the match, a minor incident occurred.
An Estonian fan suddenly ran onto the field, dodging security guards chasing him.
Eventually, he ran straight toward the substitutes' bench—specifically toward Suker.
Suker was speechless.
He appreciated the support, but this was an official national team match!
The Estonian fan hugged Suker, then high-fived Modric, Vukojevic, and Mandzukic one by one before security finally caught him and carried him off the field.
The match resumed.
After the drama, Duimovic played even better—perhaps jealous that the fan hadn't touched him.
Driven mad by jealousy, Duimovic scored two goals and provided one assist, delivering a dominant performance.
One spectacular long-range goal especially electrified the crowd.
Even Suker and others had to admit the shot's quality and accuracy were top-notch.
Of course, they suspected Duimovic got lucky on that goal.
But luck or not, Croatia was already leading 3-0.
The match ended with Estonia losing 0-3 at home to Croatia.
Croatia secured another win and firmly held their top spot.
The first half of the group stage was over.
Seven matches remained in the second half.
If Croatia stays steady, qualification for the Euros is well within reach.
Croatian fans are confident!
However, Croatia will soon face a tough opponent:
Russia, who dealt Croatia a heavy blow in the first leg.
But this time, Croatia will host the match on their home turf.