17.12.2019
Bruno Petković announced footballer of the year
The winner of the 17th vote for the best football player of the year Captains choose, which tportal conducts in cooperation with the captains of the Croatian first league, is Dinamo's striker Bruno Petković
Bruno Petković won the title of Best Player of Hrvatski Telekom’s First League with 16 points more than the runner-up Dani Olmo, who was last year's winner. This flattering title before him went to Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva, Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Sammir, Ivan Santini, Leon Benko, Andrej Kramarić, Marin Tomasov, Franko Andrijašević, El Arabi Hilal Soudani, and Dani Olmo.
tportal.hr conducted the traditional poll among all the captains of Hrvatski Telekom’s First League clubs. Each captain selected five players he thinks showed the most in the field in 2019. The first, or the best, was awarded ten, and the fifth two points. Summing up the points, the best player of the Hrvatski Telekom’s First League is Dinamo's striker, who scored 74 points out of a possible 100, while Dani Olmo, his teammate in the 'blue' jersey, is the runner-up, while Mijo Caktaš took third place.
“This is one of the most important sports awards in Croatia, given to the best footballer of the Hrvatski Telekom’s First League. Tportal is one of the leading news portals on the media scene and this year we have exceeded 1.7 million readers. Sport, edited by Vlado Radičević, is a very important section for us, as we show through this project, which is already traditional, said tportal’s editor-in-chief Danijela Jozić.
The trophy was presented to the winner by the initiator of this action Silvijo Škrlec, and before Petković thanked for the votes, we reminded him that this title previously went to Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva, Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Sammir, Leon Benko, Andrej Kramarić, Marin Tomasov, Franko Andrijašević, El Arabi Hilal Soudani, and Dani Olmo.
“I am proud of this award because I believe that there is no more credible court than the one involving persons in the same business. I’ve had a fantastic year in the Dinamo jersey and the national team, and apart from this outcome of the Champions League group stage, I could hardly have chosen a better scenario than this one. I want to thank everyone who has been a part of my journey. From Dinamo, the people running the club, Coach Bjelica and his assistants, the people involved in the work of the headquarters, to my teammates who helped me be here with you with a reward in hand. I would also like to thank the selector and the technical staff of the national team, and of course my teammates. I must not forget the fans that are the reason all of us are here. Lastly, thank you to my agent and my family. I am sure that they are proud of me,” Petković said while taking the tportal award and added: “Returning from Italy was a turning point in my career. Everything came back to me when I came to Dinamo. It's a sort of justice. My dream was to play for the national team. I didn't believe it would come so soon, but I was always confident. I believed that I could do so, and with a lot of work and sports luck, it all came together for me. I would say, there have been a lot of injustices throughout my career, now that has come back to me in the best way. Barcelona? I'm happy in Dinamo, my friends and my family are here. I do not need to go anywhere.”
Petković also briefly announced the match with Rijeka Dinamo will have on Wednesday at 6 pm. It is a match that has been postponed due to the European commitments of both clubs.
“We are completely ready for the match. We are aware that it will be difficult for us. Rijeka is an excellent team and we do not need those 5-0 from Rujevica, but the annoying 1-0 that has been mentioned in the media lately would be extremely good. Technical staff keep us on the ground and our concentration at the highest level and there is no relaxation whatsoever regardless of the break that is approaching. We come to this match as ready as possible,” Petković said.
In the end, he also referred to the European Championship he fought with the Vatreni.
“There are no easy groups on the Euro. We all know England are a great team. We are vice-champions of the world and no one is a big favorite against us. I've never been much of a forecaster, we know we have quality, but we don't set ourselves any imperatives. We do not think about repeating the success from Russia, but we know well how strong we are,” Petković concluded.