"I Aim To Challenge Myself To A New Level On Multiple Fronts, That’s Why I'm Here”

Written By Onyeka Daniel

Today, it will be the turn of Italian giants, Inter Milan at the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup tournament as they prepare to face Brazilian club, Fluminese in the round of 16 tie in USA and one player who will be looking to make his mark once again is new signing, Petar Sucic.

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In the last match against River Plate, the Croatian was a second half substitute, and his impact was immediate as he provided the assist for Francesco Pio Esposito to open the scoring in that particular game that guaranteed Inter their place in the knock-out stages.

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Ahead of today’s encounter, the player sat down in an interview with La Repubblica to discuss a number of issues relating to him and his new club. His signing was completed since January, but he was allowed to stay in Croatia until the end of the 2024-25 season.

He then joined his new teammates and for him, he would be very delighted to meet his compatriot Luka Modric in a Milan derby next season. Sucic failed to win the Croatian title on the final matchday, just like his new club, before joining Inter at the start of June and has already made his debut in the Club World Cup.

“It was tough, and that only makes me even hungrier,” he said. “At Inter, I aim to challenge myself to a new level on multiple fronts. That’s why I am here.” He confirmed that his compatriots, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic, and Marcelo Brozovic, three former Inter stars, advised him to move to San Siro.

For the upcoming 2025-26 season, the 21-year-old will also cross paths with one of his idols, Modric, who is on the verge of joining Inter’s city rival, AC Milan. “Let him sign. I won’t call him until that moment. I watched his football for ten years, playing against him would be fantastic,” said the Inter midfielder.

“I didn’t have posters of anyone. I studied him [Modric], Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets. I liked Arsenal’s style of play, but I don’t want to imitate anyone. I want to be remembered for who I am,” Sucic concluded. The midfielder has signed a contract with the Serie A giants until 2030.

So far, he has already made three substitute appearances for Inter at the Club World Cup, providing one assist. He has one goal in nine appearances with his national team. In a related development, Christian Chivu is aware of a weather alert for today’s CWC match but hopes a possible suspension is determined before the game.

The game will be held at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, where there’s a threat of a thunderstorm, which would lead to the game’s suspension, just as it happened in a recent match between Chelsea and Benfica, played at the same venue which had to be suspended for almost two hours.

“I hope a decision will be made before the game. Getting to the stadium to then find out that the match might be postponed can be a problem,” Chivu said at a press conference. “In order to play these games, you need to have good preparation: you need to eat in a suitable way, and drink too at precise times.”

“These things are a must to face something like 120 minutes of a match. I hope they will have some sense of responsibility that will lead to making a decision by 12, as I read too about this weather alert. We’re ready as we’ve been from the start, to honour this tournament, to honour what our team stands for.”

“We’ve been ready since day one, we have now rested a few days. The conditions here are different from those on the West Coast, where it was cooler. We are ready: we want to do our best, we want to be the best version of ourselves.” He continued as he further gave updates on injured players.

Marcus Thuram has returned to group training and is available for the match, but Davide Frattesi is still injured and has already returned to Europe alongside Hakan Calhanoglu, Piotr Zielinski, Benjamin Pavard and Yann Bisseck. “Marcus joined the team in training for the last two sessions, which were good.”

“His pain in his thigh has gone, but we will see.” As for Frattesi, he said “when we left Milano, we took these situations into account, that’s why some of the lads from the Under 20 are here with us and they’ve helped us step it up a notch in training,” the Inter coach noted.

“Injuries are part of the deal, some issues come at the end of the season, and they need to be checked out. Then other players manage to get back in shape, like Thuram, Frattesi, and Calhanoglu tried too. We decided to send Davide back to evaluate his situation.”

Ex-Milan star Thiago Silva, 40, is the captain of Fluminense.“ He’s had an amazing career, one of the best in his role. I have always appreciated him. It will be tough physically too, for everyone: the temperature will challenge the opponents too, and they can create problems for any team.”

“Brazilian teams have a great mentality; they raise the level of these competitions. Four teams in the round of 16, it’s very good for their movement. Brazilian players make this sport so awesome.” He further added. Inter have qualified for the Club World Cup Round of 16 as winners of group E.

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This was after they collected seven points from the group stage, thanks to a 1-1 draw against Monterrey and victories against Urawa Reds and River Plate. The winner of today’s match will meet Manchester City or Al-Hilal in the quarter-finals, which could be a reunion against former Inter coach, Simone Inzaghi.

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