Ivan Rakitic is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central or attacking midfielder for Spanish club FC Barcelona and for the Croatia national team.
Rakitic started his professional career at Basel and spent two seasons with them before he was signed by Schalke 04. After spending three-and-a-half seasons in the Bundesliga, he was signed by Sevilla in January 2011. Two years later, Rakitic was confirmed as the club captain and captained the team to UEFA Europa League triumph. In June 2014, Barcelona and Sevilla reached an agreement on the transfer of Rakitic. In his first season with Barca, he won the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. He scored the first goal of the 2015 Champions League Final and became the first player ever to win the Champions League one year after winning the Europa League while playing for two different clubs.
At the international level, Rakitic plays for the Croatian national team. Although naturally a product of Switzerland's youth level, Rakitic pledged his international career to his parents' country of Croatia instead. He made his debut for Croatia in 2007 and has since represented the country at UEFA Euro 2008, UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. |
