Zvonimir Boban (foto: Getty Images)
Zvonimir Boban has revealed why he rarely watches Dinamo Zagreb live, admitting the emotional strain is so intense that he often drives around instead.
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Zvonimir Boban has revealed the unusual reason why he was missing from the directors' box for one of Dinamo Zagreb's most important matches of the season.
The Dinamo chief did not travel to Stavanger for the decisive Champions League clash against Viking, prompting questions over his absence. Boban insists it had nothing to do with a lack of support for the team. In fact, the opposite is true: watching Dinamo means so much to him that he often finds it easier to watch matches later, once he already knows the result.
Boban also believes players on the pitch pay little attention to who is sitting in the directors' box. Looking back on his own playing career, the former Milan and Croatia star said he never cared who was watching from the stands.
"These are deep, intimate dramas for me"
Boban admitted that watching Dinamo live is emotionally exhausting, which is why he has developed an unusual routine over the years.
"I almost never go to matches. Sometimes I watch them five times afterwards, but watching live exhausts me too much. These are deep, intimate dramas for me and I try to avoid them," Boban explained.
There are exceptions. When Boban believes his position at the club requires him to attend, he puts his personal feelings aside. "If, for example, we're playing a cup final, you have to respect a match like that and be there."
What makes his habit even more unusual is that Boban does not simply stay away from the stadium and follow the match elsewhere. He says he does not even check the score while Dinamo are playing, preferring to completely disconnect until the final whistle.
Boban drives around while Dinamo play
Instead of watching the match, the 1998 World Cup bronze medallist goes for a walk or gets into his car and drives.
"I don't follow the score at all. I only see it when the match is over. When Dinamo are playing, I go for a walk or drive around in my car," he revealed.
Boban stressed that this is not a new habit caused by the pressure surrounding his current role at Dinamo. He behaved in much the same way last season, although few people noticed because results were going well.
"I didn't go to matches last spring either, but nobody noticed because we were winning everything," Boban added.
His absence in Stavanger attracted far more attention because of the importance of the match and what was at stake for Dinamo Zagreb. Boban now accepts that he perhaps should have explained his unusual way of experiencing the club's biggest matches earlier.
For one of Croatia's greatest footballers, it seems that being responsible for Dinamo has made watching the club considerably more difficult than actually playing the game ever was.