Alen Halilovic and the Innocent Look of a 16 Year Old

The hype surrounding 16-year-old Croatian wonder-kid Alen Halilovic has been alive for a couple of months now. Halilovic has been billed as the “new Luka Modric” and is considered one the world’s most up and coming football talents.

Since joining Dinamo’s senior squad, he has also scored a couple of goals in which he displayed his talent. As well, he notched some Champions League appearances in what became a whirlwind introduction to top flight football in Croatia. Predictably, the transfer gossips have been out in full force and Halilovic has recently been linked with big-money moves to the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City.

This has caused Dinamo Zagreb’s sports director Zoran Mamic to go out on a limb and say that Manchester City’s reported £9 million bid for Halilovic wasn’t true and if it was “that wouldn’t even buy his left leg.”

Dinamo Zagreb vs. PSG – Champions League.

Since many have already labelled him as the next Luka Modric, the 16-year-old play-making midfielder currently playing for Dinamo Zagreb has only recently signed a professional contract with the Croatian giants and plays for Croatia at the Under-17 level.

With the Croatian powerhouse renowned for producing talents such as Luka Modric, Dejan Lovren and Eduardo Da Silva in recent years, Halilovic is the latest to come off the production line. Last season in the Champions League, two youngsters Mateo Kovacic and Sime Vrsjalko showcased their talents against Lyon and this year, Paris Saint-Germain was the latest team to be left impressed by the youthful prodigy that is Alen Halilovic.

Even though Halilovic recently signed a new contract with Dinamo only a few months back, it is unlikely that he will be allowed to leave for a big team at such a tender age. Dinamo coach Ante Cacic is convinced of the innate qualities of the player, but states that the youngster will need to be looked after as he is too young, even with all the comparisons and all those things that follow the lives of talented young players nowadays.

It’s no wonder that with Alen’s diminutive physique, excellent play making skills and an eye for scoring a goal from long-range, it is easy to see why comparisons are made to Modric. However, like most smaller European football clubs, it’s only a matter of time before the young Alen Halilovic is sold, but to whom and when is nothing more than a speculation right now.

Hillary Clinton Continues to be Commited to Bosnia

Hillary Clinton continues to be committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina long term – at least judging from the remarks of the Secretary who visited B&H in October 2012. As someone who visited B&H two years prior, she expressed the commitment of the U.S. a towards a stable, prosperous, democratic and ethnically-together B&H.

She went on to indicate that the U.S. remains deeply committed to that goal, and alongside High Representative Cathy Ashton, and President Bakir Izetbegovic, wants to convey a united message to the people of B&H.

The U.S. shares with the European Union a vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Bosnia-Herzegovina that is fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic institutions. They believe that joining the European Union and NATO offers Bosnia, especially the young people of the country, the best path to lasting stability and prosperity. Without a doubt, the United States believes that Bosnia-Herzegovina belongs in Europe. It also believe strongly that the young people deserve that kind of future.

According to Secretary Clinton, since her visit in 2010, there has been some progress toward these goals. The local elections showed the strength of the people’s commitment to their own future. Free and fair elections, including voting rights for internally displaced people and returnees, are a key element of B&H’s future as a member of the EU and of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance.

One of main goals behind her visit was to urge that all of the Bosnian leaders find a common ground and act in the interests of the people. Obstacles continue to exist though. Key reforms have not yet been made. Party differences stand in the way of shared progress. And so we hope that this compromise, which demonstrates brave and courageous leadership, can be made in order to move B&H as a whole forward.

Sadly though, 17 years after the war ended, some still question Bosnia-Herzegovina’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such talk is a distraction from the problems facing the country and serves only to undermine the goal of European integration. Time will tell in which direction B&H heads, but since the war, the progress has been bare minimal, yet it’s the young generations who continue to be left behind without jobs and adequate opportunity.

Photo Credit (aaronw79)

Unless Theres a Magic Formula, Bosnia Could Be Heading Towards Another Conflict!

The war that started in 1992 between Muslims, Croats and Serbs which lasted four years in what seemed a lifetime. During the four years over 200,000 Bosnians were killed and millions displaced across the world. Since then the country has been trying to pick up the pieces. Because no one has a magic formula for rebuilding a country, Bosnia has become the poorest country in Europe since its war ended in 1995.

The whole idea behind the start of the 1992 war was Bosnian Serbs and Croats taking up arms against Muslims in order to prevent Bosnia breaking away from Yugoslavia, yet the international community hesitate for four years as thousands of innocent civilians were killed. Eventually the US stepped in; they got the furious leaders from all three parties to sign a peace agreement in Dayton Ohio at the end of 1995 in what became the Dayton Ohio Peace Agreement which still haunts Bosnia nearly 17 years later.

The kicker to the whole deal was the appointment of the “High Representative.” With a single country consisting of two entities (Bosnian and Croat Federation vs. RS) and three religions, the deal balanced power so carefully any community can block the will of everyone else. In other words making it hard for any of the two entities to move forward. But let’s not forget the “High Representative, who happens to be today a gentlemen by the name of Valentin Inzko who holds the ultimate authority and the so-called ‘Bonn’ powers to impose decisions to keep Bosnia running.

Now there’s a problem – Bosnian Serbs don’t like this and find Mr. Inzko very upsetting due to his idea of the country being shared by all three nations – Bosnian, Croats and Serbs.

This has lead Milorad Dodik, the RS leader to talk about breaking away and has even made reference to calling a referendum in 2014 in hopes of of RS breaking away from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Dodik believes that Bosnia’s current government structure is not working, and this past October went on a limb by asking the RS parliament to discuss the option of abolition of Bosnia’s army – a move that hasn’t sat well with Mr. Inzko. This eventually lead Mr. Inzko to write to the UN Secretary general warning them about Mr. Dodik and his fascination of unraveling Bosnia – a move that can spin Bosnia into the same conflict of 1992.

So, is Bosnia heading towards another conflict? Is Mr. Dodik a serious threat to Bosnia? or is the High Representative bullying the Bosnian Serbs? We have our own opinions which we would rather not share on here. But this interview by Sami Zeidan of Aljazeera Network may give you a little insight into the issue and a clearer picture of who stands where.

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