I Pray to Our Lady for Health, but never to Win

My parents come from the area around Medjugorje, and since my early childhood this has had a strong influence on my relationship with the shrine. So whenever I have time, I go there with my family

When you are Captain of one of the leading Football teams of Bundesleague at the age of thirty eight, going on thirty nine and you have a new contract on the desk and you are a foreigner too – that means you are a really superb football player and a strong character. That is exactly what Zvonimir Soldo has been, all his working life. But he refused the new contract and just last year he withdrew from the sports field and returned to Zagreb with his family.

His greatest achievement as a football player was at the World Championship in France in 1998: There he won a bronze medal with the Croatian National Team - a world sensation at the time. Almost half of the team back then were Croats from Herzegovina . Soldo too is a native Herzegovinian, coming from the area around Medjugorje.

- My father is from Služanj, next to Medjugorje, and my mother is from Čitluk.

• How much did the proximity of these places influence your attitude towards the Apparitions of Our Lady?

- I was living in Herzegovina at the time, but I was only a child then. I heard about it from my parents and the neighbours, who actually had first-hand information. Besides I was raised in the Catholic spirit. Over the last ten years, since living abroad, my wife and I have often used our free time to come to Medjugorje.

• What do you do there, how do you spend your time?

- We usually go to the Hill of Apparitions, to Križevac, we buy some souvenirs, take them to be blessed and bring them for our friends in Germany . And since we have a lot of relatives in Herzegovina , we do our best to visit as many of them as possible.

• Do You feel anything special in Međugorje?

- Yes I do. Everyone who has not been there should go and feel that peace for themselves. On the other hand though, I'm dissatisfied because there wern't any larger

investments into the infrastructure in order to make Medjugorje look more like a shrine. So many things were done in a rush, without planning. Both the Municipal Authorities and the Church have to make more effort to improve things.

• Have You visited any other shrines worldwide?

- No, in the recent years I had too many obligations and I have travelled a lot. So I used all my spare time to come to Croatia .

• Many of the famous people coming to Medjugorje wish to be registered in the Parish Rectory Office. Why?

- Well I belong among those also. I think such people come to Medjugorje for their own reasons and their own belief, and not in order to make a spectacle out of it. Besides, I don't have anyone in particular to refer to - since I know where everything is, so I don't need a guide.

- Many athletes cross themselves when entering the playing court. Are You one of these, have you ever prayed to Our Lady before a match?

The full article can be found on pages 38-39 of Vol 2
2007 issue.