Former Barcelona player Crnogorčević's declaration of love: "I will never experience anything like this again"

Barcelona"Seeing so many people traveling for one of our matches was really beautiful." Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (Steffisburg, 1990) fondly remembers her time at Barça and in Catalonia. The Swiss footballer—who prefers to be addressed in Catalan—fell in love with Catalan culture and traditions. "I love Barcelona, ​​it's one of my favorite places, and I can imagine myself living there in the future; I was very happy." Crnogorčević, who prefers Sant Jordi to Valentine's Day, still has a Catalan identity card and a Catalonia jersey with her name on it, gifts from fans. "The fans were always very kind to me, and I tried to talk to them, sign autographs, be close to them… They welcomed me with open arms," ​​she says.

The Swiss player—who currently plays for Strasbourg—speaks six languages: Croatian, Swiss German, English, Spanish, and French. Furthermore, she also understands Catalan and explains that her favorite expression is "I love you." Another one she likes is "little by little"Because Marta Torrejón is quite calm and is always saying this expression." Now, the first words she learned were good day, thank you and see you tomorrow

The footballer emphasizes the importance of understanding the culture of the places she visits and learning the language "as quickly as possible to understand people and communicate with them." For this reason, Crnogorčević asked to be spoken to in Catalan. She also asked Carla Garcia, who was then a journalist for Barça TV. This led to Garcia telling her in a post-match interview that she couldn't understand her in Spanish because they had agreed to speak in Catalan. "Many people said I should never play for Spain, and I thought: 'I'm neither Spanish nor Catalan, I'm just here to learn the language. I can't change that, and you have to ignore these people,'" she concludes.

Barça's first Champions League

Crnogorčević also fell in love with Barça's style of play. "It's a team with a DNA; everyone knows how they play, and they don't change, whether it's the first team or the youth team. This clear playing style is what I've often lacked at other clubs, where they don't know what they want to play," he admits. He rediscovered this style in Switzerland with the arrival of Rafael Navarro, who was Barça's assistant coach. The winger says that in Spain, technique is emphasized, in the United States, physicality, and in Germany, discipline. "If you have a meeting at 9:00 and you arrive at 8:55, people look at you as if you're late. You have to arrive at 8:50," he warns. With Frankfurt, the Swiss player won his first Champions League title. "The first final I played was in 2012 in Munich against Olympique Lyonnais, and we lost. In the second final, in 2015, I was determined not to lose again. It was wonderful to be in Berlin with a German team and win with a last-minute goal," he recalls.

He also has very fond sporting memories of his time at Barça. The first Champions League title, won in Gothenburg during the pandemic, was very special because of the restrictions, which brought the team closer together. "We had to divide the dressing room into three smaller ones in case any player got sick. We were also told not to socialize too much with people from outside the team, and we barely saw our families." However, the former Barça player cherishes the first two matches at the Camp Nou, where the attendance record for a women's football match between two clubs was broken with 91,648 spectators. "Nobody thought it could happen; we went to the stadium without knowing what awaited us." This appreciation was also evident in the final played in Turin. "We lost, but seeing so many people traveling for a match was really beautiful for us." All this, without forgetting the joint parade with the men's first team in 2023. "After those three hours, I was very tired, both physically and emotionally. I don't think I'll ever experience anything like it again," she confesses.

But every story has an end, and Crnogorčević's time at Barça came sooner than she would have liked. "The hardest part was the timing. I was coming back from the World Cup to start preseason, there were ten days left before the transfer window closed, and I had a contract until 2024. If I sign a contract, I stay until the last day, but they told me I had to leave because of the salary cap. I didn't want to stay in a place where they no longer wanted me." However, the player has returned to the Johan Cruyff Stadium to see her "friends," most recently this past December.

A childhood marked by skiing and football

Crnogorčević, who has Croatian roots, has been able to make a living from football, something unthinkable when he first started kicking a ball around in Switzerland. "My father played football, I would go to his training sessions and play with other kids, but I didn't think about a career because it didn't exist back then. I always really enjoyed playing football." After traveling the world, he now enjoys life in Strasbourg, a place he highlights for being "so close to home." At the French club, he can also combine another of his passions. "It's very family-oriented, I live in the city center, and I can cycle to training every day, which is prohibited at other clubs. I love riding my motorbike through the Swiss mountains," he admits.