Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic first met Raquel Mauri, his now wife after he signed for Seville from Schalke 04 in 2011.
However, the ex-Barcelona star has admitted that he had to ask her out “20 or 30” before she said yes.
According to Rakitic, his lack of Spanish language skills really hindered him in his quest to get hooked with Mauri.
Rakitic told The Players’ Tribune, “I don’t know how to explain it… Whenever I saw her, it was like a bomb went off inside me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJdVFAwhDog/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“Week after week, I slowly started to learn some Spanish words, and if I was struggling, I would use my hands a lot to try to explain what I was trying to say to her.
“She thought that was funny. She was like, “Me… Jane. You… Tarzan.”
“I was drinking so much coffee it was ridiculous. I probably asked her out 20 or 30 times.”
Rakitic, who also attributed his insane caffeine intake to his regular visit to the hotel bar Mauri worked. admitted he had to keep ordering coffees so he could have small talks with her.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJbIviBhP_4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“She never said no,” Rakitic qualifies. But clearly she didn’t say yes either – and proving himself to his would-be love interest actually became a big factor why Rakitic succeeded in Spain.”
“One day, Raquel finally explained why she wouldn’t go out with me. She said, ‘You’re a footballer. You could be moving to another country next year. Sorry, but no.
“You know, I’m not the biggest guy in the world, so I thought: ‘S**t, maybe she sees me and she doesn’t think I’m going to be very good and Seville will sell me in the summer.’
“Part of my motivation when I went to training was to establish myself in the squad so that I would be around for a while and this girl would finally have dinner with me. It literally took me seven months.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDGj55Fnpwa/?utm_source=ig_embed
Eventually Raquel Mauri agreed to go for lunch with Rakitic and the rest is history: they are now married with two children.
The now 32-year-old joined Barcelona in 2014 and won a host of trophies – including the Champions League and four La Liga titles – before he re-signed with Sevilla last summer.
