Ibrox gives me goosebumps! I plan to score goals there like Dado did
COLAK AIMS TO EMULATE FELLOW CROAT STRIKERS PRSO AND JELAVIC
FOR Antonio Colak, a starring role at Ibrox in the colours of Malmo last August only offered confirmation of what he’d long suspected.
Even after a career which had encompassed numerous German clubs and postings in Poland, Croatia and Greece, there truly was nothing to touch the whitehot atmosphere of a European night on Glasgow’s south side.
Colak’s two goals that evening may have acted like a bucket of iced water on a fire but the memory of the wall of noise that greeted him and his team-mates inside the stadium remains vivid.
‘I mean it’s not only because of the game I played last year there,’ stressed the £1.8million signing from PAOK.
‘It was an amazing atmosphere. I know that from my past as a child. I’m a football addict and I’ve always been following all the leagues.
‘I’ve been following Rangers since the days of Dado Prso, Nikica Jelavic and Nacho Novo.
‘I’ve watched all these players be successful, scoring goals to bring the people and the fans over to their side.
‘Somehow this feeling gives me goosebumps. I want to achieve
I wanted to be at Rangers so much and now finally the day is here
similar things and it’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to join Rangers.’
Colak’s signing extends Rangers’ long-standing association with the nation of Croatia.
In the main, players from the Balkan state have thrived in light blue. The 28-year-old is determined to ensure that welcome trend continues over the course of the next three years.
‘Yeah, of course,’ he added. ‘It’s not only Dado Prso and Nikica Jelavic. There’s Borna (Barisic) and Nikola (Katic) right now, they’re both doing a really great job and, of course, I wanted to keep that tradition going.
‘I’ll give everything to the club and achieve the targets the club has to win titles.
‘For me personally, it’s to score a lot of goals, to assist and to help the team, to fight. This is all I want to give now as a Rangers player.’
Colak had forced his way into the Croatian national team just before Covid took grip.
While the ill-fated move to Greece saw him drift out of the picture, last year’s loan spell in Sweden, where he scored 14 goals in 26 games, underscored his credentials again.
The incentive to further hammer home the point to Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic by hitting the ground running with his new club could scarcely be greater.
‘This is also one of my targets that I have set for myself,’ he said when asked if he could become a Croatia regular.
‘First of all, I want to settle in and acclimatise as quickly as possible with the team.
‘I’ve seen from afar that it’s an amazing group (at Rangers). They wouldn’t have achieved all of these things if they didn’t have an amazing team spirit.
‘I want to bring my positivity and personality. Then, after some good games with Rangers, some goals and some hard work, I want to come again to the national team because at the end of the year I have a big target of course — the World Cup. I think I’m still in there (in contention).’
Colak believes he still has room to grow as a player. In Roy
Makaay — Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first-team coach — Colak sees one of the best marksmen in Europe over the past 20 years.
The Croat intends to relentlessly mine the former Bayern Munich man for nuggets of information.
‘I can learn a lot,’ he stated. ‘It’s a very big honour to work with these guys.
‘The first time I spoke with Gio it was an incredible conversation.
‘He told me directly the way that he wanted to play. I saw myself directly in there.
‘Of course, Roy... I was a young fan of him.
‘There’s a cool story — not too many people know that his second name is Antonius.
‘My father always called me
Anton because of that as he was such a fan of Roy. He wanted to see me as a No 9.
‘I’m looking forward to working with them, to enjoy every training session and to learn day by day and to become a better player.’
Just over 100 goals in a decade would hardly be described as a prolific record but Colak believes he brings much more to the table.
‘I’m a No9, I’m a striker and I want to score as many goals as I can,’ he stressed.
‘I want to bring my work, pressing and movement to stretch teams to help.
‘With my personality and positivity, I want to bring everyone on my side and the team’s side and to have a successful year or years.’
The first step on that journey is likely to be taken in a run-out against Sunderland in the Algarve today.
After a protracted move from Greece, it will not come a moment too soon.
‘It’s a huge, amazing feeling to be here finally,’ he said. ‘I have to thank everyone at the club who worked night and day. Also, my agents, all the people around me and who supported me to bring me to Rangers.
‘Since I knew Rangers wanted to bring me to Scotland, I was just focusing on Rangers. I wanted to be here.
‘Now finally the day is here and I’m a Rangers player.’