Shining under right set-up

Croatia may be World Cup finalists and produced a Ballon d'Or winner in Luka Modric but, in the lower echelons of football, the grass may not always be greener in the Balkan nation.

Take Kristijan Krajcek's word for it. The Hougang United winger may come from the European nation with a rich footballing history, but he is grateful to the Singapore Premier League (SPL) for sustaining his football passion.

Growing up in the small village of Jurjevac as the fourth of five children, Krajcek was kicking a football on the streets "as early as I could remember things" as his father and three brothers are also football fanatics.

As his village of about 150 people did not have a football club then, his father would drive him to the Dakovo Croatia academy about 20 minutes away in his early teens, before he joined NK HASK in Zagreb when he was 17.

Despite possessing good technical abilities and competence with both feet - something that runs in the family of right-footers - a football fairy tale did not materialise.

Krajcek, who turns 29 on Saturday ahead of Sunday's clash with SPL leaders Albirex Niigata at the Jurong East Stadium, said: "I struggled a lot in Croatia because back then, our government did not protect professional footballers.

"I had a four-year contract, but was getting paid only every other month and, even then, it was half-a-month's salary, and I had to take bank loans in between.

"I have a really big passion for training and football, so money wasn't such a big thing. But when I was 25, I told myself I needed to change something to be able to provide for my family."

Krajcek's situation improved in 2019 when Miroslav Kuljanac, one of his coaches who had played for former S-League club Woodlands Wellington, recommended him to Balestier Khalsa, who were then coached by German-Croat Marko Kraljevic. The nursing school graduate went on to impress for the Tigers, recording 16 goals and 15 assists in 50 games, before signing for Hougang this season.

Singapore is far from a global football powerhouse, but Krajcek counts himself blessed to be here.

He said: "I am very happy because I earn five times more than I did in Croatia, where my salary was $1,000 a month but I would receive just $500. Even during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities here protected the players and we received our salary on time, unlike in Europe."

Hougang coach Clement Teo is full of praise for Krajcek, calling him "the model pro" who has proven to be value for money with not just his six goals and 12 assists in 21 SPL matches for the Cheetahs but also his professionalism.

He said: "Kiki arrives at training half an hour early to warm up and stretch before we start at 7.30am. He sleeps early and watches his diet. If everyone here followed his lead, we would be a truly professional team and league."

Krajcek returned the compliment and thanked the club for standing by him despite a knee injury at the start of the season leading to a dip in confidence and a run of five games without a goal or assist.

"To recover and rebuild confidence, I trained twice as hard. As the team and I started playing better, the goals and assists started flowing. Now, I feel the most free I have been in my four years here, and I'm really enjoying my football," he said.

"I'm also pleasantly surprised by how well-organised everything is at this club. We have 10 coaches, and we are like a family, which I have never encountered in my career. We can talk, joke and share our problems with one another."

Granted, it has not been entirely smooth sailing for Hougang, who were tipped to be one of the dark horses this season but find themselves sixth in the eight-team SPL after a host of injury problems.

Japanese defender Kaishu Yamazaki has also been dropped from the first-team squad because of disciplinary issues.

But ever the optimist, Krajcek believes they can still make the top half with a good run in their last four matches before making a push for the Singapore Cup.

He said: "Every player wants to win trophies in their career and I am no different. Considering the challenges we faced, a top-half finish in the SPL would be good and I really want to help the club win the Singapore Cup."

After a mid-season blip either side of their AFC Cup campaign, the Stags are odds-on to seal third spot by completing a season sweep over the Eagles, who are trying to cling on to their top-half status despite a health scare for coach Noor Ali.

Can Tanjong Pagar end the season as strongly as they started it? While the Young Lions have just seven points from 24 games, three were from a 4-2 win over the Jaguars and they also pushed Albirex hard before losing 2-1 in the last round.

The Sailors will fancy getting out of their slump against a team they beat thrice with a combined score of 14-1 this season. Only Hassan Sunny, Hariss Harun and M. Anumanthan played two full matches for Singapore last week, so their squad should not be too fatigued.