JAKARTA - The Croatian women's national team player, Ana Maria Markovic, admits that she hates the label "the sexiest footballer in the world" because it brings unwanted attention.

The 23-year-old star wants people to get the full picture of what she is like as a player and a person. Not just from appearance alone.

Markovic was born in Split and represents the Croatian national team. She got her first stamp in 2021.

It was then that the media attention to her beauty began to emerge. Markovic admits, most of them have a positive effect.

However, there is also a downside to the involvement of malicious individuals.

Although she liked some of the comments about her beauty, when asked if she would rather model or contract for Chelsea, Markovic replied, "Of course contract with Chelsea!"

"I love articles that call me the most beautiful footballer or one of the prettiest because it makes me happy to hear that I am beautiful. But then newspaper articles come out where I am described as the sexiest footballer. I don't like that."

"After that, many people wrote to me pretending to be a manager, and I know exactly what they want from me. They have never seen me play football and only see from the outside. I feel very unfortunate," she continued.

Markovic thinks people like that should find out more about her and see what she can do in terms of football.

Sometimes things take a darker turn. Markovic revealed she had received unsolicited explicit images on social media.

"There are some pictures like that, very ugly. I don't know why someone would do something like that, but I just make fun of it with my colleagues," she said.

"Sometimes funny messages come from people who write that they want to serve me and, for example, want to clean my football boots camera after practice," she continued.

Croatian-born player, she definitely idolizes Luka Modric, even though her favorite player is Cristiano Ronaldo. She likes Ronaldo because she admires his discipline.

In an interview with 20min, she said, "Modric is definitely a great role model for me. He is a world footballer and represents Croatia."

"There are many good players among women, like (Ramona) Bachmann but my favorite player is Cristiano Ronaldo because he is very disciplined. I think it is very important for you to give everything in sport and have a good mindset like him," she said again.


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