Bilos not to play for Croatia (11 Mar 2006 18:49 GMT)
Daniel Bilos, star player of Argentine soccer league team Boca Juniors, will not play for Croatia in the World Cup, his agent told local radio on Friday.
"Daniel was very excited by the offer, and last night he thanked Croatia but said his dream was to defend the honor of his nation," said Bilos's agent Hugo Issa.
Bilos, whose grandmother is Croatian, played a few minutes for Argentina in their friendly with Qatar in Doha on November 1, when the South American team won 3-0, but he failed to make impressive performance since recovering from pneumonia.
"Daniel understands that the game he played against Qatar excludes him from any other commitments. Before telling the world, he spoke about the matter and analyzed it with his family and his decision is very firm: he will not go to the World Cup with Croatians," Issa said.
Bilos's debut with Boca last year was impressive, but he has not be able to recapture to form since then.
source : Xinhua