{
  "id": 11620077,
  "title": "Hailed by his country as Messi: ex-wonderkid can't find a club",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/hailed-by-his-country-as-messi-ex-wonderkid-cant-find-a-club",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-03T06:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/hailed-country-messi-ex-wonderkid-061500624.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Just a few years ago, experts predicted that 30-year-old Alen Halilovic would be leading Croatia as one of their top stars. However, Halilovic has spent recent years playing for smaller clubs. After stints at Reading and HNK Rijeka, he moved to the Eredivisie in 2023 with Fortuna Sittard. Despite being initially a regular starter, injuries plagued him, and he only played 30 minutes total last season. Even when fit, he was often benched. He missed the matchday squad five times. Sittard didn't renew his contract, and Halilovic was later dropped by Barcelona when he joined in 2014. He made only one appearance for Barcelona's first team before being sold to HSV in 2016. After a loan spell, he joined Las Palmas permanently in 2017, but was criticized for his defensive abilities. HSV called him their \"greatest misunderstanding.\" Halilovic made ten club changes and transformed from a wonderkid to a professional who can't find a club. Today, instead of a new Modrić, Croatia will face England with the \"old\" Modrić on the pitch.",
  "summary": "While Croatia face England in the Nations League tonight from 6 p.m., Alen Halilovic may well be sitting in front of the TV cheering on his country. Of course, we can’t know that for sure. What we d...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}