“You have to be mentally strong to play at FCSB. I am!” + Give a surprising prediction in the title

The champion is suffering in the area of ​​the central defenders after the injuries of Dawa and Mihai Popescu, and Dorel Mutică indicated Diego Zivulic as a worthy acquisition.

Diego Zivulic: “You have to be mentally strong to play at FCSB. And I am!”

Diego Zivulic. PHOTO: Imago

Dorel Mutica, the former stopper from FCSB and Rapid, said about Zivulic that he could play for the team led by Elias Charalambous.

The Croatian commented as follows:

“I haven't read the press in the last few days, but I'm glad that they talk about me like that in Romania.

I don't even know how to comment, if an offer came from a bigger team. I know that at FCSB the situation is different, that you have to be mentally strong to succeed. I am strong both physically and mentallyI have been through many hard times, through injuries, I can cope anywhere.

Naturally, everyone wants to reach higher, but for now I feel very good at Oțelul. I get along very well with Laszlo Balint, who is a very good, intelligent, determined coach. In addition, the atmosphere here is very good.

And I have reached the level where I really enjoy football and I want to play as much as possible, to help my team. If there will be offers above, OK, we'll see. If not, we move on. Because Steel is already like home for me”.

Diego Zivulic: “I made the right choice to return to Oțelul”

Zivulic returned at the beginning of the year, after a short separation of less than three weeks. Then he “defected” for a better offer, in Saudi Arabia, from Al Ordabah. There he had been called by a Croatian coach, Stjepan Tomas. But the move never materialized.

The return was simple, he was basically back home, where he had been playing for the last two years. Now, the iron man of the Danubians congratulates himself for choosing to return to Galați, with whom he finished the first part of this season in the play-off zone, on the 6th.

He spends the holidays at home with his family in Novigrad, a small town in Croatia with a population of 3,000, located an hour from Rijeka. He has enough experience to know that “for now nothing is settled in the championship, we have to work very hard to stay there.

It's hard to say if we'll make it. There is a lot of competition. FCSB is lagging behind and I think that in a maximum of 5 stages from 2026 they will also be in the play-off zone. We had a superb autumn with mister Laszlo Balint on the bench. And obviously we will shoot hard, let's stay there.

But personally, I would also be satisfied if we finish the championship high even in the play-outs, in 7th place. It would be a step forward, considering that in the previous two seasons we finished 8th. And we could also hope for the European cups.

We lost important players from the previous championship, but others came and replaced them brilliantly. And I think we are stronger than last season. So it's not impossible to finish even in the top 6. But, I repeat, it will be very difficult, an extremely heated battle awaits us in these 9 remaining stages of the regular season”.

Diego Zivulic, relaxed, at home, during the short winter vacation

He had 5 days off, but starting tomorrow he resumes training, based on the club schedule. An easy 30-minute run, plus fitness, for re-accommodation to exertion. Then, on January 4th is the reunion and training camp follows.

He laughs when he talks about it: “I hope it's not that difficult. That after 30 years, it starts to be harder. But I'm ready.”

He is not thinking about retirement yet. He says that “I want to play as long as my body can and I can still be useful to the team. After that, we'll see. I don't see myself as a coach.

But I finished the faculty of economic studies, I speak 6 foreign languages ​​and it is most likely that I will stay in football. But on the administrative side, sports director or something like that”.

“I like Dinamo, I think they could win the title!”

Zivulic had the opportunity to play with all the teams this season and, as a personal opinion, he has a surprising favorite for the title: “In the Superliga it's hard to make predictions, because it's a very balanced championship and, moreover, after the regular season, the points are halved.

But, after what I saw and felt on the field, I really like Dinamo. I think they and FCSB will fight in the championship. And I would opt for Dinamo. Because they have quality, a good offensive gameindividually valuable players.

Let's see if he will reach to win the title. I haven't forgotten that there are still strong teams, Craiova, Rapid. But I would go for Dinamo, after what I've seen so far”.

I had a very good 2025, both personally and with the team. Last season we managed to stay in the Superliga, we even finished in 8th place. Now we are even higher. And for 2026, I want to be healthy, play as much as possible and make a great result for the club, for the supporters in Galati
– Diego Zivulic, Oțelul Galati stopper

The toughest direct opponent in 2025 was Steven Nsimba, from Craiova University. Difficult with him, he is very fast, very strong. And of the former teammates, it's always the most difficult for me to play against Juri Cisotti
– Diego Zivulic, Oțelul Galati stopper

Besides my mother tongue, I speak Italian, English, Romanian, Czech and Polish. I always tried to learn the language of the country where I played, because I saw it as a form of respect for the club, for the supporters. I don't speak perfect Czech or Polish, but good enough to have a real conversation or give an interview. The hardest was with the Polish language, I admit
– Diego Zivulic, Oțelul Galati stopper