Why Croatia international Marco Pašalić is spending his summer in a boxing ring

by croatiaweek
July 12, 2026
in Sport

Marco Pašalić working out at Bandog Gym with Robert Modrić (Instagram)

By Thomas Mustać

The off-season period gives many footballers the chance to rest, this same period provides Marco Pašalić, the Croatia international, with an opportunity to grow.

Recently seen on various social media posts working out inside Bandog Gym in Zadar, Croatia alongside its president and head coach, Robert Modrić, quickly caught the attention of Croatian football fans around the world.

While the clips highlighted fast combinations, footwork and intense conditioning, they also sparked curiosity, as many doctors believe in the benefits of cross-training. What does one of Croatia’s rising attacking players gain from boxing?

Speaking exclusively with Croatia Week, both Pašalić and Modrić explained that the answer goes well beyond throwing punches.

“Marco surprised me almost immediately,” Modrić said with a smile. “In more than two decades of coaching and working with over a thousand athletes, he’s among the very best I’ve seen at absorbing new knowledge. You explain something once, he understands it, and then he applies it.”

This talent for quick learning comes with being an elite football player, but in the boxing ring it is all about totally different lessons than those one learns on the football training field.

Whereas football teaches you how to gain endurance, accelerate and play with the proper techniques, boxing constantly requires good coordination, balance, upper body strength and decisiveness under pressure. There is nothing superfluous about it.

For Modrić, that’s precisely why boxing has become such an effective complementary discipline for footballers.

“It develops the core, strengthens the upper body and gives players a certain toughness that football training alone doesn’t always provide,” he explained. “When you’re stronger physically, you become more confident in duels.”

That physical edge is something Pašalić has already begun to notice for himself.

“Boxing has definitely helped me physically. The intensity is different from football because you’re working at a very high level for sustained periods, and that pushes your fitness in another way. I think that can really help in the final minutes of matches when you need that extra endurance, and it gives you more confidence in physical situations as well.”

With football being a fast-paced game of today, when winning and losing can depend on hundredths of a second, even minor adjustments can make a difference during the entire playing season.

However, the most noticeable results are unlikely to come from purely physical achievements.

Football relies on teamwork and communication. Boxing is all about going back to basics.

“When you step into the ring, there are no teammates beside you,” Modrić said. “You have to solve every problem yourself. You learn to react, defend, attack and stay calm under pressure. It’s like playing chess at high speed.”

(Instagram)

That mental exercise always keeps the athletes in the process of making decisions based on gathering and analyzing information and positioning while maintaining breathing and composure.

This kind of skill can be transferred to a professional football player playing in crowded stadiums.

Marco believes, “One of the biggest differences is the focus that’s required. In football there are moments when you’re away from the action, but in boxing you can’t switch off for a second. You’re constantly thinking, reacting and staying mentally engaged. That level of concentration is something I’ve been able to take back onto the football pitch.”

Modrić has seen those benefits extend well beyond Pašalić. He has coached many players across various sports during his career. Nevertheless, the coaches who teach football players from Croatia attempt to transform them into boxers.

Rather than trying to transform football players into boxers, he would like to create for them a new environment where they could learn something new.

“You become more complete,” he said. “You’re constantly thinking, moving and reacting. The body and the brain have to work together every second.”

The importance of coordination is one factor why boxing is becoming more and more popular amongst top-level athletes across several different sporting disciplines. Foot speed, balance, timing, and explosiveness all work very well in football too.

What also stood out during our conversation was that neither man spoke about boxing purely as elite performance training.

Instead, both viewed it as something far more accessible.

“I’d encourage young players to try different sports if they enjoy them. Boxing became something I genuinely loved, and I’ve continued training wherever I’ve played, even after moving to America,” stated Marco. “It’s helped me as a footballer, but it’s also introduced me to great people and different experiences away from the game. If another sport motivates you to keep improving, I think that’s always a positive.”

For Modrić, that wider message matters just as much.

“Most people who come into the gym aren’t preparing to fight,” he explained. “They’re looking after themselves. Boxing is an outlet. It helps people release stress, improve fitness and strengthen both the body and the mind.”

This applies to the case where one is a professional player or even playing on the weekends or wants to get into better shape.

Football requires concentration, coordination and discipline while toning up the whole body.

“The brain works just as hard as the muscles,” Modrić said. “Everything has to be coordinated—your feet, your hands, your breathing, your reactions. That’s why boxing can benefit people of all ages when it’s taught properly.”

With Croatia continually developing technically skilled footballers who can play against some of the best teams in the world, training methods have come along for the ride.

Marco Pašalić training his game at Bandog Gym is just one more way to show this approach.

It’s not always going to be on the football field to get better at the sport.

For fans of Croatian football, whether they’re watching from Zagreb, Sydney, Toronto, Chicago or Melbourne, it shows yet again that great performance never stops.

Check out Robert and Marco working out below.