Vatreno Ludilo

Here at STT we love Slaven Bilic for so many reasons, not just because he has a cool name, speaks a hundred languages, and smokes. If you ever needed convincing though, look no further than his preparations for guiding his Croatia side into Euro 2008. While plenty of other coaches are wasting their time scouting other teams and drawing up complex tactical playbooks that their players won’t ever understand, Bilic has been in the studio with his rock band Rawbau recording a new anthem for the Croatians to walk out to at this summer’s Championships.

“Bilic told us in January that he had a song that sounded good. The song is very catchy, a classic rock tune and I believe that fans will like it and that it will become their hymn,” Vlatka Bartulovic, a spokeswoman for song-producers Zagreb brewery, said today.

Unfortunately the track, geniusly titled Fiery Madness, will not be officially premiered until next month, but check out this ropey youtube clip of a recent live performance here, or alternatively peep Rawbau’s Myspace site for a tantilising glimpse of what the anthem might sound like properly mastered. Bilic himself is the writer and lead guitarist, drawing influences from a wide range of talent such as the Foo Fighters, the Rolling Stones and Finnish hard-rock monsters, Lordi. He claims the song captures the true spirit for Croatia, but just from the above live clip, STT would go even further and say that it simply captures the spirit of ‘awesomeness.’

When asked by Sky whether he has plans to release the song as a single outside of his native country, Bilic modestly shook his head saying "we are not U2." I know which group i'd rather have play at my house party though; a load of Eastern Europeans who like booze and tattoos, or five has-beens who'd turn the music down and encourage me to recycle my shoes. Tough choice.