Football Boot Tongue

Football Boot Tongue is written by former professional footballer Ivan Ergić and playwright Filip Grujić. The play follows a young Croatian footballer recruited to the German club Wolfsburg, examining how competition and success-obsession create a culture of dehumanization within elite sport.

At its core are the pressures and expectations that lead to isolation and depression - yet the play also contains comic and tragicomic depictions of elite sport's everyday reality. Themes of toxic masculinity and surveillance capitalism are woven into the narrative.

Ivan Ergić is a former Serbian midfielder, born 21 January 1981 in Šibenik in the former Yugoslavia. He is best known for his many years at FC Basel, winning the league title in Turkey with Bursaspor in 2009/10, and for representing Serbia and Montenegro at international level - with both World Cup and Champions League experience. As a young man he moved to Australia, where he began his senior career.

Football Boot Tongue premiered at ZKM (Zagreb Youth Theatre) in 2024. A guest production from Z/K/M.