EXCLUSIVE Former Miss Croatia Ivana Knoll, aka ‘the World Cup’s sexiest fan’, is on her first ‘US tour’ and opened up to Daily Star Sport about her astonishing second career and ultimate dream
“Basically, my dreams came true,” Ivana Knoll said with a smile, a few hours after her England versus Croatia afterparty.
Ivana, better known as the ‘Ex-Miss Croatia’ who has been crowned ‘the World Cup’s sexiest fan’, is no stranger to football fans – after wowing snappers with a cheeky wink and a homemade corset, the stunner made the short journey to Dallas to welcome them the Control Room.
Where, under the stage name KnollDoll, she would headline the evening from behind the DJ decks. And even a Croatian loss could dampen her spirts: “The after-party was sold out. It was my first show in Dallas and it was the official after-party.
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“I’m sorry, but it was such a crazy atmosphere. We ended up finishing even later than we were supposed to close.”
The set also gave Ivana the chance to perform her World Cup anthem, “We Are The People”, as part of what she describes as her first US tour.
While following Croatia across the globe she’s also been building the DJ career she’s spent years working towards. “It feels amazing. To be honest, it’s hard work. It’s nothing that came out of nowhere.
“I’ve been working non-stop on it every day for three years, so I guess our work pays off. Because it’s the first time in my life that I’m doing something I really wanted to do and something I really like, besides football and supporting Croatia, which I love.
“This is something I really wanted to pursue as my career, so I’m super happy…I’m living the way I wanted to live.
“It makes me super happy and proud that I achieved such big things in such a short period of time. But yeah, I also work very hard!”
In that time, Ivana has performed with superstar DJ and producer David Guetta, recently took to the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York, and even had a guest spot in Montreal during the Canadian Grand Prix.
However, her dream was to play at the World Cup – something she achieved at the FIFA Fan Festival; in Los Angeles. “It was a huge stadium and there were more than 40,000 people.
“So basically my dream came true. You know, my dream was that, along with Madison Square Garden and a couple of festivals. For the festivals, I’m on my way, so it’s good. But FIFA and the World Cup were my biggest dreams!”
She continued: “My biggest dream is, of course, to play at the World Cup ceremony. Now after this, the next step is the ceremony.”
For now, Ivana is focusing on her tour: “I’m playing some of the biggest clubs here, so it’s going great!
“Since I live in the US now, I’m more focused here, but I definitely want to do more in Europe too. I’m coming over for a few weeks and playing a couple of festivals in Europe. The biggest one in Germany will be in September.”
And she even teased a show in the UK for her fans: “I think I should definitely perform a show there!”