Players Reactions: “This was for Croatia & Croats Around the World”
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Croatia celebrates after the match (HNS)
Croatia will play in the World Cup semi-final for the second time in their 20-year history after a dramatic 6-5 victory after a penalty shoot-out against Russia in Sochi on Saturday night.
Some of the reactions after the win from coach Zlatko Dalic and some of the key players:
Zlatko Dalic
“The difficult path always seems to follow me. I want to thank all the players for their fight and hard work. Croatia is in the semi-final of the World Cup. We have to be proud this is an amazing thing. We knew what their style of play would be, aggressive and fighting until the end. My plan was to attack Russia. In the second half, we dictated play and created half-chances. We played well, it was a tough game.,” Dalic told HRT.
Zlatko Dalic with his captain Luka Modric (HNS)
Ivan Rakitic
“This was an unbelievably tough match. We were the better team in the second half and we deserved to win and thank God we did. Next, England. There is nothing nicer than to play the oldest national team in football, where the game started. We will give it our all. We are together as one and anything is possible,” Rakitic said.
Dejan Lovren
“This is a beautiful feeling, we are overwhelmed, This win was for the whole of Croatia and Croats around the world. We are so proud. After Russia scored their second goal we knew we have character and that we can do it. Suba showed incredible power, especially as he was hurt. That is something we need to use against England, they are fantastic,” Lovren said.
Dejan Lovren and Luka Modric (Instagram)
Domagoj Vida
“The atmosphere in the dressing room is fantastic, celebrating with music, drinks and singing. We are very happy for the victory and because we managed to make our supporters happy. We never have it easy, but thank God we had a bit of luck that we didn’t have at previous championships. Penalties were on our side and Suba was excellent,” goalscorer Vida said.
Luka Modric
“This is phenomenal and I hope it will last. In the first halftime, we should have had more control of the ball, while in the second half we were dominant. It would be a pity to be here and not see Moscow. We are happy that we’re going there, that means we’ve done something big. But I think we won’t leave at that, I think this team can do more. We saw England play today, they’re compact and have a few remarkable players, they are strong at set plays. They have won a number of games from set plays which means we have to work on that,” Modric, who won the man-of-the-match award said.
Man-of-the-match Luka Modric (HNS)
