Croatians give heroes’ welcome to Modric & Co.
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Zagreb, July 16: Tens of thousands of Croatians gave a heroes’ welcome to their team in Zagreb on Monday after the squad returned from Russia following their World Cup final defeat.
A crowd estimated at more than 100,000 thronged the capital’s main square to see the players, led by captain and World Cup Golden Ball winner Luka Modric, parade through the streets on an open- top bus. Cheering fans, many waving flags and wearing the famous red and white shirt of Croatia, held up banners celebrating the runners- up after their gallant 4- 2 defeat by France.
“This is how Croatia is loved,” read one banner. Another said: “We are few, but we believed and that is enough.”
Many even skipped work to celebrate the team reaching their first ever World Cup final.
“I closed my office to welcome our heroes. I put a sign up reading ‘ Today, July 16, 2018’, office closed due to our Vatreni ( the Fiery Ones in Croatian),” doctor Sanja Klajic said.
Earlier noisy fans awaited their side’s appearance by singing a popular song “Play on my Croatia, when I see you my heart is on fire!” while watching the plane carrying the team progress to the capital on a giant TV screen.
When the plane, accompanied by military jets and emblazoned with the logo “Bravo Vatreni” flew overhead the crowd cheered and chanted “Hands up, hands up!”.
After watching their football team lose 4- 2 to France in the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday, some Croatians wept with sadness while others felt pride that their tiny nation had gone so far in the tournament.
One young woman used a red- and- white Croatian flag to wipe tears from her eyes as a female friend, also crying, put her arm around her.
Croatia, with a population of only 4.2 million people, were not among the favourites at the start of the tournament. Their progress to the final gripped the imagination of the Balkan nation and members of the Croatian diaspora living in countries from Germany to Australia.“For a nation of four million people it’s a miracle to come to the World Cup final,” said Aleksander Ceferin, the head of European soccer’s governing body Uefa.
PM Andrej Plenkovic appealed to employers to let staff leave work early to join the celebration.
Adil
Rami played a crucial role in the French conquest without kicking the ball. Touching the Frenchman’s luxuriant moustache was a prematch ritual for all his teammates in Russia and it seems the superstition worked as the French went all the way. Belgium
and Brazil were the best teams of the tournament. It was a pity that they had to meet in the quarterfinal. The two enthralled fans with an end- to- end thriller in Kazan. Eden Hazard of Belgium deserved the Golden Ball as much as Luka Modric. China,
India, USA and Indonesia were the largest cheerleaders of the event as the four most populous nations in the world had failed to qualify for Russia. Almost three billion people had no representative on the World Cup pitch.
Didier
Deschamps wanted the World Cup so badly that he curtailed the French team’s creative freedom in pursuit of results. France were not pretty but effective. As Deschamps said, his players’ mental strength proved crucial to the title.
England
did the unthinkable by winning a penalty shootout in Russia but they felt the absence of an authoritative creative midfielder in the semifinal defeat. They eventually lost three matches in Russia, their worst record in a World Cup.
Fans
once again proved that the World Cup is theirs with their raucous participation in large numbers. The most colourful and passionate were from South America who deserve a cup for the energy they brought to the World Cup.
Goalless
draws didn’t blight the tournament as only one match in 64, Denmark vs France, failed to produced a goal in open play. The spurt in penalties thanks to the introduction of Video Assistant Referee was the main reason for the pleasing statistic.
Hosts
Russia scored on all fronts to dish out an unforgettable World Cup. Even Fifa would not have thought the event in Eastern Europe would become such a big hit. The whole of Russia, from Siberia to Kaliningrad, deserves a big pat on its back. Iceland