Little Croatia hails World Cup giants
CROATIA’S heroes hailed the monumental achievement of reaching a World Cup final for the first time in their short history.
But coach Zlatko Dalic stressed the job was not done after his side came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in Moscow yesterday.
Dalic said there were “no alibis” against France, who have an extra day’s rest and have played 90 minutes less en route to the final.
Dalic led his country to a historic final since claimed independence in 1991.
“This is a proud moment for our country – I’m not sure a country this small (population 4.17 million) has ever made the final,’’ he said.
“It was suggested that we had only prepared just for the group stage – that’s untrue. We prepared to reach the final.
“There can be no excuses or alibis for the final – nothing about a day’s less rest, three more extra-time games. We’ll approach this game as if it’s our first game (of the World Cup).
“They (France) can’t have a weakness if they’re in the final.
“It will be another tough job, but we’re ready, it will be a top game. We have a big respect for France.”
England manager Gareth Southgate declared the future was bright but urged his players to feel the pain of the loss before moving on.
He conceded it would be tough picking up his wounded Three Lions players for Sunday’s third-place playoff against group rivals Belgium.
Kieran Tripper’s fifth minute free-kick put England ahead before Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic secured a stunning Croatian comeback.
Asked to put England’ semi-final run into context – their first appearance in the last four since 1990 – Southgate said the loss was too fresh.
“It’s something for a couple of days’ time. At the moment we all feel the pain of defeat. The dressingroom and all of staff, it’s a very difficult place,’’ Southgate said.
“Did we expect to be in this position? Realistically, I don’t think any of us did. But you want to take those opportunities in life.
“There will in time be lots of positives to take out (from Russia 2018). But you have to suffer the result – sometimes you can move on too quickly.
“It’s too easy to move on immediately from what we’ve just been through.”
Man-of-the-match Perisic was beaming after the win.
“This means so much for a small country like Croatia,’’ Perisic said.
“We showed our character like we did in the quarters and second round. That’s important for this team, which we didn’t have.”