CROATIA’S FAB FOUR HANDED TICKET TO RIDE
THE dramatic fall of Germany, Spain and Argentina at the World Cup has lit an unlikely path to the final for six unfancied nations. The showpiece in Moscow on July 15 will now be contested by one of: Russia, Croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, Colombia or England. In that half of the draw, only England have won the World Cup before while Sweden are the only other country to reach a final, losing 5-2 to Brazil in 1958. While it’s been a wildly unpredictable tournament, Croatia’s legendary striker Davor Suker is confident that his tiny nation’s latest Golden Generation are a team that is ready to shine. In 1992, a Yugoslav side boasting the talents of Robert Prosinecki, Zvonimir Boban and Suker looked set to light up the European Championships before Croatia declared independence and the region descended into war. United Nations sanctions barred Yugoslavia from playing and their place was taken by Denmark, who went on to win the trophy. Six years later, Suker won the Golden Boot at France 1998, helping the fledgling Croatia national side become a force in international football with a third place at the World Cup. Now president of the Croatian FA, Suker believes Croatia’s 2018 vintage boasting the fab four of Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic and Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic are a team to be both admired and feared by the remaining sides in the competition. ‘Germany, Argentina and now Spain have gone and that is good for football,’ said Suker, after Croatia’s thrilling penalty shoot-out win over Denmark in the last 16. ‘Croatia is a country of four and a half million and we’ve qualified for ten championships and you need to respect us. We can take on the world champions and beat them. Yes, we suffered against Denmark. Sometimes you do not play well but you win.’ Russia, of course, nurse their own dreams of underdog success on home soil. Widely regarded as the worst Russian team of all time before the World Cup kicked off, Stanislav Cherchesov’s side made the best start by any host nation by beating Saudi Arabia 5-0 and Egypt 3-1. After a sobering 3-0 loss to Uruguay, Russia stunned Spain on penalties to reach the quarter-finals on an emotional night in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. ‘I cried a little bit but these were good tears,’ said forward Denis Cheryshev. ‘We worked for this. The country deserves it. Now we have to go forward.’