Croatia coach says Lord is giving an opportunity to settle a score against Les Bleus
>> MOSCOW: One of the most notorious dives in football history took place the last time France played Croatia in the World Cup.
Les Bleus led Croatia by a goal in their 1998 semi-final at Stade de France when French defender Laurent Blanc gave Slaven Bilic a slight shove on the chest in jostling during a free kick.
Bilic shouted and slammed the palm of his hand into his face, as if he had been struck on the head.
Spanish referee Jose Manuel Garcia bought the act in the pre-video review age, and Blanc was ejected for the first time in his career as France beat Croatia 2-1.
Despite seeing the replay afterwards, Fifa refused to retract the penalty. Blanc missed the final, when France beat Brazil 3-0 for their only World Cup title.
At Russia 2018, Croatia advanced to their first World Cup final with a 2-1 extra-time win over England on Wednesday night, a day after Les Bleus beat Belgium 1-0. The match two decades ago remains on the mind of current Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic.
“Maybe the dear Lord is giving us an opportunity to settle a score,’’ he said.
A victory in the final for the nation known for its red-and-white checkered jerseys would be the nation’s greatest sporting moment since breaking from Yugoslavia to become an independent state in 1991 — a year after its national football team started playing.
France are a European football power, their team able draw from a population of about 65 million.
“They have upped their game over the past several games,’’ Ivan Perisic said.
Croatia have just over 4 million people, the fourth-smallest of the 32 World Cup teams ahead of Panama, Uruguay and Iceland. They have a chance to be the least-populous nation to win since Uruguay took the title in 1950, when they were a nation of just over 2 million.
“We’re a small country with so many successful sports people,’’ defender Dejan Lovren said through a translator. “Over the last couple of days people have recognised that.’’
Les Blues won the European Championship at home in 1984 and in the Netherlands in 2000. But there have been no trophies since current coach Didier Deschamps lifted the World Cup as captain on July 12, 1998 — 5 months, 8 days before star striker Kylian Mbappe was born. They lost the 2016 Euro final 1-0 to Portugal at Stade de France with a roster that included nine holdovers on this year’s team.
“Two years ago it was tough,’’ said one of the returnees, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. “We don’t want it to happen again. We want it to end in the best way.’’