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World Cup: for Dalic, it is one of Croatia's "greatest victories"

2022-12-09T20:03:24.458Z


Beating Brazil (1-1, 4 tab to 2) "is one of our greatest victories", savored Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, praising "the character" of his players, who still came back to score on Friday in the quarter-finals.


Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic praised the performance of his players, and in particular that of his goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and Luka Modric.

He savors the qualification.

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Question: How did you win this match?

Zlatko Dalic: “

It's one of our biggest victories.

Our team is having a great game.

Tactically we played very smart, they had control of the game but we came back to score again.

It's a great success, four years later, to return to the semi-finals, for a small country like ours, and to have beaten one of the big favourites, Brazil.

I congratulate all my players for the way they played, only Croatian footballers can do that.

»

Croatia win four out of four times on penalties, always go back on the score, how do you manage that?

We have a lot of character, we never give up.

We were prepared for a game like this.

A team with so much character can always come back.

And when the penalties arrive, we become favourites, as if the opponent had already lost.

But we have to get there.

Above all, we have great players, the atmosphere is excellent in the team and we have confidence.

The players believe me and I believe in them.

At 1-0 for Brazil, our players showed incredible mental strength to come back.

Few teams can go up like that.

But perhaps that should be less of a surprise as we continue to perform well.

»

Does this match demonstrate that a great midfielder beats a great attack?

"

I've already said that Croatia's midfield is the best in the world.

We controlled the ball in the middle, we managed a lot of interceptions in the middle, the players never panicked... The midfield is our strong point, it blocks the opponent.

»

How does Modric manage to stay so strong?

"

Luka played 120 minutes at a high pace, it's amazing the way he played, he wasn't tired, at 37.

When we thought about replacing players in the middle, we asked him, he said he could still play.

He's one of the best players in the world.

»

And what is goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's part in your success?

He made the difference throughout the game.

Brazil created a few chances thanks to their quality and speed, but our goalkeeper is in great shape, he made the difference in crucial moments.

He also saved the first penalty, he gave us confidence.

»

Statements taken at a press conference

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2022-12-09

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