Dalić: We sent a message to the world
Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić he could not hide his joy after watching his team beat tournament favorites Brazil reserve your seat in 2022 World Cup semi-finals.
How does it feel to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row?
We are among the four best teams in the world, we are proud that Croatia and the whole world witnessed and admired our success. The whole nation is proud. It’s an extraordinary moment. We are tired, but we want to enjoy this moment. When you eliminate a team like Brazil, you have no choice but to enjoy the moment. However, now we have another very difficult national team (Argentina) waiting for us and we don’t have much time to celebrate because that game is already scheduled for Tuesday.
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Of all the cards you received, which one was the most special?
As a team, we showed that we never give up. It is a privilege to have such a group of young people sending such a message to the world. The support of our people always gives us an extra boost.
Another game and another penalty. How did it hurt the team?
I felt that fatigue affected us more against Japan than it did today. I think this is a very good indicator and we won’t have any big problems with it. We will try to rest in order to be as fresh as possible for the match with Argentina. It would be a shame if all our hard work, playing 120 minutes per game, was worth nothing if we didn’t make it past the semi-finals. Of course, we are very tired now, but tomorrow will be a new day. Argentina has an army of fans here, they also went to extra time, so I think our situations are very similar.
Brazil took the lead, what was going through your head at that moment?
We always believed that we could achieve it. We knew that Brazil was a big team and that it would be difficult to win the game. However, we completely immersed ourselves in the game. The players supported each other and we knew that our efforts would pay off in the end. Discipline was one of the key points in this match.