World Cup 2022: ‘Little’ Croatia shows it again

Just how small a sporting wonderland Croatia is is evident with the numbers game alone: ​​Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has about 100 times as many fans worldwide as people living in the country of his World Cup semi-final opponent. In a concrete sense, this means: Messi is followed by some 387 million users on the social network Instagram alone. The population of Croatia is about 3.9 million.

In 2018, Luka Modric and Co. reached the final. In 1998 the generation around Davor Suker and Robert Prosinecki reached the semi-finals. “We are heavenly proud because Croatia is once again among the top four teams in the world. The whole world looks at Croatia and admires our character, our knowledge and our quality,” coach Zlatko Dalic said after the match against Brazil.

Countries like Denmark (5.8 million) and Uruguay (3.5) also produce many outstanding athletes compared to their population. But while the Danish Football Association invests a lot in training its youth coaches and Uruguay maintains a highly centralized system for youth and selection, it seems that the Croats are not trying to make everything academic.

Individuality does not exclude team spirit

“We also have professional and modern youth academies,” said former HSV striker Mladen Petrich of “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “But in Croatia every player should be able to develop their character. If someone has always been a street footballer, they can stay that way.” Like longtime Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic, Petrich grew up in Switzerland.

Sometimes the national team also draws from the many Croats in the diaspora in the world. From the current team, for example, Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) and Luka Susic (Salzburg) were born in Linz and Josep Stanisic (Bayern) in Munich.

Dalic has made all the big and lesser-known names into a close-knit team. “As long as I am a coach, the national team will be a place of patriotism, solidarity, sporting quality and the Croatian flag,” said the 56-year-old. National hero Modric summed up Croatia’s World Cup feeling. Tweet. “Never give up,” the 37-year-old wrote of favorites Brazil after advancing in the quarter-finals.

The penalty shoot-out came after a 120-minute battle that saw the Croats fall behind after Neymar’s goal in extra time, but they turned things around again. The Kickers are enjoying a similar run in 2018 when they reached the Final.

He has not won a duel by knockout after 90 minutes since 1998

There has not been a regular time knockout win at the World Cup for 24 years. Four years ago, Croatia went through extra time three times to qualify for the final, which they eventually lost to France (2-4). The Vatreni currently have two 120-minute matches under their belts. “We have to forget this match as soon as possible, even though we beat the best team in the tournament. We can’t waste too much energy celebrating,” said winger Ivan Perisic.

The Croatians were not surprised that they only managed in the round of 16 against Japan and then against Brazil. “I was sure we would do it again. Because we had a world-class goalkeeper. In addition, seven or eight shooters wanted to shoot. This shows the character of this team,” said co-coach Ivica Olic. He faced Rodrygo, a hero.After all four Croatian shooters had scored, Brazilian Marquinhos fired at the post.

“We have a lot of experience in penalty kicks and this is our recipe for success,” Levakovic said. Watch the 27-year-old’s Danijel Subasic transform into penalty shootout hero four years ago in Russia. Now it is he, the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper saved three penalties against Japan, before that on Friday he thwarted great chances from Neymar & Co. After Neymar’s dream goal, it seemed that Croatia was out of the match, but “Joker” Bruno Petkovic (117) managed to equalize with an unexpected shot that was hardly possible.

“Only we Croats can do that.”

“Only Croats can do that. We have strong personalities and we don’t give up,” Dalic said. You could get the impression that Croatia was very old at times in the group stage. But the well-trained squad increased again in time. Modric, at only 37 years old, is not the kind of guy who is standing up. Unlike Japan, the captain held out and scored well in the penalty shootout. “He wasn’t tired. We asked him, he was ready,” Dalic said.

It is still possible for Croatia to lose in overtime. At last year’s European Championships, Spain lost 3-5 after extra time in the round of 16. Since then, however, players wearing their jerseys have been hard to beat. Only one team has managed this in the past five months: Austria won the Nations League last June 3-0 away from home. Levakovic, Lovren and Perisic were not present then, and Modric entered an hour later. It was the only loss in 21 games.