In the immediate aftermath of last night's World Cup semi-final win against England, Croatia's Zlatko Dalic was fairly magnanimous in victory. Although he scarcely shirked mentioning his bemusement with English 'expertise' when it came to football, any slight may be forgiven on what was the biggest of nights for Croatian football.
Speaking today, with one eye on Sunday's World Cup final and another on last night's victory, Dalic appeared a little more entrenched in the belief that he and his side have had to prove all the doubters wrong throughout this World Cup run:
Big countries like Argentina, Brazil, Germany and England are not in the final but Croatia is. That is why we are a miracle and I hope this miracle lasts as long as possible.
We have solidarity and unity and the teams that did not have that are now back home.
Describing the destitute state Croatian football is in when considering the country's lack of necessary infrastructure, Dalic was thankful for the 'god-given talent and pride' that Croatia's footballers do posses nevertheless.
It seems to be a set of characteristics Dalic associates with himself also.
Blunt talk by Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic. Says his countrymen are not respected enough in Europe. ‘Nothing was given me on a plate, unlike some managers in Europe who can manage because of their names and players.’ #eng #ENGCRO
— Ian Herbert (@ianherbs) July 12, 2018
Looking back to last night's game, Dalic retained his belief that in spite of the 'fast and slick and young England side' Croatia faced, his team 'had experience they could not match.'
Furthermore, he was not afraid to reference different points in the game that one English player particularly may struggle to deal with.
Zlatko Dalic: 'England had a sitter at 1-0, missed. Had we gone 2-0 down it would have been very difficult to come back. But he who dares wins. We deserved that luck.' #eng #ENGCRO
— Ian Herbert (@ianherbs) July 12, 2018
Unafraid to call it as he sees it, Dalic will be hoping he can take the next step and bring Croatia to an unlikely World Cup triumph.
