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Luka Modric admitted a second, draining extra time and penalties in a half-final World Cup against England in Moscow on Wednesday.
Croatia were 2-1 up against Russia deep in the right side of the home country's right-back. Russia went into the shootout with the momentum but it was in Croatia who held their nerve to set the mouthwatering showdown with England. Last Sunday they defeated Denmark on penalties in the last 16.
"We've played two times," said Modric. "But thank God, we've shown our character. We had to run a lot. I agree we should have finished the job earlier – we hit the woodwork and had chances. We should have maintained our focus after a long time but unfortunately, there was a lapse in concentration on the free-kick
"We expect a very difficult, tough and demanding match against England. Every match at this World Cup is such. We have to enjoy this moment and we have prepared for England. We watched their win over Sweden and we saw how good they are from dead-balls. We'll have to focus on a set of pieces because we have a set-piece. We will have to improve that element of our game. "
Zlatko Dalic, the Croatia manager, broke down in tears at the full-time whistle. His country has the achievement of their clbad of 98, which reached the semi-final of the France World Cup, and the release of emotion was overwhelming.
"It was not a beautiful game," Dalic said. "It was a fight, a battle. We were lucky, thank God. After [Ivan] Rakitic scored the winning penalty and came out of it. I felt really relieved. We made ourselves happy, we also made everyone happy back home in Croatia. I do not cry often but we have a good cause because we are in the semi-finals of the World Cup.
"Do we have enough power left to beat England? Of course. There is some power left for the English. We do not want to stop. We will try to play our best game, we're very motivated and it will be a battle again.
"England breezed past Sweden, they scored twice, they were better. They are a young, alive, attacking team. We will think about them tomorrow. There are no favorites at this World Cup. Every game is 50/50. Many big teams are home; those who are compact and well organized in Russia. This is the character of the four-armed teams in the semi-final. "
Modric reflected on how Croatia could not seem to win over the extremes of drama. "Maybe it's written in the stars that we're going through this drama," he said. "It's our second time in the semi-finals, after 1998, and it makes us extremely proud and happy. After 20 years, we have reached a semi-final of a World Cup. We have been unlucky at other tournaments but now we're collecting those debts this year. Hopefully, we'll go a step further than in 98. We have all the requisites for that. We have a great team and a great coach. "
Stanislav Cherchesov, the Russia head coach, said:" I believe people do not just start trusting us, the whole country is in love with us and they know what the national We hope that we have the best of the world.
"Vladimir Putin called me earlier in the day and right now, and he congratulated us on a very good game. He said what we showed on the field was great. We are disappointed, I told him. "
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, was quoted by the Interfax news agency saying:" Our team lost in an honest, beautiful game – they died on the field. We are proud of them. "
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