[ad_1]
London – The glory of the World Cup attracts Croatian stars such as Luka Modric after several traumatic experiences in major tournaments, according to their former coach Slaven Bilic
The Charismatic 49 – who is in Russia as a TV presenter For the English broadcaster ITV, the Daily Mail Modric and superstar Ivan Rakitic would pose problems to England in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, but they did not have to meet him up & # 39; here.
"Luka and Rakitic are the best pair of midfielders in the World Cup," Bilic said. "But do not underestimate the rest of the team either, for me, Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida have been fantastic defenders, some of the best in the World Cup."
"England will be a different opponent from Denmark, Russia or even Argentina, they really have a lot of pace, like Belgium, and they get a lot of numbers ahead."
"Croatia will have to plan this but Croatia can also cause problems in England that they did not have before. "
Bilic, who is a mentor to several team members, including Modric, who nurtured His talent as a Croatian Under-21 coach before becoming head coach of the national team, said he was confident that this team could do better than him and his teammates in 1998 and reach the final.
The hosts and eventual champions from France came 1-0 to beat Croatia 2-1, but Bilic did not emerge with great credit from the game, sinking down his face as if it were his own. he had been the French coach, Laurent Blanc, who received the red card and missed the greatest moment of France
Bilic, who lost his job after being sacked by West Ham United in the Premier League, has had its ups and downs. down with Croatian players – such as b A few seconds from the semifinals of Euro 2008, only Turkey can equalize and progress on the penalties. The Croats suffered a similar, similar setback when Portugal beat them in overtime in Euro 2016.
"These memories are painful and players realize that it's their time," Bilic said. They are in the best half of the table and we have a good team, full of quality, full of experience, who plays for big clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, and who has this amazing mind, like England. "
Bilic, who is instructed to persuade Rakitic to play for Croatia rather than his country of adoption of Switzerland, was in charge in a previous victory for Croatia over England at Wembley in a Euro 2008 qualifier.
Bilic believes The theme of the Croatian national teams is their game against the historically larger teams, so their discrete performances against Denmark and Russia, beating both of the penalties, should be neglected.
"We have always shown that we can against big nations. When I played, we beat Germany 3-0 at the 1998 World Cup [in the quarterfinals]. In the last few Euros we have defeated Spain. We won 3-0 against Argentina a few weeks ago. It's the hardest and ugliest games that have been our downfall. "
AFP
[ad_2]
Source link
