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MOSCOW (AP) – Rain has hidden the tears of Croatia
After Luka Modric received his Golden Ball trophy in a downpour, he shared an emotion with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar -Kitarovic. Croatia knows that the 4-2 loss to France on Sunday in the World Cup final was a chance that may not come back soon.
"We were so close and we played the best football," said Modric, who played at 32 in his last World Cup match.
Croatia's first golden generation lost to France in the 1998 World Cup semi-finals and their second best. In addition to Modric, goalkeeper Danijel Subasic will be 38 at the next World Cup in Qatar, midfielder Ivan Rakitic will be 34 years old and striker Mario Mandzukic will be 36 years old.
"I wish we are now 24, everyone and Luka in particular" Dejan Lovren said. "There is a time when something must end."
Among a crowd of men in dark suits on the podium, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Grabar-Kitarovic shirt showed his passion for Croatia.
While some players were crying on the field, Canadian fans celebrated thousands of victories despite the defeat.
"Overall, we have been better," said Lovren. critical of the way France played. "They did it in the other way, they did not play football, they waited for their chances and they scored, they had their own tactics and you have to respect that, they have played the tournament like this. "
came down with the same grain that had taken him through three more games, all won after conceding first goal. When Ivan Perisic scored in the 28th minute after Mario Mandzukic's goal gave France the lead, Croatia seemed ready to do it again
then a penalty, called after a video, that Antoine Griezmann converted. Pulling from behind 2-1, Croatia conceded two more goals but continued to fight. Mandzukic then took advantage of a goaltender error to raise the score to 4-2, becoming the first player to score for both teams in a World Cup final
"If you want to be the best, you have to win. "said Lovren, who lost the Champions League final with Liverpool in May. "It's not easy to accept that, it's something I'm going to wear for my life."
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James Ellingworth is at https://twitter.com/jellingworth
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More AP World Cup cover: https://apnews.com/tag/WorldCup[19659016]
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