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Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic showed a good grace after his team lost 4-2 to France in the FIFA World Cup finals on Sunday in Moscow.
From a neutral point of view, Sunday's clash was the most entertaining final of the World Cup for several decades. The first half of Ivan Perisic canceled a goal against Mario Mandzukic's own side, but France scored three times before Mandzukic found the back of the net.
At a press conference after the match, and quoted by Reuters, Dalic said: "First of all I want to congratulate France, we are sad but proud at the same time."
The Blues' second goal comes from a highly controversial penalty from Antoine Griezmann, whom Dalic identified as the turning point in the game. "We played well but the penalty broke the wind and afterwards it was very difficult," he said.
Dalic also said that he did not agree with the decision of the referee to penalize Perisic. "You do not give a penalty like that in a World Cup final," he said, adding, "I respect the referee, he made the decision that he judged correct."
after consulting VAR, which provoked Dalic's ironic remark: "On VAR, when it goes in your favor it's good, when it goes against you it's bad."
ALEXANDER NEMENOV / GettyImages
Dalic also acknowledged that his side might have been better defending at times, dismissing Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe's strikes in the second half as "two easy goals". However, he insisted that bad luck was a major factor in the defeat of Croatia. "What we had in terms of luck in this tournament, we were missing today," he lamented.
However, Dalic finished on an optimistic note. "I'm proud of my players, I'm proud of my team, I'm proud of my country," he said before being applauded as he left the press conference.
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