Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic has said that his team is a target for everybody after reaching the World Cup final this summer. Croatia defied all odds to reach the final of the 2018 World Cup before losing 4-2 to France.
Following the World Cup, Croatia were having a hard time in the Nations League as they were thrashed 6-0 by Spain and drew 0-0 against England at home. However, the Vatreni livened up their campaign by beating Spain 3-2 on Thursday. They now take on England at Wembley tonight. The match is a complete make or break situation for Croatia. If Croatia win, they will join Portugal in the Nations League Finals. Any result other than a win will see Croatia getting relegated.
Speaking ahead of Croatia’s match against England Dalic said, “It was not easy for us because coming second at the World Cup, everyone wants to beat us and play a good game against us. We are targets for everybody now and we must compete, compete, compete.
In the beginning of the Nations League, it was a tough time for us after the World Cup to be ready for another competition but we must accept that we are second in the world and, for the next four years, we must do our best from our side and keep our reputation. In the last three or four months, we [Croatia and England] have played three games against each other very well but it will be nice to play at Wembley against one of the biggest teams in the world.
It is a dream for some of us and now there is another competition in the Nations League. Both teams are really fighting for first position, I hope it will be a very open game, a tough game, a strong game. I am a little bit worried because we are tired. We played two days ago against Spain, it was a very tough game for us but I expect a nice game from our side and to fight for first position.”