Croatia Coach Pledges "This Is Not The End" After Beating Brazil

After his side sensationally eliminated Brazil from the World Cup on penalties at the quarterfinal round on Friday, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic vowed "this is not the end."

After his side sensationally eliminated Brazil from the World Cup on penalties at the quarterfinal round on Friday, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic vowed "this is not the end." After extra time, the score remained tied at 1-1 thanks to Bruno Petkovic's late equaliser of Neymar's stunning solo goal. The 2018 World Cup champions from Croatia won the shootout 4-2. Rodrygo's previous effort had been stopped by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, and Marquinhos had to score to keep Brazil in the game. However, he missed the important penalty kick by hitting the post.

Croatia scored on all four of its penalty kicks.

Dalic declared, "The Croatian people have won. A wonderful fit. The favourites were discarded.

Croatian pride, courage, faith, and patriotism are all displayed here.

He said that despite extreme pressure, his team had successfully completed the assignment.

When Croatia is required, it is the greatest. Croatia consistently does well when it counts. Nobody ought to undervalue us.

"We are continuing; this is not the end." We are capable of a lot.

In the semifinals, Croatia will play either Argentina or the Netherlands.

They will begin preparing for that task on Saturday, but for now, Croatia can rejoice in what Dalic hailed as one of the nation's greatest triumphs.

At the press conference following the game, he remarked, "This is one of our greatest triumphs — it was a tremendous tactical effort from us.

The player's are excellent fighters, and only Croats are capable of it, he continued.

In Croatia's World Cup history, they have prevailed in all four penalty shootouts: two in 2018 against Denmark and Russia, two in Qatar against Japan, and now one against Brazil.

"We have a strong character, and we do not give up; we were prepared for anything today," said Dalic.

It has become pretty common for us to be considered favourites in shootouts; at that point, it feels as though we have already won, but you need to start with the penalties. It's a strength of our group.