Croatia showed that small nations can dream big, says coach Dalic
Moscow, July 16 : Croatia chief coach Zlatko Dalic said his side's appearance in the World Cup final should provide inspiration to other small national teams striving for international football success.
With a population of around 4.5 million, Croatia became the smallest European nation to reach the World Cup final in the 88-year history of the competition.
But their thrilling run at Russia 2018 ended at the final hurdle with a 2-4 loss to France at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday.
"On our bus there is a slogan that says, "We are a small nation with big dreams," Dalic told a press conference. "That's a good message to all. If you work hard, you can produce good players and get results. You have to believe it is possible. Maybe things have to fall into place. But you have to have a dream and ambition and follow them. Then maybe those dreams can come true in football or life in general.
"You should never give up. You should never stop believing. At 4-1 (in Sunday's match), I never stopped believing. This is life. I think that overall Croatia played a great tournament. I would like to thank all my players for what they have done. Taking a look back, I am proud of my players and my country."
Dalic said France were deserving champions but questioned a decision by Argentine referee Nestor Pitana to award a controversial first-half penalty to Les Bleus.
Pitana consulted the Video Assistant Referee before ruling that Ivan Perisic handled the ball in Croatia's penalty area following a corner. Antonio Griezmann converted the resultant penalty to give his side a 2-1 lead.
"I don't usually talk about these things. But let me comment on something: In a World Cup final you don't give that penalty," Dalic said.
"I have to congratulate my players for maybe the best game we played here (at the World Cup). We controlled the match but against such a strong side like France you cannot afford to make mistakes. We are a bit sad but also proud of what we have done."
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Talks about split coaching surprising, important for people to stay in their domain: Gambhir
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Saturday came down heavily on theories doing the rounds on social media about split coaching, terming them "surprising" and asked those opinion-makers to stay "in their domain."
After India’s recent 0-2 Test series defeat against South Africa, some influential cricketing names, including an IPL team owner, asked the BCCI to consider appointing separate coaches for red-ball and white ball formats.
"Look, there were a lot of talks because the results didn't go in our favour (in Test series). But the most surprising thing is that not once did any media or journalist wrote that our first Test match (in Kolkata) was played without the captain (Shubman Gill), who didn't bat in both innings (because of a neck injury)," Gambhir said during the post-match press meet after India clinched the ODI series against SA 2-1.
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Gambhir said such opinion makers should refrain from making remarks that have no direct connection with on-field cricketing matters.
“Some people also said things that have nothing to do with cricket. An IPL team owner (Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals on X) also wrote about split coaching.
“So this is surprising. It's very important for people to stay in their domain. Because if we don't go into someone's domain, then they also don't have the right to come into our domain,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir had also stated his achievements as the red-ball coach in the post-match press conference at Guwahati in what looked like a self-defence mechanism after a series defeat at home.
“I don't give excuses in press conferences. It doesn't mean that you don't show the facts in front of the world or the country. When you go through a transition and when you lose your captain, who is also your main batter in red-ball cricket against such a team (SA).
"Then obviously the results are difficult because you don't have that much experience in red ball cricket. And the surprising thing is that no one even talked about it. All the discussions about wickets, I don't know what all things were said," he noted.
