World Cup runners-up welcomed as heroes in Croatia
Zagreb (Croatia), July 17 : Croatia's national football team rode through this capital in triumph aboard an open-top bus for more than five hours on their return from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they reached the final before succumbing 2-4 to France.
More than 500,000 people, according to police, filled the streets of Zagreb - population 800,000 - to welcome the squad home on Monday.
"We have realized our dream," team captain and Real Madrid standout Luka Modric said, reports Efe.
Modric, who was voted best player of the 2018 World Cup for his part in leading dark horse Croatia to the final, then led the multitude in singing a traditional patriotic song.
Another star, Ivan Rakitic, was greeted with chants of "Ivan, Ivan, Ivan."
"It's impossible to describe these feelings," the FC Barcelona midfielder said adding: "We are truly proud of having defended our colors."
Croatia, a nation of roughly 4.5 million people, became the second-smallest country to reach a World Cup final behind two-time winners Uruguay.
?? What a welcome for #WorldCup silver medallist in Zagreb. ??#BeProud #CRO #FlamingPride #Vatreni? #Family pic.twitter.com/v0HqUFc8aZ
— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) July 16, 2018
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IPL mega auction to be held in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on November 24, 25: BCCI
New Delhi, Nov 5: The mega auction ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025 will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25, the BCCI announced on Tuesday.
This is the second successive year the auction is being held overseas as Dubai hosted the previous one ahead of the IPL 2024.
The player registration officially closed on Monday and a total of 1,574 cricketers (1,165 Indian and 409 overseas) have been signed up for the auction, which will clash with the third and fourth day’s play of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth, which begins on November 22.
Each franchise will be able to form a maximum squad of 25 players (including respective retained players), and a total of 204 slots will be up for grabs from the auction.
The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from the Associate Nations.
Among capped players, 48 are from India. Moreover, 965 uncapped players of the country will also be part of the auction.
This year’s auction will feature some high-profile India stars such as Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh.
The 10 franchises will collectively have around Rs 641.5 crore to spend for the available 204 slots.
Out of those 204 slots, 70 are earmarked for overseas players.
As of now, 46 players have been retained by the 10 franchises with cumulative expenditure of Rs 558.5 crore.
Each franchise was allocated Rs 120 crore to build their squads but after the retention process, which was announced on October 31, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse -- Rs 110.5 crore.
The Punjab outfit retained just two uncapped players -- Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh for Rs 9.5 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, under Sanju Samson, have the smallest purse of Rs 41 crore after retaining six players.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have also retained six players but they have a remaining purse of Rs 51 crore.
