20 Years Ago, Croatia Coach Just Suporter at the 1998 World Cup

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Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic transformed in 20 years. From supporters in the stands to coaches who delivered their country to the 2018 World Cup final.

ZLatko Dalic became one of the happiest figures. The Croatian national team coach is delighted his country can now be better than the achievement of the 1998 World Cup.

At that time, Croatia managed to step into the semifinals of the World Cup in 1998. Had superior goal by Davor Suker, the Yugoslav fractional country that failed to the final after France won 2-1 thanks to dwigol Lilian Thuram.

"In 1998, I was in France to watch Croatia's first three games as supporters," Zlatko Dalic told FIFA.com after the semi-final against England on Wednesday (11/7/2018).

Read also: World Cup 2018, Best Tournament for England!

In the Group H World Cup Group H match of 1998, Croatia won over Jamaica and Japan then lost to Argentina. Croatia qualify as the second-ranked group.

World Cup debutant team then drove up to the semifinals after beating Romania and Germany. Davor Suker et al then meet the host France in the semifinals.

"Everyone in Croatia is very reminiscent of the semi-final match when Thuram got us defeated, the defeat being the topic of discussion in our country for 20 years," said Zlatko Dalic.

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Only Uruguay in 1930 (around 1.9 million) had fewer population when reaching the final of a World Cup, than Croatia has now (4.2 million). This excludes the 1950 tournament, which had no final. #WorldCup #CRO

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"I myself was happy when Suker scored, but I sat back when France can make the score as strong," said 51-year-old coach.

Lost to France, Croatia finally finished third in the 1998 World Cup after winning over the Netherlands. Between 1998 and 2014, the team nicknamed Vatreni three times to step into the World Cup.

However, Croatia failed to go further than the group phase. The negative trend ended in the 1998 World Cup.

Croatia national team managed to beat the England team with a score of 2-1 in the final round of the 2018 World Cup through extra time in Luzhniki Stadium, Wednesday (11/7/2018) or Thursday morning GMT.

England goals scored Kieran Trippier in the 5th minute. Meanwhile Croatia scored a goal back in the 68th minute through Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic scored the winner in the 109th minute.

Also read: Final and Third Place Fixtures 2018 World Cup, Live Trans TV & Trans 7

In the final match, Croatia will face the team that beat him in the 1998 World Cup semifinal, France. The final match will be held at Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday (15/7/2018) at 22.00 pm.

The game also became a chance Dalic reply to feel disappointed 20 years ago. When he was at the end of his career as a professional footballer, saw his country fail to step into the final.

"No, it's not about revenge, it's about soccer," Dalic said.

"Our focus now is to prepare well to be able to show the best performance in the final," he said.