On Thursday, the HNS Executive Committee officially confirmed a new contract for coach Zlatko Dalić, who will continue leading Croatia after the World Cup silver.
Zlatko Dalić, as was already agreed, extended his cooperation with the Croatian Football Federation. On Thursday, the silver medalist coach also received the official stamp of approval after he received the blessing from the HNS Executive Committee, reports Goal.hr on August 23, 2018.
Dalić’s first “job” after becoming World Cup finalists will be a friendly match against Portugal in Faro on September 6th, followed by a Nations League match against Spain in Elche on September 11th. Dalić has drawn up a list of 25 players for these upcoming duels and essentially, created a new Croatia.
Dalić is also a candidate for the FIFA ‘Coach of the Year’ after Croatia blew away all expectations by winning the silver in Russia, and FIFA felt it was only fair to get to know the Croatia coach better in an interview on August 23, 2018.
“It will probably take a few more years to understand the magnitude of this result in terms of sporting success. We understand now how happy and proud we made our country, but I think we will only start to understand how difficult and amazing it is for a nation of four million people to have two World Cup medals in 20 years. You know how many countries have more than us in that period of time? Only Germany and France. Not Brazil, not Italy, not Argentina, not Spain. That’s impressive and it’s a testament not only to this team and the 1998 team, but to all the players, coaches and people who work in Croatian football.”
Asked how it feels to be nominated for FIFA’s Coach of the Year award, Dalić replied:
“I am very honored to be included in that group with my colleagues, all of whom I respect very much. Individual awards are always a consequence of a good team performance – that’s how it works for the players, and even more so for the coaches. Therefore, I can only thank my players for their remarkable performance at the World Cup, which allowed me to be in this position. Of course, I am happy I could contribute to this historic result for Croatia, but I always give credit to the players because they are the ones who play the game.
And will he win it?
“The important wins were those at the World Cup, against Nigeria, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Russia and England – any individual recognition is not nearly important as that silver medal that we won as a team. Of course, it would be something to appreciate and cherish, but winning it or not will not change the fact that this summer was the best sporting period of my life.”
But will Luka Modrić win FIFA’s Player of the Year?
“I don’t know if he will win, but I will say this: I have no doubt that he deserves to win. For a number of years, he has been a crucial player at Real Madrid where he won four UEFA Champions League trophies. It is difficult for anybody to win an individual award while Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are creating history with their goalscoring records, which is why they deserved to dominate them during the last ten years. But, Luka won the adidas Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup, then he was again a key player during their Champions League victory and then went on to deservedly win the Golden Ball at the World Cup, where he led Croatia as a player and as a captain to glory. What more can he do?
I can’t think of a better player to succeed Ronaldo and Messi. He is a humble, hard-working player who always gives his best, who leads by example and who makes everybody around him a much better player. I don’t see anybody who deserves it more than Luka this year, and I am sure the football world sees it the same way.”
You can read the full interview on the official FIFA website here.
