Croatie – A. Asanovic: “There will be no pressure on us against France”

Croatie – A. Asanovic: “There will be no pressure on us against France”

07.07.98 22h31 CET

Statements from Vittel, Tuesday 7 July

Ardian KOZNIKU (16):

“Our win against GERMANY (match No.59 on 4 July, with a final score of 3 goals to 0 for CROATIA) took a certain amount of pressure off us. This semi-final against FRANCE will certainly be difficult, but oddly enough there is less pressure on us before this match. Of course, the French are playing in front of a home crowd, but I can tell you that the Croatian supporters are growing in numbers and won’t be afraid to make themselves heard during the match.

I hope that this encounter will be more open than the previous FRANCE games. Their defensive game is very taxing to play, even for an attacking team such as ours, since we will have to wait tirelessly for a chance to counter-attack.

As far as our victory against GERMANY is concerned, as I see it, the sending off of Christian WORNS (2 – GERMANY) changed the run of play. After that incident the Germans gave it all they had, and we were able to take advantage of their exhaustion and win.”

Robert JARNI (17):

“The match against GERMANY was special because we had an old score to settle. Our defeat in the European Championship was a blow to our pride. We played better this time, even though Christian WORNS’ sending off worked in our favour, and we won anyway. In any case, KLINSMANN should have been sent off earlier for a serious foul he committed earlier on in the match.

The match against FRANCE is important, but we are taking it all in our stride, with no pressure. We didn’t plan to win the World Cup, but now that we are here in the semi-finals, we’ll give it our best shot. We aren’t worried by any of the French in particular since we’re already on the case for marking their players.

True, they are good players with lots of experience, but a match is never a foregone conclusion. They are well motivated, but we are even more so.”

Alosja ASANOVIC (7):

The game against FRANCE will be difficult because they are the best team in the world. We will approach each match differently on a psychological level. There will be no pressure on us against FRANCE. We are happy just to have made the semi-final; that’s why its so important to relax.”

Slaven BILIC (6):

“I said before the World Cup started that France was one of the favourites to walk away with the championship. It is the team that has impressed me the most up to this point. It’s true that they have been slightly disappointing in that they create an awful lot of chances without turning them into goals, but they still remain favourites for this match. We have a lot to lose, but the pressure on FRANCE is far greater. The whole world expects them to win, particularly as they are the hosts. The fact that we have come this far gives us every reason to believe that we can make it to the final. All the players in our team are old friends. Even though many of us are perfecting our game abroad, we are like one big family, and there is no ill-feeling from anyone towards the coach or other players: there is a near perfect harmony. We aren’t worried about public support because, until now, there have never been many people behind us. It shouldn’t affect us, though, no more so than playing in a stadium as impressive as the Stade de France (SAINT-DENIS).”