FRANCE 98 – MatchQuotes
Match Number 56 ROM – HRV Quotes Miroslav BLAZEVIC :
“Never has a country as small as CROATIA produced such a result as we did today. We have even managed to eliminate a team such as ROMANIA, a great footballing nation. On the subject of the game itself, I want to congratulate STIMAC (4) who did a fantastic job in replacing the suspended SOLDO (14), my first-choice sweeper. My defence weathered the storm well. I am very pleased that we will now face our German friends in the quarter-finals. It was 2 years ago, I recall, that they knocked us out of the European championship (2-1). Let us not forget that they are our friends, but as everyone knows, there is nothing sweeter than beating your friends.”
Anghel IORDANESCU :
“From our point of view, CROATIA deserved to win. The Croats played much better than us and created more opportunities. We wish them every success for the rest of the World Cup. As for the game, we didn’t really show what we are capable of. We had some good chances, particularly in the second half, but we didn’t manage to score. Our presence and performance in this tournament, in other words finishing top of our group and qualifying for the second round, have shown that we deserve to play at this level. Our performance was good and I think the Romanian supporters will still be behind us. This was my last match in charge of the Romanian team, as I am retiring after five years in the job. I am fully satisfied and I would like to thank the players. If I have made any mistakes, I apologise for them. I have been very happy with the organisation of this World Cup, I’ve seen some very high quality matches, and I would like to say ‘good luck’ to all the teams left in the tournament.”
Adrian ILIE (11) :
“Basically I think we were wrong to play a long-ball game against the Croatians. We thought we would be able to beat them that way, but we were wrong. It didn’t work, that’s all”
Gheorge HAGI (10) :
“ROMANIA could have won this game if we had repeated our performance of the first round matches. Our problem lies in changing the pace of the game, we lacked a spring in our step and I think the heat affected us a great deal. To win this match, we should have played faster. In any case, all the teams in this stage of the tournament are starting to get tired. Personally, over the last two days, I have experienced problems with my adductor muscles, but that can’t explain everything. Our game could have been a bit more lively, and we should have played with more enjoyment. As for the referee, we did not lose the match because of him. He was strict but did not mess about. Only the team can be to blame for this defeat. This was my last game for the national team. This week I will be talking to the President of the Romanian Federation about my future. I am not worried about the future of this team, as there are enough talented players such as Adrian ILIE (11).”
Robert JARNI (17)
“We’re obviously delighted with this win, even though we ought to have scored more goals. This was a hard match and all the way through it we were worried about their counter-attacking. We were in command throughout the game and again, we should have scored two or three more goals. Now we go on to play GERMANY – we have a score to settle against the recent European champions, who beat us 2-1 in ENGLAND in 1996. Our win today is very important for CROATIA too. We must not forget that it wasn’ t that long ago that there was a war back home. How far can CROATIA go? Why not to the final? There’s nothing better than that.”
Aliocha ASANOVIC (7)
“We had hoped that the match would go like this against ROMANIA. We managed to impose our style of play and the Romanians weren’t able to finish their attacks. They didn’t seem decisive enough. All I’m interested in now is to know how the Croatian people are going to respond to our qualifying and I’d like to be at home to see it. For the quarter final against GERMANY, we’ll try to play a good game and go further still in the competition.”
