FRANCE 98 – MatchQuotes
Match Number 59 GER – HRV Quotes Miroslav BLAZEVIC :
“We’re very happy with this victory. It’s an historical result. A CROATIA team has never achieved anything this important. I would also like to congratulate the GERMANY team for their spirit of fair play.
Even when they were three – nil down, the Germans didn’t stop battling. They were not weakened by the sending off of Christian WÖRNS (2), which was obviously in our favour. But I don’t think that this had a great effect on our game.
We are overjoyed but we are well aware of the fact that we will have to prepare for the semi-final against FRANCE. We are very proud that we’re going to play in the most beautiful stadium in the world in front of 80 000 spectators. That will be a new test for us but today we showed our abilities. We really deserved this win”.
Berti VOGTS :
“We’re not happy because we lost. Up until the sending off we had the upper hand and GERMANY played its best match tonight, in vain. The CROATIA team is going to Paris and we’re going home. It’s a difficult moment to live with but I would like to thank my team because they gave their all. Unfortunately it wasn’t good enough however I am nevertheless satisfied with our performances all the way through this World Cup. It’s the second time that we have played CROATIA, the first time being in Euro 96, this time they won”.
Dario SIMIC (20):
“I don’t know what to say. It’s a dream, we still can’t believe it. Tonight we have made Croatian history. In Zagreb they must be going crazy. Before the match I had a really good feeling about tonight”.
Silvio MARIC (11):
“It still hasn’t sunk in that we’ve won this match. CROATIA is in the semi-final. Tomorrow we’ll analyse our performance. Tonight we’ll just savour the moment.”.
Drazen LADIC (1):
“We played really well tonight. We believed we could win but not by so many goals. Each one of us gave everything he had and it is much easier to play in such conditions. Coming on to the pitch, it was obvious to me that we couldn’t lose. This is the biggest victory by the CROATIA national team”.
Goran VLAOVIC (19):
“I think that it will take a few days for us to realise how important this win is. The Germans played well in the first thirty minutes. After WÖRNS (2) was sent off, we made the most of the space. In contrast to the Euro 96 quarter final against GERMANY, justice was on our side tonight. We’ve got three days to get our strength back to take us all the way to the final”.
Davor SUKER (9):
“This match was billed as a David and Goliath encounter but we can now ask the question, who is who? I think that we were better in every aspect of the game. The first thirty minutes were difficult but after the attack against me, we knew how to take control of the game. The German players’ reactions to the referee after the sending off of WÖRNS (2) didn’t seem to be justified because during Euro 96, it was we who paid the price of a refereeing decision that stopped us from going to the semi-final. This is the greatest day in the history of Croatian football. Now let the French get some rest”.
Ardian KOZNIKU (16):
We now have to prepare for the match against FRANCE. I have the advantage of knowing the French championship very well while Zvonimir BOBAN (10) knows the French players that play in Italy and Slaven BILIC (6) knows those that play in the English league”.
Robert PROSINECKI (8):
I’m very moved by this win against GERMANY. My satisfaction is complete because this being our first time in a World Cup, we’ve reached the quarter-final to go on to the semi-final. It’s amazing how much this means to Croatians. The three-nil score line really surprised us. GERMANY has a great team but we played extremely well tonight with many opportunities. We put a lot into this match and we’re going to give our supporters more of the same in the next match where we’ll give our all against FRANCE”.
Zvonimir SOLDO (14):
Tonight, the Germans were definitely more tense than us. Our concentration was 100%. I’ve got the feeling that we could go all the way and that we’ve got what it takes to play really well against the French”.
Christian WÖRNS (2):
“In the play which led to my sending off, I was late, but I wasn’t the last line of defence because KÖHLER (4) was covering me. I didn’t injure my opponent badly, I’ve seen the replay on television and I think that the red card was a joke”.
Oliver BIERHOFF (20):
“The sending off was harsh. A yellow card would have been more fair. Nevertheless, I’ll have to see the slow motion replay. The sending off was a turning point and it’s a real shame for Christian WÖRNS (2). Up until the red card it was GERMANY’s best match to date. But we just couldn’t break through. In the changing room there was silence, everybody was very despondent. It hurts even more because we didn’t deserve to lose. The coach didn’t say anything, it’s true that under such circumstances it’s hard to talk to the players”.
Lothar MATTHAUS (8):
“Sending off Christian WÖRNS (2) was completely unjustified. Davor SUKER (9) was the first to the ball and Christian WÖRNS (2) went in for the tackle. The referee should have consulted his assistant referee who must have seen that Christian WÖRNS (2) was not the last line of defence but that Jürgen KOHLER (4) was behind him. It’s hard to believe that FIFA obliges each team captain to wear the fair play armband when the FIFA referee is not at all fair. If he had consulted his assistant referee, he would have seen that Jürgen KOHLER (4) was behind him”.
Jürgen KOHLER (4):
“We’ve got nothing to reproach ourselves about because this was by far our best match. Even reduced to 10 men, we were still dangerous. An elimination such as this really hurts. In fact, tonight I certainly played my last match with the national team. I’m obviously unhappy to finish on such a note but you have to know how to lose. We must think of the future and reconstruct a new team with younger players”.
