FRANCE 98 – Japan-Croatia – D. Suker: “My goal was the most important one in the history of Croatian football”
Japan-Croatia – D. Suker: “My goal was the most important one in the history of Croatian football” 20.06.98 18h21 CET Robert PROSINECKI (8):
“The most important thing was to win this match. The rest doesn’t matter. We knew that JAPAN had a good team, very difficult to get around. We struggled a lot to get a break. I dedicate this victory to my compatriots who have come to NANTES to support us, and to my country”
Aljosa ASANOVIC (7):
“The weather conditions changed the game considerably. The dead heat was stifling in the first half. We had to make a superhuman effort to come to terms with this tenacious Japanese team. We’ve never had a superiority complex towards JAPAN, and we knew our opponents would fight on until the last minute. I’m just happy to make it through to the second round, and I hope that CROATIA will take home this World Cup.”
Krunoslav JURCIC (21):
“This wasn’t just a lucky win. Our aim was to win by playing our own game based on short passes. The Japanese team worked hard and posed a lot of problems for us. We were so tired by the end of the match that we didn’t even realise immediately that we’d won it. We’ve achieved our aim, which was to qualify for the second round. There will be less pressure on us now, we will be more relaxed and this will show in our game. I’d like to play ENGLAND in the second round.”
Davor SUKER (9):
“My goal was the most important one in the history of Croatian football. It enabled us to qualify for the second round. This afternoon the very dry pitch slowed the ball down considerably, which might explain the relative weakness of our game. We want to finish first in our group so that we play our second round match at 9:00 pm. At the 35th minute, I asked STANIC if he’d be able to keep up; he wasn’t even able to reply – the heat had already affected him that much.”
