Croatia’s first World Cup semi-final for two decades has revived the memories of the country’s football highpoint and raised hopes that Luka Modric’s side can go one better than their legendary predecessors.
After a dramatic win on penalties against Russia, Croatia will play England on Wednesday in front of 80,000 people in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium for a place in the World Cup final.
In 1998, Croatia, which had emerged from a bitter independence war only three years earlier, made its debut at a World Cup finals.
With a team featuring Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki wearing blues shirts with a distinctive red and white chequerboard pattern, they beat World Cup giants Germany 3-0 in the quarter-finals in France, sparking delirium at home.
Although Croatia went on to suffer an agonising 2-1 defeat to host nation France in the semi-finals, they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the third-place playoff.
Nicknamed “the Fiery Ones”, that team has stood as an example to their successors ever since.
Now, finally, there is a team ready to join them in Croatian football’s pantheon of heroes.
Robert Prosinecki, a member of the 1998 squad, told AFP, “I would so much like that they be better than us.
“1998 will never be forgotten and should not be, but I would love it if eventually the 1998 ‘Fiery Ones’ can be moved aside so that we can talk not only about 1998 but also a bit about 2018,” the former Real Madrid player said.
Source: Punch
