In the early hours of June 25th, Croatia drew 1-1 with Italy in the final round of the European Championship group stage. With only 2 points from 3 matches, their chances of qualifying are extremely slim.
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic was fuming after the match, expressing his dissatisfaction with Dutch referee Danny Makkelie’s decision to add 8 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game, which ultimately led to Italy equalizing the score.
Dalic stated: “We are the underdogs, a small federation, but 8 minutes of stoppage time is unacceptable. It undoubtedly affected the result. I don’t know where the referee got the 8 minutes from. I have been complaining about UEFA and FIFA’s behavior for 5 years, but no one listens to me. Now it’s become a joke. 8 minutes of stoppage time is impossible. How many fouls and interruptions were there to warrant 8 minutes of added time?”
Dalic refused to dwell further on the refereeing: “This isn’t an excuse. Against Albania, we were in control, and so we were today. We got two penalties, but missed them both. I’m sad and disappointed because no one respects us. This isn’t our competition. Our fans turned out again, 100,000 Croatians came to Germany. Thanks to them. We are proud. But the reason we’re stopping here is down to ourselves. Conceding in the 98th minute is unacceptable, we should have controlled the ball if needed.”
When asked about substituting Luka Modric in the final moments, Dalic said: “I just wanted to bring on a more energetic player, because Luka had truly given his all. This result is very painful, and it will be painful for the next few days, the next few months. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. We’ve celebrated victories, and now we have to learn to accept defeat.”
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