Croatia the smallest nation to reach WC final since 1950

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic on Tuesday said his side "deserve more respect" for recent achievements, as they bid to bounce back from an opening Euro 2024 defeat by Spain.

The World Cup semi-finalists and Nations League runners-up are hoping to get their Group B campaign back on track when they take on Albania in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Croatia were rocked by three first-half Spain goals in their 3-0 loss at the Olympiastadion, but are confident they can still reach the knockout phase for a fifth straight major tournament.

"It wasn't a pretty sight to see and watch, but we are always the dark horse, we're always not among the favourites so nobody believed in us and in the last six years we've won three medals," Dalic told a pre-match press conference.

"After France, we're the only other team to do this. I always say we deserve more respect, England won (1966 World Cup) 50 years ago and they're a 'great team', but we're the dark horse.

"We have the results to show we're better than perceived. After this defeat there's a more negative outlook, but we're looking forward to the next match."

Dalic said there would be changes to his starting XI.

Croatian media reports have suggested he will break up his midfield trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic, with the latter expected to miss out.

Albania showed in their opening 2-1 defeat by holders Italy -- when they scored the fastest ever European Championship goal -- that they will not be pushovers in a tough group.

"We have to be and feel alive until the end of the match," added Dalic.

"We cannot lose our heads and try to force things, but with our quality and our own play, do what we've envisaged because tomorrow we'll go for victory and three points, but patience will be the key tomorrow."

Albania are playing in only their second major finals, after a group-stage exit from Euro 2016 when they claimed a memorable win over Romania.

Head coach Sylvinho is still hopeful his men can pull off an even bigger shock in Germany.

"There's a beautiful path ahead of us," said the former Brazil left-back.

"I think we played quite a good match (against Italy). We didn't collapse, we were there until the very end and we had the chance to equalise and that's good...

"This is a very tough group, definitely, but I believe it can be true joy for us, because we're here playing against the best teams and we can learn from them.

"We'll give it our best shot. In football, anything can happen."

Starting line-ups for the World Cup third place playoff between Belgium and England in Saint Petersburg on Saturday (1400 GMT kick-off):

Belgium (3-4-3)

Thibaut Courtois; Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen; Thomas Meunier, Axel Witsel, Youri Tielemans, Nacer Chadli; Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard (capt)

Coach: Roberto Martinez (ESP)

England (3-5-2)

Jordan Pickford; Phil Jones, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Danny Rose; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane (capt)

Coach: Gareth Southgate (ENG)

Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRI)

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic announced Monday a preliminary 26-man squad for Euro 2024 to be led by veteran captain Luka Modric in his likely last major tournament before retirement from international football.

The 38-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, who is poised to depart at the end of the season, led Croatia to an historic second-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.

Modric-led Croatia finished third at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and last year lost to Spain in the Nations League final.

"He (Modric) can hardly wait to play for Croatia and be our leader," Dalic told reporters in Zagreb presenting the squad.

Croatia's most succesful coach, who took over in 2017, said he was "aware of great expectations" from the championship in Germany that starts on June 14.

"But there are still many national teams that have a great chance to fight for something at the Euro," Dalic said and estimated Croatia had the toughest group.

Croatia play Spain in their opening Group B match on June 15 before facing Albania and current European champions Italy.

"There is no pressure. I just want us to enjoy football, for Croatia to be good again, and for the fans to be happy and proud", Dalic said.

The 57-year-old reminded of major football successes the country of 3.8 million people has achieved in recent years.

"We raised the bar too high, we won three medals in the past five years ... Croatia always showed that they are the best when it's the toughest. We will try not to disappoint".

The players will start to gather Sunday to train in the norther port of Rijeka where they will play a friendly with North Macedonia on June 3. Five days later they will face Portugal in Lisbon.

Dalic voiced hope that the recovery of injured Tottenham winger Ivan Perisic, who has rejoined First Division side Hajduk Split on loan for the rest of the season, would eventually enable him to join the squad.

"We will not force anything. It's a gain for us that he returns to the national team."

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Fenerbahce/TUR), Ivica Ivusic (Pafos/GRE), Nediljko Labrovic (Rijeka)

Defenders: Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens/GRE), Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin/GER), Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City/ENG), Borna Sosa (Ajax/NED), Josip Stanisic (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Josip Sutalo (Ajax/NED), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo/ITA), Marin Pongracic (Lecce/ITA)

Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid/ESP), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City/ENG), Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr/KSA), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta/ITA), Nikola Vlasic (Torino/ITA), Lovro Majer (Wolsfburg/GER), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord/NED), Luka Sucic (RB Salzburg/AUT), Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (Hajduk Split), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim/GER), Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Marko Pjaca (Rijeka), Ante Budimir (Osasuna/ESP), Marco Pasalic (Rijeka)

Stand-by: Borna Barisic (Rangers/SCO), Duje Caleta-Car (Lyon/FRA), Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg/GER), Dominik Kotarski (PAOK/GRE), Toni Fruk (Rijeka), Marin Ljubicic (LASK/AUT), Igor Matanovic (Karlsruhe/GER, Niko Kristian Sigur (Hajduk Split), Petar Sucic (Dinamo Zagreb)

Cemeteries are indeed associated with grief and sadness. On top of that, a lot of people consider them to be eerie places to visit. However, cemeteries can also be incredibly enchanting. At its core, they are designed in a way to make visitors who come to pay tribute to their loved ones feel comfortable.

On top of that they are filled with amazing stories and fascinating architecture which span hundreds of years. They are also very serene, and have an air of peace and calm about them. Some of them also have very intricate artwork. The point is, there are plenty of beautiful cemeteries scattered across the globe and if you are not completely weirded out by the concept of visiting cemeteries for their aesthetic appeal, here are a few of them across the world that you can check out. 

Photo: Collected / Caz Hayek / Unsplash

Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia

Described to be a gothic wonderland, this hauntingly beautiful destination is filled with rich culture, architecture, sculptures, and flowers. Designed by Austrian architect Hermen Bolle in the estate of a 19th-century linguist and featuring a neo-Renaissance theme, you will have a hard time identifying this as a graveyard. It is as pretty to visit in the summer as it is in winter. 

Photo: Collected / Toa Heftiba / Unsplash

Merry Cemetery, Sapanta, Romania

Perhaps, the most unique cemetery in the world not just from an aesthetic standpoint but also from a philosophical position. While most graveyards treat death with solemnity, this one chooses to shed light on it. Each grave contains a painting accompanied by a humorous verse or poem. The idea behind this is to celebrate the life of the deceased with a smile and cherish them. The Merry Cemetery is still active and also happens to be a national museum.

Photo: Collected / Zach Kirby / Unsplash

The Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina

 Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires is a captivating blend of architectural marvel and cultural significance. The labyrinthine layout is adorned with grand statues, intricate marble sculptures, and elaborate tombs, reflecting the wealth and opulence of Argentina's elite. 

Established in 1822 it is the final resting place of some of Argentina's most notable individuals including Eva Peron and also happens to have 90 tombs that have been labeled as national landmarks. 

Pere Lachaise, Paris, France

Arguably one of the most iconic graveyards in the world, you have probably seen this in numerous movies and TV shows. It also happens to be the most visited cemetery in the world. Established by Napoleon I himself in 1804, it is home to some very famous individuals such as Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. Even if you take them out of the equation, it boasts 200 years of French architecture and is indeed a very fascinating place to visit. 

Photo: Collected / Stuart Timms / Unsplash

Highgate Cemetery, London, England 

If there is another graveyard as iconic as Pere Lachaise, it is the Highgate cemetery in London. Filled with vegetation, this Victorian gem was designed as a space for Londoners to escape the noise of the city and just reflect on life. Despite somewhat suffering from negligence, it emanates a unique blend of gothic charm, elaborate mausoleums and lots of greenery making it ideal for both history and nature lovers. 

Waverley Cemetery, Sydney, Australia

The reason why this graveyard will make it on any beautiful graveyard list is simply because it is located right next to the ocean. It also is home to over 50,000 grave sites making it one of the most beautifully chilling views in the world. Given its massive span of over 40 acres, this graveyard also offers official tours. 

Win and you have a seat at the finals. Lose and you go home. In this high-risk and high-reward situation, we have only four teams left at the FIFA World Cup 2022 and Croatia amongst them have earned our respect a while ago. They have dismantled some big teams on their way to the road to the final.

Here are 5 reasons why Croatia is a force to be reckoned with.

Luka Modric, the Magician

The midfielder is presently 37 years old and still playing 90 to 120 mins a match like he's barely 20. He is part of the present Champions League trophy-holder club, Real Madrid. In a team as talented as Real Madrid, Luka Modric has the nickname: The Magician. That should be enough to convince everyone about his abilities. Any team that has Modric in their squad is already getting an advantage and this time that advantage goes to Croatia.

An extraordinary goalkeeper

Sure, Modric is amazing without a doubt but Croatia has another asset that many teams are missing in this tournament and that is an extraordinary goalkeeper. With so many matches going into penalty shootouts, it is imperative to have a goalkeeper that can keep his nerve in this situation and Croatia has just the right man for the job.

Goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic has already produced a hattrick of saves against Japan and added to that tally in the game against Brazil. Which eventually caused Brazil to fall behind and the result, as you can see is that they are in the semi-finals.

They have an ambitious team

Players with individual talents and personalities are important and they can be great when your team needs that 'one moment of magic' for a win. What is better is when you have a team that plays as a team and can properly function as a team. Croatia have found themselves a squad that fit together smoothly as a team and this team is ambitious. From asking 'What if we don't qualify?' to 'We're fighting for the trophy', you can imagine the aspiration it takes to come this far.

They have done it before

Some people have this notion that Croatia is in the semi-finals because of luck. They do not deserve to be here and many think that they are like a bad case of flu — comes and goes with the wind. That is hardly the case.

Croatia is a European team that exudes European football flavour in their playing style. Since 1998, they have appeared in all the World Cups so far except 2010. (Note that Croatia became an independent nation only as recently as 1991). Not only are they qualifying regularly, they are also beating big names. They played in the finals against France in 2018 and this year, they have already beaten the big favourites Brazil to reach the semi-finals. So, they are not new to this stage, they have done this before and they know how to get it done.

They are serious about tactics

There are so many tactics to adopt in a football match but quite often we find that when the game gets difficult and pacey in the second half, the teams abandon their tactics or fail to apply their tactics properly due to the high speed of the game. For Croatia, this is not the case. In every match, it is evident they have a game plan. When they are on the pitch, they already know what they want to do and why. So far, their tactics (some people might not like their defensive tactics sometimes) have worked well. Brazil got them shaken up a bit but even the samba boys had to concede to Croatia's tactics. With such a clear game plan in every match, Croatia should be the new favourites.

Say what you will about Croatia but being led by someone like Modric and with a tremendous amount of self-belief, they have progressed this far and it should not be a surprise to anyone if they end up as the winners of this tournament.