The former Croatia midfield playmaker looks back on his role in firing his countr y to third place at their first-ever World Cup
Netherlands 1 Croatia 2
1998 World Cup, third-place play-off, Paris
I remember that we approached that game with mixed feelings. On one hand, there was still disappointment in our camp after the defeat against France in the semi-finals. We had a 1-0 lead, but lost 2-1 after two goals by Lilian Thuram – he’d never scored for France before that. We felt that we could have reached the final. On the other hand, we knew that we must try to bounce back and try to win the game for third place against Netherlands.
They had a great team – for me, the best team at that World Cup. They should have won against Brazil in the semi-finals, and only lost on penalties. To be honest, against us for a large part of the game they were also the better team. But we possessed enough quality, we defended well and our goalkeeper Drazen Ladic was excellent.
I scored the first goal. It was a counter-attack. I received the ball from Robert Jarni. I was in the middle of the box, with three opponents in front of me. I turned around, pirouetted and immediately shot at goal. It was a fine goal, one of the best I scored in my career for club or the national team. That goal was also a big satisfaction for me, given that in the previous matches in the knockout stage our national coach, the late Miroslav Blazevic, didn’t pick me for the starting line-up.
Netherlands
