Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic is fed up with his team being treated like dark horses and says the side deserves more respect at Euro 2024 for their past achievements – especially when compared to England.
Dalic’s side face Albania in Hamburg later on Wednesday, needing to get their campaign back on track after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Spain in their Group B opener.
That result left Croatia licking their wounds, but after reaching the World Cup final in 2018 and finishing in third place four years later in Qatar, Dalic says his side, who also reached the Nations League final last year, should not be written off.
“We are always the dark horse. We are always not among the favourites. Nobody believed in us. In the past six years, we’ve won three medals,” Dalic told reporters in the lead-up to Wednesday’s game, pointing out that their record trails only that of France.
“So I always keep saying that Croatia deserves greater respect from everyone else for what we’ve managed to do.”
To make his point, the Croatia boss compared his side favourably to frequent underachievers England, who won the World Cup in 1966 and have reached one European Championship final since.
“We’ve won three medals. England won one 50 years ago, but they are a great team. We are not… We are a nation who are entitled to feel proud, and our results show that we are better than are perceived.”