‘To win the World Cup, I would sacrifice the rest of my career’- Croatia star

For the first time in their existence, Croatia will play in a World Cup final.

Zlatko Dalic’s men came into the 2018 tournament hoping to eclipse their best ever World Cup record, a semi-final appearance that came back in 1998 which saw them finish in third place.

But now, Dalic was lucky to stumble upon a golden generation of players who have proved their worth on the biggest stage of them all.

Croatia had to stomach a lot. They started by beating Nigeria 2-0 followed by a stellar performance against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, scoring three to secure qualification to the round of 16. A 2-1 defeat of Iceland in the last Group D match all but cemented their spot at the top of the log.

The Croats then had to endure two penalty shootouts against Denmark and hosts Russia in the round of 16 and quarter final respectively.

Against all odds, they were victorious against Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions in the semi-final and are now prepared to face Les Bleus in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday.

According to British sports outlet Telegraph, Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic would sacrifice the rest of his career just to win this World Cup.

Rakitic believes more people will be rooting for his team to lift the trophy.

“I have this feeling there will be hundreds of millions of people rooting for us on Sunday. I think all of us deserve this. It doesn’t just concern the 23 players, coaching staff and backroom staff, but the 4.5m people back home. If there was a stadium big enough for 4.5m people, it would be full,” said Rakitic as seen on Telegraph.

He then vowed to do the best for Croatia in the final to the last minute. “This is something all of us have in us, and it will be in us to the very last moment,” he added.

“I would definitely leave my football boots behind on Monday if that was the price I had to pay to win for my country,” Rakitic concluded.

Nestor Pitana from Argentina will be the referee in charge of the final. He will be assisted by Hernan Maidana, Juan Belatti and Bjorn Kuipers, who will be the fourth official in Moscow.