The defeat was hard to accept, as was missing a chance that is not likely to come again in the lifetime of these players or fans. Everyone thought Croatia deserved more but the nation still celebrated, rather than mourned. Crowds that flooded the streets of Zagreb and other cities to watch the final – among them, many foreign tourists and football fans who came just to be a part of it – stayed long into the night. The party, of course, was muted but it was still a party, not a wake.
“You made us proud,” Jutarnji list proclaimed on the front cover; “Thank you, heroes! You gave us everything,” said Sportske novosti. But it wasn’t just that – there was a genuine feeling of pride and gratitude among people.
What they will try is to seize the opportunity to wrap themselves up in checkers and use the success for their populist agenda. A plan to build a grand national stadium has already been pulled out of someone’s bottom drawer and put on top of the pile of promises. Croatian politicians are good at making those and the people are forgetful when it comes to fulfilling them. This time, though, they might well go ahead and do it – because they have to do something and building one structure with taxpayers’ money is easy.
It is much harder to rebuild burnt bridges in domestic football and restore the people’s faith in something that has for years been dominated by criminal elements with close ties to powerful politicians. It is much harder to build order from chaos, a lesson they could try to learn from the national team – but it’s the kind of lesson that gets you to a World Cup final, so not everyone is capable of following that masterclass.