Croatia awaits China encounter
Livaković and Antolić: "Proud of the performance, sorry for the loss"
12.01.2017.
Photo by: HNS
Croatia internationals Dominik Livaković and Domagoj Antolić spoke to hns-cff.hr following the China Cup semifinal match against Chile.
On Wednesday, Croatia national football team lost to Chile on penalties (5:2, 1:1) in the China Cup semifinal stage, with goalie Dominik Livaković producing a couple of brilliant saves in regulation time.
"The most difficult were the one-on-one situations with Vargas. However, I'm happy I could contribute to a good Croatia performance after a long journey and difficult opening minutes. We were not humiliated, this team has quality, and was playing all for one, one for all game. I'm sorry we lost on penalties, but I believe we can beat China and get back home in a good mood", he said.
Domagoj Antolić, another Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb international, shares Livaković's views on both sides of the medal.
"We can be happy with our performance, but sorry for the loss in the penalty shootout. We can be proud, since Chile had more time to prepare. After the initial 15 minutes, we have finally relaxed and started to play at a high level. Croatian First Division is a quality league, permanently producing new talents like Livaković, a top goalkeeper, especially in the key moments. In the first semifinal, China could match Iceland for the first 60 minutes, and was dangerous, but I think that our quality will prevail in the third place match", said Antolić.
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