Čačić, Modrić, and Vida on Kosovo victory

Ante Čačić:

"I congratulate my players. They have prepared twice for one match, on a difficult pitch, against the defensive-minded opponent. However, we had the initiative, we wanted to score, and I have to be happy. These three points return us to top of the group, the position we hold since the start of this qualifying campaign. Kosovo did not surprise us, we knew this will not be easy. They are getting better match by match, they have interesting players, and the weather conditions did suit them. Many teams will have problems against them".

"Now we have to turn towards another difficult challenge. We are better than Turkey, but we have one day less to recover. Hopefully, the pitch will be good there and we can try to play like Croatia usually does".

Luka Modrić:

"Knowing this will be a difficult task, we have fully respected Kosovo. The most important thing is that we have won, and now we need to rest and prepare for Tuesday. Of course, waiting for the decision on the restart did affect us, that is not an adequate method of preparation for such an important match. We hope to stay on top upon return from Turkey and we'll do everything to achieve a positive result. We need no alibis, what we need is a great performance in Eskisehir. Turkey is a tough opponent - even though we've outplayed them in Zagreb, we couldn't win. Now we'll strive to achieve one".

Domagoj Vida: 

"Of course I'm happy, especially since I usually don't manage to score for the national team, but it doesn't matter who scored. What matters is that Croatia won and that the fans are happy. I congratulate my teammates, and we need to thank everyone who improved the pitch following Saturday rains. And many thanks to the fans who came back to the stadium to support us. This was a tough match, but that's what makes football interesting".

"We'll try to rest for Turkey, win, and head towards Russia. We believe in ourselves, and this victory will give us extra motivation to succeed".

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