Perišić: “If we play like we did against Ghana, we can beat anyone”

Ivan Perišić

“It was good. Much better than in the first two matches. In the first half they didn’t really attack much and gave us plenty of space, which suited us. We created chances and the game opened up for us.

There was a bit of panic when it became 1–1, but we scored from a set piece. Everything is positive. We’ll be ready for the next match.

At this level, no matter who the opponent is, you have to give everything you’ve got. If we play the way we did against Ghana, we can beat anyone.

My partnership with Martin Baturina on the left side? I was playing as a full-back. I’ve said a hundred times that I’m here to do whatever the team needs. It’s not unfamiliar to me—I’ve played as a full-back and as a wing-back before.

Baturina is in great form and needs to keep it up. He works very hard for the team and has really improved over the last six months.”

Josip Stanišić

“We were under a bit of pressure because we knew it would have been easier if we had won the opening match. That didn’t happen, but in the second and third games we showed character.

None of the matches were easy. We knew Ghana were dangerous on the counterattack and had very fast players. We had to be careful. We all played as one and fought to get through.

Which opponent was the toughest to defend against? Ghana, because you never know what to expect from them. Sometimes they surprise even themselves. They’re incredibly quick. You don’t always need exceptional quality—if you’re fast, you can create problems.

The previous matches were difficult as well. Whenever you have to defend one-on-one, the attacker always has a chance to get past you. He knows what he’s going to do; I can only react.

We’re happy to have advanced. We’re looking forward to the match in Toronto and going there to win.

Things feel much easier now. Nothing has really gone our way at this World Cup, and we’ve had to solve everything ourselves.

We couldn’t open up too much against Ghana because we know how fast they are. We played a proper, tough match. A draw would have been enough, but we went for the victory.

Portugal have exceptional quality, but we couldn’t choose our opponent.”

Nikola Vlašić

“The match was as difficult as we expected. Our opponents are very compact defensively and don’t give you much space, but I think we were the same.

We made good use of our counterattacks and transitional moments. We created quite a few chances whenever we won the ball back in midfield.

We controlled possession for most of the match, apart from a ten-minute spell when we conceded. At that point there was a little nervousness.

Overall, I think we played a proper, tough, Croatian-style match.”

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