Vintage Croatia have long passed the consistency test but still defy belief

10-Dec-2022 16:20:58 | The Guardian

Josip Juranovic and Borna Sosa back the old guard to keep producing for the World Cup semi-final against Argentina

In Ban Jelacic Square there was not a soul who cared about the Friday night temperature, which had plummeted towards freezing. A reveller removed his shirt and dived into a nearby fountain; it always takes one to go first and soon enough he had company. Zagreb’s city centre was packed, celebrations continuing into the early hours under the shine of Christmas decorations. Now a country wonders whether it, and the football team that continue to defy belief, can do it all again twice more.

Walking out of a stadium 2,400 miles away in Doha, a smiling Josip Juranovic clutched a plastic bag. Its contents were inescapably yellow and it did not take much to prise out the nature of his loot. Croatia’s right-back had managed to swap shirts with his idol, Dani Alves, a non-playing substitute, who is squeezing out every last drop of a stellar career at 39.