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Football

16th Jul 2018

Dejan Lovren casts judgement on France’s World Cup final performance

It was a game of fine margins

Reuben Pinder

He doesn’t feel the result was fair

Croatia will feel hard done by after a World Cup final that got away from them yesterday. Contentius decisions and extremely fine margins were the difference between them and France, who were slightly flattered by a 4-2 scoreline.

The stats indicate that Croatia dominated the match too – they had double the amount of posession France did, and twice as many shots, but only managed to score half as many goals.

France were clinical on the break, but their fortune with the first two goals should not be ignored. Croatia defender Dejan Lovren has spoken since the match and feels the result was not a fair reflection on the game.

“I’m disappointed because we lost the game, we played much, much better football than them,” Lovren told reporters after the game.

“But on the other hand I’m proud of this team and what we have achieved.”

Contunuing his reflection on the match, he criticised France’s approach to the game.

“We played beautiful football again. France were one of the favourites to win the World Cup and they did it. I think we were better. They did it another way. They didn’t play football, they waited for their chances and they scored.”

“They had their own tactic and you need to respect that. They played the tournament like that, every game, but when you look at all the countries behind us, we’re second. ‘There’s nothing to talk about now. It’s difficult to describe. Maybe after a week or two, a couple of months… right now, it’s difficult. Some moments I feel sad, some moments I’m happy. Overall, I’m proud.”