An undeserved ending

"Congratulations to Portugal and to my friend Martinez on progressing. I wish them all the best for the rest of the tournament. It's difficult to say much after a defeat like this. In the first half, our plan was to keep a clean sheet. We stayed in a block that was supposed to be a mid-block rather than a low block, but we still managed not to concede. In the second half, we turned the game around, were the better team and created many chances. We didn't deserve an ending like this, and I can only congratulate the players. I'm sorry we went out this way, but at the previous two tournaments we also had some luck in certain moments, whereas today we didn't. I won't comment much on the VAR decisions, but I will say that the refereeing was very poor from our perspective, with no fouls or set pieces given in our favour. Still, there's no point talking about that after a defeat."

An emotional rollercoaster

"It's not easy to concede in stoppage time, and it has happened to us several times now. It was a poor defensive reaction, but we responded, scored for 2-2 in the final minute and thought the goal would stand, only for VAR to disallow it. There were so many emotions, up and down, and it's not easy to deal with that. The players are sad and disappointed. We lost and we are out, and that is the only thing that matters. We came up against a strong Portugal side already in the Round of 16, but we lost bravely."

Thanks to the fans

"Thank you to the people and to our diaspora, who respect and appreciate us and who support us. Croatia has achieved great things at the last three World Cups, and I would say that a beautiful era has come to an end, while some new beginnings lie ahead. Who knows what will happen in four years? We will discuss all of that after returning to Croatia. Thank you to everyone who supports us. Once again, we showed character, patriotism and courage. I simply have to be grateful to everyone. We spent a wonderful 20 days in the United States, enjoyed excellent conditions at our camp, but unfortunately this story did not end the way we wanted, with a better result. What remains are regret and sadness, but there was a wonderful atmosphere thanks to the support of our fans. Football brings people together and makes them happy and proud. I would like it to remain that way, rather than becoming the business it has become, where the small nations do not have much of a chance. Few in number, not small – we performed miracles twice, but this time we were not allowed to go further."

Conceding the decisive goal late on

"It's never easy to concede in the final minutes, but we should have settled the game earlier. Portugal were definitely better in the first half, though without creating many clear chances, while we could have finished the job in 90 minutes. We had the better opportunities, and after such a dramatic ending it's difficult for me to explain the second goal we conceded. One of their players outjumped three of ours, and it's something that keeps happening to us. There are a lot of emotions involved, but that's life, that's football."

Modrić, Perišić and Kovačić

"I'm sorry that what was probably Luka's last World Cup ended this way, with such a difficult match and a painful defeat. He played very well and was once again one of our key players. He showed his character and quality once more and led Croatia right until the end. I'm happy that this goal placed Ivan among the greats of World Cup history because he deserves it, and at least something came back to him in that way as a form of satisfaction. Kovačić was also very good, especially in the second half after a lengthy absence. This team has its senior leaders, but younger players are coming through and the time has come for them to take on the main roles after gaining valuable experience. Some of the younger players may have thought, after winning a medal in Qatar, that success comes easily, but after a defeat like this they will understand that it does not. Everyone has to experience both victories and defeats. Those defeats lead to success and are a valuable lesson for young players."

VAR decisions

"I'm not going to make excuses or blame anyone. You can see how VAR decisions kill emotions, how they take football backwards and undermine what football used to be. Sometimes VAR helps, sometimes it hurts, but it takes away the emotion and it's not easy to deal with. The intention is to make football fair and correct, but we have gone too far with VAR. We lost, and we congratulate Portugal."

The future of Croatian football

"Croatia certainly has a bright future, with many talented young players. We have shown that many times. I'm not worried; there are talented players coming through, and some of them showed it today. Whether we will be able to repeat these achievements, I don't know. That will be very difficult."