Dominik Livaković on Croatia's spirit, Spain's class and what it would mean to win the UEFA Nations League – interview
Saturday, June 17, 2023
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"Every one of us is dreaming about winning the gold medal for Croatia," says the goalkeeper as he looks ahead to the UEFA Nations League final against Spain in Rotterdam.
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Runners-up at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and semi-finalists again in 2022, this Croatia side have been branded the nation's best ever by coach Zlatko Dalić, and goalkeeper Dominik Livaković has to agree. "The medal tally does show that, so it's an honour to play for Croatia and wear the Croatian jersey," he says.
The 28-year-old Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper is now preparing to anchor his side as they bid to win their first ever tournament. He is expecting an extremely difficult game against Spain in the decider in Rotterdam, but as he tells UEFA.com, when it comes to mentality, not many sides can match the Vatreni.
On the final against Spain
We came here with a great deal of self-confidence. We already have a bronze and a silver medal, and we came here to get the gold. [It] will be a tough match [against Spain]. They're a really good team. Every one of their 23 players is excellent.
How would it [feel] to win Croatia's first international tournament? We're dreaming about it. Every one of us is dreaming about winning the gold medal for Croatia. We'll, of course, give it our best and I hope that, with the help of our fans, we'll be able to achieve this.
On the semi-final win against the Netherlands
[The late equaliser] was quite a shock for us. It's hard to come back from that sort of result, especially against a team like the Netherlands. But we once again showed that we are a big team, that we have a lot of unity in the team and eventually it paid off.
Why did I go and pick up Luka Modrić at full time? I wanted to say thank you for a fantastic match. The way the captain is playing is unbelievable, and I hope that he'll stay with us for as long as he can. He really is an excellent captain and an excellent person. Everything has already been said about him. He really is a great person.
On Croatia's mental strength
We've won most of the recent games that went to extra time. I think the recipe for our success is that we truly behave like a team. We show a great deal of unity, we are like a family, and I think this is one of the main reasons. We are there for each other and we give our maximum effort every time we play for the Croatian national team.
A big thank you goes to all our fans; they kept supporting us when we were down [against the Netherlands]. There were a lot of them there. I hope there will be even more of them [at the final because] when we have them supporting us, the sky's the limit. Our fans really are the best in the world.