Rakitic dreams of going further than 1998 Croatia heroes

On Sunday night Griezmann and his team mates produced a pulsating performance before falling to the ground, hugging and sobbing as world champions.

"I do not know where I am," the stunned 27-year-old said while organisers hurried to set up the presentation stage on the pitch. "We cannot wait to lift the Cup and bring it back to France."

While waiting for the presentation Griezmann burst into tears, seemingly as the enormity of his team's achievement swept over him, and while a rainstorm soaked the Luzhniki arena, the player embraced French president Emmanuel Macron who kissed his forehead and clasped his shoulders.

Once the French had their hands on the coveted golden trophy, Griezmann grasped it and ran down to fans behind the goal to show them the World Cup, before skipping back along the side of the pitch holding it aloft.

And when he finally emerged from his on-pitch celebrations the tears had been replaced by a wide smile.

"Frankly I have not yet realised what we have done," he grinned after being named man-of-the-match.

"The World Cup... it's a lot... I am very proud of this team, the players, the coach, the staff. We were really a united group either on the bench or in the line-up. We did something incredible, we wrote history," he said, downplaying his individual role.

But certainly it had been a virtuoso performance by a player of undoubted talent who finally answered his doubters on the game's biggest stage.

He had stayed calm under pressure, unlocked the Croatian defence and been key to victory.

For now, though, he wanted to look forward.

"Now we will party and tomorrow we will party with France and with all the French people," he said, again breaking into an enormous grin.

"It is France we love. (We have) different origins but we are all united. We are many players with different backgrounds, but we have the same goal, we wear the same jersey, we work for each other.

Paul Pogba wanted his own star and 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe wanted to make an everlasting impression on his World Cup debut. Their wishes were granted as France lifted the World Cup with a 4-2 win against Croatia in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Both Pogba and Mbappe actually settled the fate of the final even before it had progressed to the last quarter, scoring the third and fourth goals respectively in the space of six minutes after the break. Mbappe won the best young player award, an achievement that matched the feat of great Brazilian striker Pele.

For Croatia captain Luka Modric the golden ball was there to proudly aloft. He raised it up amidst thunderous applause from the stands; it was not necessarily only Croatian voices that cheered. But his stony face only portrayed the visage of a heartbroken man who watched from a distance amidst pouring rain as France danced with that glittering piece of glory.

France are deserving winners. True, they were under pressure in the first half and they may have been a bit lucky to win a penalty. But they showed the quality of true champions and mercilessly hit their opponents on the break, which Croatia failed to negotiate.

It was a story of two contrasting halves. Croatia were on the ascendency in the first 45 minutes while it France asserted control after the break. When Argentine referee Nestor Pitana blew the final whistle, the most powerful image was Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps being toasted by his young charges. Deschamps truly built the bridge after 20 years. He won it in 1998, France's first-ever World Cup triumph. And after the disappointment in the Euro final two years ago when they lost to Portugal, the France legend guaranteed another moment of national pride.

The Luzhniki final saw the first three goals scored every 10 minutes after Mario Mandzukic headed the ball into his own net off an Antoine Griezmann free kick from outside the left-hand box in the 28th minute. Incidentally, it was France's first shot on target, a floater deep into the far post where Croatia's hero of the semifinal against England soared above everybody. It was a header from a class striker that rattled the top left-hand corner, but unfortunately though the Juventus forward was oblivious that he was defending his own goal.

France were lucky to take the lead against the run of play, with Croatia not only starting brightly but also dictating possession. The pall possession ratio of 68-32 in Croatia's favour was reflected in the stands, where the red-and-white stripes overwhelmingly dominated the blues.

Croatia got the deserved equaliser in the 28th minute with Ivan Perisic firing in a scorching left-footer. It was originated from another dead-ball situation after Perisic won a free kick about 35 yards from the French goal. Modric lobbed an intelligent ball wide where Sime Vrsaljko headed it across the penalty area. It dropped for Perisic, who made a little space before unleashing an unstoppable diagonal drive into the bottom right-hand corner.

The third goal came after a lot of deliberation and the referee had to take the assistance of VAR, which ruled Perisic had handled the ball in the forbidden zone. Griezmann was again the initiator with a corner from the same corner flag. N'golo Kante headed it at the near post which struck the stretched hand of Perisic, though unintentionally. Griezmann stepped up to convert the penalty, sending Danijel Subasic the other way.

France went into the lemon break with a fortuitous 2-1 lead. But they returned only to bury the game beyond doubt with Pogba and Mbappe finding the net in the space of six minutes and that too after a pitch invasion by members of Pussy Riot that stopped the final for a few minutes.

Pogba increased the lead in the 59th minute from a rebound after his first attempt was blocked. It was then the turn of Mbappe to become only the second youngest player after Pele to score a goal in the final. The 19-year-old France prodigy drove a spectacular low shot after a little shimmy on the top of the box.

Hugo Lloris's blunder in the 69th minute allowed Croatia to make it 4-2. The France captain unnecessarily waited with the ball before Mandzukic closed in on him and poked the ball into the net as the goalkeeper was trying to cut across him. But that goal served only as a consolation for Croatia, who turned up in their maiden final with great expectations but once against came unstuck against a team they lost 2-0 to in the semifinal 20 years ago.

Four years ago, Brazil were hit by a tragedy bigger than a tsunami. A 7-1 thrashing by Germany was beyond the wildest imagination of the proud football nation.

Maracanzo was previously the lone tragedy that Brazil ever experienced, when Uruguay denied their first World Cup in the last 15 minutes of the game to clinch a 2-1 victory from 1-0 down at the famous Maracana stadium in 1950. Since then Brazil went on to win five WorldCups, more than any other country.

Brazil were never humiliated like they were on July 8 in the 2014 semifinal. In front of a home crowd, it felt like a brutal public flogging -- a wound so deep that many pundits thought it would take at least a decade to heal.

Some famous football critics even saw the end of Brazilian era in world football. Brazil even vindicated that prediction by sinking further into the abyss after replacing Felipe Scolari with Carlos Dunga.

From number six in the rankings, Brazil are back to number one again. When countries like Italy failed to get a World Cup ticket, Brazil became the first country to qualify for the Russian fiesta. When hot favourites Germany, Spain and Argentina got dumped out of the World Cup, Brazil looked solid and like champions.

The Selecao's recovery is almost like the rise of the mythical phoenix from the ashes. So, was the Brazilian renaissance almost natural? Far from it. The Brazilian football federation played practically no role in it. The federation hit its lowest ebb as three of its bosses had to step down upon corruption charges.

Brazil were lucky to make an all-important recruitment. Brazil are born again and have become a force to reckon with mainly because of one man. He is Tite, The Coach.

The biggest challenge of the Brazilian coach was to fulfil the typical expectation of spectators. Winning is not enough. It has to come in 'Braziliance', through beautiful football. Under Tite, Brazil are playing 'Brazilliance' brand.

Fondly called Professor by his charges, Tite inspired his team to win 19 of 21 matches before the World Cup.

"Tite is a great coach, one of the best in the world. He just doesn't have the status of [Manchester City coach Pep] Guardiola and [Manchester United coach Jose] Mourinho because he's not in Europe. But he's as good as these guys."

Quotes like this from players and critics are common these days.

The secrets of Tite are planning, confidence and motivation. He is very dedicated and has an incredible ability to explain his ideas and explore the best of every player.

The first thing Tite did was institute the rule that there would be no permanent captain for Brazil. The armband is being rotated among players since he took over. The next remarkable step is less dependency on superstar Neymar.

Scolari went into Mission Hexa, the sixth World Cup for Brazil, purely depending on Neymar, who was then 21 years old. But Tite built a squad of several winners, of which Neymar is one. Interestingly, Tite is yet to offer the world's most expensive player the coveted armband. Neymar has to work harder to earn it.

Tite made his team more attacking, but with beefed up defence. Brazil have only conceded six goals in 24 matches with Tite in charge. Conceding seven goals in one game seems to be a thing of the past.

Tite is least interested about the favourites' tag or the No. 1 ranking.

“I care so little about it!” is Tite's reply for journalists. All he wants is hard work from his team. Because, he reminds his charges, talent doesn't win matches.

When Brazil take on Belgium in the make-or-break match tonight, any one of Philippe Coutinho, Paulinho, Gabriel Jesus, Willian, Douglas Costa or Firmino can seize the limelight from Neymar. Any of the players can score or become player of the day.

I believe Brazil will win. And, if it is a victory, the real winner will not be playing in the field but watching the game from the dugout!

The writer is former Sports Editor of The Daily Star

Didier Deschamps proclaimed France’s second World Cup triumph was “just as beautiful” as their first after leading them to glory again 20 years on, but Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said that Deschamps' team "did not play football."

"I'm disappointed because we lost the game, we played much, much better football than them, but on the other hand I'm proud of this team and what we have achieved," Lovren said.

"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.” he added.

"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."

Ivan Perisic conceded the first-half penalty after referee Nestor Pitana penalised him for handball following a VAR review.

"I was sure he would not give the pen," said the Liverpool centre-back. "From my point of view, he [Perisic] could not react.

"It was a critical moment, we came back at 1-1, and then this penalty and then 3-1, 4-1, but even then we didn't stop playing football, we still believed, we gave everything, and this is why people are proud now in Croatia."

Didier Deschamps' side had claimed a 1-0 over Belgium in the semifinals with a defensive masterclass which left Belgium star Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois deeply unimpressed with what he felt were overly cagey tactics by France in the semi-final, and now Lovren also felt the frustration of coming up against Deschamps's style. Not always the most entertaining, however, in the end, French squad just had too much talent at its disposal to get the job done.