BSP-33 Rakitic says team ‘exhausted and happy’ advancing to 2018 World Cup semifinals

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BSP-33

FOOTBALL-WC-RAKITIC

Rakitic says team ‘exhausted and happy’ advancing to 2018 World Cup
semifinals

SOCHI, July 8, 2018 (BSS/TASS) – The Croatian national football team is
exhausted after the penalty shootout win over Russia, but is satisfied with
advancing to the semifinals stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Croatia’s
midfielder Ivan Rakitic said.

The Croatian national football team entered the semifinals of the 2018
FIFA World Cup knocking out hosts Russia in the quarterfinals match on
Saturday night in Sochi with the 4-3 penalty shootout win following 2-2 draw
in the regular and 30-minute overtime period.

“I have played in about 60 matches this season, but I can say that there
is nothing better playing at the world championship,” Rakitic said after the
match. “Playing at the tournament of this level always gives you extra
energy.”

“Yes, we are very exhausted at the moment, but we cherish it because we
deserved it,” the 30-year-old Croatian midfielder added.

Earlier on July 7, team England also cleared the quarterfinal round of the
2018 FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 win over Sweden at the stadium in Samara.
England is now set to meet Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July
11.

After a pair of the quarterfinal matches played on July 6, team France
enjoyed a confident defeat of 2-0 over Uruguay in the city of Nizhny
Novgorod, while Belgium went for 2-1 win over the legendary Brazilian team in
the city of Kazan.

Russia is staging its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in
Moscow with a spectacular opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of
June 14.

The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of
the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan,
Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod,
Yekaterinburg and Samara.

BSS/TASS/SMM/1948 HRS