JOSIP JURANOVIC has praised his friend and teammate Daizen Maeda after Croatia knocked Japan out of the World Cup on Monday night.
Japan’s Daizen Maeda with Croatia’s Josip Juranovic after the penalty shootout REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The Celtic striker scored the opening goal of the match, and Japan led at the break. Maeda was very impressive, with his movement and tracking back praised by the commentators.
Japan had a great World Cup, and coming from behind to beat Germany and Spain is no easy task, especially with the difference in quality between the sides. The country surprised many people by finishing second in their group, especially after their loss to Costa Rica.
Juranovic opened up on the post-match scenes when he ran over to embrace his Celtic teammate. The World Cup quarterfinalist said: [SportsMail]
“Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player’s dream,’ he told Sportsmail afterwards.
“But I also felt sad for him because he was crying. Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss.
“He is a good friend of mine and he had such a good World Cup with Japan. I feel sad for him tonight, but happy for Croatia.
“We made history tonight and now I have something I can say to my sons in the future that I did something beautiful.”
Croatia is in the next round of the competition and will face Brazil on Friday, with Josip Juranovic to go up against Vinicius Jnr for the third time this season. It will be a challenge for 2018’s finalists to get past the high-flying brazil.
