From Sydney to Moscow, Croatia fans are still celebrating the team’s epic win and place in its first-ever World Cup final – after beating England 2-1 in a semi-final that saw the game go into overtime.
Mario Mandzukic clinched Croatia’s victory after scoring the second goal against a flagging England side that had initially appeared on course for victory.
The night from Wednesday to Thursday, few Croats spent the time sleeping. Towns and cities saw unprecedented celebrations: traffic was blocked, people partied in trams, sang and danced in the street, carrying flags, trumpets and torches.
All the squares in bigger towns were flooded with ecstatic fans. In Zagreb, the capital, the streets were packed all the way from the centre to the periphery. More than 10,000 people gathered in the central Jelacic Square alone.
The fans included people of all ages. It was a special experience for children, who for once did not have to ask their parents’ permission to stay up all night.
The winner of the cheerleading madness was a man seen grilling a piglet on an improvised spit which he had set up in his car in the very centre of Zagreb.
The success of the Croatian team was celebrated by fans outside the country as well, especially in those countries with large Croat communities.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Croats are most numerous in the southwest, fans poured onto the streets of the southern towns of Mostar, Kupres, Livno and Siroki Brijeg as well as in the capital, Sarajevo.
Celebrations also took place in countries with significant Croatian diasporas, such as Germany and Austria.
Australia’s large Croatian community also celebrated World Cup semi-final win, with hundreds gathering at the King Tom club in western Sydney.
Ten thousand Croatian fans watched the game at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, after which red-and-white checkerboards went up all over Moscow.
The Croatian team itself celebrated in their Moscow hotel, where the popular Croatian singer, Mladen Grdovic, sang and played for the players. Team manager Zlatko Dalic released a video of the celebration on Twitter.
The France-Croatia final will take place on Sunday, when the scenes of excitement will, of course, be just as frenzied.
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