MOSCOW: Croatian football fans streaming into Moscow for Sunday’s World Cup final between Croatia and France are hoping their team can settle an old score with the French dating back to the 1998 tournament.

That year, Croatia’s World Cup dreams were cut short as France clawed back from a goal down in the semi-final to beat Croatia 2-1, going on to win the tournament.

“They owe us and they will pay us back,” said Drazen Karakasic, a 47-year-old banker from Zagreb, who was wearing his team’s jersey in Moscow.

A day ahead of the final, Croatians in red-and-white chequered hats waved national flags and chanted on a pedestrian street that has become popular with football fans in Moscow.

“They are fighting all the time,” Croatian fan Nikola Kresic said of his country’s soccer team. “Maybe we don’t have the best team but they’ve got the biggest heart for sure.”

The success of Croatia has come as a surprise even to some Croatians who have been scrambling to secure tickets for the final and flights to Russia. It has been a reunion of sorts for Croatians living in Moscow.

For Nicolas Grbac, who has not lived in his native Croatia since he left as a child in 1989 ahead of the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, the influx of fans from his homeland has made him feel at home.

“It’s really great for me because of all the people from my country, even from my hometown,” said Grbac, who works on the street most popular with fans. “It’s a big football party.”

There were fewer French fans visible in central Moscow on Saturday, though those present included dedicated supporters such as Akim Snouci from Paris who has been in Russia since the beginning of the tournament.

“I don’t think it will be a huge win [for France],” he said. “There are no small teams. I’ll be pleased if we win 1-0.”

Snouci said he had one regret: his presence at the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday means that he will not make it to the wild street celebrations that will erupt in Paris if France win.

“I won’t be at the gathering on the Champs-Elysees,” he said. “You can’t cut yourself in half.”

Meanwhile, Croatia firmly believed they can win the final. Red-and-white chequerboards are everywhere in the homeland — on car hoods, in shop windows, trams, buses as well as on jerseys worn by waiters, shop workers or TV presenters.

Butchers arranged their meat in a red and white pattern while a Zagreb beauty salon told clients they would not be doing French manicures until Monday in a sign of support to the national team.

And in a Zagreb bar waiters were ‘drawing’ portraits of Croatian players on the froth of coffees.

“What was Brazil once, is Croatia now... Croatia are the world champions!” say the words of a popular song aired by radio and TV stations to boost moral.

“The squad’s success is an inspiration... it has brought optimism that has cast its spell over the whole society,” said Gordana Deranja, head of the Croatian employers’ association.

Tens of thousands of Croatians are expected to watch the match which kicks off at 5:00 pm (8:00pm PST) on giant screens in squares and bars throughout the Adriatic country.

About 8,000 people were expected to watch in an ancient Roman amphitheatre in the northern port of Pula, organiser said.

Tickets for 10 charter flights for Moscow for about 2,000 fans were snapped up. Authorities have issued more than 4,300 passports since the quarter-finals.

In Zagreb, the passport office was working overtime to process applications from fans wanting to attend the match.

“Tomorrow there will be 4.5 million of us on the pitch!” read the front page of Novi List quoting Ivan Rakitic, who struck the decisive penalties in the shootouts against Denmark and Russia to reach the semi-finals.

Optimism reigned everywhere.

“After watching the game with England I now genuinely believe that these boys can make it till the end,” Domagoj Stanic, a 43-year-old administrator, said in downtown Zagreb.

He was wearing a jersey with a number 10 on the back, emulating captain Luka Modric.

“Our boys are the best, we believe in our victory! We are not as pretentious as the others,” said Marija, a women in her sixties selling flowers in Zagreb’s main square where the fan zone is located.

Regardless of the result, the team will be given a hero’s welcome in Zagreb Monday, with more than hundred thousand people expected.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018