Our team fought like a lion, says Mandzukic

Croatia's Mario Mandzukic (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal against England in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday. (AFP)

Croatia played like lions to beat England and reach the World Cup final on Wednesday, striker Mario Mandzukic said after scoring the winning goal, while coach Zlatko Dalic described the performance as fantasy.
"This is a miracle. Only great teams can be as brave as we were and fight back from a goal down against teams like England," said Mandzukic, whose side face France in Sunday's final after their 2-1 extra-time win. "We've played our hearts out throughout the tournament. I am happy with my performances so far but I am here for the team. We were like lions out there tonight and we will be the same in the final."
Ivan Perisic said his equaliser that helped Croatia come from behind was a goal that "he could only dream of" as a child.
The Inter Milan winger poked home a cross from Sime Vrsaljko to haul Croatia level midway through the second half having fallen behind to an early Kieran Trippier free-kick. Mandzukic completed the turnaround around with the winner on 109 minutes to send his country through to Sunday's final against France. "It was a very difficult game. We all know what was at stake and how important a semifinal is for a small country like Croatia," said Perisic.
"We started slowly, but we showed our character just as in the previous two knockout games when we were a goal down. We didn't use to be that resilient."
With a population of just over four million, Croatia are the smallest nation to reach the final match of a World Cup since Uruguay lifted the title in 1950.
"I would like to thank everyone who came to support us in Moscow and everyone back home in Croatia who are sending their incredible support to us."
The 29-year-old Perisic recalled watching Croatia's last semifinal appearance in 1998, a game won 2-1 by eventual champions France. "I was back in my hometown. I rooted for Croatia wearing the Croatian jersey," said Perisic, who came through the youth teams in France with Sochaux.
"I could only dream to play for my country and to score one of the most important goals."
Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane said the defeat would hurt for a long time.
"It's tough, we're gutted," he said. "We worked so hard, the fans were amazing, it was a tough game, a 50-50 game, when we look back we will think there's stuff we could have done better.
"We worked as hard as we could... it hurts, it hurts a lot and it will hurt for a long time. We have had a fantastic journey, further than we thought," he added.
"We created some good chances when we were 1-0 up, maybe we dropped a little too deep but we didn't get enough pressure on the ball. There are a lot of ifs and buts, in these games it's small margins."
"It's hard to say (what went wrong). There's a lot we could have done better. They played well and made it difficult for us... it's hard to put your finger of it."
"It's been great to get to this stage but we have fallen a little bit short and it hurts."
 

• Fifa World Cup 2019