Dejan Lovren and his Croatia team-mates keen to relegate ‘arrogant’ England in Uefa Nations League as they hated Three Lions’ World Cup anthem
CROATIA’S stars want to inflict Nations League relegation on England — because they hate the “arrogant” Three Lions anthem.
Dejan Lovren and Tin Jedvaj claim England fans disrespected them at this summer’s World Cup by chanting Skinner and Baddiel’s ‘Football’s Coming Home’ song.
And they are absolutely still fuming four months later.
Jedvaj, 22, rapped: “I think England in Russia disrespected us. They were 100 per cent ready with all this famous ‘football’s coming home’, that they are winners.
“We didn’t like this and we still don’t like this because we don’t like when someone disrespects us. It gives us one more motive to win.”
Luka Modric was among the players who hit out at England after Croatia’s 2-1 semi-final victory at the Luzhniki Stadium in July.
The Real Madrid midfielder, 33, fumed: “England underestimated Croatia and that was a huge mistake.
“They should be more humble and respect their opponents more.”
Ex-Croatia manager Slaven Bilic also branded the song “arrogant”, while Scotland legend Graeme Souness wanted it banned.
Croatia beat Spain 3-2 on Thursday — when Jedvaj struck twice — to set up today’s Nations League showdown at Wembley.
The winner qualifies for next summer’s finals in Portugal or Italy, while the loser will be relegated from League A and face losing top seeding for the Euro 2020 draw.
Liverpool defender Lovren, 29, said: “Of course there was no luck about the World Cup semi-final. People should respect us.
Zlatko Dalic labels England a long-ball team
CROATIA boss Zlatko Dalic has branded England a long-ball team that likes to “run on the pitch”.
The Three Lions can win their Nations League group by beating Croatia at Wembley today — four months after losing their World Cup semi-final.
Dalic said: “I will see if my players can really cope with this English team.
“They usually play long balls from the goalkeeper and then run on the pitch.”
Dalic cited England’s first two goals in October’s 3-2 win in Spain as the perfect examples.
Both came from accurate clearances from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, with Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford finishing them off.
Dalic said: “England like to play with long passes.
“We need to press them all over the pitch so it will be difficult for them.”
Dalic added that whatever happens at Wembley, it will be nothing compared with reaching the World Cup final at England’s expense.
He said: “We beat them in the World Cup semi- final and nobody can forget that.
“That will be the most important result from these three matches.”
“It is no coincidence we finished second at the World Cup but then people wrote that we had some luck.
“We have just beaten Spain. Before beating Spain we had lost to them 6-0 so we showed our character and we showed the strength of our team when we are prepared to fight until the end. There is no team to beat us.
“For us, I would say we want to play in these small finals.
"Maybe you don’t win anything and people say it is not important, but we will have something to show.
“They have a little advantage playing at their stadium in front of their fans, but I would say we are ready for that.”
Lovren feels he also has a personal score to settle as his poor performance at Wembley against Spurs last season — when he was subbed in the first half — always gets brought up.
He complained: “I don’t know why people bring up that story from way back. People talk like I’m doing mistakes every second or third game. It was 2017.
“Other players make many more mistakes than me and they don’t mention it. I can tell you of 50 defenders.”
He added: “I appreciate it when people say I am playing well and hope other people also appreciate that.”
Jedvaj has a happier memory of the Home of Football after being in the Bayer Leverkusen squad that shocked Tottenham there in the Champions League two years ago.
He was still at school when Croatia defeated Steve McClaren’s team 3-2 11 years ago and the Wally with the Brolly was born amid our failure to each Euro 2008.
Manchester United target £60m Jordan Pickford as David De Gea’s replacement
EXCLUSIVE By Alan Nixon
MANCHESTER UNITED will bid for Jordan Pickford to replace David De Gea.
The Spanish keeper’s Old Trafford exit looks more inevitable with each passing week as he refuses to commit to a long-term deal that has been on the table for months.
England No 1 Pickford, 24, is seen as perfect replacement to fill his gloves as his displays for club and country prove he has the bottle for the big stage.
De Gea is fancied by Italian giants Juventus, who may try to buy him in the summer or wait a year until he is a free agent.
But he is wary of the current England team under Gareth Southgate.
Defender Jedvaj said: “I was very young and went to school the next day but I remember watching it on TV.
“England is the home of football, we all know that. Maybe now we are at the same position as England in terms of quality of players.
“They are a great team full of young players and some experienced players.
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“They have great leaders like Harry Kane, John Stones and Harry Maguire.
"They are the best players in the world in their position, but we will go there to fight and search for our way to win.”
Jedvaj almost joined Spurs himself, with an agreement in place before he moved to Leverkusen from Roma in July 2014.
He said: “In the end I think it was better for me as a young player to develop in Germany.
“One day, maybe — it is my dream to play in England. It is a great country for football.”