In the early hours of June 25, Croatia drew 1-1 with Italy in their final Euro group match, accumulating only two points and having slim chances of advancing.
Croatian head coach Dalić was fuming after the game, expressing his dissatisfaction with Dutch referee Danny Makkelie’s decision to add eight minutes of stoppage time, which eventually led to Croatia conceding the equalizer against Italy.
Dalić commented, “We are the underdogs, a small federation, but an eight-minute added time is unacceptable. It definitely influenced the outcome. I don’t know where the referee got the idea to add eight minutes. I’ve been complaining about UEFA and FIFA’s actions for five years, but nobody listens. Now it’s become a joke. Eight minutes of extra time is impossible. How many fouls and stoppages were there to warrant eight minutes?”
Refusing to use the refereeing as an excuse, Dalić continued, “This isn’t one. We had control against Albania, and we did here too. We had two penalties, both missed. I’m sad and hurting because no one respects us. This isn’t our tournament. The fans came out again, a hundred thousand Croatians in Germany. Thank them. We’re proud. But we’re out because of ourselves. Conceding in the 98th minute is unacceptable. If needed, we should have kept possession.”
Explaining his decision to substitute Modrić, Dalić said, “I just wanted to bring on a more energetic player because Luka really gave his all. This result hurts a lot, and it will hurt for days, maybe months. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. We celebrated victories, now we must learn to accept defeat too.”