Lovren: “Salah is jealous of me”

The defender Dejan Lovrenone of the veterans of the Croatian team, runner-up in the world four years ago, faced the Qatar 2022 will be the third World Cup of his career without even thinking about leaving his national team.

He is in his second year at Zenit St. Petersburg, where he came from a Liverpool club where he played for seven years and won a Champions League title. There he joined Mohamed Salah who will not be able to participate in Qatar 2022 after being eliminated in the qualifying round.

“Salah is one hundred percent jealous but the same will happen to me. He told me that he will support me and I regret that he is not here, with the Croatian flag,” said Lovren, more than seventy internationals with Croatia.

Croatia will enter Qatar 2022 next Wednesday, against Morocco. “For me it is very special to be in the third World Cup. If someone had told me when I was young I wouldn’t have believed them. My first game in Croatia was in 2009, against Qatar,” recalled the Croatian central defender. .

“It’s an ideal situation for the coach. He has five quality centre-backs and all can play as a starter. We fight and give our best and in the end the coach is the one who has to decide who will play. We have never had that quality. We can be happy,” insisted Lovren.

Croatia is involved in a reconversion in its selection. The youngsters are gradually coming in along with the regular veterans in the team. “I think that the youngsters are going to give new strength to the team. It’s new energy.”

“And when you join the team you know what the standards are. They are clear to everyone. If Luka Modric, Ivan Perišić or Domagoj Vida can fail in training, they can do it too. Young people do that, eager they have to prove themselves and they should continue to do so,” he said.

“We have everything we need; I like the mix of experienced veterans and youngsters. Many things need to be put together again, everyone needs to be at their best. When we have faith in ourselves and our team, anything is it’s possible. My thought when I came here was to win. I said the same thing in 2018 when I lost to Real Madrid in the finals of the Champions League with Liverpool and a year later we won. Everything is possible in football”, recalled Zenit Saint Petersburg player.

He is now a finalist in Russia 2018

Lovren had one of his best experiences at Russia 2018, as Croatia reached the final. “I came to that World Cup after losing the Champions League final with a bit of negativity but full of energy and wanting a good result. I still have the energy, desire and will and the advantage is that I have more experience. Good and bad. Four years have passed. I’m very motivated and wanting to prove myself, I’ll give my best”, he assured.

The Croatian centre-back denied that Qatar meant a farewell to the national team. “I will continue while the press doubts me. It already says that I am not at the highest level. They all know. It doesn’t matter how many times they withdraw me. It only motivates me more,” he said.