World Cup silver medalists arrive in main square, receive unforgettable welcome

Croatia's World Cup runners-up have returned home to a mass greeting in Ban Josip Jelacic Square in Zagreb on Monday, a day after losing the World Cup final 4-2 against France. A crowd of over 300,000 football supporters greeted the Croatian national team.

About 110,000 ecstatic fans gathered in Zagreb's main square to welcome back their heroes and some 200,000 lined the entire 20-kilometre-long route from the airport to the city centre, according to police estimates.

The team touched down at Zagreb airport at 1522 hours and were greeted by the Majorettes, numerous fans and Croatian Air Force personnel with checkered MiG-21 fighter jets.

They then proceeded to the city centre in an open rooftop bus driven by two women drivers dressed in red-and-white checkered jerseys and decorated with Croatian flags. A helicopter displaying the Croatian flag was flying overhead.

The 20-kilometre-long route took five and a half hours.

The team finally reached the main square shortly before 2100 hours when the main square simply erupted in the biggest homecoming celebration the country has ever seen.
The team made it back as heroes after guiding Croatia to their best ever finish at a World Cup, eclipsing the third-place of 1998.

Thousands of fans who started flocking to Zagreb yesterday packed into the square to try and get a glimpse of their heroes, who then appeared on stage to acknowledge their supporters on Monday evening.

Even the biggest internet search engine Google was impressed by the spectacular homecoming celebration Zagreb gave to the World Cup vice-champions and on Monday dedicated its homepage to the Croatian fans and the words "Bravo Hrvatska!" (Bravo Croatia!)

(Hina/FaH)

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