Certainly disappointment for Croatia after its World Cup loss to France. But as CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic reports - fans back home have lost no love for their team whose appearance in a World Cup final was nothing short of remarkable in itself. He spent the day with supporters in Zagreb.

This time, David wasn't able to beat Goliath. But for the people who gathered at the Zagreb's main city square for the World Cup final - Croatia is no less a team of champions. At the huge monitor, tens of thousands watched and cheered their national team. And when the referee sounded the end of the game, instead of shedding tears of defeat, Croatian national team supporters cheered and celebrated.

"I'm not sad. Never. This is success! We are extremely happy. The finals."

"Are you sad because of the result?"

"Croatia, second in the world. It is the greatest for this little country. I'm proud, I love Croatia. I love this country."

During the game, though, there were clear mood swings over the 90 minutes of play. At the beginning, great confidence - as everyone here counted on underdog Croatia to end up victorious. Many had seen this as an opportunity to pay back the French - for Croatia's historic defeat at the world cup semifinals in 1998. That loss propelled France to go on and win that World Cup too. But half time saw Croatia behind on the scoreboard.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC ZAGREB, CROATIA "After the first half all the enthusiasm of Croats died down because France is leading 2:1 against their national team. But the hopes are still very much alive, that during the remaining 45 minutes things will change dramatically."

And it wasn't just the Croats who were here this Sunday afternoon. People from all over the world had flocked to this small Balkan country, to support its national team.

We've met supporters from Brazil, Australia, Austria, Norway, Germany, who all came here just for this match, to support the underdog.

Croatian journalists were claiming here that France has more registered football players than all of Croatia has citizens. And even if that fact wasn't true, it does reflect the overwhelming pride of achievement felt here a glorious moment in Croatian football history, that took place Sunday in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Zagreb.