July 15 is the day when soccer history was rewritten. It was the day when after 68 years one “small” country played in the World Cup finale against one of the football giants. It was Croatia, a small Balkan country that took the role of David, facing Goliath, at the Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. At the end it was 4:2 for Goliath, but Croatia fans here in Zagreb have lost no love for their team, because it’s appearance in a World Cup final was nothing short of miracle in itself.

Tens of thousands of Croatian supporters gathered at Zagreb’s main city square for the World Cup final. All of them watched and cheered for their national team in front of the huge monitor placed in the square. When the referee sounded the end of the match, instead of shedding tears of defeat, Croatian national team supporters cheered and celebrated. And we’ve spoke with a number of them. One of the supporters in his early fifties wearing a distinctive Croatian team jersey was singing together with his mates, all of them bearing huge smiles.

“I’m not sad. Never. This is a success! We are extremely happy. The finals!!!”

The other one, when asked if he felt sad because of defeat said: “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 match, though, there were clear mood swings in the crowd. At the beginning, we saw a great wave of 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 semi-finals in 1998. That loss propelled France to go on and win that World Cup too. But by half time Croatia was behind on the scoreboard. Then, after the first half it was clear how the Croatian's enthusiasm had died down, because France was leading 2:1. But their hopes were still very much alive, during the remaining 45 minutes anything could happen.

And it wasn’t just Croatians who were at the Bana Jelacica Square, here in Zagreb on this Sunday afternoon. People from all over the world had flocked to this small Balkans 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 soccer players than all of Croatia has citizens. And even if that fact isn't true, it did reflect the overwhelming pride of achievement felt here. It was a glorious moment in Croatian soccer history, that took place Sunday in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.