Čačić hails Croatia as Srna betrays Ramos secret

Ante Čačić, Croatia coach
This was an important result for us. We beat the European champions, a really strong team, but it isn't about this one match. We are a very strong team, we can play anyone and try to be successful.

Today I was able to change five players as I wanted to play the next round with fresh players and test some young players. That makes this result even more important. We wanted to win the group and we have achieved that.

What has especially pleased me is that we were really aggressive. We played to win every single match, but this couldn't have happened without such great supporters. We play and fight for Croatians all over the world. This team is like our nation and our players show how you represent your country, how you have to act.

Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach
The players were sat in silence. They don't enjoy losing. We had the game under control, I'm not going to defend our performance excessively. We played quite well but just one slip of concentration at the end; I don't have any complaints about the players.

We have time to analyse what the game against Italy means. It wasn't the path we wanted to take but that's football! [This was] a game it looked like we had under control but we will try and recover as well as possible from this setback and be in as good a condition as possible on Monday. We didn't play badly but this is the result and we need to prepare to play against Italy.

We didn't hold on to the ball as well as we should have [before the winning goal] and weren't ready for the counterattack. We know the quality [Ivan] Perišić has but that's it. We're still in the competition, we are not on the path we wanted to be but we have to rise to the situation.

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Ivan Perišić, Croatia midfielder and man of the match
What matters is the success of Croatia and I hope we can go a long way. We have a great group of guys here and we showed that tonight. There were some minor mistakes tonight and that is something we need to fix for the next match. We hope to be successful in fixing these, and I'm really proud to be a part of this team.

Each player here deserves to be here. Those guys made it clear today that we can count on them and that they are the future of this team. Our comeback after that early goal is a testament to the character of this team, because not many teams could make that comeback after such an early lead by a team as strong as Spain.

We've taken the first step. That will be no good if we don't take the second step, though. We are aware of our strength and very motivated to keep moving forward. The support we've been receiving motivates us even more. Anything is possible. Thank you, fans, for turning up in such large numbers.

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Danijel Subašić, Croatia goalkeeper
Well, what can you say? Penalties are a lottery, similar to us having the penalty against the Czech Republic in the last minute. The guy struck it well, I waited a little bit and blocked it and we're lucky to have come back. [Darijo Srna] whispered to me [before the penalty] that, basically [Sergio Ramos's Real Madrid team-mate] Luka [Modrić] told him to wait and to go to my right, so that's what happened and it worked.

Sergio Ramos, Spain defender
They're a really good side. It was quite a strange game. They are a very strong team. We dominated the game and created chances. I missed a penalty when I could have put us in front, but it wasn't to be.

Although it's a bad result, the aim was to get through the group stage and we've managed that. We would have liked to have finished first in order to possibly avoid some of the stronger sides, but if you want to be champions, you have to be able to beat everyone, from the favourites to the smaller teams.

[Modrić] told him to wait and to go to his right, so that's what happened and it worked. He knows me very well. We train together every day and it's true that he [the goalkeeper] waited until the last second and I ended up changing my mind about where to hit it at the last moment. You can only miss them if you take them.

I hope it's not crucial come the end of the competition. I'd prefer to miss a penalty in the group stage than in the semi-finals or the last 16.