Klopp backs Lovren's lofty 'best in the world' claim

"People said I had a hard season but I don't agree with that", he told beIN Sport.

In an earlier statement released by the Croatian Football Federation, Vida, 29, said his comments were not meant to be political and were related to his former career with Dynamo Kiev.

"I would say we have good mothers and fathers, they are making good love I would say", he joked.

It's the smallest country to reach the World Cup final since Uruguay in 1950, and now, Croatia faces its biggest challenge - will the team finally be able to win the final against France and lift the World Cup trophy for the first time ever?

Lovren was magnanimous about his club captain Jordan Henderson, who was on the losing side despite another fine outing in midfield, and thanked Reds boss Jurgen Klopp for his encouragement.

Lovren, who was tested by England's pace, insisted he deserved more credit, with a World Cup final following less than two months after he appeared in the Champions League showpiece.

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Following the defeat, Torreira was asked about whether his move to Arsenal had been postponed whilst he competed for his country. Reports this week claimed the Gunners have opened talks with Sevilla over a deal for N'Zonzi, 29.

"Going to the World Cup final is not too bad!"

It's been 20 years since Croatia not only burst onto the World Cup scene, but also since they advanced beyond the group stages. In the middle of the park Rakitic and Modric are offensive, so somebody must fix all that and he is a big part of it.

Having faced the defeat recently in the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid this season, Lovren has another shot to answer his critiques in the World Cup final on Sunday. Okay, we did not win that but that means only 11 players were better than us, and only two centre-halves.

"For me it's no surprise".

ILovren also provided an opinion that a lot more people can get onboard with, saying that teammate Luka Modric deserves to win the Ballon d'Or if Croatia beat France on Sunday. We will work together for a long time, so I will have the opportunity to help him. "It is special history when you look back and see three times 120 minutes and we had fresher legs than that England team".

"Now we have the chance to do something even better and hopefully we can do it".