Spectacular welcome for Croatia's footballers, over 300,000 people on the streets of Zagreb

ZAGREB, (Patria) - The plane carrying the Croatian national team, the world football vice-champions, landed today at 3:22 PM at Zagreb Airport. The silver medal winners at the World Cup in Russia, after a four-hour parade through the city, arrived at Ban Jelačić Square, where over 100,000 fans welcomed them.

The plane, which had “Bravo Vatreni” written on both sides, was greeted at Zagreb Airport by numerous fans who sang to welcome the “silver” Croatian national team players.

The first to exit the plane was Croatia's greatest footballer of all time, the national team captain and best player of the World Cup in Russia, Luka Modrić, followed by the President of the Croatian Football Federation Davor Šuker, coach Zlatko Dalić, and all the national team players, who then boarded an open-top bus and traveled to Ban Jelačić Square.

The police announced that about 110,000 fans gathered at Ban Jelačić Square, where the main welcome was organized, and about 200,000 along the entire route of the bus carrying the national team members from the airport to the square.

The bus moved for a full four hours along the designated route, where traffic was stopped: Rudolfa Fizira Street – Zagrebačka Street – Savezne Republike Njemačke Street – Dubrovnik Avenue – Većeslava Holjevca Avenue – Most slobode – Hrvatske bratske zajednice Street – Grada Vukovara Street – Savska cesta – Rooseveltov trg – Trg Republike Hrvatske – Frankopanska Street – Ilica – Ban Josip Jelačić Square, as reported by Hina.

The national team players were welcomed at the central Zagreb square by over 100,000 Croatian fans, who had started gathering as early as the morning hours. The square was covered in the recognizable red-and-white checkered pattern, and the monument to Ban Jelačić was also draped in a large red-and-white cloth, Croatian media reported.

The police have not recorded any incidents so far, and during the welcome of the “Vatreni,” four cases of emergency medical intervention due to exhaustion and heat were recorded.

Zlatko Dalić's team, with their brilliant performance and winning silver in Russia, surpassed the famous generation of Miroslav Ćiro Blažević, which won the bronze medal in 1998 during their debut at the World Cup.