Defender of the Croatian national team and Zenit St. Petersburg Dejan Lovren came into conflict with Croatian journalists after the match for third place at the 2022 World Cup with the Moroccan team, 24sata reports.
The Croatians beat the Moroccans 2-1 on Saturday and won bronze medals at the 2022 World Cup.
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After playing in the mixed zone, Lovren spoke to foreign media, ignoring the Croatian media. When asked by journalists from Croatia, the defender waved his hand and was about to leave, but turned around, hearing chuckles.
Who is laughing? Lovren asked.
“We were not laughing at you,” the Croatian journalist told him, which infuriated Lovren.
– What kind of behavior is this, you are against us, you are laughing, mocking us. You are not happy about this (third place), – said Lovren.
We’re not laughing at you, what’s the problem? two journalists answered the player at once.
After that, the player turned to insults.
– You stink. You and this lady. You didn’t record it all on audio when you laughed at me. You didn’t write it down, did you? – he said.
24sata reporter Tomislav Gabelic tried to calm Lovren down: “I laugh at your reaction. You say those words in front of 30 people. Why? What for? It doesn’t suit you.” The defender replied, “Because people don’t rejoice, they laugh at us, and that’s true.”
After these words, Lovren left the mixed zone, and the journalists published an audio recording of the conversation. Later, the representative of the Croatian Football Union Tomislav Patsak apologized for the behavior of the defender of the national team.
The Match TV channel is the exclusive copyright holder of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Russia. As part of an agreement with FIFA, Match TV received the opportunity to broadcast live, use fragments of games on television, broadcast and use highlights on digital platforms, as well as sell advertising inventory in broadcasts. All 64 matches of the tournament will be shown on the platforms of Match TV channels.