Dejan Lovren’s Croatia Loses The World Cup To Nabil Fekir’s France

Heartbreak once again for Lovren but he still deserves plaudits.

The 2018 World Cup has officially come to an end and it’s about the one that most expected. Dejan Lovren, who has started nearly every match for Croatia in defense, suffered defeat to France in their first World Cup final ever, despite his comments earlier this week about being the “best defender in the world.”

Croatia for their part held possession the majority of the match and leveled with Les Bleus after they went ahead with an unfortunate own goal off the head of Mario Mandžukić from a free kick by Antoine Griezmann. The first half was all kinds of cruel despite that, with France winning a penalty from a handball at 38 minutes in. The match eventually ended 4-2 to France, and despite having one less day of rest and having played a full 90 minutes more than France, Croatia put up plenty of fight.

Lovren himself performed well, not contributing to any of France’s goals thankfully, but it wasn’t enough to keep Croatia in it, even as they staged a comeback with Mandžukić scoring at 69 minutes. Contributing to his country’s best ever World Cup finish is nothing to scoff at and they have everything to be proud of, despite the defeat.

Nabil Fekir, on the other hand, was subbed in at 81 minutes for Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud. With questions still surrounding the (hopefully eventual) transfer to Liverpool, it was nice to see him get a run out for his own country and contribute even a little bit.

Lovren, though, can go into his 3+ week vacation head held high, knowing that he made it to a Champions League final and World Cup final in two months, and that his good buddy Mo will be there to give him all the hugs and encouragement when he gets back to Liverpool.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com