John O'Groats' Marc feels pride of Croatia fans
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“A GREAT achievement despite not winning the final.” That was John O’Groats man Marc Rochon’s verdict on Croatia’s brave World Cup campaign.
Marc, who was with the Croat squad as part of the coaching staff’s video analysis team, says that even though they failed to bring the trophy home, enormous pride is being taken by the nation in their team.
Even though Croatia beat the likes of Argentina, host nation Russia and England en route to the final, they faced a French team that had one trick too many up their sleeves to win 4-2.
However, a hero’s welcome awaited the squad with Marc accompanying the team in the celebrations that broke out upon their arrival in Zagreb.
While it all seemed a world away from his native Caithness, Marc was not surprised at the outpouring of emotion that greeted the Croatia team.
He said: “This was Croatia’s greatest-ever achievement in football. To be within 90 minutes of winning the World Cup was something else and, although we didn’t win, we could all be very proud on how far we came.
“Croatia has a population of four million and lacks the resources of the more populated bigger nations like France, England, Germany and others. So for us to go and reach the final was outstanding.
“I’m not surprised that the Croat people wanted to celebrate despite us not being able to bring the trophy home.
“They are a very proud people and have been supportive of the team throughout.
“As for our welcome, it took us around six to seven hours to get from the airport to the centre of Zagreb such was the massive crowd that greeted the team bus. The sight in the centre of the city was something else.”
Croatia were not largely seen by pundits as potential finalists.
Marc said: “We looked at the draw and though we could at least reach the last eight. We thought we would have Spain as our likely opponents but then Russia went and knocked them out in the second round.
“No disrespect to Russia – who we knew would be tough in front of their own crowd – but Spain had the bigger names in their squad and when we saw that we wouldn’t be facing them, that was when we got excited about how far we could go.
“Russia’s supporters were very generous in defeat. I was sitting near them and not once did I feel in danger or intimidated.
“In fact, we couldn’t have wis-hed for be-tter hosts throughout the tournament. I was aware of the negative press reports beforehand but we saw warm, generous people willing to help us. I’m sure problems do exist in Russian society but every nation has its issues.”
It was ironic that a Scotsman charged with video-analysing Croatia’s opponents would be given the assignment of plotting England’s downfall.
Marc continued: “I had messages from Scottish friends telling me to make sure Croatia won and messages from English friends asking that I don’t do too much damage.
“I wasn’t wearing a Scotland top underneath my Croatia one but the shirt we were wearing that night was close enough to the Scottish strip.
“We got off to a slow start but we seemed to settle down into our gameplan and started to take control.
“The English tried a few things to combat that but we were in the ascendency and eventually broke them down. Sadly with the final itself, despite playing well, the French played their gameplan to a T as well.
"As for the penalty, before the tournament all the teams received a presentation from the referees and we were told that type of handball would be given as a penalty.
"And unfortunately for us, it was."
As for what happens next, Marc is unsure where his next video-analyst posting will be.
He said: “I don’t know if I will be with Croatia for the Euro 2020 qualifying or if I’m going to be moving on elsewhere. Right now I’m going to relax and spend some time with my family.”
