Croatia to Play France in FIFA 2018 Finals ~ Something on President Kolinda Grabar
Posted on the 14 July 2018 by Sampathkumar Sampath
Tomislavwas thefirst King of Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, on the
Adriatic Sea. Its capital is Zagreb.The
Croats reportedly arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the
territory into two duchies by the 9th century. Tomislav became the first king
by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom, which retained its
sovereignty for nearly two centuries.In
October 1918, in the final days of World War I, the State of Slovenes, Croats
and Serbs, independent from Austria-Hungary, was proclaimed in Zagreb, and in
December 1918 it was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
People are reading more
about Croatia after they sent Gareth
Southgate's boys packing home in a scintillating encounter 2-1. And while Luka
Modrić and his boys sent Kane & Co home, photo of this women Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic supporting the team
went viral.She is no ordinary person –
she is the President - Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic speaks Croatian,
English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently and has basic understanding of German,
French, and Italian. Only recently she ascended to power as the fourth
president of the Republic of Croatia and the first female president of the
country.
I have heard of
Croatia earlier .. Croatia declared Independence after a referendum in
1991.In 1992, Goran Ivanišević
steamrolled his way to reach his first Wimbledon singles final, having defeated
Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras in succession. Ivanišević's 6–7,
7–6, 6–4, 6–2 semifinal victory over Sampras was particularly impressive, with
Ivanišević serving 36 aces and not even facing a break point in the entire
match. In the final, Ivanišević faced Andre Agassi and was heavily favored to
win; with both players attempting to win their first Grand Slam title. Agassi
eventually won 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. In the fifth set, Ivanišević had a
break point on Agassi's serve at 3–3, but failed to convert it. Ivanišević's
ace count for the tournament (206) was the highest in Wimbledon history at the
time, until Ivanišević beat his own record in 2001 with 213 aces. Ivanišević
served 37 aces in the 1992 Wimbledon final against Agassi, while Agassi had 37
aces in the entire tournament. In recent times, the flag is kept high by -
Marin Čilić, the reigning US Open champion.
Their legs had
stopped working long before the end. Their muscles ached, their lungs heaved,
their bodies creaked and groaned. Croatia’s players had hit their limits and
traveled beyond them, yet again; they had drained themselves of adrenaline;
they had passed deep into the red, into the pain. And still, even as their
movements grew stiff and their tendons tight, when they were gasping for breath
and it looked as though they could not possibly give any more, they kept going,
kept chasing, kept running: past England, into the World Cup final, into history.
When the final
whistle blew after two periods of extra time and their 2-1 victory was
confirmed, several sank to the turf, floored not just by the sheer physical
effort they had produced, but by the scale of their achievement. All but one of
the superpowers have gone: Brazil and Germany, Argentina and Spain are out.
Croatia, this nation of four million people, remains. Only France stands between
this team and what would, most likely, rank as the most remarkable World Cup
victory in history. It has reached the final the hard way, via the scenic
route: extra-time and penalties against Denmark, extra-time and penalties
against Russiaand now this: an exhausting, compelling 120 minutes against
England, the sort of epic occasion that only the World Cup can produce. Modric
is a veteran of four Champions League finals, Mandzukic three, Dejan Lovren and
Ivan Rakitic one apiece. Of England’s starters, only Jordan Henderson had
played in the biggest game in club soccer, and that was only a little more than
a month ago.
England somehow
wound up with just one shot on goal: the first-half score by Trippier. Of their
other 10 shots, six were off target and four were blocked. In contrast, Croatia
fired off 22 shots, getting seven of them on net.After England’s loss it is Croatia who return to the Luzhniki Stadium on
Sunday to face France.
Getting back to the
good looking female President, the Nato summit kept her away from the
semi-final, where her country broke English hearts, but she is expected to fly
straight back to Moscow for the final against France.Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (1968 born) is a
Croatian politician and diplomat serving as the 4th and current President of Croatia since 2015.
She is the first woman to be elected to the office after the first multi-party
elections in 1990. At 46 years of age, she also became the youngest person to
assume the presidency. Before her election as President of Croatia,
Grabar-Kitarović held a number of governmental and diplomatic positions.
Sometime back a
photo went viral stating to be the President in bikini – however it was fake as
it turned out to be a American supermodel Coco Austin.
So whom are you
supporting in the finals tomorrow ?
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
14th
July 2018.