Croatia: Davis Cup victors return home to heroic welcome

Thousands of Croatians turned out in Zagreb’s central square on Monday to welcome their national tennis team back home and celebrate its Davis Cup victory.

They clinched their second Davis trophy beating France 3-1 over the weekend.

Top-ranked Marin Cilic and other players boarded a special bus straight from the airport, to the heart of the capital and climbed onto a stage in Ban Jelacic Square to greet their fans.

Ivan Herak, a Zagreb resident said, “I’m so h appy, I’m so pleased with our boys and eerything they have done, for Croatia. I’m sorry about what had happened in football, but these guys did a fantastic job, hats off to them.” Ijiljana and Ivan respectively expressed elation at the victory.

“Croatia is on top of the world, what else is there to say…”

“Fantastic, this is as good as it gets, we are proud of our boys, they’re the best.”

It was also Croatia’s second major sporting clash with France this year – the first was Croatia’s 4-2 defeat in the World Cup soccer final in Moscow in July.