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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark Walker & Gavin Berry

Josip Juranovic laps up Celtic dominance over Rangers as World Cup hero hits out at his critics

Josip Jurnanovic cherished his World Cup bronze medal with Croatia and immediately turned his thoughts to Celtic's huge lead over Rangers. The Hoops full back was one of the stars of Qatar after a series of outstanding displays for his country, although he was injured for their third and fourth place triumph over Morocco at the weekend.

His performances have led to huge interest in the former Legia Warsaw defender from multiple clubs in Spain and Italy. But he admitted he had one eye on Celtic's one-sided 1-0 win at Pittodrie against Aberdeen which was played a couple of hours before the semi-final losers' shootout.

Juranovic said: "I saw that we won and now we are nine points ahead of Rangers!" And he dedicated the third-place finish to his critics. He pointed out: "This medal is for all those who didn't believe in me, to whom I was a thorn in their side. Criticism like that motivates Lionel Messi too.

"I would like to thank my family, friends and my fiance's family, who always cheered me on when it was difficult. This is one of the most beautiful moments in the world, I will be in Croatian history for the rest of my life, I don't know how to describe how I feel.

"When you play with the players that Croatia have, you can only improve. I heard that Jurgen Klinsmann said that I was one of their players who he thought were a revelation at the World Cup - I thank him for his praise, but my team is responsible for that. When you play with guys like Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic, everything is simply easier in your life. I'll enjoy this moment."

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