Club rivals Josip Juranovic and Borna Barisic returned to a hero’s welcome as tens of thousands of Croatia fans lined the streets and lit up the capital Zagreb after they secured third place at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Zlatko Dalic’s men finished with the bronze medal after a 2-1 win over Morocco at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday but the Celtic and Rangers full-backs didn’t feature in the match.
However, Juranovic earned rave reviews for some of his displays - particularly in the quarter final win over Brazil - while Barisic’s only appearance came in the last-16 penalty shoot out victory against Japan. Ange Postecoglou and Michael Beale will be desperate to get their players back but first they had to stop off in the Croatian capital on the way back from the Middle East for a huge party as supporters greeted them.
Fans packed out Zagreb’s Ban Jelacic Square with flares and flags as the bus carrying the squad made its way through the capital before the players were introduced one by one on the stage to take the acclaim of the jubilant fans. Rangers head to Pittodrie on Tuesday night with Celtic in action at home to Livingston 24 hours later. The Light Blues then head to Dingwall on Friday night and and the Hoops again a day later on Christmas Eve against St Johnstone at Parkhead.
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