FIRST TEAM
07/15/2018

Kramaric: "Let's create history"

Andrej Kramaric will be part of the Croatian national team that takes on France in the World Cup final at 17:00 CET on Sunday afternoon. The TSG Hoffenheim forward has the chance to make history on two fronts: Croatia could win their first-ever world title and he could become TSG's first-ever world champion.

It's the biggest game of the year, a spectacle that sparks excitement around the globe and is watched live by more than one billion people on television. And TSG Hoffenheim will be part of the action thanks to our forward Andrej Kramaric, who has reached the final with his native Croatia. He has 90 − or possibly even 120 minutes plus penalties − in which to make history on two fronts: a victory in the final against France would seal the first-ever world title for the Balkan nation of 4.2 million inhabitants, and the 27-year-old Kramaric would become the first world champion playing in the 3,300-strong village of Hoffenheim.

"One more step, temperature rises"

Andrej Kramaric, who has played in all six of Croatia's World Cup matches so far and scored a goal in the quarter-final, is ready for the most important game of his life. Alongside a video on Instagram, he wrote: "One more step, temperature rises. Let's create history!"

Despite their hard-fought battles in the knockout stages, which were all won either in extra-time or on penalties, there's no hint of tiredness. Adrenaline trumps exhaustion, with the opportunity to win the World Cup mobilising every ounce of energy. Yet there's a lot of respect for the French, who won the title for the first team in 1998. That tournament was also the biggest-ever success at a World Cup for Croatia, who finished third.

Andrej and his team-mates have already gone one better than that and will return to Croatia as heroes, come what may. The players have already secured their places in the history books in their homeland − and from 17:00 CET today in Moscow, they'll be giving their all to go down in football history: as world champions.

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