Salah's mockery after Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina

He is in his second season at Zenit St Petersburg, joining from Liverpool where he spent seven years and won a Champions League title. There he coincided with Mohamed Salah, who will not be at Qatar 2022 after being eliminated in the qualifying round. "Salah is 100 per cent jealous but it would be the same for me. He told me he would support me and I'm sorry he's not here, with the Croatian flag," said Lovren, capped more than 70 times by Croatia.

Croatia make their Qatar 2022 debut next Wednesday against Morocco. "It's very special for me to be in a third World Cup. If someone had told me that when I was a kid I wouldn't have believed them. My first game for Croatia was in 2009, against Qatar," the Croatia centre-back recalled. "It's an ideal situation for the coach. He has five quality centre-backs and all of them can play in the starting line-up. We fight and give our best and in the end it's up to the coach to decide who plays. We have never had so much quality. We can be happy," insisted Lovren.

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Croatia is in the midst of a reconversion of its national team. Youngsters are gradually coming into the team alongside veteran regulars. "I think the youngsters are going to give new strength to the team. It's new energy. And when you join the national team you know what the standards are. They are clear for everybody. If Luka Modric, Ivan Perišić or Domagoj Vida can fail in training they can do it too. Young players do that, they are eager to prove themselves and they should continue to do that," he said.

"We have everything we need; I like the combination of experienced veterans and youngsters. A lot of things need to come together again, everyone needs to be at their best. When we have faith in ourselves and our team, anything is possible. My thought when I came here was to win. I said something similar in 2018 when I lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final with Liverpool and a year later we won it. Everything is possible in football," the Zenit St Petersburg player recalled.

<strong>Mané jealous of Lovren</strong>

Lovren had one of his best experiences at Russia 2018, when Croatia reached the final. "I came to that World Cup after losing the Champions League final with some negativity but full of energy and hungry for a good result. I still have energy, desire and will; and the advantage is that now I have more experience. It's good and bad that four years have passed. I'm very motivated and eager to prove myself, I'll give my best," he said. The Croatia centre-back denies that Qatar is a farewell to the national team. "I will continue as long as the press doubts me. They already say I'm not at my best. They know everything. It doesn't matter how many times they retire me. It only motivates me more," he said.