Even when Croatia was down 4-1 to France in Sunday’s World Cup final, Cardinal Blase Cupich didn’t lose faith.
“It looked like they were mounting a real comeback with that wonderful goal (by Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic). It was a very brilliant goal where he outfoxed the goalie,” Chicago’s archbishop said. “So we all had hope here that we were going to come back because they’ve been so tenacious this tournament.”
Cupich spent the morning at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Melrose Park and caught the second half of France’s 4-2 championship victory at St. Joseph’s Friary in Hyde Park.
Croatia fell short, but Cupich wasn’t down about it.
“My sentiment right now is one of pride, not disappointment, simply because they really beat some terrific teams (to get to the final),” said Cupich, who wore the team’s signature red-and-white-checkered jersey while watching the game with about a couple dozen Franciscan friars. “They beat Argentina and Russia and England. These are huge countries and huge teams. So to even get this far made me proud.”
His glass-half-full view echoed the sentiment among fans and fellow Croats at a watch party at the Croatian Cultural Center in West Rogers Park. The banquet hall and bar were packed to the gills and spilled into the parking lot, which had been converted into another viewing area with DJ Luka Ilic spinning Croatian music and cooks grilling cevapcici, a beef-and-pork sausage.
Loyola guard Bruno Skokna had watched Croatia’s upset win over England in Wednesday’s semifinal at the center, and on Sunday he was camped in the same spot in front of the big screen and wearing the same black T-shirt.
“That was intentional because you’ve got to have that luck that was (with them) the last time,” he said.
Skokna was a portrait of the roller coaster of emotions shown by many in the crowd during an up-and-(mostly)-down game for Croatia: calm, even when Mandzukic scored the first own goal in a World Cup final; jumping and jubilant when Ivan Perisic scored the tying goal; silent, with his head resting in his hand, as Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe pushed France to a 4-1 lead.
But after the game Skokna was all smiles again as the center pumped popular Croatian anthems and people exchanged hugs and high-fives.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my team and my country,” he said. “I’m not disappointed at all. Of course I’m sad, but all those guys should go back home with their heads up because they made us proud and they’re our heroes.”
Skokna was born and raised in Zagreb, the capital city, until he was 18 and moved to the United States to play basketball. Cupich was born and raised in Omaha, Neb., but considers himself “100 percent Croatian” since both sets up grandparents move to the states around World War I.
“When I was a child, there was a lot of our cultural heritage passed onto us every Wednesday during the school year. We would go up to our local parish, which was a Croatian parish, and learn how to sing Croatian songs and also do Croatian folk dances,” Cupich said.
He didn’t follow soccer much before this year’s World Cup because he wasn’t exposed to it as a child in Nebraska, but he emphasized there’s a larger human interest story tied Croatia’s rabid fan following as well as his own back story: “How an immigrant community keeps close to their heritage like this but also have contributed to the life in this country. … Do not be afraid of immigrants. They enrich our country.”
Cupich also repeated a refrain that has been common among fans of the “Vatreni” — the “Blazers” or “Fiery Ones,” as the national team is called.
“Being that Croatia is such a small country of only 4 million people, I saw a tweet that somebody put out, that France wins the World Cup — Croatia wins the world’s hearts.”
Twitter @_phil_thompson
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