Joško says he is feeling well and ready to prove himself once again.

“I feel great. What's done is done. A new day, a new opportunity to prove myself. There's a new match in two days, so there's no point dwelling too much on what happened before. As for me, everything is fine. As for the team, we know what awaits us. We need to focus completely on Ghana, prepare properly, and play that match as well as possible.”

On criticism from part of the public...

“I'm happy to be here and to have the chance to play at my second World Cup. Of course, that injury is not an excuse for a poor performance. How do I deal with it? I don't read much and I don't focus on it, because our attention needs to be on unity, on what we're doing on the pitch, and on preparing for the match. When I walk through the mixed zone and seven or eight journalists stop me, I believe they're all proud and glad they can ask me a few questions, haha. But I'm not someone who runs away from that. I said myself that it wasn't my best game. However, I'm young, I'll learn, there's time. We have to stay as positive as possible and focus on the final match. God willing, everything will be as it should be.”

On recovering from injury...

“It's hard for me to single out anything in particular. I didn't really understand how the injury happened; apparently my body said it had had enough and needed a break. We all go through difficult moments in life, and for every athlete, in football or any other sport, it's never easy to be away from the field. What I went through, others go through too. It came at the right moment for me to reset and get everything in order. Now I'm here where I am.”

On Ghana's biggest strengths...

“We haven't spent much time analyzing Ghana yet. Yesterday was a recovery day, today is our first day together, and maybe we'll do some tactical work. Ghana is very dangerous in transition. We watched them against England; they sit in a lower block, and when they win the ball they can be very dangerous on the break. That's what stood out at first glance, and we'll discuss the rest after training or tomorrow.”

On a message to young people trying to make it in football...

“When I was younger, I thought about changing sports. I trained basketball and handball, but my heart and mind led me to football, and today I'm grateful to my dad, who supported me from day one. Thanks to him, I'm where I am today. My message to young people is: don't give up on your dreams, whatever goals you've set in your minds, and keep following that path.”

On his 50th appearance for Croatia and the chance to match Zvonimir Boban...

“I'm happy to have reached that number. When I was younger, I didn't believe I'd get there. Chasing records? That's not really my focus. It'll be hard to catch Luka, and I congratulate him on his 200th appearance. Boban? It's nice to hear that information, but first we'll see who starts the match. Am I threatening the club of 100 caps? I hope I still have many years ahead of me with the national team, but I'm only halfway there. God willing, we'll be talking about that one day.”

On Ghanaian and club teammate Semenyo...

“There's no need to talk much about his quality. He's my teammate and I know how dangerous he is for defenders. I played against him when he was at Bournemouth, and it was difficult and challenging. He's fast, unpredictable, intelligent. He'll be a tough opponent, but the most important thing is that we prepare well and that we defenders analyze their players a bit more closely.”

On growing up in Zagreb...

“I grew up in Zagreb, spent a lot of time in Zagreb and at Dinamo. Dinamo helped me become a better player and, I hope, a better person than I was before. I'm grateful to that club for giving me an opportunity when I was young.”

On his responsibility and status within the national team...

“Even though I'm young, I've spent a lot of time with the national team, and the moment is coming when I need to take on responsibility and the burden. Just as Luka, Kova, Mario Pašalić, and Krama welcomed me when I first arrived and took responsibility themselves, now the time is slowly shifting toward the younger generations. That's normal in football, and sooner or later we all have to accept it.”

On conversations with his fellow defenders...

“Of course we talk and give each other suggestions; that's completely normal because this is a team sport. Everyone has their own vision and ideas, and naturally they share them with the others. We don't criticize each other for mistakes; we do it in a positive way, to make our jobs easier on the pitch and to help us play better.”

On how Luka Modrić instilled the culture of the national team in younger players...

“Luka has done great things, and not only him; there are also several players from the Russia generation. We haven't fully taken over the leadership of the national team because they are still here. They are respected, they are the leaders, and we follow them and stand by them. We support each other a lot.”