SAINT-ETIENNE: His face turned ashen by grief, Croatia captain Darijo Srna took one question after another, patiently explaining why he returned to the European Championship after the death of his father.
The Croatian veteran took three questions about his late father before politely asking reporters at a news conference in Saint-Etienne to focus on Friday's game against the Czech Republic.
Srna's father died from cancer last Sunday around the time Croatia beat Turkey 1-0 in its opening game at Euro 2016. After being told the news, Srna traveled back to his hometown of Metkovic straight after the game to attend the funeral.
"It was a very difficult moment for me and my family," the 34-year-old Srna said on Thursday. "But my father has always wanted to see me play as much as possible for the Croatian team. When I returned to Metkovic, people there told me it was my father's last wish that I continued playing as this is my last competition for the national team. They will all be happy to see me be back on the pitch."
Srna, who returned to the training ground on Wednesday, did not say whether he would have traveled back to France if not for his father's request.
"But I'm self-confident and I trust myself that I will do my best, I'm the captain of this team," he said. "When I got married, I came back straight after the wedding to play a match against Austria."
Croatia coach Ante Cacic confirmed that Srna, who made his international debut 14 years ago, would start the game.
"Of course you have to do adapt to this situation," said Cacic. "But on the other hand, it could motivate us more."
Croatia could seal its spot in the knockout rounds with a win against the Czech Republic, which lost its opener 1-0 against defending champion Spain.
But both Srna and Cacic expect a very difficult game against a well-balanced team mixing experience and talented youngsters such as winger Ladislav Krejci, midfielder Vladimir Darida and Sparta Prague playmaker Borek Dockal.
"I saw their first match against Spain, it was very tight," Cacic said. "It's a very ambitious team, they will try to win and hopefully we can start the same way as against Turkey. We will just try to play our game, control the match and score at least one goal. This is probably the most important match in the group stage for us."
Without revealing his starting XI at the Geoffroy Guichard stadium, Cacic said the players who started against Turkey are "in a perfect condition." There were concerns about Vedran Corluka's fitness, but the defender trained with his teammates on Tuesday after a head injury.