On-Field Performance Leaves an Empty Feeling

Zagreb streets were empty as Croats watched their team lose to Mexico, 1-0, in its opening World Cup match.

“Catastrophe,” muttered Marko Sres, an 18-year-old high-school graduate. For Croatian players, he only had one word: “Wretches.”

Said fan Kristijan Posavec: “We expected them to defend the honor. But they humiliated it.”

Passing by on her way to the market, 74-year-old Spomenka Pajic stopped to ask for the result, 15 minutes before the end.

“That’s horrible,” she muttered, when told that Croatia was losing. “It’s bad for my heart.”