Slaven Bilić's squad made a subdued return to Croatia on Saturday, with enough ifs and buts to keep them occupied on the bus journey home from Austria. Yet as supporters gathered outside the team's Zagreb hotel for the evening, there were shafts of light amid the gloom.

Haunting
When midfielder Darijo Srna slumped to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion turf weeping uncontrollably after Turkey denied Croatia a semi-final place in the cruellest of fashions on Friday, his tears spoke for a nation. "This will haunt us for the rest of our lives," said defender Vedran Ćorluka, facing the press after Croatia completed the 200km journey from their Austrian base. "It's especially hard when we see how important it was for our people in Croatia. I am really shocked – we played really well, Turkey didn't threaten for the whole match – but that's football."

Out of luck
That last comment suggested a first step towards coming to terms with the shoot-out defeat in Vienna, and around 200 fans congregated around the squad's Zagreb hotel to express their thanks to Bilić's side. "I think we played the most beautiful football in the history of the Croatia team," said assistant coach Aljoša Asanović. "We didn't have enough luck, but we are all proud of our team and our wonderful fans." Dario Šimić, meanwhile, was left waiting on 99 international caps, hopefully to complete his century next season. The defender said: "We were so close to victory and it's hard to take. But we can hold our heads high and move forward. That's the only way to put this behind us."