A sea of red and white took over Rusty鈥檚 Sports Lounge to watch Croatia take on France in the final match of the World Cup.

The received a donation from Maryann Zubcic-Gill for $2,000 that allowed them to rent out the venue, uniting fans and Croatians for the final match. It wasn鈥檛 the victory they were cheering for, France won its second World Cup 4-2 on Sunday morning.

Related:Okanagan Croatians brace for World Cup soccer drama

鈥淣umber two is awesome, it鈥檚 nothing to be unhappy about, we are very proud,鈥� Zubcic-Gill said.

Second place did not mean second best to the fans, incoming president of the Okanagan Croatian Club, Kate Sarac says this is still a win for Croatia.

鈥淚t was gut wrenching to watch,鈥� Sarac said. 鈥淪econd is still wonderful, we are so proud of our team, they made our whole nation proud to be Croatian.鈥�

Related: France doubles up Croatia 4-2 to win World Cup

The fans were still smiling while watching their team shed tears on the screen.

鈥淭his game didn鈥檛 even mean much for us, we are just proud they made it this far. I won鈥檛 ever forget where I come from, I am really proud of all of these players,鈥� Ivan Haluska said.鈥� I was hoping we were going to celebrate but now Croatia is being talked about all over the world, people now know where it is.鈥�

The Okanagan Croatian Club welcomes all Croatians that want to join and attend their events.

To report a typo, email:
newstips@kelownacapnews.com.

sydney.morton@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .