Dejan Lovren says he is 'one of the best defenders in the world'

Dejan Lovren helped Croatia to their first World Cup final in the country's history

Dejan Lovren believes he should be regarded as one of the best defenders in the world after helping Croatia knock England out of the World Cup.

The defender, who also reached the Champions League final with Liverpool in May, will face France in the World Cup final on Sunday and the 29-year-old feels he has proved himself this season.

"It's something special for me," Lovren told beIN Sports."From my point of view, people were saying I had a difficult season but I don't agree with that.

"I showed that I took Liverpool to the Champions League final and now with my national team we are in the final.

"I think people should recognise that I'm one of the best defenders in the world and not just talk nonsense I will say."

This victory over England led Croatia to their first World Cup final and Mario Mandzukic's extra-time winner sealed Croatia's third consecutive win in extra-time or penalties, having beaten Denmark and Russia in penalty shootouts in the previous two rounds.

Lovren celebrates with Mario Mandzukic, whose extra-time goal fired Croatia into the final

"It's something we'll never forget. People are crying in our country," he added.

"This is something historical for us. We will never forget this. We beat our record 20 years ago and we had it on our shoulders all the time, this weight I would say and people now will never forget us.

"Now we have the chance to do something even better and hopefully we can do it."

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