TURKEY WON IN CROATIA -

It was not a night that will be remembered at the test match at Opus Arena

CROATIA – TURKEY 0:1 (Yilmaz 30′)
CROATIA: Livaković – Stanišić, Šutalo, Gvardiol, Barišić (Sosa 80′) – Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić (Beljo 80′) – Pašalić (Majer 62′), Musa (Petković 62′), Brekalo (Vlašić 63′)
TURKEY: Cakir – Kadioglu, Akaydin, Bardakci, Ozkacar – Calhanoglu, Yuksek (Ayhan 86′), Ozcan – Kahveci (Akgun 65′), Akturkoglu (Yildiz 86′), Yilmaz (Yildirim 75′)

Croatia’s last match at Gradski vrt ended in defeat. But they continued with the same result at the new Opus Arena. Croatia did not celebrate against Turkey either. It was one of the worst matches that Croatia played. It could also be said that the match was played disastrously. The absence of Ivan Perišić and Andrej Kramarić is no excuse for this kind of game, but neither is the result.

But how was it in the stands? The cheering was the worst in history and since Croatia played qualifiers for major competitions. How did the Croatian Football Association distribute tickets for the match? They don’t know that either. The cheering would be the same as if the stadium was empty. It would be better if they closed everything rather than distributing tickets in a “strange” way.

The new Turkish coach, Vicenzo Montella, had a premiership that hardly anyone has the chance to have. He beat Croatia and reached first place in the group. Turkey has three points more than Croatia, but also has a game more. The start of the match was expected and it was possible to foreshadow how things would unfold on the field. And Turkey took advantage of the failure of our defense.

We knew they were a quality team, as they showed in the first game in Turkey. And we were simply not the right ones, that’s the first and basic reason. Especially the first part. In the second, we got up a bit, played better, had some chances, but it was all like that, quite unorganized. Now you don’t need to dramatize too much.
Zlatko Dalić, Croatian coach

Croatia had possession, it was circling the field. But without ideas and without real and real opportunities and chances to score a goal. Luka Modrić seemed to be invisible, and the others were not at a better level either. Turkey entered the Croatian part of the field and had several opportunities in which they could have taken the lead. But there was, until then, the excellent Livaković. But in the 30th minute, he made a mistake and flew off the goal, and Yilmaz scored to give Turkey the lead.

The sequel brought a continuation of the story from the first half. Croatia had possession, but dangerous situations unfolded in front of Livaković’s goal. After the substitutions in the middle of the second half, Croatia made substitutions, and after that somehow the field came to life. But still without a chance. Towards the end of the match, after a corner kick, one of the Turkish players played with his hand. A penalty kick was initially awarded, but after reviewing the VAR footage, the decision was overturned. Turkey won and took first place.

DO YOU NEED PHOTOGRAPHY?

Croatia has a big problem. As soon as one of the staff players is missing, the problem is in the organization of the game, the creation of scoring opportunities, the realization and the very perception of the opponent’s game. What will happen when the “senators” leave? Luka Modrić is old and can’t play all the time, Ivan Perišić is injured, and as it turns out, this won’t be his last injury. Andrej Kramarić was also injured.

Do we have players who can enter the Croatian first team? The best thing is that in the U21 national team we have top players who are ready for the first selection and who can play in place of the players we are missing. In fact, Croatia has players in all generations who can go forward. Only people from the Alliance are not smart enough. This is proven by the election of the President of the Association for this mandate.

As for the fans, this way they will create a theatrical audience. That is not what makes Croatia. Croatia are fans who cheer you on the whole game, not a theater audience. How will the Croatian Football Association solve this? Nobody knows that. Especially when you don’t know what’s going on in their head.