It was a successful test game for the national football team and an opportunity to present some fresh ‘items’ in the showcase to potential international managers.
Croatian football team won a friendly against Israel played in Osijek on March 23, 2016. Croatia started in a 3-5-2 formation, which proved as a good offense formation but gaps were opening in the defense.
A higher quality of Croatian players was apparent, and it was all solved early in the game, as far as the result is concerned. Perišić and Brozović were the scorers, and with few more good chances created in the first half, all in all, it was a satisfying game even though the Israeli team should not be considered as a team against which we could really showcase all our strengths and weaknesses.
After captain Darijo Srna was injured at the end of the first half, some changes had to be made in the second half and with some players of dubious quality entering, formation changed to 4-4-2 for Croatia meaning that we did not see a single good play by the home team. It was later changed to 4-5-1, and the only real thing we saw then were a couple of good saves by the Croatian goalkeeper.
Once again it was apparent that in the current way in which the CFF is ruled, players are chosen for the national team in a rather peculiar fashion, so it remains unclear why is there no place for players like Mario Pašalić, Marin Tomasov or Marin Leovac in the team. Alen Halilović is a regular part of the team for years now, and judging by his performance tonight, there’s no logical explanation for that. For as long as the national team is used as a showcase for some private interests, we’re afraid there will be no real success for Croatian football.
There were some 11 thousand supporters in Gradski Vrt Stadium today, just over the half of capacity for the venue. Croatian team will play against Hungary in Budapest on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUZuFP8FhJQ
