The Croatia national football team met Slovenia in a friendly match at the Education City Stadium in Doha today at 15:00.
Even though this was a friendly match, it was still important for Croatia. Namely, Croatia needs one draw from two friendly matches to be placed in Pot 2 in the World Cup draw scheduled on April 1.
Zlatko Dalić is using this friendly tournament to try out the new system of three in the back, though it is also a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the conditions that await them at the end of the year when the World Cup begins.
Lineups
Croatia: Livaković – Pongračić, Ćaleta Car, Gvardiol – Perišić, Juranović – Jakić, Kovačić, Modrić – Kramarić, Budimir
Slovenia: Oblak – Blažić, Bijol, Brekalo – Karničkik, Gnezda Čerin, Kurtić, Sikošek – Zajc, Šporar, Lovrić
Recap
Croatia’s first serious attack came already in the 3rd minute. Perišić passed on the left side and centered the ball in Slovenia’s penalty area, though it could not reach Kramarić and was cleared by the Slovenia defense.
Modrić won a free kick after being fouled on the right side, which the Slovenia defense cleared in the 12th minute. A minute later, Jakić took Croatia’s first shot on goal. Slovenia had their first attack in the 15th minute.
Kovačić won a free kick in the 28th minute. Modrić tried to find Budimir but Oblak was solid in goal to keep in 0:0.
Kramarić scored for the Croatia lead in the 39th minute. Ćaleta-Car played a through ball down the right wing, which found Andrej one-on-one with the keeper for 1:0!
Croatia had another chance in the 43rd minute. Kovačić’s backheel found Perišić on the left side. However, Perišić shot from the near post twice – the first time at Oblak and the second time hitting Budimir.
Perišić passed on the left side again with a minute to go in the first half, but Oblak remained solid.
Croatia ended the first half with 69% of the possession and five shots (two were on target).
Croatia started the second half without any changes to the lineup.
Croatia kept up their intensity in the second half with several chances in the first 10 minutes, with Modrić and Juranović hitting dangerous attempts.
Dalić made his first substitutions in the 68th minute. Livaja, Majer, and Pašalić went in for Budimir, Modrić and Kovačić. Four minutes later, he made his second round of subs – Vlašić, Oršić, and Vida came in for Kramarić, Perišić, and Ćaleta-Car.
Croatia maintained possession for the second half, with a few moments of Slovenian intensity.
Livaja had a chance in the 84th minute and Pašalić a minute later. Slovenia’s closest opportunity came in the 87th minute with a mix-up in front of Livaković, but the play was ultimately called offside.
Oršić had a chance a minute later, and Livaja played Juranović for a cross back into the penalty area, but it was saved by Oblak. Oršić shot over the goal in the 89th.
A quick reaction from Slovenia found saw them capitalize on Croatia’s defense to equalize for 1:1 in the 90th minute, which was the final score.
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