November 11, 2020 – Turkey and Croatia met in Istanbul for a friendly match on Wednesday as preparation for their upcoming Nations League matches against Sweden and Portugal.
The Croatia national team met Turkey in a friendly match in Istanbul at 6:45 pm on Wednesday. The friendly was played at Besiktas stadium and served as preparation for coach Zlatko Dalic before the Nations League matches against Sweden and Portugal.
Croatia’s starting 11 was anything but standard, featuring several young players – Sluga – Juranović, Vida, Pongračić, Melnjak – Rog, Badelj – Brekalo, Pašalić, Oršić – Budimir.
As announced, Dalic gave priority to players who did not have many opportunities in the national team jersey.
The match kicked off without spectators and was fairly even until the 22nd minute when carelessness in the Croatia defense resulted in a Turkey penalty. Tosun scored for 1:0.
Fortunately, just 10 minutes later, Budimir equalized the score, though Croatia wouldn’t have been as lucky if VAR was involved. A missed Budimir handball and goal made the game 1:1 in the 32nd minute.
But not even 10 minutes after that, Croatia’s defense fell apart… again. Juranovic was beat on the right side, and Turuc scored for the 2:1 lead at the half.
The second half began with one substitution – Uremovic came in for Vida.
It didn’t take long for Croatia to equalize. Oršić found Brekalo on the right side, who sent a sharp ball into the box, which found Pašalić alone on the left to score for 2:2 in the 53rd.
Just two minutes later, Oršić found the head of Brekalo, who put Croatia in the lead for the first time of the match – 2:3!
Unfortunately, Croatia’s lead didn’t last long – Under equalized for Turkey in the 58th (3:3).
In the 60th minute, Toma Basic replaced Badelj and debuted for Croatia, while Caleta-Car replaced Pongracic, and Perisic replaced Brekalo.
In the 66th minute, Mirko Antonio Colak was subbed on for Budimir, also making his Croatia debut.
By the 68th minute, Turkey had 3 shots on goal to Croatia’s 5.
Even Luka Modric got his chance against Turkey, replacing Mario Pasalic in the 76th minute.
With 10 minutes to go, Croatia didn’t want to settle for a draw and was hunting for their fourth goal. The referee added three minutes, though neither side was able to score.
The friendly ended 3:3.
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