National Teams

World Cup play-offs first leg victory

Classy Croatia takes
a 4:1 lead to Greece

09.11.2017.
Classy Croatia takes a 4:1 lead to Greece
photo by: Drago Sopta/HNS
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On Thursday, Croatia hosted Greece in the first leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup play-offs. The Vatreni put in a great performance to record an important win.

CROATIA - GREECE 4:1 (3:1)
2018 FIFA World Cup play-offs, first leg.
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb.

Referee: G. Rocchi (Italy)

Goals: 1:0 - Modrić (13' - 11m), 2:0 - N. Kalinić (19'), 2:1 - Papastathopoulos (30'), 3:1 - Perišić (33'), 4:1 - Kramarić (49')

Cautions: Karnezis (11'), Zeca (21'), Bakasetas (79')

Croatia: Subašić, Strinić, Lovren, Vida, Vrsaljko, Brozović, Rakitić, Perišić, Modrić (89' Pašalić), Kramarić (82' Vlašić), N. Kalinić (76' Rebić). Head coach: Z. Dalić.

Greece: Karnezis, Tzavellas, Papadopoulos, Papastathopoulos, Maniatis (46' Retsos), Tziolis, Samaris (62' Tachtsidis), Zeca, Fortounis, Stafylidis (71' Bakasetas), Mitroglou. Head coach: M. Skibbe.

Croatia and Greece faced each other on six previous occasions, and the match No. 7 was played at a full-crowd Maksimir Stadium, as the first leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup play-offs. The Vatreni did an excellent job on the Road to Russia.

Zlatko Dalić's men could not wish for a better start, since Greece goalkeeper Karnezis fouled N. Kalinić in the box on 11 minutes. Croatia captain Modrić was calm to convert the penalty (1:0).

Six minutes later, Strinić sent a low cross to N. Kalinić, and his clever back-heel effort from close range was enough to beat Karnezis for the second time (2:0).

Croatia was looking for a third through Lovren and Perišić efforts, while Vida's last-minute intervention on 29 minutes resulted in a corner kick for Greece. Fortounis crossed for Papastathopoulos, who outjumped Croatia' defence and brought Greece back into the game.

The Vatreni, however, responded with another goal: on 33 minutes, Vrsaljko crossed from the right flank to find Ivan Perišić at the far post, and he headed it in (3:1). Despite further activities in front of Greek goal - Karnezis saving Kramarić and N. Kalinić efforts, Rakitić trying a long-distance shot - Croatia went on a break with a two-goal advantage.

This margin was increased at the beginning of the second half, when Vrsaljko and goalscorer Kramarić punished Greek defensive mistake (4:1).

The hosts went searching for the fifth goal, but Karnezis produced more quality saves to stop Kramarić and Rakitić, while Perišić missed two upcoming opportunities.

On the other side of the pitch, Mitroglou tried to beat Croatia's goalkeeper on three occasions, but Subašić was not surprised. His save on 90 minutes deserves a special mention.  

In the other play-off match of the evening, Switzerland won 1:0 in Northern Ireland, while the return leg of the Croatia - Greece encounter is scheduled in Piraeus, on Sunday, 12 November (kick-off 20:45 CET).

09.11.2017., Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb. Spectators: 330013
Referees: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA), Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Fourth referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Croatia
4
Greece
1
23Danijel Subašić1Orestis-Spyridon Kanezis
12'
9Andrej Kramarić
49'
82'
2IOannis Maniatis
46'
7Ivan Rakitić3Georgios Tzavellas
10Luka Modrić
13'
89'
5Kyriakos Papadopoulos
2Šime Vrsaljko6Alexandros Tziolis
6Dejan Lovren8Jose Goncalves Rodrigues
21'
4Ivan Perišić
33'
10Konstantinos Fortounis
3Ivan Strinić11Konstantinos Mitroglou
21Domagoj Vida19Sokratis Papastathopoulos
30'
11Marcelo Brozović21Konstantinos Stafylidis
71'
16Nikola Kalinić
19'
76'
22Andreas Samaris
62'
Bench
1Dominik Livaković12Stefanos Kapino
12Lovre Kalinić13Ioannis Anestis
18Filip Bradarić4Panagiotis Retsos
46'
5Matej Mitrović14Anastasios Bakasetas
79'
71'
20Mario Pašalić
89'
17Panagiotis Tachtsidis
62'
22Josip Pivarić7Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
17Mario Mandžukić9Dimitrios Diamantakos
15Marko Rog15Vasileios Torosidis
13Zoran Nižić16Dimitrios Kourmpelis
8Nikola Vlašić
82'
18Ioannis Gianniotas
14Ante Rebić
76'
20Charalampos Lykogiannis
19Marin Leovac23Marios Oikonomou
Coaches
Zlatko DalićMichael-Heinz Skibbe

One witness of the inconvenient outcome of the 2018 FIFA World Cup play-off draw is Croatia's head-to-head record against Greece, since it speaks in Hellenic favour.

In six previous matches, four qualifiers and two friendlies, Croatia has won on just one occasion. The occasion was, however, a very important one. In late April 1997 in Thessaloniki, Miroslav Blažević's men celebrated the lone goal despite a partisan support and recorded one of the key victories in 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Nerves of steel were required, and the relentless Davor Šuker struck home on 74 minutes to secure three golden points. Six months earlier in Zagreb, Greece took lead just nine minutes into the match, courtesy of Nikolaidis, and another Šuker goal - in the closing minutes of the first half - was enough for a 1:1 draw.

However, Croatia managed to finish above Greece and join the play-offs as the runner-up, with Peter Schmeichel's contribution in the last round. The play-off draw paired Croatia with Ukraine, and the rest is history.

Next came two friendly matches. In March 1999 in Athens, Giannakopoulos' brace gave Greece a 2:0 lead, with Vlaović and Šuker finding the net on 68 and 80 minutes to make it 2:2. Several minutes before the final whistle, Nikolaidis appeared for the first Greek victory over Croatia (3:2).

In April 2001, Varaždin was the host city, and Greece replayed the scenario: it was Alexandris' brace that gave the visitors 2:0 lead. Vlaović and Rapaić replied on 67 and 90 minutes to complete the Croatian comeback (2:2).

More competitive excitement was scheduled for EURO 2012 qualifying campaign. Slaven Bilić's men were unable to break Greek resistance in September 2010 encounter in Zagreb (0:0), while the reverse leg in the Karaiskakis cauldron in Piraeus left no fond memories for Croatia.

Samaras and Gekas became Greek heroes, scoring on 71 and 79 minutes (2:0), preparing the way to secure them the top spot, leaving Croatia to face Turkey in the play-offs. A world class performance in Istanbul obtained Croatia's final tournament visa. One win, three draws, and two losses, alongside 6:8 goal-difference, is a head-to-head record that calls for caution, yet the upcoming clashes with Greece present an opportunity to reverse this negative trend.

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foto: Drago Sopta/HNS
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