Nenad Gračan's Croatia needed to win in Vinkovci in order to qualify for the final tournament in Czech Republic. However, Gareth Southgate's England confirmed its one-goal advantage and celebrated another 2:1 win.
"I am sorry that we failed to qualify, and I am sorry that we did not win for our home crowd in Vinkovci. We have to admit that England were better, even though we had our chances. We were missing a couple of important players, and it was difficult for Croatia to keep up the rhthym required to turn around this match after conceding so early. Croatia showed that it match the best teams, as England certainly is, and I congratulate them", said coach Gračan.
Croatia can be proud of its performance in the qualifying group, that included away wins at Switzerland and Ukraine.
"We topped that group, and we have quality, as well as England does. Our objective remains preparing players for the senior squad challenges. In Vinkovci, just as in Wolverhampton, England was very good at creating pressure", continued Gračan.
"Our striker Rebić had injury problems even before the match. I believed that he will be alright, yet he felt pain and could not continue", he explained.
