BUDAPEST • The signs were there after Croatia got their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign off to a shaky start with a "more difficult than expected" home win over minnows Azerbaijan last Friday.
And those same bundle of nerves were again on display as Hungary ran out deserving 2-1 winners against the World Cup finalists in their Group E meeting in Budapest on Sunday.
The Hungarians have been somewhat of a bogey team for the away side, who have yet to beat them in four games since 2004, and after slipping to a third straight defeat on their travels, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic admitted "it was not going to be easy, as against Croatia, everyone plays 200mph".
He said: "I congratulate Hungary on the victory, aggression and fight. We were not creative. It was not good in attack until (Josip) Brekalo came on and gave us width.
"We knew it would be difficult in this qualifying group. We brought on another striker (in Bruno Petkovic) and played three at the back, but nothing.
"This is not a tragedy, we are the World Cup runners-up but lost."
Dalic's men took an early lead at the Groupama Arena through Ante Rebic after 13 minutes, but a lack of defensive organisation allowed Adam Szalai to draw Hungary level 20 minutes later.
Mate Patkai then scored the winner - his first international goal - from a corner in the 76th minute to condemn Croatia to fourth place in the group.
Earlier, Daniel James netted his first international strike on his competitive debut as Wales edged out Slovakia 1-0 at home.
Ryan Giggs' players will visit Croatia in their next qualifier on June 8.
Elsewhere, Eden Hazard marked his 100th cap with an early goal to set Belgium on their way to an easy 2-0 Group I win in Cyprus, with Michy Batshuayi getting the other.
Poland made it two wins out of two after second-half goals by Robert Lewandowski and Kamil Glik gave them a 2-0 home victory over Latvia in Group G.
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric has criticised Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for choosing not to attend this month's ceremony where he was given the award, saying their decision was unfair to
Ballon d'Or winner, Modric criticises Ronaldo, Messi over
Iran-Iraq War. The first ban was imposed in 1980 after an Olympic qualifying play-off between Iraq and Kuwait in Baghdad, where the match referee was attacked by enraged home fans and members of the Iraqi team after the Malaysian official's decision to award a match changing penalty to the Kuwaitis that led to Iraq losing 3-2.
Asian Cup: 'proud' Son Heung-min sparks South Korea to easy
This Changes The Game. The biggest shift you can make in business is going from expecting things of others to this.. Once I made the shift everything changed in my life. Listen in to this week
Adding/Removing Team Admins - GameChanger
Wenger hails Leeds' Bielsa for sportsmanship in Villa draw. Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa's sportsmanlike decision to allow Aston Villa to score unopposed in Sunday's 1-1 draw is all
Wenger hails Leeds' Bielsa for sportsmanship in Villa draw
Liverpool needed more late goals to move top of the Premier League once more as Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson struck in the final 10 minutes to earn a 3-1 victory at Southampton on Friday.
Liverpool beat Southampton 3-1 to return to top of Premier
Jun 01, 2019 · Mohamed Salah's early penalty and Divock Origi's late strike gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham in the Champions League final right arm to give away the penalty. It gave Salah the
Soccer-Salah, Origi strike to give Liverpool Champions League
Indian Football: 3 Deserving Players who could be called up for national team by new coach Igor Stimac MSN; School football coaches to be licenced , says Ogwel Daily Monitor; We need to keep improving: Singapore football association chief Lim Kia Tong The Straits Times; Qatar's 'Challenge 22' winning app SnapGoal aiming to unite football fans Goal
Lim Kia Tong elected new FAS president - ESPN
Imagine if the moment that a banned fan entered a stadium, security would get an instant alert with an actionable directive (e.g. eject fan or call police). This is now possible with the FaceFirst biometric surveillance platform. Security professionals are only human. They can't always recognize banned fans.
Inter Given Stadium Ban After Fans' Racial Abuse Toward
England manager Gareth Southgate fears a Champions League scheduling "mess" could damage the Three Lions' chances of winning their first silverware in 53 years. Southgate's side face Netherlands in the Nations League semi-finals on June 6 in Portugal, five days after the Champions League final takes place at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
Southgate: UCL may make Nations League 'mess'
global.espn.com/football/england/story/3799855/english-success-in-champions-league-could-make-nations-league-mess-southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate expressed concern that the success of Premier League clubs in the Champions League could make for a messy go of things for the Three Lions in the Nations League final four on June 5 and 6.
Tottenham and Liverpool success hits England's Nations League
Napoli 'keeper Ospina out of hospital after head injury scare
Paine delighted with Aussie grit in second Test victory
Football: Man City's Sterling treated differently by British
0 comments:
Post a Comment