Croatia recovered from an early setback to beat Canada 4-1 in a key Group F conflict on Sunday night.
After a promising, however in the end fruitless exhibiting in opposition to Belgium of their first World Cup match since 1986, Canada got here into this conflict filled with confidence. It confirmed in a short time too, with Alphonso Davies tearing into the field to move residence Tajon Buchanan’s glorious cross – thus turning into the primary Canadian male to ever rating at a World Cup.
Enjoying in a daring 4-2-4 system, the CanMNT stored their foot on the gasoline and for a superb 10 minutes, had the Croatians purely on the again foot.
Nonetheless, expertise took over and the extra Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Co obtained on the ball, the additional again Canada had been pushed.
Croatia had been rewarded within the thirty sixth minute when Andrej Kramaric – having already seen one aim disallowed – obtained behind the Canadian defence to satisfy Ivan Perisic’s via ball, firing previous Milan Borjan from a good angle.
With Canada nonetheless reeling, Croatia took the lead simply earlier than half-time, with Marko Livaja sweeping an inch-perfect end into the underside nook from distance after a driving run from Celtic full-back Josip Juranovic.
A half-time shake-up restored some vitality for Canada, however John Herdman’s males had been simply unable to rediscover that attacking verve that had terrified Croatia a lot within the opening phases.
The 2018 World Cup runners-up completed the job on 70 minutes when Kramaric picked the ball up within the nook of the 18-yard field earlier than slicing inside and sweeping the ball into the far nook. Insult was added to damage when Mislav Orsic and Lovro Majer punished a Kamal Miller mistake.
Sunday’s outcome leaves Croatia high of Group F with 4 factors, eliminating Canada from spherical of 16 rivalry.
Listed here are the complete participant rankings from Khalifa Worldwide Stadium:
GK: Dominik Livakovic – 6/10 – Helpless on the Davies aim however made a few essential interventions afterwards.
RB: Josip Juranovic – 7/10 – May very well be accused of ball-watching on the opening aim however the velocity at which Davies crashed into the field was great. Did nicely to arrange Croatia’s second.
CB: Dejan Lovren – 5/10 – Did not get pleasure from defending in opposition to that pacey Canadian assault one bit. Saved his composure on the ball, a minimum of.
CB: Josko Gvardiol – 7/10 – Coped higher than Lovren and helped Croatia get out with some driving runs via the center.
LB: Borna Sosa – 6/10 – Struggled early on in opposition to Buchanan however obtained to grips with him ultimately. Received ahead nicely.
CM: Luka Modric – 7/10 – Confirmed glorious composure in what was a chaotic conflict.
CM: Marcelo Brozovic – 7/10 – Metronomic in midfield, calling on all of his technical and bodily attributes to provide Croatia management.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 9/10 – Canada could not cope with the driving runs of Kovacic, who unsettled and destabilised the opposition all evening.
RW: Marko Livaja – 7/10 – Took his aim brilliantly however was very quiet in any other case. The apparent option to deliver off as Croatia regarded to re-energise.
ST: Andrej Kramaric – 9/10 – Confirmed ice-cool composure to complete two of his massive probabilities and, on one other evening, might’ve had extra. All the time a menace.
LW: Ivan Perisic – 8/10 – Classic Perisic. Labored relentlessly to disrupt Canada and nonetheless had the vitality to drop two assists.
SUB: Bruno Petkovic (60′, for Livaja) – 5/10 – By no means actually discovered his rhythm.
SUB: Nikola Vlasic (73′, for Kramaric) – 5/10 – Did not get into the sport.
SUB: Mislav Orsic (86′, for Perisic) – 7/10 – Pounced on a Miller mistake to arrange the fourth aim.
SUB: Mario Pasalic (86′, for Modric) – N/A
SUB: Lovro Majer (86′, for Kovacic) – 7/10 – Helped himself to a late aim.
GK: Milan Borjan – 5/10 – Made some good saves however was crushed thrice and had a number of different nervous moments.
RB: Alistair Johnston – 5/10 – Wanted extra assist from these round him, typically discovering himself remoted. Lacked a little bit composure on the ball.
CB: Steven Vitoria – 5/10 – Battled exhausting however struggled to deal with the mobility of Croatia’s ahead line.
CB: Kamal Miller – 5/10 – In all probability Canada’s finest defender however made a horrible mistake within the last moments.
LB: Richie Laryea – 6/10 – Put in an immense quantity of effort early within the match, inflicting him to fade fairly shortly.
CM: Atiba Hutchinson – 3/10 – His a hundredth cap did not go to plan. The sport typically handed Hutchinson by with the midfielder’s 39 years of age exhibiting with a critical lack of tempo.
CM: Stephen Eustaquio – 6/10 – Tidy on the ball and efficient on the ball however struggled with an damage as the primary half went on. Subbed out at half-time.
RW: Tajon Buchanan – 7/10 – Supplied a lovely help for the opening aim and was considered one of Canada’s finest retailers all evening along with his tempo and trickery.
ST: Cyle Larin – 3/10 – Nowhere close to as efficient as his attacking teammates. Barely obtained into the sport and was introduced off at half-time.
ST: Jonathan David – 5/10 – One robust effort from distance apart, this simply wasn’t David’s evening.
LW: Alphonso Davies – 8/10 – Made historical past with Canada’s first-ever aim at a World Cup. Continued to frighten the life out of Croatia along with his tempo and talent, however typically made the incorrect resolution in key attacking moments.
SUB: Jonathan Osorio (46′, for Eustaquio) – 6/10 – Did a superb job in restoring calm to the Canadian midfield.
SUB: Ismael Kone (46′, for Larin) – 6/10 – A really mature, composed efficiency from the CF Montreal teen.
SUB: Junior Hoilett (62′, for Laryea) – 5/10 – Failed to alter the sport.
SUB: Lucas Cavallini (72′, for David) – 4/10 – Barely touched the ball.
SUB: Sam Adekugbe (73′, for Hutchinson) – 6/10 – Neat and tidy on the ball.