Match Summary

Croatia Team

England Team

I have reported on all sorts of weird and wonderful England internationals for this website, but none have been quite like this latest match in the Nations League. The stadium ban enforced on Croatia meant that there were no fans, from either side, watching this vital match. I say no fans, but there was a pocket of English diehards spotted on a hillside overlooking the ground, and all credit to them for getting something for their money.

As for the game, well, unfortunately it has to go down as one of the worst games I have reported on too. The first-half was totally forgettable. The awkward pitch, and the lack of any atmosphere, saw the players going through the motions as though it was a training session. Neither side wanted to lose the game and it showed in the tentative way both teams approached the match. Neither goalkeeper saw any action in the early stages and it took a full 12 minutes before there was a semblance of a chance. Ben Chilwell, making his second appearance, broke away down the left and put in a fine cross. Croatian defender Josip Pevaric had to stretch to prevent Raheem Sterling having a simple tap-in.

It took Croatia 20 minutes before they managed a worthwhile attack. Good work by Domagoj Vida and Ante Rebic saw the latter put in a cross to the near post, but England managed to clear, although Kyle Walker then gave away a corner from which Ivan Perisic had a shot blocked.

An early booking for Jordan Henderson ruled him out of the next match and Mateo Kovacic joined him in the referee’s notebook shortly afterwards. The bobbly pitch made life very difficult for everyone, but it was not really an excuse for the lack of urgency. Just after the half-hour mark England cleared a Luka Modric free-kick and Harry Maguire did well in clearing two dangerous crosses with his head. In the 37th minute Jordan Pickford had to make his first save as Andrej Kramaric shot at goal. The forward scuffed his shot somewhat and in the end it was an easy save for the goalkeeper.

With just two minutes left of a dire first-half, England so nearly grabbed the lead. A corner to the near post from Henderson was met, appropriately, by Eric Dier, and his glancing header bobbled across goal before hitting the far post and bouncing away, even though three advancing England players could and should have made a vital touch had they been just a little more alert. And that was it for the first 45 minutes, in this, the most weird of situations for a major international. Surely the second-half would be a little better?

After the restart there was definitely a bit more urgency from England and two minutes in Marcus Rashford cut inside before shooting wide. Croatia also went close as the pace of the game stepped up. Modric, always the orchestrator, set up Perisic but Pickford was down well to save. A minute later and England saw the first glimpse of Harry Kane as Henderson’s free-kick was met by the talismatic striker with a firm header. On another day it would have been a goal, but this time the ball thudded against the crossbar before being cleared.

John Stones was then booked, and he too will miss the next game away to Spain, and that added to the frustrations of the night’s efforts. At least in the eight minutes elapsed after the break so far the ’fans on the hill‘ had seen more action than in the previous 45 minutes.

On 55 minutes England created another golden chance. Walker’s fine cross found Rashford clear with just the goalkeeper to beat. But the young Manchester United star completely fluffed his shot, giving Dominik Livakovic an easy save. That was a bad miss from the best chance of the night so far. At least England were looking a lot more positive as they sensed that the game was there for the taking. Good work by Sterling and Kane gave Rashford another chance but again the striker failed to score.

For a short while play swung from end to end, with first Chilwell’s free-kick being cleared and then after Croatia pressured Chilwell and Pickford, England managed to scramble the ball clear. The match quietened down after that and all eyes, such as there were, looked at the England bench for possible substitutions. Meanwhile, Kramaric went close and then on 70 minutes Rebic fired in a fine curling shot that only just cleared the far post.

After a period of Croatian pressure England broke away with Rashford feeding the ball through to Sterling only for the Manchester City winger to be pulled up for offside. Sterling was booked after putting the ball into the net after the whistle blew. He couldn’t possibly have said he didn’t hear the whistle!

Modric forced a save out of Pickford and Kane then shot into the net but again the striker was caught offside. On 80 minutes, Gareth Southgate finally made a change. On came the young protégé Jadon Sancho, and the Borussia Dortmund player was soon into the action making a couple of sparkling runs down the right. At the other end Kramaric, who had a poor game, missed a fine chance to win the points, and then Sancho’s cross almost finds Ross Barkley, only for the ball to bounce unkindly for the Chelsea man.

Both sides tried to break the deadlock but overall it was a severe case of a stalemate with both teams cancelling each other out. England, and in particular Rashford, had the best chances, but the final finish was missing each time. England missed a good chance here of snatching some sort of revenge for their World Cup defeat by Croatia back in the summer, but they do live to fight another day.

It really was a strange and eerie atmosphere, and despite what they said afterwards, all the players were affected by this weird scenario. Let’s hope we don’t see too many other England games played behind closed doors.
  

Source Notes