Croatia Win Friendly With Qatar

October 10, 2009

Croatia were without their injured starters, Luka Modrić, Eduardo da Silva, Mladen Petrić, Stipe Pletikosa, Josip Šimunić, Ivan Jurić, and Hrvoje Vejić, but pulled out a 3-2 win over the visitors in Rijeka. Their lineup was as expected and Bilić made at least seven changes throughout the game. Vedran Ćorluka, who scored over the weekend for his club Tottenham Hotspur, opened the scoring for Croatia in the 7th minute in the same fashion as he had at Spurs. Four minutes later, they made it 2-0 as Ivan Klasnić tapped in a wonderful pass from Danijel Pranjić down the left wing.

Bilić’s men continued to test the Qatar keeper and came dangerously close numerous times, especially with two brilliant shots from Vukojević and Ivica Olić. Qatar found their feet in the 45th minute just before the half time whistle. While Magdi Abdulla Siddiq got off a nice shot, Qatar’s first goal was in fact counted as an own goal by Robert Kovač, who just got an unlucky touch as it whizzed by. With a score line of 2-1, Croatia were determined to cushion their lead and came close in the 50th minute when Darijo Srna took a shot. Just after, in the 69th minute, Andres Soria equalized for Qatar. Croatia were awarded a free kick that Niko Kranjčar took and came dangerously close again, leaving the keeper on the ground. Substitute Nikica Jelavić inspired his side in 90+1 minutes for their 3-2 win.

Although playing in excellent form, Croatia have been burdened with yet another set of fresh injuries. During the game, Kranjčar had pain in his ankle, Mario Mandžukić is having a problem with his leg, Ćorluka has a sore muscle, and Pranjić is suffering from a slight injury. It’s been reported that Ćorluka and Pranjić should be okay to play by next week, however. Ivica Olić, however, may not even make the trip to Astana. While participating in additional training on Friday, he injured a calf muscle. He has told the daily sportske novosti, “When I was shooting at goal, I felt as though my calf had burst. It felt like someone had hit me with a hard object.”
With twelve players on the injured list, a few of which are hopeful to play, Croatia are really feeling the pressure of next week. To take a little off their shoulders, if England will today defeat Ukraine and Croatia can beat Kazakhstan on Wednesday, then a play-off spot for the World Cup finals will be marked with their name.

Jill Guthrie

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