⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Nwadiche]

The Spanish team only manages three short on target, which shows how good the croatia national team was last night, and to top it all, they manages five shots on target, but the red card cost them the game at the dieing minutes.

I can only accept that Croatia tried yesterday by not conceding much goals, but i think you're over rating them as if they where in a better position of winning that match last night. And from the look  of things It's seems you didn't watch the match very well, or should i say you just check the scoreline of the match and started giving good credit by their performance Spain dominated the match with high possession. Croatia where playing rough yesterday which lead to the red card they received, they where lucky to scored that their early goal yesterday if not they won't have scored  yesterday.

[Lucius]

The Croatian FA needs to step in and save their national team, because it has fallen badly in terms of performance and some old players. They were totally brutalized by England last week now there losing streak continues. I couldn't believe that this was the Croatian team. When they first scored Spain I was having the feeling that Croatian might actually win this game because of how bad Spain was in the second half.
~snip~

They won't do anything because they are the ones who appointed Bilic, and he is a man without face and honor, because when you lose 7-0 at home, you should at least offer your resignation, and not blame everyone but yourself. Spain was extremely bad last night, but even so they managed to win.

~snip~
Croatia's next match will be against England. I think it has the potential to be an exciting match because Croatia put up a good fight against Spain, so England shouldn't underestimate Croatia Who do you think will win the next match, England or Croatia? In my opinion, England has a great chance of winning, and I hope I win when I bet on that match

I think that the chances of Croatia getting a positive result in that match are very small. To make matters worse, Perisic, who received a red card, will not be there, and when he is one of the best at 37, one has to wonder what all those young players are doing.

How bad Croatia is at the moment is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that they have conceded 14 goals in 4 games, and the only team that has conceded more is San Marino. Even the Czech Republic conceded only 10 goals, and played against the same opponents.

[Sammye3]

Modrić is definitely the best player Croatia has ever produced. Even in his 40s, he still plays superb football for his age, but the time has come for him to step aside—maybe play 20 to 25 minutes for the national team, and that's that. Even if the younger players aren't that good at the moment, you do more harm to the team in the long run by continuing to play Modrić in the Nations League instead of getting younger players into the game. By playing, they will get transfer moves to better clubs, prosper, and ultimately become much, much better than before.

Croatia cannot get a better replacement in the team for Luka Modric, a one time Ballon D'or winner, and the only Croatian player to ever win the Ballon D'or. He deserves the best retirement match to commemorate his good works with the national team, his legacy would forever be remembered.

Though there is still Kovacic and Brozovic in the midfield but they cannot match the influence that Luka Modric has on the pitch.

[B2Z]

Croatia found the goal they were looking for in the 17th minute. Following a counter-attack, Perišić headed in the rebound after the goalkeeper had parried the initial shot, putting Croatia 1-0 ahead. It wasn't an easy goal; Simon almost managed to save it. Spain played their characteristic style of football, though the players seemed to be suffering from fatigue—perhaps because this was their fourth consecutive match.
Having evidently learned from their 7-0 defeat against England, Croatia defended very well. Spain engaged in their classic passing game but simply couldn't break through the defense.
Merino, who came on in the second half, delivered two clean strikes and secured the victory for Spain. Thus, Spain concluded this international stretch with four wins out of four, while Croatia finished with four losses out of four.

After conceding 7 goals against England, Croatia had a good start against Spain, but I was confident that Spain would definitely make a comeback in this match. Croatia took a lead with a goal at first, but later Spain's quick counterattacks ruined Croatia, which led to the reigning world champions leaving the field with a 2-1 victory.

Although Croatia lost this match, they were seen to perform much better than the previous match and several changes in the team have worked for them, but Croatia fans and coaches would have been happier if Croatia could have left the field with at least a point in this match, but that did not happen.