Having suffered a shocking thrashing at the opening of their UEFA Nations League campaign at the hands of Austria in Osijek, Croatia welcomed old foes France at the stadium of Poljud in Split on Monday evening. The change of venue did bring some change of fortunes for the 2018 World Cup runners-up, as it did for the reigning world champions as well after they were in turn beaten at home by Denmark at the start.
Adrien Rabiot broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 52nd minute, and substitute Andrej Kramaric equalized from the spot with seven minutes remaining on the clock.
Rotation
Neither Zlatko Dalic in the Croatia dugout nor France boss Didier Deschamps named the same lineups as for their respective opening fixtures.
For Croatia, striker Andrej Kramaric was left on the bench this time to be replaced by Ante Budimir. Mario Pasalic made way for returning Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who thus made his 150th international cap – a remarkable achievement indeed. As for the back line, only Josip Jurakovic on the right flank kept his place. Borna Barisic replaced Borna Sosa on the left, the pair of Domagoj Vida and Martin Erlic were named ahead of Duje Caleta-Car and Marin Pongracic, and Dominik Livakovic returned between the posts, replacing Ivica Ivusic. Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic kept their places in the middle of the park, as did Lovro Majer and Josip Brekalo on the attacking flanks.
Deschamps on the other side made even more changes, leaving Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann on the bench. Wissama Ben Yedder started upfront, joined by Christopher Nkunku and Moussa Diaby. The midfield selection appeared confusing at first, but it turned out to have worked rather well for most of the contest. Aurelien Tchouameni was the anchor, with Adrien Rabiot and Matteo Guendouzi closest to him as the shape switched from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3.
At the back, William Saliba started in the place of the injured Raphael Varane, while Lucas Hernandez, Jules Kounde, Kingsley Coman and N’Golo Kante made way to make the new system work. Mike Maignan replaced Hugo Lloris in goal.
The flow
Looking at that midfield trio for Croatia, one would say they arguably have perfect balance in that area. Brozovic is obviously the most defence-minded, Kovacic the tireless runner and fighter between the boxes, while Modric always brings impressive creativity along with a characteristic calmness and confidence on the ball. Meanwhile, the trio of Tchouameni, Rabiot and Guendouzi seemed to be lacking this last feature, but Deschamps went for a different, more patient approach. France worked very well to stifle everything Croatia tried to create and remained patient in possession of the ball, which eventually led to it being under their control for around 52% of the time.
Apart from that, the visitors always waited for the right opportunity to strike, and it almost paid off in the first half already, but Nkunku’s brilliant finish was overruled by the offside flag, and Livakovic did well to deny Diaby. For Croatia, the best chance fell for Budimir, but the Osasuna striker tried and failed to convert, even though he had teammates in better positions.
France continued to patiently scan the Croatia defence for an opening, and in the 52nd minute, Rabiot ran in from deep to get on the end of a lovely through pass from Ben Yedder and beat Livakovic with relative ease.
Deschamps’ men then fell slightly deeper and proceeded to obstruct the host, obviously happy with the one-goal lead but still keeping an eye out for a chance to add to their tally. Griezmann, who entered the fray 10 minutes after Rabiot’s goal instead of Ben Yedder, wasted a glorious opportunity as Nkunku stole the ball from Vida deep in Croatia’s half and released him on the right.
In the end, Kramaric, who had previously come on instead of Budimir, earned and converted a penalty for his team when they least looked like scoring. From that point on, the home side gave all to find a late winner, but it was France who had a chance first to restore their lead. Unfortunately for the visitors, it fell once more to Griezmann, who simply wasn’t meant to score in this game. Croatia could have won it at the death though, but substitute Luka Sucic also wasted his chance.
In the end, a share of the spoils seems a fair result after everything seen between the opening and the final whistle from referee Marco Guida.
The penalty call
Speaking of Guida, the way the penalty was awarded to Croatia was an interesting sequence. Kramaric went down after contact with Jonathan Clauss, who had replaced Diaby. Guida blew his whistle and pointed to the spot straight away, without any hesitation, even though it appeared the call might have been harshly made. But then, the Italian referee changed the position of his arm, raising it up to signal for offside, having spotted the linesman’s flag.
However, the offside call was then checked by the VAR and overturned, leaving the original decision – penalty for Croatia – to stand.
It can’t exactly be said to have been a mistake; the contact between Clauss and Kramaric arguably falls into that infamous category for which some refs award a penalty and some don’t.
A look ahead
Meanwhile, Denmark managed to replicate their first-round triumph over France as they faced Austria in Vienna, and they now sit top of League A Group 1 with six points. Austria are second with three, while France and Croatia share the view from the bottom with a point each. France are ahead on goal-difference, but that won’t be too much of a consolation for Deschamps.
In the next round, France go to Vienna to face Austria and this has now become a must-win match for them. It’s arguably even worse for Croatia, who will go to Denmark and play the group leaders in Copenhagen at the same time.
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