By Goal.com News on Friday, 18 June 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Croatia vs Czech Republic

39' GREAT CHANCE! Croatia are looking to get an instant reply to Schick's goal and Rebic gets away from his defender on the left of the box. It's a tight angle and he tries to fire it across the goalkeeper, but he ends up slicing it wide of the near post.

35' PENALTY TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC! VAR is just having a look at the incident between Lovren and Schick to see if there should be a penalty. The referee goes over to the monitor and he's judged that it was a foul by the defender before pointing to the spot.

33' Schick has stayed down in the box for the Czech Republic after he was accidentally caught in the face by Lovren during an aerial challenge. The medical team are quickly on the pitch and he's receiving treatment now.

31' Modric tries to quicken the pace of the attack for Croatia when he spots Brekalo breaking down the left again for Croatia. He overhits the throughball though and Coufal is able to shield it out of play.

29' Rebic is still putting pressure on Vaclik every time the Czech Republic go back to their goalkeeper and he's forcing him into making quick clearances. This one is cut out by Modric, but Boril is quickly in to win it back.

27' Schick skips away from Holes' challenge in the middle of the field before knocking it out to Masopust on the right so he can get into the box. He slows the play right down though and Croatia block his way into the area.

25' It's better from Croatia now as they move it upfield with a bit more pace. Kovacic switches it out to Vrsaljko and he curls a good cross into the six-yard box with the outside of his boot. Rebic is waiting for it, but Vaclik is quickly off his line to collect it.

23' Modric takes the corner short to Kramaric for the one-two before drilling a low cross into the edge of the box for Perisic. He drills his shot through the crowd in the middle, but it's straight at Vaclik, who holds onto it.

21' Celutska plays a backpass to Vaclik and the goalkeeper has to clear his lines quickly as Rebic is closing him down. The forward blocks the kick, but much to Vaclik's relief, it bounces wide of the post.

20' Croatia break quickly, with Livakovic knocking it to Lovren before he picks out Kovacic through the middle. He has space to run into but chooses to look for Rebic. He plays the pass blind out to the left and it's miles away from the forward as Coufal collects.

18' CHANCE! Jankto fizzes a dangerous low cross in from the left and it goes all the way through to Coufal at the far post. He pulls it back for Schick in the middle, but he can't sort his feet out in time and it ends up being a comfortable save for Livakovic.

16' Gvardiol manages to thread a pass through midfield to pick out Brekalo's run. The Czech Republic have dropped deep to block off the space, so he plays a one-two with Rebic, but the return pass is cut out by Kalas.

14' The Czech Republic have never beaten Croatia (D2 L1). Their three previous meetings have produced 12 goals, an average of four per game.

12' Masopust is struggling to open up any space down the right until Coufal makes the overlapping run and he touches it out to the right-back. His cross from the byline is over Schick's head, but Jankto runs onto it at the far post and blazes an effort high over the bar.

10' Croatia win a free-kick just outside the box and Modric leaves this one for Lovren to take it. He gets his effort over the wall, but there's no dip on the shot and it doesn't trouble Vaclik as it flies high over the bar.

8' Jankto makes another driving run down the left, but it's well cut out by Vrsaljko. He does well to keep hold of the ball before curling an early throughball towards Rebic through the middle, but it's just behind him.

6' It's a poor ball out from the back by Vaclik as he chips it straight out to Perisic on the right. He takes it past Boril to swing a cross into the box, but it's too high for Kramaric and Kalas knocks it out of play.

4' Modric swings a corner into the box this time and Soucek's run to the near post isn't picked up by any of the Croatia defenders. He flicks his header on, but it's just too high and lands in the roof of the net.

2' BLOCK! The Czech Republic have started very brightly here and Jankto swings a cross into the box. Vrsaljko half-clears it, with his header falling to Coufal. He drills a first-time effort on goal, but Vida throws himself in front of it to make a block.

1' Schick gets the game underway for the Czech Republic!

The teams are out on the pitch, the national anthems have been sung, and kick-off is just moments away.

Croatia have never lost their second match at any of their previous 10 major tournaments (Euros and World Cup), winning six and drawing four such matches. Their second game at the last Euros was a 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic.

Jaroslav Silhavy makes just one change to his team after their win over Scotland. Holes is brought into the midfield in place of Kral, who drops to the bench.

Zlatko Dalic makes two changes to the side that started against England last time out. Lovren is back in the team after recovering from a knee injury, with Brekalo also coming in. Caleta-Car and Brozovic start on the bench.

CZECH REPUBLIC SUBS: Antonin Barak, Jakub Brabec, Matej Vydra, Michal Krmencik, Petr Sevcik, Alex Kral, Tomas Koubek, Ales Mandous, Adam Hlozek, Tomas Pekhart, Pavel Kaderabek, David Zima. 

CZECH REPUBLIC STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Tomas Vaclik; Vladimir Coufal, Ondrej Celustka, Tomas Kalas, Jan Boril; Tomas Holes, Tomas Soucek; Lukas Masopust, Vladimir Darida, Jakub Jankto; Patrik Schick.

CROATIA SUBS: Mislav Orsic, Marcelo Brozovic, Nikola Vlasic, Lovre Kalinic, Domagoj Bradaric, Milan Badelj, Duje Caleta-Car, Luka Ivanusec, Mario Pasalic, Bruno Petkovic, Josip Juranovic, Simon Sluga.

CROATIA STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Dominik Livakovic; Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Josko Gvardiol; Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic; Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, Josip Brekalo; Ante Rebic.

The Czech Republic got off to a great start in the group as they saw off Scotland with a 2-0 win in their opening game at the tournament. They've now won their last two matches and another victory today would see them qualify for the knockout stages. As for Croatia, they were beaten 1-0 by England in their first game, they're now winless in their last three outings, losing the last two on the bounce.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group D meeting between Croatia and Czech Republic at Hampden Park!

Original link
Leave Comments