szólj hozzá: Croatia vs Ireland 3:1 HIGHLIGHTS
Set pieces ruled in this match. The Croatians were far better at it with Mario Mandžukić scoring from a brace of headers and Le Homme Nikica pouncing on a ball the Ireland defenders failed to clear. Terrible defending all around by the men in green.
Ireland were able to narrow the deficit with a set piece goal of their own when Aidan McGeady’s free kick was diverted into goal by Sean St Ledger after the defender lost his marker Vedran Corluka. It was a Spurs mini re-union as former players Corluka and Robbie Keane faced off against each other. The present day team was represented by Luka Modric and later Niko Kranjcar who came on for Jelavic.
All the clever players were Croatians with Modric a cut above the rest. The result was some nice flowing football. The Irish are nimble wordsmiths but their feet don’t keep up with their mouths or their pens. Maybe someday.
The result puts the Croatians on top of Group C after Italy and Spain deadlocked. For Ireland the climb became nigh impossible with two World Cup champions to face in their remaining matches.