Croatia: match notes – 24hfootnews

The first day of the group stage of Euro 2020 continues this Sunday and we were entitled to a shock in group D. England and Croatia thus met at Wembley for a match reminiscent of the World Cup 2018. Indeed, Croatia had won 2-1 after extra time. For this group match at home, England opted for a rather attractive 4-2-3-1 with Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling in support of Harry Kane. For its part, Croatia played in 4-3-3 with young Josko Gvardiol in defense and a trio of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic in the midfield. Driven by its public, England started strong in the meeting.

Found on the right side, Phil Foden fixed Josko Gvardiol and unleashed a heavy shot that ended on the left post of Dominik Livakovic (6th). The Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper was quickly put to work and had to work again to repel an attempt by Kalvin Phillips (9th). Relying in particular on the left side with a voluntary Raheem Sterling, but author of many bad choices, England put the Croatian defense to work. Nevertheless, the checkered formation raised its head at the end of the first period with in particular a recovery of Ivan Perisic (27th). Just before the break, Kieran Trippier fired a dangerous free kick, but his shot ended in the Croatian wall.

Sterling took advantage of the loophole

Back from the locker room, Croatia returned with good intentions and Luka Modric hit hard on the right in front of the English area. Jordan Pickford captured the ball (55th). A turning point in the match as England opened the scoring in stride. Well served, Kalvin Phillips dropped a love ball in the box for Raheem Sterling. The latter was not missed despite the return of Sime Vrsaljko and propelled the ball into the net (1-0, 57th). Confident after this slight advantage, England pushed to score a second goal.

On a cross from Mason Mount on the left, Harry Kane was at the reception at the far post, but he was hampered by Josko Gvardiol and missed his shot with the right foot (61st). The Croatian response was not required with Ante Rebic who missed his attempt (65th). Although a scorer, Raheem Sterling lacked efficiency and his new attempt ended in the English sky (74th). Croatia was trying to put in the ingredients to come back, but that was not enough. England held their 1-0 victory to the end and finally started a Euro with a victory. Bodes well for the rest of the competition. The next match in this Group D will feature Scotland and the Czech Republic at 3pm tomorrow.

Relive the film of the meeting on our live commentary

Man of the match: Phillips (7.5): this afternoon, we saw him. The Leeds midfielder was dazzling both in the defensive spots and in the offensive phases. Physically already, he made a monstrous impact and set the pace for the meeting. He was already showing danger after a good volley (9th). It was after one of his many breakthroughs that he found Sterling perfectly for the opener (57th). An XXL service for the disciple of Bielsa during this first day of group D.

England

• Pickford (5): the Everton goalkeeper had nothing to do in this meeting. He knew how to be vigilant when needed, especially on his good exit after a mistake by Trippier (49th). He was able to reassure his defense when needed with good saves (60th)

• Walker (4): on his right lane, the unfortunate finalist of the last Champions League was rather disappointing. He did not succeed in bringing on the offensive phases and above all showed too much clumsiness on the ball. Badly adjusted passes, elusive controls, in short it was not the best version of Walker this afternoon.

• Mings (5.5): the solid defender of Aston Villa was good in his register: that is to say when it was necessary to respond present in the physical impact and in the duels. On the ball, he was less interesting because he never really knew how to create shifts when he was throwing the leather.

• Stones (5.5): like his friend in defense, he was very calm. John Stones established himself as the leader of the defense and was useful with his calm ball in the foot and good defensive placement to compensate for the side’s climbs. If the Croats were so harmless, it is also thanks to him.

• Trippier (5): Atletico Madrid’s usual right-back was lined up as a left-back by Gareth Southgate no doubt to prevent Vrsaljko from overflowing too much. A rather successful choice since the 30-year-old defender was very interesting both defensively and offensively. He very often combined with Sterling.

• Rice (5): the West Ham defensive midfielder has been serious about his defensive work. Always well placed, he cut several pass lines and padlocked Luka Modric well. But offensively, in his raises, he was quite clumsy at times. Of course, that wasn’t his basic role, but he’s capable of doing better.

• Phillips (7.5): see above.

• Foden (6): the 20-year-old has been the most prominent on the English attacking line. Always technically very fair, he has more than once failed his partners with perfect control or a fair pass. He was not far from opening the scoring with a nice shot that will end on the post (5th). We sometimes felt him a little alone on the attack front. Replaced by Rashford at the 71st.

• Mount (5.5): Author of a very good season with Chelsea, Mason Mount was keen to shine with the selection. In this meeting, the 22-year-old midfielder did not really shine as in a club. He wasn’t bad, but more was expected in the offensive build from him. If England had such a hard time creating chances, it was also because Mount was less present.

• Sterling (6): the Manchester City striker was quite restless on his left lane. He multiplied the races and did not hesitate to make defensive efforts. He has lent a hand to Trippier several times. He also brought variety to the English game with in-depth calls. It is also him who after a good call came to open the scoring with a nice strike (57th). A great reward.

• Kane (3): the Premier League’s top scorer and assistant this season has been rather low-key this afternoon. And the Three Lions attack logically struggled. By halftime, he had only touched ten small balls. Too little to be able to shine and weigh on the Croatian defense as he usually does in England. Even when he picked up, he failed to be effective. Far from its standards. Replaced by Bellingham at the 82nd.

Croatia

• Livakovic (5.5): From the outset, he was called upon on this attempt by Kalvin Phillips (9th), but behind, he did not have to work that much, since the dangerous attempts of the Three Lions were not framed, to the image of the Foden post. On goal, he cannot be held responsible, being abandoned by his defense and alone against Sterling. A decent match.

• Gvardiol (5): the nugget of Dinamo Zagreb was thrown in the deep end tonight and showed obvious traces of talent. A very offensive face that has often led him to find himself very high, constantly seeking to combine and displaying an obvious technical quality. On the other hand defensively, he suffered a little and we felt he was a little overwhelmed by events.

• Caleta-Car (5): the defender of OM made a rather correct copy, nothing more. He is missing on Raheem Sterling’s goal, even though the defense’s misalignment is more collective than individual. There were also other times when the British easily deceived the Croatian defenders, but again he was not directly responsible. Otherwise, he won several duels, in the aerial game in particular. Ball in the foot he did not task.

• Vida (5): he is often presented as the weak link in this Baltic team. This afternoon, he was not particularly bad, but like his defense companion, he could possibly do better on the opener. But if Harry Kane was not particularly prominent this Sunday afternoon, it is partly his fault.

• Vrsaljko (5.5): on the right side, facing his club teammate Kieran Trippier, the Atlético player was often called upon on the possession sequences. We have often seen him touch balloons in the opposing half of the field, however not improving that much in the end. Defensively, he reigned in his zone and was not beaten too often.

• Brozovic (3): the Inter player struggled a bit in front of his defense. Especially in the first period, where he failed to cut the many offensives of the British selection, which ultimately gave nothing. But then he continued to take the water fairly regularly, without really compensating for the possession streak of his team, even going so far as to make a few mistakes. Vlasic ended the ordeal by replacing him in the 70th but did not bring much.

• Kovacic (5): the midfielder in the four Champions League has not really weighed in the game of his team. He often played a little too simple, not creating any differences between the lines. Not a bad match in itself, but nothing very transcendent, especially when you know the talent of the guy. Defensively, he failed to contain his vis-à-vis. Replaced by Pasalic (85th) whose entry was anecdotal except for a non-target end at the very end of additional time.

• Modric (6): the boss merengue took a little time to get into the game, but then managed to take control of his team. He’s not the best Modric we’ve seen in recent years, but he’s one of the few Croats to have held his own, distilling a lot of good balls forward, often poorly exploited.

• Perisic (5): very active, on one side of the field as well as on the other. But also very confusing, not being able to accomplish much when he had the ball in front. A player used to creating a lot of imbalance on the corridors, he made a fairly average copy and obviously his team suffered.

• Kramaric (4): he has often tried to serve as a pivot for his partners on the edge of the surface, with varying degrees of success. Overall, it created too little danger up front, allowing the English rearguard to have a fairly leisurely afternoon. Replaced by Brekalo in the 70th, the impact of which was also very slight.

• Rebic (4): Established at the forefront of the attack, he did not have much to eat. Condemned to achieve a fairly intense pressing on the first rival raiser, he did not have a real opportunity to show his qualities in the last meters. And when he was able to shake the opposing nets, as on this half-volley (65th), he was completely missed. Petkovic took his place in the 78th but couldn’t really show himself.