One of the most eagerly anticipated game of the group stage lived up to its billing as Croatia and Spain served an exciting encounter devoid of the negativity and defensive mindset which has plagued the Euros so far because of the new format. Spain only needed a draw to progress as group stages while Croatia playing without their talisman Luka Modric knew that anything but a win would pit them against Italy and in the tougher half of the draw.
Croatia coach Ante Cacic was without Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic due to injuries and made five changes introducing 20 year-old Marko Rog in midfield to partner Milan Badelj and 21 year-old Marko Pjaca on the flank, the pair coming from Dinamo Zagreb. 21 year-old Tin Jedvaj partnered Vedran Corluka in central defence and Nikola Kalinic played up top with Šime Vrsaljko deployed at right back.
Pre-match rumours of crowd unrest proved untrue and it was largely uneventful off the field unlike the throwing of flares on to the pitch which marred their draw with Czech Republic by the ultras to protest against the corrupt Croatia FA.
Spain who hadn’t lost in Euros in their last 14 matches and hadn’t conceded a goal in 690 minutes started with the same line-up as their last two games.
Croatia Take the Game to Spain
Spain would have been taken aback by Croatia’s high-pressing approach as they looked to prevent short goal-kicks. Pique and Ramos along with De Gea were given no time on the ball and Kalinic leading with Rakitic looked to smother build-up play from the back.
It was that cavalier approach which proved to be counterproductive, at least early on as Spain played around the press from a goal kick and Busquets was able to find Fabregas in acres of space behind Croatia’s midfield which was too far behind the front two for the pressing to be effective.
His through ball to Morata was intercepted by Jedvaj but a sliding Vrsaljko had committed himself too with a slide and the ball fell to Silva. The Manchester City playmaker found Fabregas with a delicious reverse pass who then dinked it over Subasic for Morata to tap in.
Croatia’s didn’t change however and their pressing induced mistakes in first Ramos and then De Gea a few minutes later which led to Ivan Rakitic hitting the bar, the post and seeing the ball bounce on the goal line. It was a lucky reprieve for the goalkeeper but showed a sign of things to come.
Along with their pressing, Croatia remained a well-organised unit falling back into a 4-4-1-1 and even a 6-3-1 when further back, as well as moving forward as a unit. They started coming back into the game and were especially dangerous on the break relying on the pace of Pjaca and Perisic to carry the ball 40-50 yards from within their own half.
Spain were restricted to attempts from range without really troubling Subasic who only had a long range Silva effort from range straight at him to deal with. They could have doubled the lead when two vertical passes from Busquets and Fabregas broke their lines but Morata couldn’t control otherwise, he would have been through on goal.
Croatia went on to the other end and Perisic’s right-foot cross from the left wing having beaten Juanfran was coolly dispatched by Kalinic for what was only the 4th back heel goal in Euro history (Milosevic in 2000, Ibrahimovic in 2004 and Welbeck in 2012).
Iniesta and Silva Kept Relatively Quiet After Bright Opening
As against Turkey, the Iniesta and Fabregas would often swap positions but at times Spain’s build-up play was affected by Fabregas’ movement who despite having a good first half would often find himself too close to Iniesta.
This would restrict passing options and make an already compact midfield further suffocating. Spain would end up circulating the ball without any real threat of penetration. The midfield maestro along with his former Barcelona teammate were amongst the top 3 passers of the match but their influence diminished in the second half and most of their possession was sterile.
Silva was the brightest of the three in the opening half finding pockets of space drifting inside from the right and combining well with Fabregas. To reduce his influence as the half progressed, he was marked more closely. Likewise, Nolito on the other flank too started finding it difficult to find space and time on the ball.
The two Croatian midfielders Badelj and youngster Rog were helped by Rakitic in denying space to the Spanish playmakers. The Fiorentina player made the highest ball recoveries of the night (12), the joint second highest tackles with 4, the joint-most interceptions (3) and also the most blocks(3). They were disciplined and quite impressive off the ball pretty shifting comfortably from side to side with number behind the ball preventing any balls in behind the defence.
Second Half and Substitutions
Del Bosque must have been a worried man at half time because it was the first time since Euro 2004 (10-Portugal) that an opponent had attempted 9 shots in the first half against them in the competition.
After the break, Busquets adopted a deeper position in between the two centrebacks to prevent Rakitic and Kalinic from pressing their build up play, but this allowed Croatia more time and control over the midfield. With Croatia in the ascendency, Nolito who had been kept quite was replaced by Villarreal’s Bruno Soriano at the hour mark in an attempt to regain superiority in the middle to partner Busquets with Fabregas on left of three ahead of them with Iniesta & Silva.
However Rakitic had been bypassed Croatia’s tactics and wasn’t too much of an influence going forward anyway. It seemed like Del Bosque wasn’t too eager to push for a winner even though Aduriz was introduced for Morata shortly afterwards.
Croatia were denied a suspicious looking penalty appeal from Pjaca who seemed to go down easily over Ramos’ leg and five minutes later the Real Madrid man had the opportunity to give his side the lead from the spot after Vrsaljko was deemed to have fouled Silva who was trying to reach a beautiful chip by Iniesta. Replays showed that the left back might have been pushed by Aduriz onto Silva but the decision stood.
What followed was quite peculiar as Modric on the bench told Srna where his Real Madrid teammate was going to hit the penalty and it was conveyed to Subasic. Busquets upon realising what was happening went up to Ramos and informed him of the same. The defender though waited for the keeper to dive, as Modric had predicted, and went to the keeper’s right but Subasic had waited and then come three yards off his line to make a comfortable save which would prove to change the whole dynamics of the tournament.
Cacic waited until the final ten minutes to make their first substitution as Mateo Kovacic replaced Rog and Del Bosque responded with his final change in Thiago who came on for Fabregas.
Flanks the Key to Croatia’s Game Plan
As had been the feature of the first half, Croatia upon regaining possession would look to attack down the wings. Pjaca had started on the left wing with the left footed Perisic on the right possible to counter the dangerous Nolito and Alba down Spain’s left. However after around 25 minutes, the duo swapped wings as most of the play was coming through Silva on the right flank in the opening stages. Pjaca himself did quite well on the night, completing 7 take-ons while Perisic completed 4.
However, these tactics completely bypassed the passing abilities and creativity of Ivan Rakitic who completed just 3 passes in each half, the lowest of any starting player on the night. In the absence of Modric, this showed how the Croats didn’t bother too much with holding onto the ball and attack down the middle where Busquets and then Soriano patrolled but instead down the flanks.
34-year-old Srna playing in 133rd capped and 17th tournament appearance for the country, both the highest by any Croatia player, was also a willing runner down the right flank. His crosses led to a couple of dangerous situations, one of which De Gea flapped at and presented Jedvaj with a volley though it was well saved.
The winner came three minutes from time and culminated in the perfect execution of Croatia’s tactics. Aduriz’s shot was blocked and it fell to Pjaca who found Kalinic in the centre circle with a first time ball. The striker really shouldn’t have been allowed to turn but Pique and Ramos gave him room to run at them. An overlapping Perisic streaked down the left flank and Pique’s attempted block took an unfortunate deflection which was enough to beat De Gea at his near post.
Man of the Match: Ivan Perisic
The Inter wide player scored on his 50th cap for Croatia and has now netted in 6 of his last 10 appearances for the national team, finally rising to prominence. In the absence of key players, he took up the mantle as one of the senior players and deserves the man of the match award.
Conclusion
Subasic’s only shot saved was from the penalty and that speaks volumes about Croatia’s stiffening of Spain and the lack of incisive passing by the holders. Their defeat will no doubt prove to be a template for Antonio Conte in the next round and without a plan B it could well be Del Bosque’s last game in charge.
It is quite possible that the Spanish players weren’t able to maintain their intensity in the muggy Bordeaux weather as it was their third game in 8 games on the back of another gruelling club season while their opponents could maintain their fitness levels due to wholesale changes.
However, Croatia becomes the first team in history of Euro finals to beat Spain after conceding the opening goal (17W 2D) with a clutch of young players along with seasoned veterans and earned their reward of a forgiving run to the final.
