CROATIA COACH Zlatko Dalic bemoaned his team’s lack of a genuine goalscorer after the 2018 runners-up were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot to put the South Americans ahead and Julian Alvarez netted once in each half.
Croatia started strongly but created few openings of note and had only two attempts on target in the entire game.
Advertisement
“I congratulate Argentina on the victory,” said Dalic. “We have to pull ourselves together, raise our heads. I can’t blame the boys for anything — we are going into the fight for third place.
“We don’t have much to complain about.”
Dalic said his team created “good situations” but failed to produce clear-cut chances.
“We have prepared everything but we missed a real, genuine attacker,” he said.
“We lost the match, I have nothing to complain about regarding the boys. They gave their best during this whole tournament…. It is a deserved defeat.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
5 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Croatia boss laments lack of goalscorer at World Cup
CROATIA COACH Zlatko Dalic bemoaned his team’s lack of a genuine goalscorer after the 2018 runners-up were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot to put the South Americans ahead and Julian Alvarez netted once in each half.
Croatia started strongly but created few openings of note and had only two attempts on target in the entire game.
“I congratulate Argentina on the victory,” said Dalic. “We have to pull ourselves together, raise our heads. I can’t blame the boys for anything — we are going into the fight for third place.
“We don’t have much to complain about.”
Dalic said his team created “good situations” but failed to produce clear-cut chances.
“We have prepared everything but we missed a real, genuine attacker,” he said.
“We lost the match, I have nothing to complain about regarding the boys. They gave their best during this whole tournament…. It is a deserved defeat.”
– © AFP 2022
For the latest news coverage on the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022, see here >
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
2022 World Cup flaw Lionel Messi Argentina Croatia Zlatko Dalic