THE SPORTS GROUND: CROATIA IN A SLAVONIA SHIP ON THE WINGS OF THE PUBLIC TO A CONVINCING VICTORY

CROATIA – SWEDEN 6:2
Croatia: Piplica, Jelovčić, Vukmir, Perić, Postružin, Čizmić, Čekol, Kustura, Moravac, Jurlina, Gudasić, Mataja, Kuraja, Sekulić. Coach: Marinko Mavrović.
Sweden: Sääf, Söderqvist, Zhubi, Azizi, Furublad, Herlin, Fazlija, Mossberg, Hiseni, Kadivar, Johansson, Rydberg, Gashi, Bejan. Coach: Matija Đulvat.

TABLE:
Croatia 12,
Greece 7,
Azerbaijan 2,
Sweden 1

The Croatian futsal team defeated Sweden (6:2) in the qualifying match for next year’s European Championship in Lithuania and Latvia in front of the packed stands of the Vijuš hall in Slavonski Brod.

An inspired Croatia delighted the ship’s audience, trounced the Swedes, continued their 100% performance in the current qualification cycle and came close to qualifying for the Euros. She would have achieved it last night if the Greeks had not scored the winning goal against Azerbaijan in the second match of the 4th round of Group 5 a few seconds before the end.

The prerequisites for victory were already met in the 7th minute when Duje Kustura shook the opponent’s net from the crowd and foreshadowed the expected outcome. Not long after Niko Vukmir hit the post, the inevitable happened quickly. In the most beautiful action of the match, Luka Perić lucidly left the ball with his heel for a lonely Kristian Čekol, who, in a confrontation with the Swedish goalkeeper Sääf, chose a great solution and shook the net with a masterful lob – 2:0.

In the same minute, the first Swedish goalkeeper stopped Nikola Gudasić with a foul when he went around him and had a free way to the empty goal and earned a dismissal. Still, a new goal happened in the second minute of the continuation when captain Franco Jelovčić increased the lead – 3:0. Another great goal followed, this time Marko Kuraja shook the fork of the Swedish goalkeeper – 4:0.

The Croatian triumph in Slavonski Brod could not be spoiled even by the Swedes’ goals to reduce the lead (Johansson 27′, Zhubi 33′). Josip Jurlina rounded off the goliath with two consecutive goals, so the Croatian national team celebrated another valuable victory on the way to qualifying for the Euros with cheering fans.

SOURCE: Croatian Football Federation