CROATIA U21 DEFEATED OUTSIDER ANDORRA

CROATIA – ANDORA 2:0 (Beljo 60., Hodža 86.)
Croatia: Čavlina – Valinčić, Vušković, Prpić, Hrgović – Crnac (Šoticek 65′), Soldo, Belcar (Hodža 46′), Vidović (Kačavenda 58′) – Ivanović (Ljubičić 46′), Beljo (Zvonarek 76′)
Andorra: Rabelo – Alvarez (Molins 63′), Boutarfass (Torellas 85′), Acosta, Robinat, Bellido Ines – Rodrigo Tapia, De las Heras (Bienert 85′), Rodriguez (Silva 85′), Ferreira Silva – Guma (Balastegui 76′)

In a pleasant atmosphere and in front of the solidly filled stands of the Koprivnica stadium, the Croatian U21 national team fulfilled its primary goal, securing three points against weak Andorra. The visitors retreated and focused on defense, which they were pretty successful at for most of the game—the critical moment happened after the crowd in front of the away goal, when Beljo, with the assistance of Solda, managed to score the only goal. However, the performance of the young Croatian footballers was below expectations. The upcoming match against Greece, a significantly more severe and dangerous opponent, will be a significant challenge. Considering the game shown, Ivica Olić‘s team will have to raise their level considerably on Tuesday if they want to get the desired points.

From the beginning, Croatia pressed the guests from Andorra into their half, but they faced an excellent and condensed defense. The opponents defended with five players in the back line, and four more supported them in front of them, while Gum’s most advanced player rarely crossed the center when our youngsters had the ball.

Creation was lacking against such a defensive “bunker,” and our players did not have much space or time because every player with the ball would immediately be surrounded by two or three opponents.

Mini Vatreni tried to create something through combinatorics, but imagination and creativity were lacking. They made the first potential opportunity in the 15th minute when Beljo shot a free kick from 25 meters, but the ball ended up in the wall. Two minutes later, the Negro tried, but the Andorrans blocked his shot. Soon, Vušković also tried his shot, but the ball went over the bar.

The first real action took place in the 20th minute. The deep ball reached Vidović, who played an ideal pass to Belja in a checkered situation. His shot was weak, and goalkeeper Rabelo saved it. Beljo was in the spotlight again in the 22nd minute when he fell in the penalty area, but instead of a penalty, he earned a public warning for simulating.

The situation from the 27th minute looked promising when Valinčić made a precise cross from the right with his left and found Belja in the penalty area, but he headed the ball far from the frame and into the goal. The visitors defended fanatically. Although they did not show excellent technical knowledge, they fought for every ball and deservedly kept the result goalless against Apaš. The crowd briefly woke up, shyly starting to chant “Croatia, Croatia”, but soon fell silent again.

A new wave of excitement came in the 33rd minute when Crnac shot from the right with his weaker leg, but Robinat kicked the ball off the goal line into the corner. The guests also threatened – Vušković fell out of position, and the ball came to Rodrigo, who shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it was inaccurate. The first half ended with Hrgović’s cross from the left side, but the goalkeeper caught the ball going towards the goal.

At the beginning of the second half, Olić introduced Hodža and Ljubičić instead of Belcar and Ivanovic, but even those changes did not bring the desired progress. Soon, Vidović was replaced by Kačavenda. Nevertheless, Croatia finally broke Andorra’s resistance after an hour of play. Soldo transferred the ball with his head to Belja, who scored a strong and precise shot from close range to take the lead.

Andorra had its best chance in the 66th minute when the ball reached captain De las Heras after penetrating the left side, but he was not accurate from close range. In the 75th minute, Šoticek had a chance to increase the lead, but he sent the ball past the goalpost from a good position. New excitement came in the 84th minute when Rabelo saved Zvonarek’s shot.

Olić’s wildcard, Hodža, set the final result in the 86th minute. In the end, the Andorrans opened up and left a lot of space, which was used by Šotiček, who passed on the left side and ideally assisted Hodža for the final 2:0.

Thus, Croatia took second place in the ranking on the eve of the last round and the mutual meeting with the third-ranked Greece, which will take place on October 15, also in Koprivnica. Portugal secured first place and direct qualification to the European Championship, thanks to the away victory over the Faroe Islands with a score of 3:1.

EURO U-21 Qualifications, Group G: