An Oghenekaro Etebo own goal and a second-half Luka Modric penalty was enough for Croatia to go top of Group D in Kaliningrad
Croatia’s second goal came on another corner kick, one of their six in the match. Nigeria was able to clear the corner away, but only because defender William Troost-Ekong wrapped his arms around Mandzukic, preventing him from attacking the ball. Troost-Ekong was given a yellow card, and Modric whipped the ball into the lower corner of the goal.
Despite a young, speedy and guile-filled team, Nigeria continued to look ponderous on the ball, and never seriously threatened to claw a goal back.
Croatia’s golden generation is taking advantage of what is likely their last chance to advance deeply into a tournament, while Nigeria, the youngest team at the World Cup, look like they might be four years away.
92’: Croatia Misses Chance, But It Won’t Matter
Mateo Kovacic carried the ball into the Nigerian penalty box looking to end the day with a goal, but 19-year-old Nigerian keeper Francis Uzoho was equal to the task and made a sliding save.
After one last impotent Nigerian attack, the ref blows the whistle.
86’: Mandzukic’s Day Is Over
As he goes off for Marko Pjaca. Mandzukic’s name won’t show up on the score sheet, but it was his diving header that caused the own goal, and he won the penalty that Luka Modric converted for Croatia’s second.
78’: Croatia in Control
Croatia is content to pass the ball around and make Nigeria chase the game.
Nigeria has brought the 6’2” Kelechi Iheanacho on as they scramble to come back.
71’: GOAL! Croatia Up 2-0
Croatia doubles its lead as Luka Modric slots the ball into the corner from the penalty spot.
The penalty was called by Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci on a Croatian corner kick. As the ball swung on, Nigerian defender William Troost-Ekong wrapped his arms around Mario Mandzukic, and practically tackled him to the ground. Troost-Ekong picked up a yellow card for his trouble!
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62’: Substitutions
With the match two-thirds over, both teams have made their first substitutions. Croatia brings Marcelo Brozovic, a box-to-box midfielder, on for Andrej Kramaric, who has been operating as a second striker today. This should push Luka Modric farther forward.
For Nigeria, Ahmed Musa, a speedy and tricky attacking player, replaces striker Alex Iwobi.
59’: A Shot On Goal!
Odion Ighalo gets his head on a cross, but it bounces harmlessly into Danijel Subasic’s arms.
55’: Still No Shots On Goal
But they’ve got to be coming. Both teams are finding it easy to bypass the midfield and attack their opponent’s goal, but the crosses and through balls are being cleared.
48’: Nigeria Comes Out Strong
The second half begins, and immediately Nigeria has the ball in Croatia’s half. But can they score a goal?
Nigeria wins three straight corners, all launched into the box by Victor Moses, but are unable to do anything with them.
Halftime
Croatia’s numerous crosses, layoffs and headers finally led to a 32nd minute goal. Nigeria will need to figure out something different in the final third if they want to get back into this match.
45’: Nigeria Chance Denied
Nigeria finally sustains some possession and methodically works the ball forward, before Victor Moses is fouled in the final third. The resulting cross pops out to Alex Iwobi on the edge of the box, but his powerful shot is blocked.
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38’: Croatia Keeps Pressure On
Croatia has dominated possession since scoring the first goal, and came close to a second. Ivan Rakitic directed a cross to Andrej Kramaric, but Kramaric’s penalty spot header loops just over.
32’ GOAL! Croatia Up, 1-0
Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic’s puts a diving header off Oghenekaro Etebo and into the back of the net, with it being ruled an own goal. Luka Modric swung a corner kick in, before it was headed into the vicinity of Mandzukic.
31’: First Yellow Card
Victor Moses has reinvented his career the last couple of years as a wingback for Chelsea. While he hasn’t quite put it together yet today, it’s fun watching the Nigerian play higher up on the pitch.
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Ivan Rakitic picks up the first yellow card on the day after stepping on Moses’s ankle.
20’: No Shots, But Plenty of Action
The match remains 0-0 with no shots on goal, but not for a lack of trying. Both teams are attacking the goal — Croatia through their midfield, Nigeria a bit more direct down the wings — but haven’t been able to find the final ball.
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14’: Chance!
Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic lays the ball off for Ivan Perisic to take a shot from the top of the box, but it flies harmlessly over.
7’: Even Play So Far
Croatia has looked more comfortable on the ball early, but Nigeria has won two free kicks in Croatia’s half. No dangerous chances yet.
1’: And We’re Off!
Croatia is wearing its traditional red and white checkerboard pattern, while Nigeria is in solid dark green. I guess we’ll have to wait to see their incredible electric green jerseys.
Match Lineups
Croatia
23 Danijel Subasic
21 Domagoj Vida
6 Dejan Lovren
3 Ivan Strinic
2 Sime Vrsaljko
9 Andrej Kramaric
10 Luka Modric
7 Ivan Rakitic
17 Mario Mandzukic
4 Ivan Perisic
18 Ante Rebic
Nigeria
23 Francis Uzoho
6 Leon Balogun
5 William Troost-Ekong
2 Bryan Idowu
12 Abdullahi Shehu
10 John Obi Mikel
8 Oghenekaro Etebo
4 Wilfred Ndidi
9 Odion Ighalo
18 Alex Iwobi
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11 Victor Moses
Nigeria vs. Croatia Top Story Lines
• This is Croatia’s most talented side since their 1998 team advanced to the World Cup semifinals, led by Golden Boot winner Davor Suker. They won their group at Euro 2016, but were defeated 1-0 in the round of 16 by eventual winner Portugal, on a heartbreaking 117th minute goal.
• If Nigeria can advance to the round of 16, they will be looking to win their first-ever World Cup knockout round match.
• Premier League fans are familiar with Mikel John Obi, who was a defensive stalwart in Chelsea’s midfield for a decade. For Nigeria, however, he plays a much more attacking role, usually as the farthest forward midfielder.
• Croatia’s strength is in the midfield, where they have three players — Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic — who play for La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
• Nigeria is managed by the German Gernot Rohr, who has made a second career out of leading African national teams, but his previous stops in Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso weren’t particularly successful.
Some Pregame Reading
• Croatia and Nigeria have two of the more unique kits this World Cup.
• Catch up on the other Group D match, this morning’s 1-1 draw between Argentina and Iceland in Moscow
• Against the back drop of the World Cup, Zdravko Mamic, a longtime executive at Croatian powerhouse club Dinamo Zagreb, was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years in jail last week, related to transfer irregularities including the transfers of Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren, who will start today.
Luka Modric’s second half penalty sealed the deal for Croatia. (Source: Reuters) Luka Modric’s second half penalty sealed the deal for Croatia. (Source: Reuters)
It was a comfortable win at the end of a cagey match for Croatia. An own goal by Etebo in the first half and a Luka Modric penalty in the second helped them secure the 2-0 win and they now go top of the Group D being the only team to have managed to secure a win. Chances were at a premium, which was something of a contrast to the other matches we have seen so far in the World Cup, so much so that neither teams had managed to get a shot on target in the entire first half.
A LUKA Modric penalty and an own goal from Oghenekaro Etebo gave former semi-finalists Croatia an easy 2-0 win over Nigeria in their World Cup Group D opener.
In Russia’s sleepy European exclave of Kaliningrad — perhaps best known for its nuclear missile sites — the much-hyped youngsters of Nigeria struggled to ignite against Croatia’s midfield technicians.
With rivals Argentina and Iceland only managing a 1-1 draw earlier Saturday in Saransk, both sides had a chance to take control of Group D.
Not so subtle penalty 0:32
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Dejan Lovren of Croatia celebrates. Source: Getty Images
Luka Modric. Source: AFP
Nigeria, knowing they were always likely to struggle for possession against a central one-two of Modric and Ivan Rakitic, were content to sit back and allow Croatia to come to them.
But they were rigid and well-organised, and largely restricted Modric’s distribution to the flanks, where Croatia’s final ball was poor.
After 10 minutes, Juventus target man Mario Mandzukic teed up Ivan Perisic at the edge of the area only for the Inter Milan forward to blaze over.
Croatia, semi-finalists at France ‘98, have struggled to live up to the lofty expectations borne of an embarrassment of midfield riches, and meekly lost their World Cup opener 3-1 to hosts Brazil four years ago.
There is a sense of now-or-never for the Balkans nation at this tournament, in stark contrast to Nigeria, who brought the competition’s youngest squad to Russia.
Coach Gernot Rohr kept faith in 19-year-old keeper Francis Uzoho but the Deportivo stopper’s first real action was picking the ball out of the net.
Croatia outclass Nigeria 0:27
Just after the half-hour mark, Mandzukic, industrious in his hold-up play, chested a Andrej Kramaric cross back to Ante Rebic, whose fizzing shot was blocked. The resulting corner saw Rebic return the favour with a near-post flick on met by a diving Mandzukic.
Etebo was wrong-footed and bundled into his own net.
Nigeria responded well, with Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi’s shot from a cleared free kick blocked on 45 minutes and his Premier League colleague Victor Moses shooting wide from 30 yards on the stroke of half time.
The Super Eagles had the best of the start of the second period, forcing Croatia to bat away three corners in succession, before Moses again snatched a shot wide of Danjiel Subasic’s left upright.
But just as Nigeria showed some signs of life, William Ekong held down Mandzukic from a cross in the area and referee Sandro did not hesitate to point to the spot.
Modric’s gilded right foot guided it to Uzoho’s right side.
The Real Madrid maestro was not at his best for much of the night, but in truth he did not need to be as Nigeria looked ponderous on the ball and crucially short of big-game experience.
Despite fears pre-match, there was no reports of any racist chanting from among the near-capacity crowd.
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