Croatia has played out a 2-2 draw with the Czech republic at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in France.
The Croatians entered the match, strong favourites against a Czech team whom very nearly held off the reigning champions Spain.
Star player Ivan Perisic opened the scoring for coach Ante Cacic’s men with a beautiful left foot drive into the back of the net.
Croatia appeared very dangerous when attacking on the counter with Luka Modric in the centre of the park eloquently dictating and distributing the play.
Indeed the side dominated proceedings in the first term with Barcelona Star Ivan Rakitic doubling the squad’s lead after a one on one situation with goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The Czech Republic’s Skoda gave them hope with a thumping header from a Tomas Rosicky cross.
Crowd violence and the use of flares overshadowed the performance of both teams causing referee Mark Clattenburg to stop play.
The match resumed but it was not to be for Croatia with the Czech Republic winning a penalty in stoppage time which was easily converted by Tomas Necid to share the spoils.
Croatia and the never-ending flare saga
Much to their credit, the Croatian squad was showing incredible resilience and putting on a fantastic performance despite the concession of a goal.
But with the scoreline at 2-1 crowd violence erupted in a Croatian fan zone in the stadium.
Flares were lit and thrown onto the corner of the pitch in what appeared to be a pre-organised event.
A flare exploded in the hands of a steward as he attempted to remove it from the pitch while Croatian players pleaded with their supporters to cease their appalling behaviour.
Referee Clattenburg had no choice but to temporarily halt the match for the safety of the players on the pitch.
It’s likely Croatia will face disciplinary action from UEFA following the incident which marred an excellent performance by their national squad and clearly affected their on-pitch performance.
Unfortunately it allowed the Czech Republic whom had struggled for the entirety of the match to contain and keep up with Croatia, to clinch an equaliser and a desperately needed point.
Expect to hear more about the issue in the days to come.
The brilliance of Dario Srna and Ivan Perisic
Despite the incident it was hard to overlook the efforts of the Croatian squad as a whole whom were quite literally robbed of another victory.
READ | Player Ratings – Czech Republic 2 Croatia 2 | https://t.co/OrEtleRM4a | #CZECRO #CZE #CRO
— Outside90 (@Outside90) June 17, 2016
Squad veteran Dario Srna has cut a figure of strength and experience thus far in the competition especially considering the death of his father prior to Croatia’s opening clash against Turkey.
His performances have been outstanding and has shown an eagerness to come forward and join the attack on several occasions.
In addition, Perisic has been a stand out player for Cacic’s side with his attacking vigour and intensity being an asset for the side.
The pressure he creates on the left wing is phenomenal and ensures his side always has an excellent supply of balls coming into the area as well as another creative outlet.
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