Croatia national football team preparing for Nations League rematch against England at Wembley, Digi Mart USA News (London, England): As Croatia prepare to face England at Wembley on Thursday in the Nations League, the wounds from a humiliating defeat by the same opponents just over a month ago remain fresh, and a lingering sense of unease hangs over the squad.
No one will say it openly, certainly not Slaven Bilic, who always believes in goals that may seem unreachable to most others. The impression, however, is that Croatia would be satisfied to accept another defeat, provided it was gentle enough by score and hard-fought in approach.
This game is less about the points than about the self-respect they can regain.
Croatia lost 7-0 to England last month in Rijeka and were lucky not to concede more. After the game, Roy Keane commented that England looked as if they were matched against junior players, but that was not the real issue, and the comparison to San Marino or Andorra was not widely pushed through the media in Croatia.
Croatia did not look like a weak or inadequate team; they did not look like a team at all. The most telling assessments came from within the squad that night.
“I have to say this,” captain Luka Modric said. “I’ve been here for 20 years and this is the first time I feel ashamed.
You can lose the game; that is not the issue here. They are simply better than us at the moment.
But to squander the reputation we worked so hard and so long to build is unacceptable.”
Bilic agreed: “We were no match for them in any respect: challenges, aggression, technique, physicality… And then, of course, your confidence, your focus and your mental resolve all drop and everything falls apart.”
The head coach, known for his eloquence and persuasive style, appeared to struggle to comprehend what had happened and to find the right words. “I am left with an eternal shame,” Bilic said in a later interview.
He then offered a moment of unusual clarity when asked what he had told the players in the dressing room.
“I told them that there are games which you simply need to forget and turn a new page on as soon as possible, because you have the next match in a few days. But this is not one of those games.
This one you should never forget. You should keep it in mind for the rest of your lives and always be reminded of it so that you do everything not to repeat something like that ever again.”
The question on everyone’s mind, even if they dare not admit it, is what happens if there is a repeat.
The team responded well to the England disaster, producing a battling display against Spain three days later. Although Croatia lost, it was a close game and the world champions were pushed hard before Ivan Perisic was sent off after 79 minutes, with the score 1-1, for a second yellow card.
That means he is unavailable for the Wembley rematch with England.
It was a good way to start their redemption, but England pose challenges of a different kind. The weight is not only mental but also physical.
Bilic made serious mistakes with his team selection and tactics in Rijeka, and the players’ resolve was nowhere near the required level even before “everything fell apart.” The way England play when they are at their best creates a clear mismatch for a team that still revolves around a 41-year-old playmaker, with no true defensive midfielder or top wingers. That mismatch is even greater than against Spain’s methodical approach.
England may simply be too fast for Croatia, and Bilic faces the immense task of slowing them, limiting their attacking capacity and reducing the game to isolated incidents as much as possible. He needs to be pragmatic, which may include a heavier role for one of his assistants, set-piece specialist Gianni Vio, but first and foremost the players need to show much more grit and intensity.
Asked whether his side would get stuck in, Bilic said, “We can hardly wait,” but he was uncharacteristically vague and avoided going into details about the team’s ambitions. The real issue, the report concludes, is proving that Croatia, despite the recent haunting trauma, are still a true team: one worthy of its glorious past and with hope for the future.
