Already Superior 3-1, Croatia Failed To Win After Being Detained By Poland

JAKARTA - Croatia is already 3-1 ahead but failed to win and was detained by Poland 3-3 in the UEFA Nations League 1st Group A match at PGE Narodowy Stadium, Warsaw, Wednesday, October 16, 2024 early morning WIB.

Poland dramatically thwarted Croatia's victory. In that duel, Croatia actually fell behind past the Polish captain Piotr Zielinski's quick goal.

However, Croatia quickly got up and turned things around. However, Luka Modric et al failed to maintain performance and conceded twice so that Poland could equalize the score to one point.

The result made Croatia fail to overshadow Portugal, perched at the top of the standings with 10 points. Croatia's position has not changed. Croatia, which has seven points, is in second place.

With two more games remaining and three points ahead of Poland in third place, Croatia has a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Poland must work hard by winning the last two games to open up opportunities for tickets to the next round.

In that match, Poland started with the flagship striker Robert Lewandowski sitting on the bench. However, they made an impressive start. The game has only been running for seven minutes, Zielinski managed to break into Croatia's goal from a tight angle.

The goal of the former Napoli player who is now defending Inter Milan put Poland 1-0 up. They also showed aggressiveness in attacking Croatia.

Only, the hosts lost the moment that opened Croatia's hopes of catching up. Croatia's successive attacks immediately paid off. Even Zlatko Dalic's team immediately scored three goals in seven minutes.

Midfielder Borna Sosa started Croatian goals after snatching a rebound in the 19th minute. Sosa's volley headed into the top corner which goalkeeper Marcin Bulka failed to save.

Furthermore, Petar Sucic gave Croatia a 2-1 lead in the 24th minute. And, just two minutes later, Croatia had a 3-1 lead through Martin Baturina's goal.

But Poland managed to get up to catch up. Midfielder Nicola Zalewski successfully broke into Dominik Livakovic's goal towards the end of the first half. The score changed to 3-2 at halftime.

Zalewski's goal apparently spurred the spirit of Polish players as they entered the second half. They immediately put pressure on the Croatian defense.

The host's efforts were not in vain even though they had to wait until the 68th minute. Midfielder Sebastian Szymanski successfully scored a goal that equalized the score to 3-3.

Croatia actually tried to win the game. However, their efforts encountered obstacles due to the loss of the Livakovic goalkeeper who got a red card in the 76th minute. He was immediately expelled by the referee after committing a serious foul on Lewandowski.

However, Poland failed to take advantage of the advantage of the number of players. The 3-3 draw lasted until the game was over.