Croatia Shocks, Two Wilson Goals Open Wales Opportunities To Euro 2024

Wales winger Harry Wilson scored two goals that led the team to a 2-1 win over Croatia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. (Twitter @EURO2024)

JAKARTA - Wales opened the opportunity to qualify for the Euro 2024 finals. A surprising 2-1 win over Croatia in the qualifying round Group D match at Cardiff City Stadium, Monday, October 16 in the morning WIB, made Wales move up to second in the standings.

Wales became a pebble for Croatia, which is actually one of the favorite teams that is predicted to qualify for the qualifying round. However, Croatia's two consecutive defeats made their chances of qualifying for the finals fail.

The defeat to Wales made Croatia drop to third with a point of 10. Same as Wales but they lost on goal difference so they were second to the Dragons.

Not only that, Wales' head-to-head record is even better than Croatia. In the first duel at home to Croatia, they were able to draw 1-1.

Now, Wales and Croatia, who both have two games left fighting for one ticket to Germany. Because one ticket belongs to Turkey after beating Latvia 4-0. This result made Turkey stronger at the top of the standings with 16. Tickets to Germany are already in the hands of Vincenzo Montella's troops.

The Wales match that host Croatia is actually also a gamble for Rob Page's manager. The reason is, rumors circulated that he would be replaced by Roy Keane.

But Page said he was ready to silence criticism and rumors about his performance in the Wales national team. Victory over Croatia is also proof that Page can still open up opportunities for Wales to qualify for the finals.

"The action speaks louder than words," Page said in reply to criticism directed at him.

"I am bored and tired of talking about my future. Let's talk about the team and the performance of the players they show," he said again.

"I feel emotional because I am proud of them. Players deserve appreciation for what they did. This victory makes us impatient for the next match," Page said.

Previously, Page was criticized after a disappointing performance by Wales in qualifying matches. They lost 4-2 to Armenia and were then beaten 2-0 by Turkey which put Wales at risk of failing to qualify.

When the match against Croatia became a gamble, Page was definitely missing the retired star Gareth Bale from the national team. The squad is getting less and more incomplete because Aaron Ramsey andter Johnson are absent because they have not recovered from injury.

However, Wales was able to perform optimally at home. They are able to play openly well.

Wales even threatened the Croatian goal in the early minutes through free kick Harry Wilson and Neco William. However, the two chances were thwarted by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. The match was goalless when the first half was over.

In the second half, Wales continued to play attacking to hunt down the win. This time, the home effort gave good results when Wilson scored a quick goal. Yes, a goal was created after Wilson finished David Brooks's assist in the 47th minute. It didn't stop there, Wilson then scored a brace in the 60th minute. The Fulham winger's header which met Daniel James' cross put Wales 2-0 up.

Croatia tried to get up after being two goals behind. Only their efforts always failed to produce results. However, they were finally able to break the deadlock when Mario Pasic broke into Wales' goal in the 75th minute.

No more goals were created. Croatia could only reduce the lag and the score 2-1 for Wales lasted until the end of the match.