(Hamburg) With its back against the wall after its inaugural 3-0 defeat against Spain, Luka Modric’s Croatia was caught at the last minute by Albania (2-2) on Wednesday in Hamburg and remains in danger of elimination after this second day of Euro-2024.
Already very tough on paper, Group B remains undecided after this draw, pending the clash between Italy and Spain on Thursday evening. With one point each, Croats and Albanians will play their qualification on the third and final day, respectively against the Italians and the Spaniards.
Trailing until the 73rd minute, the “Vatreni” (the ardent) woke up in two minutes thanks to a goal from Andrej Kramaric (74th) and an own goal from Klaus Gjasula (76th), but the latter was the hero for Albania by snatching the equalizer in added time (90-5).
The Croatians, finalists of the 2018 World Cup and third of the 2022 World Cup, were in turn close to the exit, relaunched in this group B, before finally conceding a rather logical draw given the Albanian performance.
The “Eagles”, transfigured since the arrival of the Brazilian Sylvinho, had already manhandled Italy in the opening, ultimately victorious 2-1. They did it again against the Croats by opening the score first.
Against the Nazionale, Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in the history of the competition after 23 seconds. Midfielder Qazim Laci this time waited until the 11th minute to give his team the lead. The former AC Ajaccio player, currently at Sparta Prague, headed a cross from Jasir Asani (12th).
Asani almost doubled the lead, after a missed pass from Modric, but Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved his team by winning his duel with the Albanian player (31st). Livakovic was again decisive before the break with a header from Rey Manaj (45 1).
But the entry in the second period of Ante Budimir gave Croatia a boost. The Osasuna player shifted Kramaric whose shot caught the Albanian goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha on the wrong foot (73rd). A cross from Mario Pasalic towards Luka Sucic was then deflected into his own net by Gjasula (76th).
Unhappy with this action, Gjasula took revenge in the last seconds by snatching the equalizer (90 5).
Everyone remains alive for the moment in “the group of death” but the sky has not cleared up for Croatia.
