Croatia 1-1 France: Kramaric penalty denies Les Bleus victory in Nations League encounter

Adrien
Rabiot’s
strike
shortly
after
the
break
looked
to
have
fired
the
visitors
to
victory
in
Group
A1,
in
what
was
a
rematch
of
the
Russia
2018
World
Cup
final
won
by
France.

But
the
hosts
were
able
to
take
a
share
of
the
spoils
in
Split
with
the
aid
of
VAR.
Referee
Marco
Guida’s
decision
to
award
a
penalty
for
Jonathan
Clauss’ clumsy
challenge
on
Kramaric
was
initially
kiboshed
by
the
linesman’s
flag
but
a
review
showed
Luka
Sucic
had
been
onside
when
receiving
Mislav
Orsic’s
pass
in
the
build-up.

Kramaric
duly
converted
with
seven
minutes
remaining
at
Stadion
Poljud
to
inject
a
degree
of
late
drama
into
a
game
otherwise
marked
by
cagey
performances,
particularly
across
a
first
half
that
had
struggled
to
burst
into
life.

Les
Bleus
pegged
back
in
Split
as
it
ends
in
a
draw
with
Croatia.

Next
up
in
the
Nations
League
on
Friday
is
Austria.

????????1-1????????
|

#CROFRA
|

#FiersdetreBleus
pic.twitter.com/wwwRAntSHH

—
French
Team
⭐⭐
(@FrenchTeam)

June
6,
2022

Having
slipped
to
an
opening
loss
in
their
title
defence
against
Demark
on
Friday,
Didier
Deschamps
rung
the
changes
for
this
clash,
with
all
but
one
face
swapped
out.

With
fearsome
talents
like
Kylian
Mbappe
and
Karim
Benzema
benched,
though,
it
took
until
after
the
interval
for
the
deadlock
to
be
broken.

Seizing
onto
a
terrific
ball
from
Wissam
Ben
Yedder,
midfielder
Rabiot
steered
a
superb
finish
above
Dominik
Livakovic
and
into
the
top-left
corner.

That
had
looked
to
possibly
be
enough
for
the
visitors,
even
as
Luka
Modric
–
on
his
150th
appearance
for
his
country
–
had
helped
push
for
an
equaliser.

Kramaric’s
late
intervention,
however,
proved
a
return
blow,
and
the
two
sides
ultimately
were
forced
to
settle
for
a
point.

What
does
it
mean?
Croatia
get
helping
hand
to
snatch
draw

It
is
hard
to
argue
that
Zlatko
Dalic
‘s
side
did
not
deserve
to
take
a
point
away
from
the
visit
of
the
world
champions,
having
edged
them
for
shots
and
matched
them
for
efforts
on
target
throughout.

But
against
a
France
side
missing
several
first-choice
starters
as
Les
Bleus
experiment
with
their
impressive
depth
ahead
of
the
Qatar
2022
World
Cup,
they
may
be
wary
of
the
fact
they
needed
a
penalty
in
order
to
save
face.

Still,
it
marked
a
drastic
improvement
from
their
own
opening
Nations
League
defeat
to
Austria
last
week,
and
gets
them
off
the
mark.

Modric
muted
in
landmark
match

The
Real
Madrid
star
has
long
since
overtaken
Darijo
Srna
as
his
country’s
most-capped
men’s
international
footballer
and
it
seems
unlikely
few
will
get
near
his
century-and-a-half
of
caps
in
the
coming
years.

But
with
just
one
key
pass
and
a
single
shot
–
albeit
a
particularly
silky
one
–
to
his
name,
it
marked
a
quiet
game
on
the
whole
for
the
veteran
playmaker.

Les
Bleus
still
winless
in
title
defence

It
is
just
one
point
from
their
opening
two
Nations
League
games
for
France
so
far,
in
what
could
be
a
worry
for
their
World
Cup
prospects
at
the
end
of
the
year.

But
Deschamps
has
now
auditioned
more
of
his
squad
in
an
effective
dress
rehearsal
for
selection
now
and
with
still
just
a
single
loss
since
they
were
eliminated
from
Euro
2020,
the
warning
signs
will
not
need
to
flash
just
yet.

What’s
next?

Croatia
take
to
the
road
to
face
Denmark
in
Copenhagen
on
June
10
while
France
travel
to
face
Austria
in
Vienna
on
the
same
day.