Hrvatska 1 - 0 Norge (376979208)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 150000 at The "Hektar" Colosseum today. Dawson Sheldon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Fabian Jasper Zweig and Janne Lammi. Hrvatska tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Babarogić - Miljanić, Danilović, Prvulović - Ćuković, Tanasijević, Živaljić, Pintur, Pulja - Ćurko, Zelenbaba.

A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Norge. Lineup: Andersen - Westerheim, Karlsen, Stjärnhall, Midtlyng - Strand, Liseth, Anderson, Knutsen, Engebretsen - Aarstad.

Good work by the Hrvatska defensive line after 19 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found M. Tanasijević alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. 35 minutes into the game, I. Andersen had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came G. Ree. Norge's E. Westerheim left the field after 39 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was P. Vårdal. After 42 minutes, Hrvatska's V. Danilović fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! 0 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

G. Zelenbaba hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving Hrvatska's K. Pulja an easy chance to knock it in for 1 - 0. The Norge players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. The bench was restless, and with 59 minutes passed Norge's coach gave H. Mork the opportunity the player had been hoping for. R. Karlsen reluctantly left the field. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Norge manager used a brief break in play after 59 minutes to give the players new directives. The Norge coach was desperate to reverse his team's fortunes in the game, and ordered his team to change strategy. Hrvatska's Ð. Miljanić swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. R. Aarstad made a good effort at breaking through on the right, but the home team's left defence cleared the ball to a corner. A free kick just outside of the visitors' penalty area after 73 minutes could have resulted in another goal, but G. Ree got a hand out and tipped the ball over the bar. Possession was split evenly between the teams.

Hrvatska's top performer was clearly G. Zelenbaba. On the other hand, S. Pintur's play was disheartening. The most dominating Norge player was without a doubt R. Aarstad. P. Vårdal was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 0.