FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°48
Croatia coach Miroslav Blazevic said here on Friday that Argentina were capable of winning the World Cup after his side went down 1-0 to the two-time champions. ” Argentina deserved to win and their performance confirmed the impression that they could win the title, “ Blazevic said.
Hector Pineda broke the deadlock of a tight, tense Group H match in Bordeaux to ensure Argentina qualified as only the second side after France with a 100 percent record. They are the only side to advance without conceding a goal, having also beaten Japan 1-0 and Jamaica 5-0, and they play either England or Colombia in the second round at St Etienne on Tuesday. A Michael Laudrup penalty for Denmark broke France’s otherwise flawless defensive record.
Argentina face a potential quarter-final with Holland, followed by Brazil in the semi-finals. Blazevic, who has guided Croatia to two wins and a defeat in their first World Cup, was happy with his team’s performance. ” I am proud of the team, all acquitted themselves well and the fact we gave them such a hard match suggests that we could meet them in the final … given a little luck, “ he said.
But to do that they would probably have to beat Romania, Germany and France or Italy. The only regret for the Croatia coach was that defender Zvonimir Soldo got a second yellow card, ruling him out of the second round match here next Tuesday. Daniel Passarella, coach of Argentina, said: ” We have got better and better and I am feeling good about what we could do in the competition.”
Croatia qualify after wins over Japan and Jamaica and play Romania at Bordeaux next Tuesday. Pineda settled the issue against Croatia when he ran onto an Ariel Ortega chip into the penalty area, on the blindside of his marker Silvio Maric. He chested the ball down and struck a superb half-volley past Drazen Ladic in the Croatia goal. Gabriel Batistuta almost sneaked in a second from a free-kick on the stroke of half-time but Ladic got a hand to it.
Substitute Goran Vlaovic, who came on for Maric at half-time, almost equalised when he hit the Argentina bar with a thunderous shot from the left in the 64th minute. And five minutes later Mario Stanic headed over a free-kick after Argentina’s Nelson Vivas was yellow carded for holding Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban on the left.
As defenders began to tire in the last half-hour Marcelo Gallardo and Diego Simeone should have put the outcome beyond doubt for Argentina. Gallardo, starting his first match at these finals, burst past two men to shoot wide of the advancing Ladic’s left post. Then Simeone, who came on as a substitute after being dropped, took too long to turn in the six-metre box and Ladic was able to get a foot to his near post shot.
But for two-thirds of the match neither side was able to find a clear way through a crowded midfield and Argentina’s danger men Ortega and Batistuta were shadowed everywhere.