The Croatian national football team lost 2-1 to England in the fifth round of the Nations League group stage. The hosts secured victory with goals from Morgan Rogers and Harry Kane, while Petar Sučić scored Croatia's only goal. With this defeat, Croatia has mathematically eliminated itself from the possibility of advancing to the competition's quarter-finals.
Nikola Vlašić shared his impressions after the match with Nova TV. He believes Croatia has no reason to be dissatisfied with its performance. "We were good, I think we had a bit too much respect in the first half," Vlašić said. "We freed up in the second half and had chances to score." He highlighted that Croatia had its opportunities but added: "We scored one out of three." Regret remains over the missed chances in the closing stages, when the Blazers could have equalised.
Vlašić also commented on the refereeing. "In the end, a penalty, a similar situation to the World Cup. I cannot shake the impression that such a situation would not have been called for us," he said. "I think the referee pulled a bit for them." Despite the defeat, he emphasised that the previous heavy loss had not left a mark on the team. "We had them, and they were not creating chances then. We have the quality for that, but the most important thing is that the heavy defeat did not affect us," he concluded. He also stated: "We showed that the match at Rujevica was a fluke."
Vlašić revealed how he ended up in the wing-back position. "The boss came to me with that idea and said: 'I have such a situation, I don't have Perišić, Jakić is injured' and I agreed," he recounted. He admitted that a few years ago he would not have thought he could play in that position. "If someone had asked me that 5-6 years ago, I probably would have said I couldn't. Now, after years of experience playing in Italy, I understand football better and I am tactically better," he added.
Croatia now has its final match against the Czech Republic, in which it will attempt to secure the result needed to remain in League A. That match, scheduled for 15 November, will be extremely important in the fight to stay in the highest tier of the Nations League.
