Croatian manager Zlatko Dalić was left questioning referee Danny Makkelie's decision to add on eight minutes of added time, in which Italy tucked home an equaliser to leave Croatia's UEFA Euro 2024 hopes on a knife-edge.
Dalic's side need England to defeat Slovenia on Tuesday night by at least three goals if they are to progress into the knockout stages after heartbreak in Leipzig.
Luka Modric made up for seeing his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma early in the second half by putting the Vatreni a goal to the good, and they would hold that lead until the dying embers when Mattia Zaccagni curled a superb leveller late on.
-
A "nonsense" eight minutes added
Zaccagni's finish came in the eighth of eight minutes added on at the end of the final group game for both sides but Dalić, who has guided Croatia to second and third placed finishes in the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022, was left questioning the reasoning behind the number added on.
"I don’t know whether it was that eight minutes of added time at the end," he said. "But as you know, FIFA and UEFA - we’re a small country, no one really gives us too much thought so we have to stand up for ourselves. You can’t have eight minutes of added time after that game, though. Eight minutes is nonsense. There weren’t too many breaks in play, there weren’t any fouls to justify that - I don’t really want to get into it much.
"We had a couple of penalties our way (this tournament) but I don’t necessarily want to cause a fuss about what’s gone on but I think Croatia needs to be respected, recognised and acknowledged because once again we’ve almost played for three hours."
The former Al Hilal manager paid respects to the visiting fans from the Balkans, who made themselves heard all night and looked to outnumber Azzurri supporters in the stadium.
He added "Unfortunately we always have to stand up for ourselves, all I want to do is thank the lads for their commitment and their efforts, I want to thank the fanbase who once again showed what it actually means to support their country - we are delighted and very proud of them.
"But that’s the way things panned out. You can’t concede a goal like that in the 98th minute, that’s the way football is - life goes on, defeat is part and parcel of football, and that’s the way it is."
-
A changed game plan
Lessons had to be learnt from an already disappointing two games for the Vetreni at the competition.
On Opening day, the Eastern European side slipped to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Spain whilst their second match only saw a point gained - a goal a piece against second lowest ranked side in the competition Albania.
Dalić's outfit were certainly up for what was a do-or-die tie against the Azzurri but the pressure got to them after opening the lead. Italy ran them ragged for half an hour while in the meantime the Croatians picked up a record six bookings, the highest so far this tournament, whilst trying to thwart blue attack after attack.
The 57 year old said "I want to congratulate my team in terms of the commitment, the determination and heart they showed in this game - they were excellent.
"Our game plan, compared to the first two matches, was to try and control the game as much as possible, to try and stop Italy from creating opportunities and scoring goals, because that’s the way we lost against Spain and drew against Albania. That meant we ran some risks as well, but ultimately it panned out quite well. We did control proceedings and that gave us an edge.
"We played our game plan as planned, but unfortunately in the 98th minute we fell down."
