Dalic laments lack of genuine scorer

The Croatian coach says it’s a deserved defeat

2022/12/14
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic: AFP/Jack Guez
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic: AFP/Jack Guez

Doha: Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic bemoaned his team's lack of a genuine goal scorer after the 2018 runners-up were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot to put the South Americans ahead and Julian Alvarez netted once in each half.

Croatia started strongly but created few openings of note and had only two attempts on target in the entire game.

"I congratulate Argentina on the victory," said Dalic. "We have to pull ourselves together, raise our heads. I can't blame the boys for anything -- we are going into the fight for third place. "We don't have much to complain about."

Dalic said his team created "good situations" but failed to produce clear-cut chances.

"We have prepared everything but we missed a real, genuine attacker," he said. "We lost the match, I have nothing to complain about regarding the boys. They gave their best during this whole tournament.... It is a deserved defeat."

Source: AFP

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