by the correspondent in Leipzig. Croatia-Italy, match valid for the third day of Group B of UEFA Euro 2024, ended with a score of 1-1 thanks to goals from Modric and Zaccagni. With this result, Italy passes the group as second qualified and will face Switzerland on Saturday 29 June in Berlin at 6pm. Below are the report cards for the match with the votes for all the protagonists of the match.
Croatia’s report cards
Dominik LIVAKOVIC 6 – After the ducks with Spain he redeems himself with a great save against Bastoni. He can’t do anything about Zaccagni’s goal.
Josip STANISIC 6 – Contains Chiesa’s entrance well, as did Dimarco previously. Positive performance.
Josip SUTALO 6 – His approach is quite crude, but Retegui dominates in the melee. The result is certainly a sufficient match.
Marin PONGRACIC 6 – Again a decent performance, especially after the very poor opening match he played against Spain.
Josko GVARDIOL 6 – Game without too many flaws. More than offensive propositions, however, tonight, there are great covers behind them.
Luka MODRIC 6.5 – He misses the penalty, but is hypnotized by what is probably once again the best goalkeeper in the world. In any case, Modric finds a way to make up for it 30 seconds later, trying to drag a ‘tired’ group to the round of 16. He doesn’t succeed for a matter of seconds. Since 1980 Lovro MAJER – sv.
Marcelo BROZOVIC 5 – The Saudi holidays brought back an even slower and more staid Brozovic. And that’s it.
Mateo KOVACIC 6 – A lot of sacrifice without the ball. This type of performance is asked of him, like many others this evening. He does it without overdoing it. From 70′ Luka IVANUSEC 6 – Density in the middle of the pitch in a final in which the Croatians only aim to defend.
Luka SUCIC 5.5 – Nothing special. Up front he doesn’t do much. His highlight is the yellow card that stops an Italian restart. From 70′ Ivan PERISIC 6 – Decent impact in a final in which the Croatians try to manage.
Andrej KRAMARIC 6 – It beats and bangs. He had a hand in the penalty kick won. From the 90th minute Josip JURANOVIC – sv.
Mario PASALIC 6 – A flash, with that initial conclusion that commits Donnarumma. Then nothing more. From 46′ Ante BUDIMIR 6 – A second half of the fight in which he takes Kramaric’s position. Not failed, but nothing extraordinary either. Like all of Croatia, after all.
Coach Zlatko DALIC 6 – It is a slow and staid Croatia, a Croatia whose enormous cycle is probably coming to an end. He tried to carry it forward with the task: a draw with Albania and a goal born after a missed penalty. It wasn’t enough. However, it is difficult to attribute great blame to him.
Italy’s report cards
Gianluigi DONNARUMMA 7.5 – Well done at the start on Pasalic’s shot from outside, and it’s a save with an important specific weight: because Italy started timidly and ending up behind would have been a disaster. And then he tries to patch up the disaster again, as with Spain: first by hypnotizing Modric and then with the miracle of the following header. In short, you really couldn’t ask for more than that. In the end he is the real man of the match, regardless of the prize that UEFA will probably award to Modric.
Matthew DARMIAN 6 – Precise in his Inter role as right-hander. He moves well with the line, doesn’t make mistakes, plays carefully and isn’t hasty in his choices. From 82′ Mattia ZACCAGNI 8 – Football is really strange. Zaccagni had entered and slipped on almost every ball, as if he had made the wrong studs. But then he’s there, with a divine right hand, beautiful, at the last second, at the last breath. It just seems like that thing right there: the goal of destiny. Do you ever see that really…
Alessandro BASTONI 5.5 – He leads the defensive line well, but on the Croatian goal he makes a mistake and goes down, losing the decisive physical duel and ultimately making the penalty saved by Donnarumma in vain. It’s a shame, because it stains an otherwise very good match, undoubtedly more than enough.
Riccardo CALAFIORI 7 – He completes Spalletti’s three-man line by still showing decent things, but you can see the value of this boy, the quality, in the 98th minute, when he has the clarity to see Zaccagni’s incursion on the left. There’s only one problem: he misses the next match against Switzerland.
Giovanni DI LORENZO 5 – The top right struggles to find his position, finding himself ‘halfway’ with what he should be on a few too many occasions. Beyond this, however, he seems to be paying for his lack of physical and, probably, psychological condition.
Nicolò BARELLA 6.5 – Father and master of this team. Mezzala but also hidden director on occasion. He provides a chocolate for Comrade Bastoni’s head. Soul and oxygen. But ‘alone’, as happened this evening too, is hard.
JORGINHO 6 – As long as the rhythms remain low, like tonight, he calmly has his say. Decisive in clearing the area in the first half on a half-chance from the Croatians. It doesn’t shine, but neither is it the ghost seen with Spain. From 82′ Nicolò FAGIOLI – sv.
Lorenzo PELLEGRINI 5.5 – Intelligent exit at the start when after 6 minutes of absolutely nothing the Italian catches Di Lorenzo with a brilliant reading. It seems like little, but from that moment Italy took courage. Of course, after that it disappears a bit. And Spalletti ‘fails’ him at half-time. From the 46th minute Davide FRATTESI 4.5 – His impact on the match is a wide arm that forces Donnarumma to perform a miracle from 11 meters… And from which the Croatian goal arrives in the end anyway. From there Frattesi never recovered, making almost everything wrong. Bad. In fact, very badly.
Federico DIMARCO 5 – He is not Inter’s Dimarco and we have all understood this by now. What is missing is the leg, the fuel, the ‘boost’ that we have seen throughout the season. He stumbles, rather than impacts. And this evening he leaves the field rather sadly. From 57′ Federico CHIESA 5.5 – We would have needed the Chiesa of Euro 2020, the one with the breakthroughs and the decisive goals. But that player, unfortunately, was never seen again.
Giacomo RASPADORI 5.5 – He puts his all into it, even interpreting precisely what the coach’s requests are… But there are obvious limits. Above all physical: he pays for the physical gap with the Croatians and in the end he never scratches. From the 75th minute Gianluca SCAMACCA 5.5 – Try to put in the physique, what Raspadori lacks. On the good ball in the area though and half a second late. What shouldn’t happen to an area man, to a number 9.
Mateo RETEGUI 5.5 – It applies to the discussion above: commitment and self-sacrifice to the cause are not lacking. However, we lack a bit of physique to keep us going when needed and a pinch of quality when the pressure comes on us.
Coach Luciano SPALLETTI 6 – The coach starts with a sensible formation, putting the players back in the right places with the natural roles respected. The truth, however, is that beyond the choices and work of the coach, this Italy lacks a bit of quality. He is saved, after all, at the last good second. Something more will be needed from him as early as Saturday against Switzerland. But Italy is ahead. Malino, but it’s ahead. And in the end this is what matters. Force!
Croatia-Italy: precedents, curiosities, possible protagonists
