By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
UEFA will open disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian
FA on Saturday morning after crowd trouble occurred in Saint-Etienne during the
Croats’ Group D match with the Czech Republic.
At least 12 flares were thrown onto the field and a
firecracker exploded as a steward went to clear the mess up, luckily not
causing any serious injury.
The game was held up for five minutes by referee Mark
Clattenburg and fighting also broke out in the Croatian end of the stadium. It
was a sad and sorry way to end what was the best game of EURO 2016 so far.
It marred a gripping comeback from the Czech Republic, who
claimed an unlikely point after trailing their opponents by two goals to nil
within an hour. It means the Czechs still have a realistic chance of making the
last 16, whilst Croatia will have to beat reigning champions Spain on Tuesday
night if they are to win the group.
Czech
credit
Croatia completely dominated the first half and led at the
interval through Ivan Perisic’s well-taken strike just after the half hour mark.
That lead was increased in the second half when Ivan Rakitic broke through and
clipped the ball over the advancing Petr Cech. At this stage, the Croats were
playing delightful football and looking good to seal their qualification before
the final round of matches.
In the last 20 minutes though, the Czech Republic made a
real game of things. Skipper Tomas Rosicky’s cross was met by a superb header
from substitute Milan Skoda. Skoda offered a real threat upfront and gave
Domagoj Vida a real headache in the last 15 minutes.
Sure enough, it was Vida at fault for the equaliser as he
was caught handling the ball inside his own penalty box in the fourth minute of
stoppage time.
Clattenburg spotted the handball and pointed to the penalty
spot. Another substitute, Tomas Necid made no mistake from 12 yards to give the
Czech Republic a very improbable point. It was just about deserved though for
the boldness of their substitutions and the way they showed determination in
never giving up, when everyone else seemed to think Croatia had the game won.
Victory over Turkey is still required in their final group
game, but do that and they will go through. For Croatia, this will feel like a
defeat. Their control of the game completely disappeared as soon as playmaker
Luka Modric was subbed shortly after the second goal. Modric felt a small
strain on his groin and it was decided he shouldn’t be risked at that point.
It made sense to rest him but Croatia never looked the same
team without him, so it was a defining point in the contest.
Repercussions
for Croatia
Sadly though, none of this will ultimately be remembered for
what happened in the last six minutes.
As Cech went to take a goal kick, flares started being
thrown onto the field of play. It wasn’t just one flare either. A total of 12
hit the turf and Clattenburg had no option but to delay the resumption of the
game. Croatian players ran over to their supporters, pleading and urging them
to stop the madness as they knew the consequences this could cause.
 |
| Ivan Perisic pleads for calm as trouble breaks out in Saint-Etienne |
The troublemakers didn’t listen though. As stewards came
onto the pitch to clear the flares, a firecracker exploded right infront of a
steward and very close to the vicinity of Perisic (pictured) and Mario Mandzukic. It was a
very scary moment, but fortunately, there were no injuries.
Trouble continued as a segregation of the crowd started
fighting with one another. Security at the stadium once again seemed to be
flimsy at best. After a delay of nearly six minutes, the game resumed with the
scoreline at 2-1. Maybe the scenes affected the players because the Czech
Republic got their equaliser off the back of this.
It isn’t the first time Croatian fans have been in trouble with
UEFA. In 2014, a game against Italy was delayed due to flares being thrown onto
the field. The Croatian FA was fined and the team deducted one point for the
fans’ actions. Considering that Russia has already been given a suspended
disqualification from the tournament for the actions of their supporters after
the final whistle in Marseille against England last Saturday, a similar
sanction is likely to face Croatia now.
It is a real wake-up call for UEFA after another skirmish in
a tournament that sadly seems to be having more headlines about safety and confrontation
over style and class on the football field.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Ivan Rakitic (Croatia)
Rakitic showed his class throughout proceedings. He and Luka
Modric completely overran the Czech Republic midfield for the hour they played
together. The way he finished his goal too was highly impressive.
2nd: Ivan Perisic (Croatia)
The other Croatian goalscorer had another impressive day.
Ivan Perisic was bright and sparky down the left-hand side. He could have
scored early on and deserved to break the deadlock with a smart strike as the
defence backed off.
3rd: Milan Skoda (Czech Republic)
You could say Skoda was the driving force of this Czech
Republic comeback. It was a wheelie good header (I’ll stop the car puns now!) He
did make a significant contribution though and gave Domagoj Vida a horrible final
15 minutes. He should start their final group game against Turkey.
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