There are still 4 match-ups in the European leg of the World Cup Qualifiers, to determine which 4 teams will be the last to make it to the World Cup. Croatia played host to Greece on Thursday, and they recorded a comfortble 4-1 win at home. The match-up is now reversed, as Croatia will now travel to Greece on Sunday, for the second leg. Greece had a really tough luck in the first leg, and will now require a miracle in order to qualify.
Croatia took the upper hand in that match from the early stages, as they really pushed towards the opposing goal. They were actually quite lucky in the 12th minute, when the opposing goalkeeper made a childish mistake in the defense, and forced a penalty kick. Croatia didn’t fail to convert that kick to a goal, and even doubled their lead 6 minutes later. However, Greece scored from a set piece at the 30th minute, only to be back to two goals down in the 33rd. It was a slighty more balanced 2nd half, but Croatia sealed an easy win with another goal at the 49th. Croatia will now travel to Greece looking to defend their massive advantage, but they will need to be very careful against a dangerous Greek side.
On the other hand, Greece should be feeling really hard done about the extend of that loss, as they failed to stay close to the score. Goalkeeper Karnezis made a rookie mistake in the start of the match, and Greece should be feeling lucky that he only saw the yellow, and not the red card. Even so, Croatia managed to take an early two goal lead, but Greece didn’t back down. They scored at the 30th minute from a set piece, only to see their opponents score once again at the 33rd. Moreover, as Greece fought in the second half, Croatia scored a 4th goal at the start of the second, for the final 4-1. The Greeks are a really feisty side, and they have cause a lot of upsets over the years. However, they will need to score at least 3 goals here while keeping a clean sheet, something that looks highly unlikely.