Croatia coach Ante Cacic said the goal had been “magical”.
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Northern Ireland players got a videotaped pep talk from golfer Rory McIlroy on Saturday night, but it didn’t help as they looked out of their depth in their first Group C match, the luck of the Irish deserting them when it counted. I am really happy about this goal but I am even more happy about our victory and the three points.
Turkey line up before the Euro 2016 Turkey v Croatia match at Parc des Princes, Paris, June 12, 2016.
Selcuk Inan appeared to have cleared the danger by hooking the ball high to the edge of the Turkey box, but Modric watched it drop before spearing an emphatic, dipping volley past Babacan from 25 yards.
In the first Euro 2016 match after violence on Saturday at the match between Russian Federation and England in Marseille, a fan in a Croatia shirt jumped from the stands to join the players while they were celebrating the goal.
Boasting of one of the best midfield combinations, in Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, and Milan Badelj, in the tournament, Croatia have once again marked as the team to watch out for.
Brozovic whistled a volley narrowly over as Croatia continued to threaten a second, but they were denied by the frame of the goal once more when Perisic’s header from Mario Mandzukic’s delivery glanced off the bar.
Adam Nawalka’s side dominated proceedings in the first half, but the only goal of the game did not arrive until early in the second half. Playing in a deep role, he was perfectly placed when Turkey’s defense panicked dealing with a cross into the goalmouth.
Luka Modric’s spectacular goal at the end of the first-half settled the Group D opener, but Turkey offered very little, which left their coach asking questions from his captain and Bayer Leverkusen star. He was led away by stadium security staff. “If he went onto the pitch, it was with a positive attitude”. “We haven’t started yet”, he said. “We rely on their performances”, said Terim when asked about the pair.
“When Croatia fight like we did in this game, we’re very formidable. We played better than Turkey”.
Schweinsteiger, who hasn’t played since injuring his knee in training on March 22, came on in the last minute and knocked in a Mesut Ozil cross in the second minute of injury time.
Gokhan Gonul put a fabulous cross into a unsafe area and Ozan Tufan, arriving in the six yard box, powered a header straight into the midriff of goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, who dropped the ball on to the goal-line before smothering it at the second attempt.
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Croatia, unlike England the previous night, were not made to regret those misses, a last-ditch sliding clearance from the bloodied Vedran Corluka in added time the only real moment of anxiety. Tosun was shown a yellow card and Corluka sported a large white bandage until halftime.
