UEFA has confirmed it will investigate the incident and Croatia may now face similar sanctions to Russian Federation, who received a suspended disqualification after trouble against England at Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Croatia, promised beers by coach Ante Cacic if they won, kept up the pressure and were soon rewarded again with Ivan Rakitic slipping into the box and timing his chip perfectly to beat Cech. Speaking through a translator, Cacic described those responsible for the incidents as “sports terrorists” and said “they don’t deserve to sit in stands”.
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“We played a great match against a complicated opponent”, Morata said. The Turkish side were clearly in trouble but went to half time hoping they could make a difference in the second half.
Despite the pressure, Necid coolly buried his penalty kick to the left of Danijel Subasic, earning the Czech Republic its first point in the tournament.
Play eventually resumed with the Czechs scoring a an equaliser with a penalty to salvage a 2-all draw.
NICE, France – Alvaro Morata scored twice as defending champion Spain cruised over Turkey to qualify for the knockout stages of the European Championship.
Italy booked their place in the knockout rounds in the relative calm of Toulouse as Brazilian-born striker Eder smashed home a stunning victor two minutes from time to seal a 1-0 win over Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden.
Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilic has warned there will be more crowd trouble after condemning the violent scenes which marred his country’s draw with the Czech Republic.
An announcement over the public address system at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard pleaded with the Croatia supporters to “leave the stadium and don’t embarrass our country”.
English referee Mark Clattenberg stopped play for four minutes late in the game as flares rained down from the Croatian end.
“My players lost their strengths; they might have been anxious to see their relatives in the stands”, Cacic said.
The Brazilian-born striker curled the ball into the bottom right corner in the 88th minute after substitute Simone Zaza headed on a long throw-in from Giorgio Chiellini.
COPA AMERICA: David Ospina made a flying kick save in a shootout, Christian Cueva sent Peru’s final attempt over the crossbar and Colombia reached the semifinals for the first time since 2004 with a 4-2 win on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie at East Rutherford, N.J. Colombia plays Wednesday in Chicago against the tonight’s Mexico-Chile victor.
In November 2014, Croatia’s qualifying match in Italy was halted for 10 minutes because flares were thrown on the pitch engulfing the Milan San Siro stadium in smoke.
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The Czechs had been dismal in the first half and went into the break a goal down, leading to a stern rebuke from Vrba. The Czech Republic, with one point, will face Turkey that same day.
