Croatia 0-0 Belgium: Lukaku disaster

Although they only needed 1 point to qualify, Croatia were the more determined team when they started the match. Just over 10 seconds after the opening whistle, Ivan Perisic had his first shot with great ferocity, but the ball flew wide. A few minutes later, the referee awarded Croatia a penalty, but after consulting the VAR team, the penalty was canceled because Dejan Lovren was offside in the previous situation.

Coach Roberto Martinez surprised everyone by not letting Lukaku start, instead, Dries Mertens, a veteran who has passed his prime. In the entire first half, Belgium's only notable performance was Mertens' face-to-face with the goalkeeper, but his hasty curling shot was inaccurate. The first half ended 0-0, with the Belgian fans impatient because at the same time, Morocco led Canada 2-1.

Belgium had to win to advance. The urgency forced coach Martinez to send Lukaku on immediately after the break. The tall striker immediately posed a threat to the Croatian goal with a header from a tight angle. But the clearest chance for Lukaku and Belgium came in the 60th minute. In a chaotic situation created by Carrasco, Lukaku was in front of the goal with no goalkeeper to guard it. Although Lukaku's powerful right-footed shot got past the defender, it hit the inside of the post... and flew out.

Just two minutes later, Lukaku missed another chance when he headed over the bar in front of an empty goal, although the ball actually went out of bounds before reaching the striker.

Despite giving up control of the ball to their opponents, Croatia was not at all inferior in terms of the game. This Eastern European team still organized quite sharp attacks. What Croatia lacked was a little bit of strength from the attacking players, most of whom were old.

The final minutes witnessed Lukaku's strange lack of luck. In the 87th minute, Lukaku touched the ball very awkwardly while standing alone in front of the goal, causing the ball to fly out. In the 90th minute, Lukaku was still in front of an empty goal, but he failed to control the ball even though he could have completely finished with one touch into the net. In the third minute of extra time, when Lukaku almost couldn't miss the opportunity anymore, a Croatian defender was a few hundredths of a second faster than Lukaku to clear the ball to save the goal.

Drawing 0-0, Belgium gave up the ticket to continue to Croatia, the team had to accept second place in the group after Morocco.

LINEUP

Croatia: Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic (Majer 90+2'), Kramaric (Pasalic 64'), Livaja (Petkovic 64'), Perisic

Belgium: Courtois, Castagne, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Carrasco (Doku 72'), Witsel, Dendoncker (Tielemans 72'), Meunier (Eden Hazard 87'), Trossard (Thorgan Hazard 59'), De Bruyne, Mertens (Lukaku 46').

According to Bongdaplus