The Polish national team after a crazy day match in the fourth round of the Nations League, it drew with Croatia 3-3 (2-3) in front of its own audience. Goals for Poland were scored by: Piotr Zieliński (5th), Nicola Zalewski (45th) and Sebastian Szymański (68th), and for the Croatians: Borna Sosa (19th), Petar Sucić (24th) and Martin Baturina (26th). “The fans of the Polish national team experienced a real mood swing at the National Stadium during the match against Croatia. The Poles sealed a good start with a goal, but then lost three in six minutes. Before the end of the first half, Nicola Zalewski scored a goal to make the score 2:3, and in the second half the score was tied Sebastian Szymański won 3-3, thus Poland maintains a chance of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Nations League. But it does not depend only on itself,” wrote Aleksander Bernard, a Sport.pl journalist, in his report from the match.
Croatian media: Livaković should not have received a red card
The Croatian media are satisfied with their team's point, but emphasize that their team lost a two-goal lead. They also have great doubts about the exclusion of Dominik Livakovic, who in the 76th minute, kicking the ball far out of the goal, dangerously fouled Robert Lewandowski, who was running towards him.
“Poland draw with Croatia in a rarely crazy match. The Croatians lost a two-goal advantage” – this is the title of the match report on “Tportal.hr”. The journalists added that the draw is a huge step towards the quarter-finals of the Nations League – in the table of Group 1 of Division A, the Croatians with seven points are in second place behind the leader Portugal (10) and ahead of Poland (four).
“Croatia played a crazy match and 'survived'! A six-goal twist ended with a shocking exclusion,” we read on Sportske.jutarnji.hr. “We watched a crazy match full of twists, great actions, mistakes, a large number of chances to score further goals, excellent goalkeeper interventions. There was everything in this match, but we achieved the goal,” the journalists add.
The Croatians also analyzed the red card for Livakovic for the clash with Lewandowski.
“It was, to say the least, a very controversial, strange decision by the referee. We asked several Croatian referees for comment and the explanation was unanimous. Livaković should not have received a red card because he was clearly closer to the ball and hit it first. Therefore, Lewandowski had to be careful how approaches the ball,” writes Sportske.jutarnji.hr.
Sport.hrt.hr emphasizes that Croatia had a big problem at the beginning of the match.
“Croatia did not exist on the pitch in the first 20 minutes, and then scored three goals in just six minutes. Poles pressed dangerously in the last minutes, but Croatia managed to defend. Thanks to this, they scored a point in a crazy match, playing weaker at the end,” we read in match coverage on Sport.hrt.hr.
Meanwhile, Index.hr believes that the Croatians have not played such a match for many years, but they should be praised for the end of the match.
“It was one of Croatia's craziest games in many years. Our team was leading 3-1, but Poland was able to get back into the game. A very chaotic match reached its peak in the 76th minute when Livakovic received a direct red card. Despite the numerical weakness, Croatia managed to it's good to play the defensive phase at the end of the match and keep the draw,” writes Index.hr.
“A completely crazy match. The Croatians had a big advantage and everything spilled out” – this is the title of the match report from Slobodnadalmacija.hr.
This website also writes in a surprising way about absenteeism in primary school warehouse Poland's biggest star – Robert Lewandowski.
“Officially attacker Barcelona was kept out of the starting lineup due to a minor injury he reportedly picked up on match day, but many doubt this version of the story. It is no secret that the relationship between the first star and the coach Polish national team are seriously damaged,” Slobodnadalmacija.hr unexpectedly reports.
After a draw with Croatia, the Poles are still third in Group 1 of Division A of the Nations League. The White and Reds have four points. Portugal leads (10 points), followed by Croatia (7), and the table is closed by Scotland (1).
In the next round, the Poles will play away against Portugal on November 15.