By Greg Vega 
Ralph R்nnik made his debut as coach of the Austrian national team in Osijek, Croatia. It is already known that we will not see David Alaba on the pitch staying at Pat Dotsmanstorf (Team Team Location – Editor’s Note). Luka Modric was on the Croatian national team for this match, but with the decision of Slatko Tolic, Krolewski started the match on the bench of the midfielder.
The hosts used too much pressure from the start and wanted to impose their pace, and Mario Pasalich did not take advantage of the good opportunity available in the first minutes. Dalicia’s side often caught the ball and made good use of the side zones, while the Austrians focused mainly on counter-attacks. However, there were a lot of mistakes on both sides – it was in the 30th minute that Mateo Kovacic fired the first shot of the goal. Rangnik players also tried to create a threat under the opponent’s goal, Marco Arnadovic, who entered the penalty area in the 41st minute and scored an accurate shot on the left post, took the lead unexpectedly after an elegant individual game.
After the break, the Croatian players rushed to attack, but already in the 54th minute Ivušicic had to take the ball out of the net for the second time. Wobber put in a good game from the left side of the field and used Gregoritch to introduce his pass in the second half. A few minutes later, the Austrians scored the third goal, this time after a long-range shot from Sabitzer. The catastrophic start of the second half prompted Slotko Talic to react, and this, along with others, introduced Luca Motricia to the pitch. However, the guests defended themselves well until the final whistle and had complete control over what was happening on the field during the last half hour of the game.
The Croatian players had a big advantage in the first half, but it was not much. The Austrians, on the other hand, showed better performance under goal and focused on securing a positive result for most of the second half. Ralph Ranknick can certainly delight in his debut on the bench. Luka Modric spent more than 30 minutes on the pitch but could not change the tide of the match. Croatia’s next match in the League of Nations is France, and the Austrians will face Denmark.
Croatia – Austria 0: 3 (0: 1)
0: 1 Arnadovic 41 ‘
0: 2 Gregorich 54 ‘
0: 3 Sabitzer 57 ‘
Croatia: Ivušić; Juranovic, Pongrasik, Ćaleta-Car, Sosa (46 ‘Barišić); Prosovic, Basalik (58 ‘Volsik), Kovacik (71’ Orsik); Major (58 ‘ Motric), Bregallo, Grammar (58 ‘Pudimir).
Austria: Lindner; Danzo, Trouner, Wobber (77 ‘Fried); சபிட்சர்; Liner (46 ‘trimmal), Limer, Schlager, Weiman (72’ Palmgardner); Arnautović (46 ‘Seiwald), Onisivo (46’ Gregoritsch).