Players did not react, rues Dalic after 6-0 loss
A baffled Zlatko Dalic acknowledged his Croatia side were not “a shadow of the team” who reached the World Cup final in July as they suffered the country’s heaviest defeat as they were trounced 6-0 by Spain in their first competitive match since the tournament in Russia.
Croatia fell apart after defender Sime Vrsaljko had to be substituted due to an injury just minutes before Spain’s first goal. “We were very good in the first 20 minutes, we had three clear chances, but after that and Vrsaljko’s injury, we vanished from the pitch,” Dalic, the former Al Ain manager, said. “We were not even a shadow of the team from before.”
Saul Niguez headed in a cross by Dani Carvajal in the 24th minute, then Marco Asensio hit two remarkable long-range shots in the 33rd and 35th to give Luis Enrique’s team a comfortable lead before half time.
His second strike bounced off the post and the back of goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic, who was awarded an own goal.
Asensio, who was not among the starters against England, also set up Rodrigo’s goal early in the second half with a perfect through ball.
Sergio Ramos, one of the remaining members of Spain’s golden generation, added the fifth goal with a header off a corner kick in the 57th minute, and Isco closed the scoring in the 70th after another set up by Asensio.
Dalic felt his side must use the defeat as a learning curve, especially with a re-match with England, the side they beat in the World Cup semi-finals two months ago, their next game in October.
“It’s not easy for us to accept conceding so many goals, but we have to draw some conclusions,” he said. “We can’t sit down and cry, we have to keep working.
“After their first and second goals went in, we started losing grip and Spain gained momentum, finding it easier to get into our box.
“We didn’t have the solutions. While we played as a team everything worked, but as soon as we stopped playing like that, it was over.”
Dalic felt his players did not react to his half-time team talk and that was one of most the concerning aspects of the loss for him. “I wasn’t able to motivate anyone during half time,” he said.
“I tried to get a different second half going, but we went back to our game from the first half and it didn’t work.
“I’m not going to make hasty decisions after this game, but Nations League is an official competition and you have to see who can play in it and who can’t.”
The result continued Luis Enrique’s promising start to life as Spain manager, with the result coming after they had beaten England 2-1 on Saturday. “It’s difficult to find anything to criticise after a match played at this level,” Enrique said. “Our attitude has been commendable.”