Croatia fear key defender will be out

Croatia were last night facing the prospect of playing England for a place in the World Cup final without key defender Sime Vrsaljko.

Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic has declared himself fit for tonight’s semi-final in Moscow but Vrsaljko is a big doubt after the right-back was forced from the field with a knee injury in Croatia’s victory against Russia on Saturday.

Subasic soldiered on with a hamstring injury in the same match before becoming a penalty shoot-out hero for the second straight game.

Zlatko Dalic, the Croatia manager, said of Vrsaljko: “He has some minor problems but we are facing a huge game. We need all the players but those players on the pitch must be perfectly fit.”

Vrsaljko’s absence would force Croatia into a reshuffle, with centre-half Domagoj Vida – facing another Fifa probe over footage that emerged of him after the Russia game – moving to right-back.

He would be replaced in the middle by former Tottenham Hotspur defender Vedran Corluka, who came off the bench on Saturday.

Losing Vrsaljko would be a blow for Croatia, who had already played half an hour more than England going into tonight’s game.

But Dalic and Dejan Lovren yesterday shrugged off any talk of exhaustion, with the Liverpool defender saying: “We know what’s at stake and, in such moments, you forget any fatigue you may feel because this is maybe a once-in-alifetime opportunity.”

His manager added: “We do not want to say we are fatigued, we are tired, we’re exhausted. We have not been exhausted. There is still opportunity for us to exhaust ourselves.”