Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CROAT’S THE
Balkan stars sparkle to come from behind and show up Canada boss after crazy f-word rant
FROM NEIL MOXLEY
JOHN HERDMAN’S ill-chosen words were rammed down his throat as Croatia took a giant step towards the last 16.
Canada’s English boss upset the 2018 runners-up after saying he was going to ‘F*** Croatia’ following an encouraging show in Les Rouges’ opening game against Belgium.
But Durham-born Herdman was left with egg on his face as the Balkan side recovered from the shock of falling a goal behind in the opening 67 seconds to deliver a masterclass.
Alphonso Davies charged onto a cross to nod the Canadians into the lead, raising hopes among the sizeable contingent from North America that another World Cup upset was on the cards.
But two goals either side of the interval ended that as a possibility – leaving Herdman to ponder on the lesson he will have undoubtedly learned.
His remarks had been seized upon by the Croats – don’t forget Luka Modric cited the example of England’s fans singing: ‘It’s coming home’ as ‘arrogant’ ahead of their semifinal showdown in Russia four years ago.
So, such forceful language from the Canadian camp was always likely to elicit a reaction and Herdman’s jibe riled his opposite number Zlatko Dalic and had far greater reach, too. Outraged by his statement, one of the country’s most popular tabloids mocked up a naked picture of Durham-born Herdman with a Maple leaf covering his mouth and manhood on its front page.
The headline read: ‘You have the mouth, but do you have the balls?’
Herdman subsequently apologised but, by then, the damage had been done – and it was up to his players to make good on his prediction.
Despite being handed an early advantage with Davies’ goal, the Canadians could not press home their advantage. The Al Khalifa Stadium raised the roof when the Bayern Munich man charged onto Tajon Buchanan’s right-wing cross.
But Dalic’s side re-grouped and had taken the lead themselves by the interval with two strikes in the final nine minutes of the first half.
Andrej Kramaric finished off a neat move to level after Marko Livaja fired in from the edge of the area and then the Hoffenheim hitman claimed his second following a deep cross from Spurs’ Ivan Perisic.
Sub Lovro Majer rubbed salt into the wounds by rounding off the scoring following a mistake from Kemal Miller as Canada exited the tournament.
Canada gave a good account of themselves but the Croats’ better technique and experience outweighed the youthful exuberance of Herdman’s side and it was only due to some heroics by Milan Borjan in the Canada goal that spared them a greater hiding.
They still haven’t won a game on the biggest stage and now face Morocco, who will go into the final match buoyed by their victory over Belgium.
Herdman said: “It was a great start and a great moment for the fans back home. It was just the start we were hoping for. But the second goal turned the tide.
“You have to make tactical adjustments at half-time and when you do that, you leave yourselves open. They were clinical in transition and gave a masterclass in those moments.
“I’m proud of the lads. They just couldn’t find that equaliser. We showed that little old Canada can compete with the best in the world.
“Unfortunately, I thought we gave them an easy night.”