Croatia crush sorry Andorra
Wednesday 12 September 2007e-mailPrint
Three
goals in either half helped Croatia consolidate their UEFA EURO 2008™
Group E lead in this impressive six-goal showing against Andorra.
Petrić double
Mladen Petrić had scored
four goals in the Croatian record-equalling 7-0 home win against David
Rodrigo's side last October and the BV Borussia Dortmund player was
again on target with two first-half strikes for the visitors. Darijo
Srna, Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva and Ivan Rakitic were the other
marksmen on a miserable day for Andorra, compounded by the 77th-minute
dismissal of Genís García.
Deadlock broken
There had been little
goalmouth action until midway through the first half when Kranjčar shot
wide from just outside the area. A minute later, Eduardo headed over
the bar from close range as the visitors began to assert their
authority. Croatia then went ahead on 34 minutes, when Srna's free-kick
deflected off the wall and over the helpless goalkeeper Koldo Álvarez.
Goal flurry
Within four minutes, Slaven
Bilić's side had doubled their lead from another set-piece: Petrić
curling an exquisite left-footed free-kick past Koldo. The forward then
made it 3-0 a minute before the interval with an angled 12-metre drive
that crept just inside the far post. After the break, three became four
as the unmarked Kranjčar crashed a left-footed strike into the corner
from nine metres. And as Andorra's resistance crumbled it was 5-0,
Eduardo pouncing from short range after Kranjčar's shot had been
blocked on the line on 55 minutes.
Red card
Croatia's dominance was total and
a sixth goal duly arrived on 64 minutes, when substitute Rakitic poked
in the rebound after Koldo had parried Petrić's curling free-kick.
Rakitic, Kranjčar and substitute Boško Balaban all came close late on,
but despite the sending-off of García for a late tackle on Rakitic,
there would be no repeat of last October's scoreline.
Hrvatska košarka - Povratak u budućnost...