Dalić: "I think Matanović will be a great gain"

Portugal beat Croatia 2:1 in Lisbon, with goals from Dalot and Ronaldo, with an own goal from Dalot on the other hand. Coach Zlatko Dalić reflected on the events on the field.

"We reacted badly to Dalot's entrances, when we didn't cover the player receiving the ball, we didn't manage to solve that problem. In the first half, there were a lot of mistakes by our defense, and in the second we made changes, settled down and there were no such dangers. However, Portugal fast and vertical, goes into empty space and is hard to stop", he says.

"There are no big unknowns and surprises in Portugal due to changes in the system, we played a lot of games, including the one a few months ago, and we saw a lot of situations. We lack more speed and dynamism going forward, we don't have a wide selection of players. We were missing some first-team players, but we are creating a new national team and preparing for the future. At the same time, we are trying to make a result in the League of Nations", he added.

Among the debutants was Igor Matanović, who left a positive impression.

"Matanović is very young, he is a modern striker and the future of Croatian football. He is aggressive, tough, attacks the ball in the penalty area and I think he will be a great asset. I hope he will continue like that. Kramarić is not a classic striker, he is more suited to the position behind the striker , which was well seen in the second half", he concluded.

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