Croatia defeated by Iceland: “The little things make the difference, and we need to work on them”

Iceland took the lead in the 14th minute through a header from A. Eiríksdóttir. The visitors doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when Viggósdóttir converted a penalty, before H. Eiríksdóttir made it 3-0 in the 75th minute.

Croatia’s best opportunity came in the 80th minute, when Ana Maria Marković tested the Icelandic goalkeeper, who made the save.

Just a minute later, Helena Spajić also tried her luck, but her effort went over the crossbar. In stoppage time, Lana Kukavica had a chance to pull one back, but her shot went wide.

Iceland completed the scoring in the fifth minute of added time through A. Eiríksdóttir.

“Iceland are a team ranked among the ten best in the world, and this is a valuable learning experience for us. I am disappointed with the result because we played a good, mature game, yet conceded three goals from set pieces. They did not create many other clear-cut chances. We were well positioned and organised, and we had two big chances, but that is football. We need to take the positives from the game, and there were plenty of them today. We need to keep going in this direction.

That is where the difference lies. I would not say it is technical quality, but they are faster and stronger. Set pieces played a major role, particularly in those situations. We were well organised and held our shape. We did not score. Iceland punish mistakes. They scored from their first opportunity following a throw-in because we did not mark properly, but that is how it goes. We should not dwell on it too much, and I hope the girls will learn from this experience. In women’s football, even teams that are not on Spain’s level are good at delivering and capitalising on set pieces. They are very aggressive in duels, and as soon as you let your guard down, you find yourself in trouble.

I did not see the incident leading to the penalty, but I think it was a harsh decision. What we should regret most is the chances we failed to convert,” said coach Nenad Gračan.

“It is difficult to say anything after a match like this. The coach gave us instructions on what we needed to do, where they are strong and where we needed to keep an eye on them. However, I cannot say that we did not perform well, because we tried to remain compact and disciplined throughout all 90 minutes. I think their speed and agility made the difference in certain situations. The little things make the difference, and we need to work on them. I hope we will prepare even better for the match in Iceland and try to put in the best possible performance,” said Leonarda Balog.

Croatia will face Iceland in the second leg on 13 October in Reykjavík, at Laugardalsvöllur Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 17:30 Croatian time.

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