Gareth Southgate says England’s performance deserved a victory in Croatia
Gareth Southgate was frustrated by the result but not his side’s performance as England ignored the eerie backdrop to draw 0-0 with Croatia in the Nations League
Croatia 0-0 England – Match Report
Three months after meeting in the World Cup semi-finals, the sides lined up at the virtually-empty Stadion HNK Rijeka as the hosts completed a UEFA stadium ban for having a swastika on the pitch during a Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy.
A few hundred officials and journalists were all that were in attendance for the Group A4 encounter, but there was a small group of England fans perched on a hill overlooking the stadium – and their efforts were nearly rewarded with a win.
Eric Dier and Harry Kane hit the woodwork either side of half-time in Rijeka, where Ross Barkley saw a penalty appeal rejected and Marcus Rashford wasted two great chances as the match ended goalless.
„It feels like a game we should have won,“ England manager Southgate said. „I think the performance deserved that.
„First half, pretty even but a very good chance from the corner, which we probably should have got on the end of. They had one from a cut-back.
„They had one reasonable chance in the second half, but I thought, really, we dictated the flow of the game for a long period and the second-half performance was excellent.
„We were pushing and pushing right to the end, so I couldn’t ask more of the players. I am pleased with the chances we created, and we just have to make sure we finish them which on another day we will.“
England did well to keep their focus on a peculiar night in Rijeka.
History was made as 18-year-old Jadon Sancho came off the bench to become the first player born this millennium to represent England, while full debutant Ben Chilwell and returning Barkley impressed Southgate.
„They’re hugely proud to play in the shirt,“ Southgate said.
„We talked just before the game… it’s not an easy pitch either, especially in that final third. A lot of people just slipping with their footing.
„So, that quality in the final third, at times the ball bouncing up at the wrong moment, but good teams adapt and good teams, whatever the circumstances or the atmosphere or the pitch, find a way of playing.
„I was really pleased that the players did that tonight.
„I was particularly pleased with Ben Chilwell,“ he added. „I thought that was a super debut, very composed with his defending against some top-quality players.
„He was patient, he made good interceptions, his use of the ball was very composed, got forward well.
„I also thought Ross Barkley coming back into the team had a very good impact on the game as well.
„We’re disappointed to leave here not having won, but I have to focus on the way that we play and tonight I thought we played well.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
