Josko Gvardiol steals in to ensure Croatia reach Nations League quarter-finals

ZAGREB – For Josko Gvardiol, it was a matter of if you do not succeed, try, try again.

On Nov 18, the Croatia defender continued his scoring streak to earn his side a 1-1 home draw with Portugal that allowed them to squeak into the Nations League quarter-finals.

Portugal had already sealed top spot in Group A1. The draw allowed Croatia to finish one point above Scotland, who continued their late surge with a 2-1 win over Poland in Warsaw.

In Group A4, Spain, already assured of qualification, beat last-placed Switzerland 3-2 in Tenerife. Denmark secured second place in the group with a 0-0 draw in Serbia.

Back at Poljud Stadium in Split, Portugal took a 33rd-minute lead when Joao Felix neatly finished a sharp counter-attack.

With Scotland winning in Warsaw after a third-minute goal from John McGinn, set up by Ben Doak, Croatia were heading out.

Gvardiol, ghosting at the far post, had a header on 62 minutes disallowed for offside. He did not give up and repeated the move three minutes later, sneaking in unmarked and onside to squeeze a close-range shot through Jose Sa.

The defender, who has three goals in his last six English Premier League games for Manchester City, showed he can do the same on the international stage.

“It felt like two different games for us. In the first half, we seemed a bit tired and needed to make changes,” said the 22-year-old.

“The second half was much better – we had more energy, better control of the ball, and created more chances and we managed to score a goal.”

Almost simultaneously in Warsaw, defender Kamil Piatkowski rocketed a shot into the top far corner of the Scottish goal to level for Poland. In the 73rd minute in Split, left-back Nuno Mendes nearly emulated Gvardiol for Portugal but goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic blocked.

In Warsaw, left-back Andy Robertson headed home in added time to give Scotland a second win in four days, but Croatia comfortably saw out the draw they needed.

“I told the boys they earned this result through their hard work, though it seems we always have to struggle for it. While there might have been a results crisis, there was never a crisis in our play,” said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic.

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, was happy with the competitiveness in his team.

“In football, it is very challenging to make seven changes and still maintain the team’s ideas and tactical concepts. It is normal for Croatia to play at home and try to react in the second half,” he said.

“I am proud of what we accomplished. Three more players made their debuts for the national team, including Nuno Tavares against Poland. I believe we have opened the door to competitiveness in the national team.”

Scotland go into a play-off to save their League A status, while Poland are relegated.

Scotland coach Steve Clarke was happy with his country’s improvement.

“We started with three defeats, three narrow defeats, with good performances,” he added.

“The players didn’t lose belief, I didn’t lose belief in the players and they end up taking seven points from the last three games which gets us into the play-off.”

In Leskovac in Serbia, the hosts needed to win to overtake visiting Denmark and reach the quarter-finals.

On a night when both goalkeepers, Dorde Petrovic and Kasper Schmeichel, were in eye-catching form, Serbia had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

The goalkeeping was less spectacular in Luxembourg in League C, where Northern Ireland blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2. But they topped Group 3 when Bulgaria threw away a lead and drew 1-1 in Sofia against Belarus.

In Group 2, Romania beat Cyprus 4-1 in Bucharest to stay top of the group, two points ahead of Kosovo, who beat Lithuania 1-0 in Pristina despite playing the second half with 10 men. AFP