On June 19, Beijing time, in the second round of Group B of the European Cup, Croatia, ranked 10th in the world, played against Albania, ranked 66th in the world. Both teams were defeated in the first round, Croatia had a lot of opportunities but just couldn't grasp them, and the defensive state was sluggish and too many mistakes were poured into three goals by the Matadors to swallow the bitter fruit. Although Albania scored the first goal in the first game, the overall strength was insufficient, and under the high-intensity offensive of Italy, it conceded 2 goals in 5 minutes and was overturned. The two sides of this matchup are in a desperate situation of survival, and the losing side will basically be out of the game early.
Albania pragmatically played a defensive counterattack, and Croatia patiently transmitted the ball in front of the field, but the opponent's defense in the middle was dense, and it was difficult to form penetration, so they could only seek more space on the left and right flanks. Albania is not in a hurry, just waiting to seize the opportunity of the opponent's mistake to launch a blitzkrieg surprise attack with the advantage of speed. Sure enough, the Croatian defense made a series of mistakes in the 11th minute, first Sutro was not clean and was snatched by Asani to send a 45-degree cross, goalkeeper Livakovic was not prepared to make a mistake and was smashed by Rachi with a header. It was the first time in Albania's history that they had scored in two consecutive games against a top-10 team in the world.
Albania, the leader, took advantage of the situation and continued to attack Croatia's left defence, and Bajrami forced a low shot into the box in the face of Juranovic, and Livakovic did not dare to slack off and save the ball off the line. Then Bayrami received a long pass from the back and played a fast attack to almost form a one-on-one ball, and Sutro returned to defend in time to clear the ball first.
Croatia managed to settle their rhythm after a ferocious onslaught, but there was still no better way to attack, Brozovic fired wide from distance, Majer's cross was connected to Petkovic's header wide. Croatia still has not solved the problem of slow transition between attack and defense, and several veterans in the midfield and backfield lack the speed to effectively deal with the opponent's indirect and efficient straight line fast attack.
Albania became more and more courageous, strengthened the middle and continued to steal the ball to play a fast attack, Hisayi seized the opportunity to break the fast attack and shot the penalty line again, Modric made a mistake in the middle of the ball and was stealed, Asllani was saved with a single knife through the straight plug. There were no more goals conceded in the first half, so Croatia could only be considered lucky. In the 45th minute, Croatia created the team's best chance of the half, and Petkovic's close-range header was saved. Throughout the half, Croatia played old-fashioned, with a lack of vitality in the front, insufficient pressure in the backcourt and many mistakes, and the overall offensive and defensive speed could not be improved. Albania, on the other hand, have been vigorous defensively, but have also been able to threaten with their sharp and fast attacks.
Croatia, who were in a desperate situation after half-time, immediately made substitutions, with Brozovic and Majer both being substituted. Croatia attacked in front of the penalty area with strong control, substitute 20-year-old Susic sent a threatening shot after just three minutes on the field, Kovacic cut inside the long shot was confiscated, Modric's long-range shot at the top of the arc was blocked by Ramadani, and Sutlo's corner opportunity grabbed a header and headed it high.
Albania withstood the opposition's opening attack and then began to counterattack, and Bayrami burst into the box and fired high. In the 74th minute, Saiferi's powerful shot from outside the box was saved, Croatia took advantage of the opponent's air defense and immediately counterattacked, substitute Budimir arced to the top of the cross, Kramaric took the ball and shook off the angle and fired a low shot into the near corner to equalize.
Two minutes later, Kovacic sent the ball into the penalty area, Budimir followed up the bottom line to get rid of the inverted triangle and did it, Susic grabbed the point and was blocked, the ball hit Jasura and refracted into the net, Croatia laughed at the own goal to complete the overtake 2-1.
In the 95th minute, Albania's cross from the left flank, Jasula scored the equalizer with a low shot through the goal to complete self-redemption, but Gvardiol failed to block.
Full time, Croatia 2-2 Albania. It was Albania's first draw in the European Championship and the first stoppage-time goal in the main draw of the European Championship, and although the team still finished third in the group and continued to maintain their hopes of qualifying, they were basically hopeless in the final round against the group's strongest opponents, Spain. Croatia is still at the bottom of the group with a goal difference disadvantage of 1-1, and it is in a hurry to qualify for the final round against defending champions Italy.