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Croatia crushes Jamaica in finals debut
Posted: Sunday June 14, 1998 11:20 PM
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Suker (9) scored Croatia's third goal to further lock down the lead (AP) |
LENS, France (AP) -- The reggae faded after halftime.
For 53 minutes, World Cup upstart and fan favorite Jamaica held off Croatia's more experienced stars. Then Robert Prosinecki and Davor Suker cruelly deflated the "Reggae Boyz" with two goals that sealed a confidence-boosting 3-1 debut victory for Croatia, considered one of the tournament's dark horses.
Croatian coach Miroslav Blazevic was relieved that his team had overcome the first-game jitters and can now concentrate on what is expected to be a more difficult game against Japan on Saturday.
"I'm very happy because I feared this game very much," Blazevic said.
As for Japan's performance in its 1-0 loss to Argentina earlier Sunday, Blazevic said he was impressed that a "soccer nation without tradition" had played "such a modern game."
Croatia's contest with Japan is "wide open," he said.
That was never quite the case against Jamaica, which was outplayed throughout the game to the dismay of its thousands of boisterous fans among the 38,000 spectators.
Barrett faced 12 shots from the Croatian squad (AP) | |
Parma's Mario Stanic nailed Croatia's first goal on a rebound in the 27th minute with a close-range blast between a Jamaican defender and goalkeeper Warren Barrett after a deft series of passes starting with a tapped corner kick b Prosinecki.
Sparked by drum-beating fans and a sea of yellow, green and black -- Jamaica's national colors -- in the stads, the Caribbean underdogs touched off a frenzy in the stadium only once, when Robbie Earle sent a powerful header into Drazen Ladic's net at the stroke of halftime.
After the break, the Croatians turned up the pressure after Blazevic told the back four to move up "because I didn't think their counters would be quick enough to take our defense by surprise."
"I also told them they would not be allowed back in the dressing room without three points," the Croatian coach said.
Prosinecki obliged first, lifting a sharply angled lob over a stunned Barrett eight minutes after halftime. Suker wrapped it up in the 69th, ricocheting a close-range shot off Ricardo Gardener's leg into the top of the goal.
They were sweet goals for both: Prosinecki is building up a second wind at age 29 after some frustrating years in Spain; Suker was buoyed after a season at European club champion Real Madrid, Prosinecki's former club, in which he rarely made the starting lineup.
"I didn't play much at my club, so I'm hungry for goals and victories," Suker said.
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