Croatia has never lost to Italy in its history, not even tonight, but the draw from Leipzig hurts the fans of this national team more than the many defeats it has experienced.
The "fiery" had everything, the lead after the goal of the eternal master Luka Modrić, they kept 1:0 until the 98th minute, and then a shock... Matija Zakanji masterfully put it into the net, taking the "azure" to the round of 2024 of Euro XNUMX, and It left little hope for the Croats to continue as one of the four best third-placed national teams.
Drama in Leipzig closed group B: Croatia - Italy 1:1.

"I don't know what to say, football is sometimes cruel and it showed on us this time," said Modrić after the match.
In order to advance, Croatia needs a lot of things to come together by the end of the European Championship - England must beat Slovenia by at least three goals, Denmark must beat Serbia, Portugal Georgia, and Turkey the Czech Republic.
The big battle in the east of Germany before Modrić's goal brought several chances on both sides, Croatia had possession of the ball, and Italy had better chances - after one by Alessandro Bastoni, the goal of the "fiery" was saved by Dominik Livaković.
And, in the continuation, Croatia first got a penalty, when after Andrej Kramarić's shot, Davide Fratezi played with his hand - Modrić shot from the penalty spot, but Đanluigi Donaruma masterfully saved the penalty.
The action continued, and Croatia's "ten" showed greatness - just 33 seconds later, Modrić scored after Donaruma deflected the ball to him after Anto Budimir's shot (1:0).
At 38 years and 289 days, he became the oldest scorer in the history of European championships.
After that, Croatia retreated, Italy tried, had several dangerous chances, so even though they probably would have gone on with three points, the European champions showed their character...
Bologna's super-talented stopper Riccardo Calafiori pulled through the middle, found reserve player Zakanji on the left side, and he "set fire" to the Apennines with a beautiful goal, and saddened Croatia (1:1).
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