From the special reporter "Vijesti"
In the stands - a sporty, at times carnival-like atmosphere, and on the field - a difference in quality, a serious one, expected. In the end, Croatia - Montenegro 4:0 in the World Cup qualifying match.
Robert Prosinečki's defensive block lasted 35 minutes, until the moment when the Croats broke through Montenegro with an individual action.
Not Luka Modrić, not Ivan Perišić, not Andrej Kramarić, but - Kristijan Jakić, the German Augsburg defender, who entered the middle from the right side and with a fantastic left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area, hit the corner of Danijel Petković's goal.
Until then, the "falcons" were somehow holding on, and the chants of around three hundred Montenegrin fans made their way through the Maksimir stadium's, at times noisy, and at times theatrical atmosphere, but given the dominance of the "fiery" team, it was only a matter of time before Robi's not-so-strong walls would give way.
Prosinecki tried to ambush his Croatia, with three or five players on paper for most of the first half and nine players standing "behind the ball". This was not the idea that the Big Yellow presented when he took over Montenegro a year and a half ago, no matter how powerful and diverse the rival was, although that was a long time ago...
Maybe such a game makes sense if at least at times there is an opportunity for a counterattack, to threaten the opponent's goal. There was none of that at Maksimir, only three shots against 33 Croatians.
And after the first one, it seemed that all the misery, already accumulated through last year's Nations League and this year's qualifiers, had once again fallen on our team.
Montenegro was lucky that a misunderstanding after Savić's return ball to goalkeeper Petković ended with a goal kick and not an own goal, but it was not to be just a minute later. Andrija Bulatović committed a foul in a duel with Luka Modrić, who was 22 years older, and received a second yellow card.
In the circumstances preceding the match, where Montenegro, devoid of any kind of pressure to score, came to Maksimir with the intention of leaving some impression, it seems that nothing worse could have befallen our team.
The visitors were left at the mercy of the home team in the remainder of the game, with lightning and shooting from all sides. Despite their dominance, the second goal came from a stoppage time goal in the 51st minute, scored by Kramarić.
Even when Jovetić grabbed his leg in the 59th minute and asked for a substitution, it seemed like it would be "save yourself if you can". However, at least in one area, in terms of combativeness in an unequal game, the Montenegrin players saved their skin, conceding only two more goals, one of which was an own goal...
And so another important match for Robert Prosinečki ended like all previous ones of its kind - in defeat, no matter how expected. And it was expected that this defeat would bring at least some announcement, a light in the darkness, but we got none of that in Maksimir Forest.
Another game after which we need to ask ourselves - are we really as bad as we seem under Robert Prosinečki?
Robi announced that he would push the youngsters, but again he did so with some hesitation, so Vasilije Adžić did not get a single minute. The coach trusted other players more...
Only Dejan Savićević and Jakov Milatović shook hands with Zoran Milanović in the ceremonial box, Maksimir bowed to Luka Modrić, who turns 40 today, all on a night in which Montenegro, it seems, avoided an even heavier defeat.
"Forgive us Dubrovnik" from the south, then chants from the north
The truly sporting and friendly atmosphere in the stands that prevailed throughout most of the match, especially before its start and the singing of the national anthems, and the joint applause for the Croatian firefighters, only partially went beyond those limits later on.
Montenegro fans in the south held up a banner saying "From Lovćen the fairy shouts, forgive us Dubrovnik", and whether because of that, or just by chance, chants of "kill the Serb" were heard from the northern stands.
Of course, it didn't affect our fans and players in the slightest, and it wasn't intended for them, but it was just a short-lived and sporadic chant. And it shouldn't be highlighted or pushed to the top as something that was dominant.
Because the sporting atmosphere in the stands and fair play on the field dominated.
CROATIA - MONTENEGRO 4:0 (1:0)
Zagreb - "Maksimir" Stadium. Attendance: 21.209. Referee: Felix Zwajer (Germany). Scorers: Jakić in 35th, Kramarić in 51st, Kuč (own goal) in 85th and Perišić in 90+2nd minute. Yellow cards: Ćaleta-Car (Croatia), Bulatović (Montenegro). Red card: Bulatović (Montenegro) in 42nd minute.
Croatia: Livaković - Jakić, Šutalo, Ćaleta-Car, Stanišić - Modrić (82. Moro), Sučić (71. Majer) - Perišić, Kramarić (71. Baturina), Pašalić (61. Fruk) - Ivanović (61. Budimir).
Montenegro: Petković - Vujačić (7. Rubežić), Savić, Šipčić - Roganović, Camaj (59. A. Vukčević), Bulatović, Brnović (74. Kuč), Vukotic (46. Bakić) - Jovetic (59. Lončar), Krstović.
Bonus video:
