(Dan Tri) - Mattia Zaccagni's goal in the 90+8 minute helped Italy draw 1-1 with Croatia. With this result, the Azzurri have won the ticket to the next round, while Croatia is almost certainly eliminated from Euro 2024.
Highlight Italy 1-1 Croatia
Before the final round of Group B Euro 2024, Croatia was pushed into a corner when they were at the bottom of the table with 1 point, 2 points behind the second-placed team Italy. That means the Balkan team needs to beat Italy in a direct confrontation to be sure of a ticket to the next round. In fact, Croatia was very close to winning. They led Italy until the 90+8 minute but were still leveled at 1-1. With this result, the Azzurri team won the ticket to the next round with 2nd place with 4 points. Croatia ranked third with 2 points. Mattia Zaccagni celebrates his golden goal (Photo: UEFA). With this score, it is almost certain that Modric and his teammates will be eliminated. At least, up to now, they are three points behind the third-placed teams Austria, Slovakia, Hungary (all 3 points). That is why the Croatian players collapsed on the field and cried after the match. Entering this match, Croatia and Italy both showed great determination. They created a few dangerous opportunities at the beginning of the match, but the two goalkeepers Livakovic and Donnarumma played excellently. In the second half of the first half, the two teams mainly played a tug of war and had no dangerous opportunities. The second half was much more exciting. In the 53rd minute, the referee awarded Croatia a penalty when the ball touched Davide Frattesi's hand. At the 11m mark, Luka Modric failed to take the penalty. The sky seemed to fall before the Croatian players (Photo: Getty). However, in the next situation, the ball was crossed for Budimir to shoot. Gianluigi Donnarumma made an excellent save. However, Luka Modric was there at the right time, kicking the ball into the roof of the Italian net. After this goal, Italy pressed forward to attack. However, they were completely deadlocked by Croatia's well-organized defense. Coach Spalletti "cleaned out" the bench to put on strikers such as Federico Chiesa, Gianluca Scamacca, Mattia Zaccagni. And when the Croatian players were waiting for the referee's whistle to rush onto the field to celebrate, tragedy struck them. In the 90+8 minute, center-back Riccardo Calafiori carried the ball straight into Croatia's penalty area, before passing to Mattia Zaccagni. This player curled the ball into the Croatian net. This precious goal helped Italy advance and pushed Croatia into hell. The match ended with a score of 1-1. In the round of 16, Italy will face the second-placed team in Group A, Switzerland.
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