Zlatko Dalic was left to rue the penalty decision that he says changed Croatia’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina, but he still conceded the South Americans deserved to reach Sunday’s showpiece.
Croatia, runners-up in Russia in 2018, were beaten 3-0 by Lionel Messi and teammates at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.
Messi, the Argentine captain, opened the scoring with a 34th-minute penalty after Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic collided with opposing forward Julian Alvarez.
Croatia protested the award, with midfielder Mateo Kovacic seemingly booked for making his point too forcefully. Dalic said also that his side should have had a corner before Argentina broke forward to earn the spot-kick.
In the post-match press conference, the former Al Ain manager said: "Everything was in our hands. We played well for half an hour and had possession. We were not a threat but did have control.
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Argentina's Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez celebrate during the 3-0 World Cup semi-final win against Croatia at the Lusail Stadium on December 13, 2022. AP -
Lionel Messi celebrates Argentina's win with Rodrigo De Paul, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Alejandro Gomez after the match. Reuters -
Argentina's Lionel Messi and teammates celebrate their victory. AP -
Lionel Messi of Argentina after the team's win over Croatia. Getty -
Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates after the game. Getty -
Julian Alvarez celebrates with teammates after scoring the third goal. Getty -
Argentina's Julian Alvarez scores the third goal of the game. PA -
Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring the second goal with Lionel Messi and teammates. EPA -
Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring the first goal. Getty -
Argentina's Julian Alvarez celebrates with teammates after scoring the second goal. Getty -
Argentina's Julian Alvarez scores the second goal. PA -
Julian Alvarez celebrates after scoring. Getty -
Croatia's Dominik Livakovic fouls Julian Alvarez, leading to the penalty. Getty -
Croatia's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic lies on the ground after fouling Argentina's Julian Alvarez to concede a penalty. AFP -
Lionel Messi scores his penalty. Getty -
Lionel Messi after scoring Argntina's first goal from the penalty spot. Getty -
Lionel Messi in action with Croatia's Mateo Kovacic. Reuters
"We conceded a goal, which was very suspicious. The situation leading to the penalty... it was a little too cheap, a bit too easy to be honest.
"Our goalkeeper did what he did and these are the new rules. This goal took the match in a different direction."
Dalic, who four years ago guided Croatia to their best World Cup finish, did open his press conference by congratulating Argentina on their win.
However, he lamented the lack of a genuine goalscorer in the squad saying that, while his team had plenty of possession, they failed to really threaten their opponents. Croatia now face the loser in the other semi-final, between France and Morocco, in Saturday’s third-place play-off.
"We have prepared everything but we missed a real, genuine attacker," he said.
"We lost the match. I have nothing to complain about regarding the boys. They gave their best during this whole tournament.... It is a deserved defeat.
"I congratulate Argentina on the victory. We have to pull ourselves together, raise our heads. I can't blame the boys for anything - we are going into the fight for third place. We don't have much to complain about."
Dalic said his team created "good situations" but failed to produce clear-cut chances.
Asked if this was the conclusion of the cycle of stars that took Croatia to successive World Cup semi-finals – captain Luka Modric is 37 – Dalic said: "Perhaps this is the end of the World Cup generation for a couple of them who have reached a certain age. We'll have to see for the 2026 World Cup.
"I believe this generation will slowly finish off their career at Euro 2024.
"It's an excellent generation who two times in a row reached the semi-finals. It would have been excellent if they'd won the trophy as a crowning moment."
Dalic, who managed UAE club Al Ain before taking the Croatia job, was quizzed about his own future in the aftermath of the defeat, but replied: "I will continue. My contract is to 2024, after the European Championships, and in six months we have the League of Nations and we have World Cup qualifiers. My plan is to take Croatia to Euro 2024."
Argentina v Croatia ratings
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ARGENTINA RATINGS: Emi Martinez - 7. Untested in a cagey start as Croatia had possession but few opportunities. Comfortable save from Perisic on 72. Reuters -
Nahuel Molina - 8. Right-back who made a fine run to support Argentina’s second goal. AP -
Cristian Romero - 8. Hard, not always fair, the Spurs central defender is loved by Argentina’s massive travelling support. Booked in front of the 88,966 crowd. AP -
Nicolas Otamendi - 8. The old master, the foil to the younger Romero, he took a ball to the face in a Croatia attack. Argentina only had 40 per cent of possession, but let Croatia play in front of their defence. EPA -
Nicolas Tagliafico - 8. Brought down in a stiff early challenge but stood strong throughout. Best moment was when he won the ball on 63 to turn defence into an attack - which he supported. Then did the same two minutes later. Getty -
Rodrigo De Paul - 8. As Argentina played the same 4-4-2 system that hadn’t convinced against Mexico. Hit a shot that was deflected wide on 41. AFP -
Leandro Paredes - 8. A first start since the opening game and initially up against it as Croatia dominated in the middle. Shot on target after 47. Solid alongside Fernandez. AP -
Enzo Fernandez - 8. Very comfortable against some of the best midfielders in the world. Superb tournament for the Benfica midfielder, 21. He only moved to Europe this year. He won’t be playing in Portugal in a few years. Getty -
Alexis Mac Allister - 8. Headed a 42nd-minute corner towards goal that was saved. Volleyed wide on 82 as Argentina dominated. Grown throughout the tournament. Getty -
Lionel Messi - 10. Scored the penalty that put Argentina ahead. Supporting role in the second. Evaded defenders to make a super run on goal on 57 to almost make it three. Equalled Lothar Matthaus’s World Cup appearance record. Sensational for the third, winning ball on halfway line, beating his men and setting up Alvarez. Genius. AFP -
Julian Alvarez - 9. Won the penalty having been brought down by the goalkeeper, which led to Argentina going ahead. Brilliant individual goal to put Argentina two up on 39 – his third goal of these finals. Made it 3-0, sweeping in Messi’s ball on 69. Four goals puts him behind only Messi and Mbappe. AFP -
SUBS: Lisandro Martinez - 7. On for Paredes on 61. A bit of bite as he helped Argentina reach a sixth World Cup final, including two of the past three - the Messi era. Reuters -
Exequiel Palacios - 7. On for De Paul on 73 and straight into the middle. AP -
Paulo Dybala - 6. On for Alvarez on 74 for his first minutes in these World Cup finals. Top player. EPA -
Angel Correa - N/A. On for Mac Allister on 86 as Argentina’s wise coach Scaloni used as many players as possible. Getty -
Juan Foyth - N/A. On for Molina on 86 and straight to right- back to help see out the game. AFP -
CROATIA RATINGS: Dominik Livakovic - 5. After conceding the penalty that led to Messi opening the scoring, Livakovic was never the same outside of a few decent saves. Getty -
Josip Juranovic - 7. Fought harder than most to get Croatia into positive positions and rarely put a foot wrong at the back, other than the second goal. EPA -
Dejan Lovren - 4. The former Liverpool man was way too deep ahead of the opener and looked lost more often than not. Getty -
Josko Gvardiol - 5. Inconsistency was the key here as Gvardiol went from looking unbelievably nervous to composed and back again. PA -
Borna Sosa - 5. The defender just couldn’t get his final ball right with the cherry on top being a fluffed clearance for the 2nd goal. EPA -
Luka Modric - 7. Croatia’s talisman put on a typically impressive and controlled display, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Argentines. Reuters -
Marcelo Brozovic - 6. Showcased a strong presence in the middle of the park, only to fade away once Argentina began to step on the gas. AP -
Mateo Kovacic - 7. The midfield maestro was aggressive and persistent but didn’t show enough of an attacking edge for his teammates. PA -
Mario Pasalic - 5. Not quick enough to the ball, too slow to react in the final third and generally pretty useless for the underdogs. EPA -
Andrej Kramaric - 6. Outside of some solid determination to get forward, Kramaric was too erratic both in and out of possession. EPA -
Ivan Perisic - 5. The veteran simply couldn’t find his way into the semi-final and was marked out of the match throughout. AP -
SUBS: Nikola Vlasic - 6. Was slow to the ball for the third goal, which is a shame, given that his early work showed promise through his build-up. Getty -
Mislav Orsic - 7. Zagreb’s finest had some nice movement, even if it ultimately didn’t lead to anything substantial for Croatia. AP -
Bruno Petkovic - 6. Held play up well in the box but didn’t possess the killer instinct necessary to get his side back in the game. Getty -
Marko Livaja - N/A. Worked hard but wasn’t able to get much going in what proved to be an uneventful cameo. Getty -
Lovro Majer - N/A. Held a firm position in midfield as the minutes ticked by en route to his nation’s defeat. AFP
