Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic told reporters after the Croatia v Nigeria match that his team ‘earned their luck’ after two set-piece goals helped them to a 2-0 victory against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the Group D World Cup match on Saturday. the Croats put in a below par performance, despite their victory, but the manager was keen to defend his men when speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference.
“A win is a win,” he said. “Corners and penalties are part of football. It doesn’t matter how you score, it matters that you score. We earned our luck. We want to be more efficient in attack but we are not going to split hairs about the way we scored. It was a difficult match against an excellent opponent. We were disciplined and we deservedly won.”said the manager
Modric sealed the victory for the Croatians, after Oghenekaro Etebo scored an unfortunate own goal in the first half. Croatia now move on to face Argentina in their next group game, a task the manager knows will require a stronger performance from his men, whilst sticking to their own style of play.