Croatia coach Niko Kovac apologised for the behaviour of his teams fans
Croatia coach Niko Kovac apologised for the behaviour of his teams fans
and believes there will be sanctions after crowd trouble caused delays
in their UEFA 2016 European Championship qualifier against Italy in
Milan, which ended 1-1.
Flares thrown by Croatian fans caused their Euro 2016 Group H qualifier against Italy to be halted for around 12 minutes.
Italy had taken the lead in the game through Antonio Candreva in the 11th minute but a mistake by veteran Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon four minutes later helped Croatia equalise as he fumbled Ivan Perisic's shot.
Flares were then thrown onto the field by the Croatia fans, with a hold-up before play was able to be resumed.
The atmosphere continued to be hostile into the second half, and on 70 minutes Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers took the players off after more flares landed on the pitch, with Italian riot police going into the Croatia fans to try to restore order.
Following a stoppage of around 12 minutes, the match eventually restarted, and Perisic missed a great chance to steal a late winner as the match ended 1-1.
Croatia lead Group H on goal difference with ten points from four matches, Italy are second and Norway are a point further back in third.
After match manager Niko Kovac apologised for the trouble caused by Croatian fans and was hopeful that the result would stand.
"Well I guess that the game is over now and the result will remain 1-1. Surely there will be sanctions I can't tell which kind of sanctions. They have to analyse the situation, but I believe that there will be a point for each team to bring home" Kovac said.
Italy manager Antonio Conte admitted he feared the match would be called off.
"Sure I was afraid that the match could not go on, because I saw the referee very convinced after the last suspension. It was quite clear that if they (the Croatia fans) would launch other fireworks the referee most probably would suspend the match definitely. I believe that the fact that the match went on was the right thing because it would have been sad end to a nice show with the San Siro crowded and two squads playing pursuing victory" Conte stated.
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| Niko Kovac |
Flares thrown by Croatian fans caused their Euro 2016 Group H qualifier against Italy to be halted for around 12 minutes.
Italy had taken the lead in the game through Antonio Candreva in the 11th minute but a mistake by veteran Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon four minutes later helped Croatia equalise as he fumbled Ivan Perisic's shot.
Flares were then thrown onto the field by the Croatia fans, with a hold-up before play was able to be resumed.
The atmosphere continued to be hostile into the second half, and on 70 minutes Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers took the players off after more flares landed on the pitch, with Italian riot police going into the Croatia fans to try to restore order.
Following a stoppage of around 12 minutes, the match eventually restarted, and Perisic missed a great chance to steal a late winner as the match ended 1-1.
Croatia lead Group H on goal difference with ten points from four matches, Italy are second and Norway are a point further back in third.
After match manager Niko Kovac apologised for the trouble caused by Croatian fans and was hopeful that the result would stand.
"Well I guess that the game is over now and the result will remain 1-1. Surely there will be sanctions I can't tell which kind of sanctions. They have to analyse the situation, but I believe that there will be a point for each team to bring home" Kovac said.
Italy manager Antonio Conte admitted he feared the match would be called off.
"Sure I was afraid that the match could not go on, because I saw the referee very convinced after the last suspension. It was quite clear that if they (the Croatia fans) would launch other fireworks the referee most probably would suspend the match definitely. I believe that the fact that the match went on was the right thing because it would have been sad end to a nice show with the San Siro crowded and two squads playing pursuing victory" Conte stated.
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