The Icelandic defence simply wasn’t good enough in the first half, strong reaction from Croatia, & semi-finals advantage for Croatia – here are Ola Selbys 3 takes after Croatia defeated Iceland, 30–29.
Icelandic defence not good enough in the first half
What was Iceland doing in defence, especially in the middle and in the first half (where they lost the game)? The physical Croatian team was allowed to dominate with outside shooting, and in the first half I doubt the Icelandic defence would have been able to stop a nosebleed…
Combined with the fact that Iceland had basically no saves all game long and it’s very hard to win a game against a quality team like Croatia. And to add to that – the biggest star Gisli Kristjánsson scored zero (!) goals this game.
Strong reaction from Croatia
How the Croatian team reacted to the humiliating loss against Sweden? By being the better side all game long against Iceland. And playing with a lot of heart, and smarter tactics as well. Mateo Maras got the chance to start the game at right back and him plus Zvonomir Srna had themselves a field day from nine meters, where they scored at will basically from start to finish.
Croatia got the game where they wanted and Dagur Sigurdsson once again won the coaching battle against Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson.
Semi-finals? Advantage Croatia
This results means that Iceland lost their advantage in the group, just as it was a year ago during the World Championship when these two sides played in Zagreb. Iceland had impressed up to that but were destroyed in that game. They were not destroyed today but the results means that Iceland no longer hold their own fate as it relates to making it to the semi-finals.
For Croatia the win was a must, and now they instead have everything in their own hands when they are aiming for a place in the semi-finals for a second straight championship. Iceland have to depend on other results in the group in order to make it to the Final Four.