It was an exciting night at Camping World Stadium as Croatia beat Colombia 2-1 in a hard-fought matchup.
Each team scored early on, but it was the Croatians who found a way through and earned the victory in front of a predominantly pro-Colombian crowd.
“I think we can be happy. I think it was a tough game. It was a good game,” said Orlando City and Croatia forward Marco Pasalic. “We started a little bit slow with the early goal from Colombia, but we came back even faster. For us, it’s really important to believe in our quality, have the self confidence and believe that we can win.”
Colombia got on the scoresheet first off a great shot from Jhon Arias in the third minute. Arias got the ball in the center of the box, and his shot bounced off Ivan Perisic’s leg and past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic to put the South American side up 1-0.
Croatia would go right down the field to level it at 1-1 in the sixth minute. Defender Luka Vuskovic’s long-range shot ricocheted off a defender, and Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was unable to stop it from hitting the back of the net.
Igor Matanovic made it 2-1 in the 43rd minute for Croatia. Pasalic set him up with an assist off a perfectly placed corner kick, allowing Matanovic to head it home and put his side in the lead.
Neither team found another goal in the second half, despite a handful of chances late in the match. Livakovic was the difference maker, keeping Colombia from scoring after conceding a fluke goal early on with four crucial saves.
Croatia faces a tougher challenge now on Tuesday against Brazil at Camping World Stadium, while Colombia heads to Maryland to take on France