OMM Newsroom
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has spoken about the team’s return match against England in the Nations League. Croatia lost 7-0 to England in October at the Rujevica Stadium in Rijeka. It was the heaviest defeat in the team’s history.
Bilic said the team was preparing for the England match after playing Spain. He said the game was a good opportunity to show that the result at Rujevica had been caused by a bad day and a loss of collective focus. The coach added that the defeat had been painful and would remain in the team’s memory.
The coach said the Nations League was important because of its link to qualifying. He said Croatia would need to finish at least third to be placed in the top pot for the draw. Bilic said playing strong opponents was useful for testing the team’s capabilities and that Croatia also had to prove it belonged at that level.
Bilic called the team’s match against Spain in Split a benchmark. He said the quality of play could vary from one day to another, but the team had to maintain the same levels of aggression, compactness, unity, courage and responsibility as in that match.
The return match between England and Croatia will be played at Wembley Stadium in London on November 12. Kick-off is scheduled for 22:45 Moscow time.
