Expert Commentator: Vlašić Should Not Have Made the Foul, The Penalty Was Obvious

Expert commentator Elvis Scoria, analyzing Croatia's World Cup match against Portugal, linked the decisive moment of the game to the foul committed by Vlašić and the subsequent penalty awarded. According to Scoria, Croatia, which had control of the game before the goal and unbalanced the opponent after the changes made by the Portuguese coach, became the losing side due to this simple error. Despite tactical errors and pressure in the first half, the commentator emphasized that the performance shown in the second half was strong enough to win, once again revealing the high cost of emotional fluctuations and simple mistakes during the match.

Scoria stated that Croatia's defense, particularly in wing positions, gave serious openings in the first half and struggled against Portugal's fast attackers; however, they managed to reach halftime without conceding in a strange way. However, Perišić playing at left-back and insufficient support from the midfield allowed opposing players, especially through Cancelo and Neto, play on both wings and constantly create danger. The inability of young players like Baturina and Sučić to contribute to the defensive phase caused the team to remain under great pressure in the first 45 minutes and play in their own half.

With the start of the second half, Croatia's game completely changed, and the team returned to its true identity by starting to hold the ball. The dominance of Modrić, Kovačić, and Vlašić in midfield made the team more dynamic and led to a goal, especially effective run by Perišić from the left wing. Going up 1-0, Croatia had become unstoppable in the match, and the changes made by Portugal coach Martinez had made the team quite unbalanced, giving them a chance to finish the match with a second goal.

However, the story of seeing the golden pass ended with Vlašić's unnecessary and obvious foul inside the penalty area. As the awarded penalty turned into a goal, despite Croatia having clear goal chances like 2v2 or 3v3 in attacking positions, they could not capitalize. In the final parts of the match, although the Portuguese coach's risky decisions and the introduction of Ramos and Bernardo Silva challenged the defense, it was seen that Croatia controlled the game before Vlašić's mistake and had positions to preserve the score.

Misfortunes also came one after another in the final moments of the match. While the goal scored by Croatia's young player Sučić was cancelled due to offside, another goal by Gvardiol in the last minutes was similarly disallowed upon review. Scoria noted that the cancellation of a golden goal counted in the 103rd minute psychologically tired the team and created morale loss. Throughout the match, Croatia also experienced major problems in press; they left the field with a 3-1 unjust defeat, thinking along with Ricardo Costa's critical intervention against Kovačić and the opponent's luck.