Euro 2016|Czech deny grieving Srna perfect return

Darijo Srna who returned from his father’s funeral to lead Croatia was denied a perfect return as  Czech Republic staged a late comeback to secure a 2-2 draw in their first time competitive meeting in a Euro 2016 group D fixture at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard on Friday.
Perišić’s fine angled drive from just inside the box gave Croatia a deserved lead at half time before Ivan Rakitic’s tip over Petr Czech seemed to have settled matters but a 75th minute strike by Milan Skoda gave Czech a lifeline before Necid converted a spot kick following a hand ball in the area by Vida to end the Group D encounter in a draw.

Croatia were the better side for large chunks of the game and Czech Republic looked dead and buried, yet they finished the game on top of Croatia, even threatening a winner.
Proof of Croatia’s dominance could be seen in the game’s statistics, having racked up 12 attempts on goal, five on target, while the Czechs could only manage two shots none of which hit the target.
Although the goal came at a similar time to the one against Turkey, the tie had been a totally different game. Croatia didn’t look brilliant before they struck in that first game but here in St Etienne there was only one team in it -Croatia.
The Czechs needed to win but also avoid mistakes in critical areas of the pitch – and this did not happen. Jaroslav Plašil was caught in possession for the opening goal, and even captain Tomáš Rosický was guilty of wayward passes.
Pavel Vrba’s men showed more courage after the break, but they ran aground against a focused Croatian defence and conceded again on the counterattack. Just as all hope seemed lost, however, they mounted a sensational comeback to keep their campaign alive. It was breathtaking stuff.
In both side’s previous meetings, Croatia had the better of their opponenet, winning one and drawing one.
Croatia could be overtaken at the Group D summit tonight if Spain who defeated Czech 1-0 in their opening match beat Turkey team currently point-less at the bottom of the section following a 1-0 opening loss to Croatia. Whatever happens in Nice later, the final placings will only be decided when the group concludes next Tuesday.