Qatar and Slovenia play a goalless draw, while Modrić and Kramarić shine for Croatia
Qatar Abdelkarim Hassan and Slovenian Petar Stojanović competed for the ball yesterday in a friendly match at the Education City Stadium.
Doha: In the friendly match that took place yesterday at the Education City Stadium, the hosts Qatar and Slovenia played a draw without goals.
Both sides came close to scoring, but neither of them managed to break through the deadlock.
The home team entered the match in a confident mood, as in the last friendly match two years ago they won against Bulgaria 2-1, while Slovenia in the last match in dramatic circumstances had Croatia 1-1.
Unfortunately, Slovenia will no longer be at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, after finishing fourth in their qualifying group.
The number of 14 points from their 10 qualifiers ensured that Matjaž Kek’s team finished behind Croatia, Russia and Slovakia in a very upset group.
Slovenia is preparing for the UEFA League of Nations, which starts in June.
Before that, thanks to the late goals of Luka Modrić and Andrej Kramarić, Croatia beat Bulgaria 2: 1 at the same venue.
After the first half without goals, Croatia fell to 10 men when defender Duje Caleta-Car was sent off in the 63rd minute. Bulgarian player Kiril Despodov took the lead shortly afterwards when he quickly ended the break with a shot past Ivica Ivušić in the bottom right corner.
However, Despodov went from hero to zero in a matter of seconds as he received a second yellow card for tearing off his shirt while mimicking Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebration, erasing Bulgaria’s one-sea advantage.
Croatia responded well to the lag, winning in the 76th and 80th minutes. Kramarić was involved in both goals, he won a penalty kick taken by Modrić, then with a few complicated legs he created a space in the field of Bulgaria and shot against the winner.
Croatia, second in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, secured an automatic place in this year’s finals, while Bulgaria finished fourth in its group and did not qualify for the tournament in Qatar.