Ante Budimir came off the bench to ignite Croatia’s World Cup campaign as the 2018 finalists eliminated Panama with a 1-0 win in Toronto.
The first-half substitute capped off a game with few clear-cut chances as Croatia bounced back from defeat to England, lashing home Josip Stanisic’s excellent cross at the back post after nine minutes.
There was little to worry about defensively, but the Central American side were a tough nut to crack before half-time as they knew a win would give them a strong chance of advancing to the round of 32. Zlatko Dalic had the desired effect, and Petar Musa and Josko Gvardiol were brought on in place of Andre Kramaric and Budimir.
Less than 10 minutes later, Stanisic opened up space for the Bayern Munich full-back with a complex one-two that set Mario Pasalic wide, allowing his dangerous delivery to burst through the six-yard box and reach an unmarked Budimir at the other end, where he could not miss.
Pasalic should have doubled the lead when Croatia countered from a corner and played clean through, but aimed a dink too close to Orlando Mosquera’s body before turning the rebound wide from a tight angle.
In the end, it mattered little as Croatia were in a strong position to improve and Panama were playing for pride when they faced England on Saturday night.
Big moments in Toronto…
- 23: get! Livakovic did everything in his power to deny Panama’s Rodriguez but the offside flag was eventually raised for the winger.
- 46: Subscribe! Gvardiol and Musa are hooked, and Kramaric and Budimir appear.
- 54: target! Budimir made an almost immediate impact late on, slotting home a superb cross from Stanisic on the run to the back post.
- 57: Big opportunity! It should be two because Pasalic comes all the way past the halfway line. But his dink was blocked by Mosquera, although he deflected the rebound and missed.
- 69: get! Another moment for Livakovic as he reacted well to block Harvey’s effort, this time without the aid of an offside flag.
