Prosinečki’s Azerbaijan Frustrates Croatia

Niko Kovač and Robert Prosinečki shared a dressing room for 6 years but on Thursday they went head to head as their sides clashed in Group H of Euro 2016 qualifying…

Prosinečki was definitely the happier out of the two coaches after the Croatia and Azerbaijan played out a 0-0 draw in Baku on Thursday night.

Croatia dominated possession with 62%, but found it difficult to break down the home side. Clear cut chances to Real Madrid’s summer signing Mateo Kovačić and Mario Mandžukić would have been put away nine times out of ten, but it was not to be Croatia’s night as they failed to find the back of the net in their 18 attempts on goal.

Prosinečki, who knew Croatia’s players inside out from his time as assistant coach, has turned around Azerbaijan from their 6-0 loss to Croatia in Osijek, gaining 5 points in their last games since taking over.

“Of course I am satisfied. We just got a point against one of the best sides in Europe. This Croatia side is excellent with players playing in the biggest clubs in the world but my guys done excellent. They played the best they can play and of course we had some luck. This point is important for Azerbaijan to give us momentum going forward,” Prosinečki said.

“We were excellent tonight but we just didn’t score. We could not convert our chances, I think we had 18 attempts. For some reason the ball wouldn’t go in. They defended very well from the start to finish. We have to live with this result. The guys tried out there. That is football. Nothing drastic has happened and we need to move on,” said Kovač after the match.

Croatia will now face Norway on 6 September in Norway.