Croatia 2 - Iceland 0

Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff

Croatia hosted Iceland in the second leg of their UEFA Playoffs series with the aggregate score tied at 0-0.  Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson was called upon multiple times in this match, and he did well to help Iceland maintain contact with their hosts.  Halldorsson made a diving two-fisted punch to safety off a twenty-yard free kick for Croatia.  However, he could not prevent the first goal, which came off a short corner kick for Croatia.  Ivan Rakitic swung a cross into the boxto Ivan Perisic, who then side-volleyed toward the far post.  Mario Mandzukic (pictured, red) was there for the tap-in.  Coatia finally had their first goal after nearly one hundred twenty minutes of play in the series.  A Rakitic header almost made it 2-0 after being deflected on goal by Iceland left back Ari Skulason.  Halldorsson appeared again the ball on a dive to his post.  Mandzukic was sent off for a red card in minute 38 after sticking a cleat into the groin of an Icelandic player, meaning Croatia had to maintain their slim one-goal margin with only ten men on the pitch.  Croatia were precariously ahead 1-0 at intermission.

In the second minute of the second half, Croatia doubled their lead in spite of being down a man.  Man-of-the-match Mateo Kovacic put on a dribbling exhibition in the Croatian midfield during the second forty-five minutes of play.  His slaloming run from the midway point on the pitch led him just to the edge of the box before he passed wide to Darijo Srna.  Srna hit a bouncing shot into the far side netting to make it 2-0.  Kovacic nearly did a solo run to glory after another slalom through the Icelandic defense.  Kovacic even ran a circle around Ragnar Sigurdsson to get into the box, but Halldorsson was able to make a kick save with his trailing leg.  Ivica Olic hit a bicycle kick off a Croatian corner that crashed into the crossbar and back out into Halldorsson's possession.  The man advantage never served Iceland any good in this match as they were constantly under siege by the Croatian attackers.  Croatia win 2-0 tonight and take the series by the same 2-0 scoreline to advance to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.  Iceland, despite their best ever qualification campaign, have been eliminated.

Goals
Croatia
Mario Mandzukic 27
Darijo Srna 47

Match Reports:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24907602
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2013/11/19/5122840/croatia-iceland-final-score-result-2014-world-cup-playoffs
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2225266/index.html
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/124953/croatia-vs-iceland/report?

Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkhVMMaKsQ