Modric and Pasalic on target as Croatia leave it late to beat Slovenia in friendly

[p]The Kockasti have established a well-deserved reputation as World Cup dark horses after reaching the final and semi-finals in 2018 and 2022 respectively, but question marks over an ageing squad meant Zlatko Dalic’s side had plenty to prove before heading out to North America.[/p][p]It was somewhat fitting then that two seasoned campaigners engineered Croatia’s first chance here, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/budimir-ante/IeVXGQOi/"]Ante Budimir[/a] headed wide from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perisic-ivan/4AbKyVr9/"]Ivan Perisic[/a]’s cross in the opening exchanges. [/p][p]Slovenia looked to upset the odds when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/livakovic-dominik/OOasPX9j/"]Dominik Livakovic[/a] made a fine save to his right to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lovric-sandi/2oBl3y29/"]Sandi Lovric[/a]. Perisic then saw his acrobatic strike saved by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oblak-jan/SYy8ZHN9/"]Jan Oblak[/a], before Budimir could only direct a close-range header straight at the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cesar-bostjan/l8DkIYRm/"]Bostjan Cesar[/a]’s side were eager to exploit any lapses from the hosts, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vipotnik-zan/xYt5sXYC/"]Zan Vipotnik[/a] latched onto [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kovacic-mateo/4f084TL7/"]Mateo Kovacic[/a]’s misplaced pass and saw his drilled effort parried to safety by Livakovic. [/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="b9a2467f-5356-484e-b514-3290e07159c2" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="fd7cfa67-a371-459b-a41f-df45a8fddeac" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Livakovic was called into action again shortly after the restart to parry over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/begic-tjas/bJBRauoj/"]Tjas Begic[/a]’s volley, before Croatia’s evergreen talisman broke the deadlock in the 51st minute.[/p][p][b]Perisic teed up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/modric-luka/bZWyoJnA/"]Luka Modric[/a] to calmly place his shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner past an outstretched Oblak. [/b][/p][p]Dalic’s men pressed for a second when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matanovic-igor/j5PxPTVi/"]Igor Matanovic[/a] headed over from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baturina-martin/0WWy1lhR/"]Martin Baturina[/a]’s free-kick, but Cesar’s side were in no mood to roll over. Livakovic was certainly busy between the sticks, denying Vipotnik again moments later.[/p][p][b]But after plenty of warning signs, Slovenia restored parity in what was a horrible moment for Baturina. The Como midfielder’s sloppy backpass was intercepted by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sporar-andraz/pEClWbGa/"]Andraz Sporar[/a], who calmly slotted his finish past Livakovic. [/b][/p][p][b]That goal exposed some alarmingly familiar defensive frailties for a Croatia side that have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six games, but that frustration was soon forgotten when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pasalic-mario/ld4iyqYa/"]Mario Pasalic[/a] struck a wonderful volley in stoppage time to seal victory. [/b][/p][p]Meanwhile, this frustrating defeat for Slovenia leaves them with just one win from their last 10 games.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stanisic-josip/SfawK0Y3/"]Josip Stanisic[/a] (Croatia)[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="5115ad98-8948-40cf-b71b-73871ac3df90" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="71e469ce-7dd1-4103-a929-a2f1efc4243d" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/croatia-K8aznggo/slovenia-tfMf3PoO/?mid=MwkAgvmI"]Check out the match summary here.[/a][/b][/p]