Croatia coach Slaven Bilić believes the 7-0 home thrashing by England in the Nations League was an aberration and hopes his side can regroup against Spain.
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored twice while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also netted for the rampant Three Lions in Rijeka on Saturday. Croatia looked a shadow of the side who finished runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and third in 2022.
“It was a nightmare of a night for us, the heaviest defeat in our history. It is very difficult to talk about football or look for tactical reasons for what happened,” Bilić told reporters.
“They were simply better than us in every aspect of the game. When you concede a few soft goals and enter a state of shock, you end up looking even worse than you actually are.”
Croatia’s task does not get any easier as they host World and European champions Spain on Tuesday in their final A3 match of this international window. Saturday’s defeat means they have just three points from three games so far in the Nations League.
“It’s incredibly difficult to digest this,” the coach said about the England hammering.
“This isn’t a game you forget, a defeat like this stays with you forever. The only good thing about it is that it can serve as a permanent reminder whenever you think you can play halfway or with half effort. There are no excuses. We are all in this together, and now is the time to show character, togetherness, and find a way out of this.”
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