Croatia spoil Ciric's party

F.Y.R. Macedonia 0-1 Croatia

Milosevski impresses
The Macedonians came into the game in form following victories over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine, but Klasnic's 32nd-minute header brought that run to an end - and Croatia's winning margin would have been greater had it not been for the brilliance of Petar Milosevski in the home goal.

Key absences
Victory came as welcome relief for Croatia coach Otto Baric, whose preparations for UEFA EURO 2004™ were hampered again here by the absence of Robert Kovac, Ivica Mornar and Dado Pršo - though even without his star trio Croatia dominated.

Klasnic on target
Baric's side took control from the outset, but had to wait until the 25th minute for their first chance, Niko Kovac sending a header over the bar. Klasnic made no such mistake seven minutes later, pouncing on a mistake in the F.Y.R. Macedonia defence to head in Milan Rapaic's corner. The closest the Macedonians came to drawing level was a minute before the break, when Goran Stavrevski fed Dragan Cadkovski, but his shot was cleared off the line by Mario Tokic.

Olic thwarted
Baric made seven changes in the second half as Croatia continued to stream forward. On 52 minutes Milosevski saved well from Ivica Olic, but chances were coming at both ends and on 64 minutes Vanco Trajanov set up Artim Saciri, who missed from close range. Olic's duel with Milosevski then continued, the goalkeeper coming out on top again after the striker had been put through on 66 minutes.

Sedloski comes close
With two minutes remaining, Goce Sedloski flashed a header wide from Vasko Bozinovski's cross, before Olic again found himself in one-on-one with Milosevski, who pulled off a third stunning save. Milosevski's brilliance ensured he earned the applause at the final whistle, but at the beginning it was all for veteran forward Ciric, who played the first ten minutes of his farewell match before bringing his international career to an emotional end.

'Tough opponent'
"It was a hard match and a great test for my players," Baric said. "I'm satisfied with how we played. We deserved to win, though [F.Y.R.] Macedonia played well and were a tough opponent. We had several chances during the second half and deserved to score maybe one or two more goals. We were without some key players and I expect our form to improve."

'Mistakes'
F.Y.R. Macedonia coach Dragan Kanatlarovski said: "We made too many mistakes in midfield and Croatia knew how to punish us. In the second half we played better, but we missed several chances."