Turkey overcomes Croatia U-17: "Cannot blame the players"

Following the opening day loss to Italy (1:0), Croatia U-17 remained at Rujevica in Rijeka and faced the Turkey national team.

Turkey took the lead on 18 minutes, when Karaahmet found the net, and this lead was doubled on 49 minutes. Gül put the rebound past Kotarski.

Croatia's first goal of the tournament was scored in 67th minute by Marin, while Turkey was quick to confirm the victory: Kabak scored a header on 69 minutes.

It was Radić's own goal to make it the final 4:1, a result that eliminated Croatia from the second round. On Tuesday, Croatia meets Spain in Kostrena.

"Once again, our opponents had players who play at a higher level, and we are not adjusted to that. Italy and Turkey are capable of producing the same rhythm for 80 minutes. I cannot blame my players, they have given their all. This outcome is not what we have deserved, especially considering that we had missed chances in the opening minutes. This team has potential, some quality players will arise, but we need even more high-performance matches, and matches with older opponents", said Bašić.

"In one moment in second half we have managed to come back into the game, but then failed to stay focused, especially in set pieces. The players have desired to succeed, and now can play Spain without pressure. One must always produce hope for the future. The development of these players remains our priority. A lot of effort was put into this EURO, but our opponents were some of the eight best teams in Europe", he added.

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