England’s opening Euro 2020 opponents Croatia stutter in build-up after being held at home by lowly Armenia in friendly
- Perisic scored on his 100th appearance to put Croatia ahead in the 23rd minute
- Armenia equalised with a stinging drive from Angulo in the 72nd minute
- Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski sat out Poland’s 1-1 draw at home to Russia
- Tomassini scored San Marino’s first goal in 18 months in the 4-1 defeat by Kosovo
Croatia were held to a 1-1 draw by Armenia in their penultimate warm-up fixture before they take on England in the first game of Group D in the European Championship on Sunday week.
Ivan Perisic put the World Cup runners-up in front in the 23rd minute on his 100th appearance for the national team, but a stinging drive from Wbeymar Angulo shocked the hosts in the 72nd minute.
Zlatko Dalic’s team visit Belgium this weekend in a last effort to fine-tune plans before facing Gareth Southgate‘s side again after numerous meetings since their semi-final clash in Russia almost three years ago.
Ivan Perisic scored on his 100th appearance to put Croatia ahead in the 23rd minute
Luka Modric played 45 minutes in Velika Gorica while Dejan Lovren remained an unused substitute, but there was an injury concern for Josip Brekalo who was forced off during the first half.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski sat out Poland’s 1-1 draw at home to Russia.
After only recently returning from a knee issue, the striker stayed on the bench while West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski was handed a start in goal.
Armenia’s Wbeymar Angulo shocked the hosts with a stinging drive in the 72nd minute
He could not stop Vyacheslav Karavaev from equalising in the 20th minute after Jakub Swierczok had opened the scoring in the match between two teams who were warming up for the European Championship.
Slovakia are in Group E with Poland and they pegged back Bulgaria as Laszlo Benes cancelled out Atanas Iliev’s ninth-minute opener in their friendly.
North Macedonia are another side gearing up for the Euros who were held to a 1-1 draw, with Slovenia netting in stoppage time.
Eljif Elmas, of Napoli, scored his third goal in a row for the national team with 55 minutes on the clock, but Domen Crnigoj found the net late on to force a draw.
David Tomassini scored San Marino’s first goal in 18 months in the 4-1 defeat by Kosovo
Vedat Muriqi scored four times for Kosovo against San Marino but it proved a memorable evening for the visitors too in spite of a 4-1 loss.
The Lazio striker scored twice in each half to extend his lead at the top of the goalscoring charts for his country, but it was David Tomassini who was the hero after he scored the minnows’ first goal in 18 months.
On only his third international appearance, the 21-year-old punished repeated mistakes to spark wild celebrations from the side ranked 210th in the world.
Henri Anier helped Estonia claim a 1-0 win away to Lithuania to aid their World Cup qualification preparations before a scheduled trip to Wales in September, while the hosts will travel to Northern Ireland at the end of 2021.