Internationals: Joy for Lovren as Croatia edge closer to the World Cup
Dejan Lovren played the full 90 minutes as Croatia took a big step towards qualification for the World Cup with a 4-1 win over Greece in the first leg of their play-off on Thursday night.
Luka Modric gave the hosts the perfect start on 13 minutes, opening the scoring from the penalty spot, and after Lovren went close with a header, the lead was doubled when Nikola Kalinic netted.
On the half-hour mark, Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored to give the away side hope but three minutes later it was 3-1 when Ivan Perisic got a goal of his own.
Within four minutes of the restart, Andrej Kramaric pounced to make it 4-1 and put his country in a great position to qualify for the World Cup ahead of Sunday’s second leg.
Andy Robertson and Georginio Wijnaldum both lasted the full distance as Scotland lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in a friendly encounter in Aberdeen.
The only goal of the game was scored five minutes before the break by Memphis Depay and came courtesy of an assist from former Liverpool star Ryan Babel.