Mateo Kovacic demands 'aggressive' Croatia display in Wales after Turkey defeat

Croatia lost a Euro qualifier at home for the first time on Thursday as Turkey won 1-0 in Osijek to take control of Group D.

The 2022 World Cup semi-finalists hold a three-point advantage over Wales heading into Sunday's Cardiff City Stadium clash, but defeat could leave them in danger of missing out on automatic qualification for next summer's finals.

"We started off bad and we didn't play a good game against Turkey," said Manchester City midfielder Kovacic.

"We were slow in reaction and not as aggressive as we should be. We have to be more aggressive against Wales.

"Luckily, in football you have another chance after three days, and we need to show our best face as we did over the last few years."

Croatia and Wales began their respective Euro 2024 qualifying campaigns with a 1-1 draw in March as Nathan Broadhead equalised with virtually the last kick of the match.

Their previous meeting also ended 1-1 as Gareth Bale cancelled out Nikola Vlasic's early opener in a Euro 2020 qualifier at Cardiff.

Kovacic said: "Wales is always a dangerous opponent and we saw that again in Split. We were a better team throughout the game, but we conceded in the last minute.

"We expect a similar game in terms of aggression and fighting from both teams.

"Wales has everything to play for and it will be difficult. They play a lot of long balls, but they have a lot of individual quality and the crowd behind them."

Croatia captain Luka Modric is set to win his 170th cap in Cardiff, with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain's Sergio Ramos the only outfield players from Europe to make more international appearances than the Real Madrid midfielder.

Tottenham winger Ivan Perisic and Hoffenheim striker Andrej Kramaric were already ruled out through injury, and Dinamo Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic has now joined the casualty list after coming off the bench against Turkey.

Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic said: "We are aware we did not play a good game against Turkey and we deserved to lose.

"No excuses, we were just not good enough. But we did not play like this for a long time.

"If we repeat that performance against Wales we will be in for a lot of trouble, but the most important thing is that everything is in our hands (to qualify).

"We are ready for long balls and set-pieces. We must be careful because that is how we conceded the goal in Split."

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