France were facing an extremely difficult task heading into Sunday’s Nations League quarterfinals second leg against Croatia. Down 2-0 after the first leg thanks to Ante Budimir and the ageless former Bayern Munich player Ivan Perišić, France were able to overcome the initial deficit due to Michael Olise. The Bayern winger opened the scoring with a beautiful free kick before assisting Ousmane Dembélé’s goal, which leveled the score on aggregate.
No team found a winner in regular time, however, with penalties deciding the victor. In a cruel twist of fate, it would be Bayern player Josip Stanišić who missed Croatia’s deciding penalty, while fellow Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano stepped up to win the game for the 2022 World Cup finalists. Still, Stanišić’s immaculate record against Kylian Mbappe continued. That is not a bad consolation, right?
@iMiaSanMia also captured the exact details of Olise’s Man of the Match display:
Michael Olise: man of the match vs Croatia
106 minutes played
1 goal
1 assist
102 touches
57/68 passes completed (84%)
5 key passes
1 big chance created
3/6 dribbles completed
7/12 duels won
2 tackles
9.5/10 rating
Congratulations to Olise and Upamecano, but condolences for Stanišić. France move on to the Nations League semifinals and face Spain.
