Perisic wants improvement from Croatia

Croatia enjoyed a perfect group stage at the World Cup, but Ivan Perisic said they still had to get better.

Published : Jun 27, 2018 14:29 IST , Rostov-on-Don

Croatia star Ivan Perisic warned his team it would need to improve to overcome Denmark in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Zlatko Dalic's men finished Group D with a perfect record after overcoming Iceland 2-1 on Tuesday. Perisic scored a fine 90th-minute winner for Croatia after Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty had cancelled out Milan Badelj's opener.

But the Inter attacker said his team needed to get better to beat Denmark, the team it faces in the last 16 on Sunday.

"I watched the first half of Denmark [in the 0-0 draw against France]," Perisic said. It's a strong team, we will have to study it closely and be better than [against Iceland] to get past it."

Croatia was just about guaranteed first place in the group before its meeting with Iceland, but nonetheless sealed a third straight win. Perisic praised his team for its display, while also acknowledging Heimir Hallgrimsson's men.

"It was tough, really tough. We know how they play, with them you need to fight until the last minute, and we did that," he said.

"Before the game, we were 99 per cent in first place, but we showed character and finished the job. With three wins we go further."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment