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The good debut of the Croatian national team in the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a 2-0 victory over Nigeria was overshadowed by the turmoil caused by the expulsion of forward Nikola Kalinic for refusing to play, reported the Croatian sports newspaper Sportske novosti.
Citing anonymous sources, the media publishes as an exclusive news that Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic expelled Kalinic from the team for considering that he violated discipline and behavioral rules.
According to this newspaper, the center forward of the Italian Milan team refused to enter the game against Nigeria on Saturday when there were five minutes left and his team was already winning 2-0.
When asked by "Sportske novosti" if the player refused to play, Dalic simply shrugged and announced that he would explain everything at a press conference in the afternoon, the newspaper claims.
This explanation came in the form of an official statement from the Croatian Football Federation with statements from the coach: "In the match against Nigeria, Kalinic warmed up and should have played in the second half, but he said he was not ready to enter because he felt the problem in his back, just like with Brazil and against England. He also said that he was sore for yesterday's training. I accepted this calmly and, since I need ready and healthy players, I made this decision."
Thus, in an elegant way, the coach got rid of the forward and left his team with 22 men, just a few days before the second match against Argentina in Group D.
"Sportske novosti" explains that Dalic wanted to introduce Kalinic on Saturday in the game towards the end of the match against Nigeria, to replace the exhausted Mario Mandzukic, from Juventus.
The forward rejected it, claiming back pain. The same excuse that, according to the mentioned source, he used in the friendly match against Brazil on June 3, when he also refused to replace Mandzukic.