Croatia have defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in an international friendly at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd stadium in Riyadh.
The match which was prosecuted by a second-string Croatian team on Wednesday saw Andrej Kramarić making the difference between both sides with a well-struck goal in the second half.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic had said before the match that he would give game time to players who needed it the most, started his only warm-up match ahead of the World Cup with largely a second-string side.
Only goal keeper Dominik Livaković and midfield Marcelo Brozović from the starting line-up are expected to start next week in Croatia’s World Cup opener against Morocco.
Luka Šučić started his first match for Croatia, whilst Dinamo striker Bruno Petković started up front. Dejan Lovren wore the captain’s armband and led a back four with Borna Barišić, Josip Stanišić and Martin Erlić.
After much questions came from Croatia against, Kramarić found an answer in the 83rd minute after beating two players and firing into the bottom right-hand corner to hand Croatia a 1-0 lead.
Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić were given the last 25 minutes and the good news for Dalić was that there were no injury concerns after the match.
Croatia now heads to Qatar.