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Friendly wins for Donnarumma, Gvardiol and Kovacic
Friendly wins for Donnarumma, Gvardiol and Kovacic
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic all played important roles in their respective nation's international friendly victories, while Erling Haaland's Norway were held by Morocco.
A stoppage time strike from Mario Pasalic meant Gvardiol and Kovacic’s final World Cup warm-up ended in a 2-1 victory over Slovenia.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe pair both started for the 2018 World Cup finalists, with Gvardiol playing the full 90 minutes and Kovacic the first 45.
Luka Modric gave Croatia the lead early in the second half with Andraz Sporar seemingly earning Slovenia a draw until Pasalic’s late intervention.
Gvardiol and Kovacic could face four of their City team-mates in their Group L opener, with Croatia taking on England on Wednesday 17 June at 20:00 (UK).
Meanwhile, Donnarumma helped Italy to a 1-0 win away to Greece, with Pio Esposito once again the matchwinner as he had been in their single-goal triumph over Luxembourg on Wednesday evening.
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The City stopper wasn’t truly tested for the first time until late on, with Christos Zafeiris smacking an effort against the upright and Christos Tzolis also going close, but the Italians held on for the victory.
Haaland’s Norway were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw though ahead of their first Men’s World Cup finals since 1998.
Our number nine played 72 minutes of the tie, with Martin Odegaard’s second half effort cancelling out an early strike from former City forward Brahim Diaz.
The Norwegians face Iraq in their first Group I assignment on Tuesday 16 June, with kick-off set for 22:00 (UK).