Cacic sacked by Croatia ahead of vital qualifier

Ante Cacic has been sacked as Croatia coach due to poor results just two days before their vital World Cup qualifier at Ukraine, with Zlatko Dalic taking over.

Croatia were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Finland on Friday, leaving them in real danger of not qualifying for next year’s tournament.

That result means they sit second behind Iceland with just one match – arguably their toughest – left in Kiev on Monday, with Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine only trailing Croatia on goal difference.

Captain Luka Modric called Croatia’s situation “catastrophic” after Finland scored a late equaliser in Rijeka, and Cacic has ultimately paid the price for their failure to win three of their last four games.

Zlatko Dalic becomes new #Croatia head coach as HNS Executive Committee decides to part ways with Ante Cacic.#BeProud #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/pxC784hcCA

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) October 7, 2017

Dalic, who was most recently in charge of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates, is the man tasked with sparking an immediate turnaround in fortune.

A statement from the Croatian Football Federation read: “The Executive Board of the Croatian Football Association has unanimously decided to end cooperation with Ante Cacic after the recent results in the soccer team’s qualification for the World Cup in Russia.”