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Reuters - A Marko Babic penalty deep in
stoppage time salvaged a 2-2 draw for Croatia against Iran in a World Cup
warm-up international on Sunday.
Iran, who are also in the finals in Germany, were on the verge of a notable
victory when their goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour slid into one of his own
defenders and then clipped Croatia's Ivica Olic as the ball ran free.
Bayer Leverkusen's Babic calmly converted the kick.
Iran took the lead after 21 minutes when a shot from Mohammad Nosrati was
not cleared and the ball fell to Ali Karimi who drove it into the net.
Croatia drew level 10 minutes later when Jurica Vranjes's cross was knocked
back by Hajduk Split's Niko Kranjcar and Dado Prso shot past Mirzapour.
The match became disjointed after the break with both sides making several
replacements.
One of Croatia's substitutes, defender Mario Tokic, gifted Iran a second
goal after 82 minutes when his poor return ball landed at the feet of Arash
Borhani who accepted the chance.
It looked like Croatia were heading for their first defeat under coach
Zlatko Kranjcar until, six minutes into stoppage time, they were handed a
lifeline.
"Iran's goals came from our own mistakes," Kranjcar said.
"Despite that, we had the game under control. We had a number of chances we
failed to convert. Now we have a few days' rest and the players will be
ready for the World Cup."
Croatia play two more friendlies, against Poland and Spain, before kicking
off their World Cup campaign against Brazil in Berlin on June 13.
They also face Japan and Australia in Group F.
Match facts
Played on Sunday 28th May, at Gradski Vrt in Osijek. Attendance: 20,000.
Referee: Zeljko Siric (Croatia). Goals: Prso 31', Babic 95' pen (Cro) –
Karimi 21', Borhani 82' (Ira). Yellow Cards: None. Red Cards: None. Line
ups:
Croatia: Pletikosa, Kovac, Simic, Tomas (Tokic 46'), Tudor (Modric 46'),
Srna (J.Leko 64'), Babic, Kovac (Vranjes 23'), Kranjcar, Prso (Olic 58'),
Klasnic (Balaban 75').
Iran: Mirzapour, Rezaei, Golomahammadi, Kaabi, Teymourian, Nosrati, Nekounam
(Shojaei (85'), Zandi (Bakhtiarizadeh 46'), Karimi (Madanchi 46'), Daei (Kazemian
77'), Hashemian (Borhani 60').
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