In just over 100 minutes of play Igor Matanović (21) sent a strong candidacy to coach Zlatko Dali and showed that he is a player for whom there is a place in the Croatian national team. Although the final touch was missing, i.e. the ball in the net, Matanović with his playful profile, he brings something to the “fiery” that no one else in the squad can.
And that is an omnipresent danger for the opponent’s goal. Clearly, Matanović the player has not yet matured into a world-class attack, but he certainly shares the same attacking mentality as the best ‘nines’ in the world. He hunts for a goal and waits for an opportunity and without any fear shoots towards the opponent’s goal. Moreover, he shoots the most towards the goal!
Matanović against Poland, he sent as many as seven shots at the opponent’s goal in 68 minutes played. Against Portugal, he came on in the 61st minute and had four shots on goal, which means he had 11 shots in two games.
The meeting between Portugal and Croatia in the 1st round of the League of Nations
And no other ‘fiery’ has collected more than ten shots in the official matches of the national team in 2024! Andrej Kramarić is in second place for the number of shots in our national team. with nine, Luka Modrić and Ante Budimir share second place with six attempts each, Mateo Kovačić he “fired” four times…
Statistics for Igor Matanović
This information is even more intriguing when we consider that Matanović just joined the national team, he didn’t have time to play so brilliantly with the “firemen” who are bigger for years together, and the role of attack in Zlatko Dali’s system is not the most rewarding…
Matanović however, proved to be a breath of fresh air in the national team. No Dali attackč (Budimir, Kramarić and Petković together have 18 shots in 2024) did not show the cold-blooded goal-scoring instinct like 21-year-old Igor.