‘It’s a shame’

Andrej Kramaric scored a late penalty as Croatia salvaged a 11 draw at home to world champions France on Monday that left both teams still chasing a first win in the Nations LeagueRabiot scores for FranceJuventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot fired France ahead on 52 minutes in Split as coach Didier Deschamps selected an inexperienced side without star forwards Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema Croatia equalised seven minutes from time when Andrej Kramaric won and converted a spotkickDidier DeschampsldquoWe did some good things taking into account all the changes We were ahead and we could have got the second goal Itrsquos a shame we gave them the equaliser with the penaltyrdquo Deschamps told M6 ldquoOf course the result doesnrsquot fully satisfy me But therersquos tiredness to factor in and with all the other matches Irsquom forced to make changes Itrsquos an ideal preparation for the World CuprdquoFrance and Croatia have just one point apiece in League A Group 1 France were beaten 21 by Denmark in their opening game at home last week while Croatia crashed to a 30 loss to AustriaAlso Read Brazil gets first cricket bat factoryModric earns 150th capDenmark top the section on six points after defeating Austria 21 in Vienna in a game that was delayed Monday by an hour and a half because of a power outage On a night Luka Modric earned his 150th cap for Croatia Deschamps handed a number of fringe players the chance to make an impression before the World Cup starts in Qatar in November But it was experienced defender Presnel Kimpembe who raced back to block as Ante Budimir hesitated to shoot with teammate Lovro Majer also in position for a tapin Christopher Nkunku coming off a brilliant season with RB Leipzig dinked the ball home over Dominik Livakovic but was adjudged offside on the halfhourMoussa Diaby was then denied by Livakovic as he burst towards goal down the right with Aurelien Tchouamenirsquos longrange drive punched away by the Croatia goalkeeperRabiot broke the deadlock when he was played in by a superb ball from Wissam Ben Yedder sweeping clinically inside the near post for only his second international goal Substitute Antoine Griezmann saw a shot repelled by Livakovic shortly before Croatia were awarded a penalty following a VAR review after it was initially overruled for offsideMaignan tries hardMike Maignan saved at the feet of Luka Sucic but Jonathan Clauss caught Kramaric from behind the Hoffenheim striker calmly rolling in from the spot after a lengthy wait to review the incidentNikola Vlasic threatened to snatch a first win for Croatia over France in nine attempts but Maignan got down sharply to turn behind Griezmann was then unable to take advantage of a miskick by Josip Juranovic in the closing moments as he dragged wideThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever