Croatia cruises past Australia

Croatia started their World Championship campaign with a routine 36-13 victory over minnows Australia. The loss puts Australia at 1-27 all time in the World Championships. “6th man” Zlatko Horvat took player of the game as Croatia were able to give the bench solid minutes and let their stars stay fresh. 

The Cowboys got out to a quick start with Ivan Čupić scoring two goals on an early power-play to put Croatia up 2-0. After the Aussies got a couple back to make the score 3-2, the Croats went on a 7-0 run to take control. With the big lead, Čupic was put on the bench and Zlatko Horvat was allowed to shine on the right wing. Ivan led all scorers with eight goals. Čupic scored seven, and Drago Vuković and Morko Kopljar both added four. The Aussies spent nearly 1/3 of the first half shorthanded, which certainly didn’t help their cause. Things turned from bad to worse for them when Martin Nadjovski picked up his third caution and received a red card in the 29th minute. Ultimately, Australia had no answer to Croatia’s D as they shot their shots blocked and deflected and were unable to break through. Croatia took a 17-4 lead into the half and, despite a slow start to the second half, they were able to cruise to victory. 

Croatia’s next match is on Monday against Algeria at 10:45 EST and Croatia will be heavy favorites once again. Algeria was defeated 27-14 by the hosts Spain in their first game.