Can Erözden
June 12, 2016•Update: June 13, 2016
ANKARA
A poor first-half clearance proved costly for Turkey in the national side’s Euro 2016 Group D opener in Paris on Sunday.
Croatia broke the deadlock in Parc des Princes on the 41st minute as Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric seized on a high penalty-box clearance from Selcuk Inan and fired in a long-range volley to beat Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Babacan.
Croatia remained dangerous throughout the match, with right back and team captain Darijo Srna's free kick in 52nd minute and winger Ivan Perisic's header in 72nd minute both hitting the Turkish crossbar.
Turkey's best chance was missed by midfielder Ozan Tufan in the 29th minute when his effort was stopped by Croatian ‘keeper Danijel Subasic on the line.
Having lost against 1-0 against Croatia, Turkey looks ahead to Spain in the upcoming Group D match on June 17 in Nice.
Title contenders Spain will play their first Euro 2016 match against the Czech Republic on Monday in Toulouse.
The other Group D match will kick-off at 3 p.m. local time in France (1300 GMT).
