Sluga an unused substitute as Croatia lose to Slovenia

Luton goalkeeper Simon Sluga was an unused substitute as Croatia began their World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign with a surprise 1-0 defeat in Slovenia last night.

The hosts scored what proved to be the only goal of the game on 15 minutes when Sandi Lovric struck with a heavily deflected shot that beat Dominik Livakovic.

Visiting forward Nikola Vlasic hit the post, but were lucky not to fall further behind as Livakovic kept out an Andraz Sporar effort after Ivan Perisic almost scored an own goal.

Slovenia stopper Jan Oblak had a largely quiet evening, saving tame efforts from Domagoj Vida and Mislav Orsic, while Slovenia substitute Blaz Kramer missed a wonderful chance to make it 2-0 late on.

Croatia host Cyprus this weekend.