ZAGREB, Nov. 13 -- Croatia became one of the 32 teams that will compete for FIFA World Cup glory in Russia next summer, after forcing a scoreless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece on Sunday night and defending a huge 4-1 advantage gained in the first playoff match in Zagreb.

For the fifth time in its history, Croatia had to fight for the berth through the playoffs, and the players led by head coach Zlatko Dalic did just as good as in the previous four attempts.

Dalic came to this position in a very delicate situtation, as a rescue coach, replacing Ante Cacic after a string of poor results made Croatia's trip to Ukraine in the last match of the group phase a do-or-die mission.

Under Dalic, the team performed well in Kiev and beat Ukraine 2-0 to secure its place in the playoffs against Greece. Even though Greece were considered a big threat with their defensive style of play, Croatia had put opponents under big pressure and took advantage of their mistakes by scoring four goals in Zagreb last Thursday, which proved to be a crucial and insurmountable advantage for a return match in Piraeus.

Dalic's tactic in the return match was much different from the one used in Zagreb. With three goals advantage in his hands he set a strong defense.

Dalic said that it is not in the nature of Croatian players to defend but they had proved to be a very strong defensive team when they have to.

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