Croatia vs Iceland live: Watch Modric and co. in crucial World Cup playoff match

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After a stalemate at Reykjavik in the first leg, the two sides will now meet in the decisive match to be held at the Stadion Maksimi on November 19, 2013.

Preview: Iceland draw closer to maiden World Cup berth

A resilient display saw the Nordic minnows hold Croatia to a 0-0 draw in the first leg despite being a man down. Olafur Skulason was given his marching orders in the second half after he pulled down Ivan Perisic who was clean through on goal, but a spirited display from Lars Lagerbäck’s men who were backed by a capacity full crowd ensured that Iceland are still very much in contention to secure a World Cup spot for the very first time in their history.

Iceland’s 65 year old manager Lars Lagerbäck hailed his players for putting up a resilient performance but had some harsh words for the match official who he believed was not at his very best.

"Tonight the referee was not at his best," Lagerback told reporters.

"I am pleased with the way the players stood up but we were unlucky."

"I did not see a red card from my position, but there were many situations where he [Undiano] did not know what he was doing.”

Iceland who have never qualified for a major tournament will be fancying their chances against a Croatian side which is quite low on confidence. With players like Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson in the squad, Iceland definitely have the required firepower to make history on Tuesday.

Heerenveen striker Alfred Finnbogason is another player who could make a lot of difference. The 24 year old has scored 14 times for his club in the Eredivisie this season and a goal on Tuesday in Zagreb would put Iceland in the driving seat for the World Cup spot.

Iceland’s clean sheet in the first leg was only their third of the qualification campaign and their number one Hannes Halldorsson deserves all the plaudits after making a string of fine saves to deny Ivica Olic, Eduardo and Ivan Perisic in the second half to keep the scores level at 0-0.

Croatia on the other hand will be disappointed at not being able to convert all the possession they had into a goal. After a very even first half, the visitors were more threatening of the two teams upon Skulason’s dismissal in the 50th minute and even though they had some good chances to turn the tide into their favour they were not clinical enough to carry a lead to the second leg.

But Niko Kovac who took charge of his first match as the head coach of the Croatian national team, insisted that the result was far from a disaster and his side can make full use of the home advantage when they face Croatia in Zagreb.

“This is not a bad result,” the 42-year-old told reporters.

“We have the second leg at home in front of our people and we hope for good results in to get to the World Cup."

“Iceland has shown their real character, and endured our pressure in the second half. We had a lot of chances, but we did not manage to achieve a goal.”

Croatia have struggled for goals in the WCQ campaign and will need to step up a gear or two if they are to earn a qualification to the illustrious tournament. Mario Mandzukic who has done ever so well for Bayern Munich has been largely innocuous for the national side having scored just thrice in eleven appearances and will need to spearhead the attack like the world class striker that he is if Croatia are to have any chance of making it to the last World Cup finals.

Luka Modric is another player who will need to show his worth in the second leg. The dynamic midfielder is surely in the league of the finest midfielders in the world and has lived up to his billing by putting up some fine performances for Real Madrid this season. On Tuesday his country will need him more than ever as they aim to avoid a second consecutive absence from the World Cup.