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Jelavic plays in Croatia draw

Gibson overlooked again as Ireland are eliminated

Nikica Jelavic started his second Euro2012 game for Croatia as Slaven Bilic's side earned a pulsating 1-1 draw with Italy.

The Everton striker struggled for service for the bulk of his 82 minutes on the pitch and had just one genuine chance which came early on in the game.

The 27 year-old came within inches of making contact on a wicked ball from the right that would likely have beaten Buffon in the Italy goal if he'd been able to get a toe on it.

As Everton players have found out on the world stage, Howard Webb gives the Blues very short shrift and Jelavic was denied what Bilic thought was a clear penalty when he was wrestled to the floor in the box by a defender.

Instead it was his striker partner Mario Mandzukic who got the all-important equaliser, canceling out Andrea Pirlo's stunning free kick with a smart shot in off the post after bringing down Strinic's left-wing cross.

The result means that the Croatians are in with a decent chance of progressing to the next phase but will need to avoid defeat to Spain in their final game and, if they don't beat the Spaniards but draw, hope that Italy don't best their 3-1 win over Ireland.

In the other Group C game, Ireland were trounced 4-0 by rampant Spain for who, Fernando Torres started and scored twice.

Once again, Darron Gibson was left out of the starting line-up by Giovanni Trapattoni and he wouldn't feature at all during the 90 minutes as the Irish were eliminated from the tournament.

 

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