One of those was the sight of Wales's left-sided centre-back, Ben Davies, who wore the captain's armband, on a one-man mission to close down the Croatia goalkeeper midway through the second half before then going to ground to nick the ball from Luka Modric.
The Croatia substitute Mario Pasalic ensured a tense finish, heading in with 75 minutes on the clock, but Wales held on to register another one of those oh so special Cardiff nights.
Emotions had heightened in recent days owing to the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, Noel Mooney, openly discussing Page's future before Wales trounced Gibraltar in Wrexham on Wednesday.
Ben Davies, the captain in the absence of the injured Aaron Ramsey, did not dress it up and described his comments as unhelpful.
Croatia came into this game sore after a home defeat to Turkey on Thursday and Wales did anything but ease the pain with a front-foot first-half performance. David Brooks dazzled on the right and his sublime first touch to take down Ethan Ampadu's diagonal crossfield ball was the catalyst for Wales's first meaningful foray towards the Croatia goal.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin October 16, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin October 16, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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