ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Croatian striker Petar Musa has more experience scoring goals in the Dallas area than even the biggest stars of this World Cup.
He now has his first on soccer's biggest stage.
The Dallas player became the third from Major League Soccer to score for a European team in the World Cup,
getting a tying goal on the final play before the whistle ending the first half of Croatia's 4-2 loss to England on Wednesday.“The feeling was incredible
to score a goal here at home, but I’m not happy because we lost the game,” Musa said. “There’s not much to celebrate because we lost the game.”
Musa scored his 32nd goal in the Dallas area across all competitions. Playing for Dallas, the 28-year-old is tied with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi of Inter Miami for second in MLS with 12 goals this season. Musa has 46 in his three-year career in the U.S. league.
With Croatia trailing 2-1 in the waning moments of extra time, Mario Pasalic sent a through ball to Ivan Perisic, who headed it toward Musa. Before the ball could bounce, Musa volleyed it past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The halftime whistle blew before play resumed.
Jude Bellingham scored the go-ahead goal for England two minutes into the second half, and Croatia coach Zlatco Dalic replaced Musa with Igor Matanovic in the 66th minute.
“The coach, he’s the boss and he makes the decision,” Musa said. “I think I was already out of gas. I was tired because we ran a lot.”
Musa was the third Dallas player to appear in the World Cup, joining Louicius Deedson of Haiti this year and Jesús Ferreira for the United States four years ago.
The other MLS players to score for European teams were Gareth Bale for Wales and Xherdan Shaqiri for Switzerland.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
