£2.2million Rangers left-back Borna Barisic has struggled in the Scottish Premiership recently but shone for Croatia in their Euro 2020 qualifier.
Croatia got their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign off to a winning start on Thursday night. And Borna Barisic was an unlikely hero for the World Cup runners-up as they hosted Azerbaijan in Maksimir.
Starting ahead of Bayer Leverkusen youngster Tin Jedvaj, the left-back marked his fourth international cap with his first goal in the famous red and white checked shirt. It came in a rather unlikely fashion, too, with Barisic flicking a near-post header into the net from a corner kick.
A second goal, scored after the interval by Hoffenheim talisman Andrej Kramaric, sealed a win that was perhaps a little nervier than it should have been. But the performance of Barisic was a big plus for a team in transition after a number of high-profile retirements.
Croatian paper 24Sata hailed Barisic’s ‘brilliant’ performance, while manager Zlatko Dalic was also full of praise for a man who has just given him a selection headache going forward.
“Barisic was good today, we were looking for a solution for that left-side position,” Dalic told 24Sata after the game.
Rangers fans will be hoping the 25-year-old, who arrived at Ibrox from NK Osijek for £2.2 million in August (BBC), can take some confidence from his goal-scoring exploits.
Barisic might have tallied seven assists in his debut season in Scotland but he has looked a shadow of his former self since the turn of the year.
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