SenegalOsijek (Croatia), Jun 9 (IANS): Croatia overcame a deficit to prevail 2-1 over Senegal in an international friendly between two teams bound for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Senegal, unbeaten in friendlies since qualifying for the World Cup, had more of the ball during the first half and Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic had to be sharp to deny Diafra Sakho on two occasions here on Friday, reports EFE news agency.

Early in the second half, however, Ismaila Sarr beat Subasic after taking a great long ball from Alfred Ndiaye.

Croatia responded, but that invited Senegal to look for chances on the counter, and the hosts benefited from a little bit of good fortune to get the equalizer.

Senegal goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo lost sight of the ball after the wall diverted an Ivan Perisic free kick and the wayward shot found the back of the net to make it 1-1 in the 63rd minute.

The match became more wide open and the Croatians were better equipped to take advantage, led by Luka Modric, who set up Andrej Kramaric to score what turned out to be the winning goal in the 78th minute.

Senegal had a chance to pull level with eight minutes left, but Sadio Mane's free kick bounced off the wood-work.

Croatia's will begin their World Cup campaign June 16 with a match against Nigeria, to be followed by contests with Argentina and Iceland.

First up for Senegal at the World Cup is Poland, before matches against Japan and Colombia.