Croatia player to be sent home after refusing to come on from the bench against Nigeria

A press conference has been called for Monday afternoon.

Croatia beat Nigeria 2-0 on Saturday night in their opening group game of this year's World Cup. An own goal and a Luka Modrić penalty secured three points for Croatia, but problems arose when manager Zlatko Dalic wanted to bring on striker Nikola Kalinic. According to Croatian newspaper, 24sata, the AC Milan striker reportedly refused his manager's order, claiming he had a back injury. https://twitter.com/JurajVrdoljak/status/1008613069365415937 Dalic brought on Juventus winger Marko Pjaca instead of Kalinic, who is reportedly going to be sent home as a punishment for disobeying his manager's orders. A press conference has been called for 16:15 on Monday afternoon, when it is expected that Kalinic's expulsion from the squad will be confirmed. Croatia will play their second group game against Argentina on Thursday. Jorge Sampaoli's side suffered a frustrating 1-1 draw against Iceland on Saturday, with Lionel Messi missing a penalty just to make matters worse. Croatia will be confident of getting a positive result against Argentina, but it seems they will have to do it without the option of Kalinic. They do have Mario Mandzukic and Andrej Kramaric to call upon though.