Rangers star Borna Barisic was powerless to resist as he played 90 minutes of Croatia’s 2-1 UEFA Nations’ League defeat to Sweden.
The marauding full-back is the nation’s first choice on that left-hand side and was recalled to the starting XI after being deposed by Çaykur Rizespor star Dario Melnjak.
But Barisic’s Croatia side would find themselves two-nil down by half-time at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.
Juventus talent Dejan Kulusevski, 20, opened the scoring about 10 minutes before half-time before towering defender Marcus Danielson doubled the advantage in injury time.
The big defender would then score an own goal at the other end to make it 2-1 but the Swedes held on to record an impressive victory against the 2018 World Cup finalists.
Rangers defender Filip Helander, 26, was back on the Sweden bench for the match after being left out of the travelling party to Denmark due to UK travel restrictions [Glasgow Times].
However, the big defender never got off the bench as the Swedish side secured all three points in a competitive group which also includes Portugal and France.
That result leaves Sweden bottom of League A Group 3 but level on points with Croatia as all four teams prepare for the final round of fixtures this week.
France top the group on 13 points whilst Euro rivals Portugal have ten after the World Champions bounced back from a 2-0 defeat to Finland to win 1-0 in Lisbon.
Sweden will now travel to France for their final match on Tuesday night in Paris whilst Croatia will host Portugal in Split.
