Croatian defender Borna Barisic moved to Rangers from Osijek in the summer transfer window.
The left-back was named in Zlatko Dalic’s 32-man preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup, but was left out of the trip Russia.
AC Milan’s Ivan Strinic was not included in the squad for the two international fixtures this month, and for the friendly tie against Portugal, and the Rangers player was selected ahead of Dynamo Kyiv defender Josip Pivaric.
Steven Gerrard’s man played the full 90 minutes in the World Cup finalist’s 1-1 draw against the Euro 2016 winners and he was not out of place as his impressive display has seen him receive praise.
Barisic was up against Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and according to Goal Croatia, the ‘brave’ player left a good impression with his performance against Fernando Santos’ side. He has made a handful of appearances for Croatia and, during the game he didn’t show any sign of nervousness as he was active on the left side.
The Rangers player is thought to have the hardest job on the pitch, given who he was up against, but the Croatian media believe he was one of his country’s best performers. A position which was described as a ‘problem area’ for the team is now thought to be much safer, and that’s down to Barisic’s performance.
Dalic will be delighted with the defender, who has done no harm at all to his chances and it won’t be a surprise if the Rangers player can give a headache for his national team coach when he has to pick his starting XI for the UEFA Nations League clash against Spain.
