Croatia
How'd they get here: Defeated Turkey in the qualification play-off
Last Appearance: Euro 2008
Best Appearance: Euro 1996, Euro 2008 (Quarter-finals)
Schedule:
June
10 vs Ireland
June
14 vs Italy
June
18 vs Spain
The Story:
No longer one of Europe's dark-horses (Croatia finished 3rd in the '98 World Cup behind prolific goal scorer Davor Suker), Croatia will see advancing past the group stage a successful trip in what is to be head coach Slaven Bilic's last time (he's leaving for club side Lokomotiv Moscow after the tournament) leading his country. Bilic's side has several top-tier talents but unfortunately for him they are all found on the attacking side with Croatia's back four leaving plenty to be desired.
Former Tottenham defender Vedran Corluka has fallen out of form (he basically sucks now) and no longer earns his pay from the North London club, Domagoj Vida is an unproven 23 year old, Gordon Schildenfeld plays in the German Second Division (this would be like a Team USA player who plays in the NBDL), and Josip Simunic is a 34 year old who is looking at his prime in the rear view mirror. When this is your probable starting defense, you had better hope that your team can score A LOT of goals.
Luckily for Croatia fans the team gets significantly better on the attacking side of the ball. Mario Mandzukic (coming off a great season for German side Wolfsburg), and Nikica Jelavic (has been on a roll ever since signing with Everton in January) will be the final line of attack for Croatia and will hope to finish the scoring chances provided by the midfield. In the midfield is where the undisputed star of the team resides, Tottenham FC midfielder Luka Modric. If Modric can manage to pull the strings properly on the offensive end then maybe this Croatian side can manage to surprise some people. However if Modric struggles then we could be seeing some very poor results in what is the second hardest group of the tournament.
Croatia managed to book a ticket to Poland and Ukraine by beating Turkey in the qualifying play-off, earning some revenge over the Turks in the process (Turkey broke Croatian hearts in Euro 2008 by scoring a game-tying goal in the 122nd minute before winning the match in penalties.). They find themselves in Group C with Ireland, Italy, and defending World and Euro champions Spain whose attacking players are probably salivating over having to play the Croatian back line. Croatia did catch a small break in the order they have to play their group opponents as they play Ireland first and close with Spain.
The first match of the tournament may well be the most important one for this Croatian side. A loss to Ireland and a place in the quarters is all but out of reach as they would have to take at least 4 of the next 6 points from Italy and Spain. A win against the Irish could however give this squad the crucial 3 points as well as the needed confidence to play their next two world-class opponents. My prediction for this team is an early exit because I don't believe their defense will hold up against the 3 more talented teams in their group. That being said, if the Croatians can pull of a win against Ireland in their opening match then my outlook for this team would completely change.
#1 Song in Croatia at the moment
This is what would happen if 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' was the lead singer of a soft-rock Croatian band.
Reasons to Cheer for Croatia:
If you think Toni Kukoc should be the face of the 'Jordan' brand, if you love wearing checkers, if Dino Radja is your favorite Celtic player of all time, if you still jam to Colonia, if you think 'kolo' is the only genre of dance that matters, if you want to cheer against Italy (who doesn't), if you don't want to see Spain win it all again, if you're Croatian.
Previous Teams
The Countdown continues tomorrow with Team #11
Luka Milanovic
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