Croatia

www.croatia.com

World Ranking 13

Squad

Team Review

Croatia could shock a few people and go far in this tournament as I have witnessed first hand what their team can produce. During the qualifying campaign croatia battered England both on our soil and theirs to really make an imprint on my ming of how devastating they can be in the right mood. And with players that can unlock any defence like Krancjar and Modric who knows what they are capable of…

Star Man

Luka Modric, has been on fire this season for Dinamo Zagreb and has attracted interest from
a host of top clubs around Europe not only that but he has also been a driving force in the national helping them qualify from a group that not many would have expected them to. The croats will be hoping he uses some of his creativity and guile to help through the groups stages, and who knows maybe even further.

Also check out who we think will be the 'players to watch' in the tournament

Tournament History

Quarter Final

	Q.Final	Time	Home		Away	Stadium
	2	19:45	Croatia	1 - 1(aet)	Turkey	Vienna Ernst Happel

Match Reports

Austria 0 - 1 Croatia

(Modric 4(pen))

This game began with a penalty awarded to Croatia within the first 3 minutes which prompted thoughts of a cricket score line but to the contrary Austria show real resilience in trying to come back from a game that was thought by many as out of their reach.

Austria made a game of it and didn’t allow Croatia to play their game and although not creating too much in terms of goal threat managed to contain the Croats who most bizarrely deteriorated as the game progressed.

The game wasn’t one for the neutral to enjoy as their wasn’t too much action and flair through out the game but the one thing the Austrians can take form the game is that they didn’t give up and in actual fact played well even though they faced a Croatia side who are a lot more gifted in comparison and are seen by many as dark horses to win the tournament.

Croatia 2 - 1 Germany

(Srna 24, Olic 62) (Podolski 78)

This was to be the decider as to whom would win group B and it was the Croats who came out on top with a memorable 2-1 win in Klagenfurt. It was to be a game in which the tournament favourites were outclassed by a Croatia team led by the creativity of Luka Modric. The game started well enough for the Germans with them having a decent amount off possession but it was Croatia stunned the Germans by fashioning the first chance on goal which Srna slid in to score. The Croats then dominated for a period in which Kranjcar had to great chances to double their lead but he missed both. Ballack did test the Croatian goal with a 30 yard blast of the ball but Pletikosa was equal to it.

Croatia went into half time with a deserved half time lead, and started the second half in the same vain as the first putting pressure on the German defence and it was not long till they struck a second albeit with a slice of luck as a long range effort form Rakitic took a slight deflection which caught Lehman off guard and all he could do to stop it was parry it onto the post were it rebounded off straight into the path of Olic who calmly placed the ball into the unguarded net.

The Germans then went on the offensive themselves managing a few half chances then Podolski pounced on Ballacks knock down to smash his low effort past Pletikosa. The Germans tried their hardest to pull another on back but in trying to do so, lost their discipline as Bastien Schweinsteiger received a red card for pushing Leko over who made a real meal of the incident. After that the game was won by an impervious Croatia side that look to by dark horses for winning the championship.

Poland 0 - 1 Croatia

(Klasnic 52)

Croatia were already through and for them this game was only a formality leaving out 9 of their first 11 out of the team but it was quite the opposite for the poles who claim to have been cheated by English referee Howard Webb, in their one all draw with hosts Austria and need a win from this game to have a chance of qualification. Which is why it came as a shock that Leo Beenhakker chose to omit Euzebiusz Smolarek, whose goals played a massive part in securing qualification to Euro 2008 as group winners ahead of Portugal.

The game wasn’t one to remember with the tempo being slow and neither team fashioning many clear cut chances. It took up until the second half for the Croats to break the deadlock with a goal from Ivan Klasnic to end another defiant show from polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc and further boost Croatia's confidence before they tackle Turkey in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Quarter Final

Croatia 1 - 1(aet) Turkey

Turkey win 3 - 1 on pens

(Klasnic 119) (Senturk 120+2)

The game didn’t offer too much in terms of excitement in the first half with the best chance falling to Olic who hit the bar early on when trying to convert a cross from their dynamic midfielder Modric. Apart from that the had few chances as Fatih Terim had set his Turkish side up to Frustrate the Croats who although were trying with all their might had trouble breaking down the Turkish defence led by the excellent  Hamit Altintop.

In the second half again there weren’t really too many chances to talk about and the game looked as though it was heading for extra time which duly happened.

Extra time was bit better than the actual game as both teams decided to have a go at it and both looked threatening but it was the Croats who took the lead deep into extra time with a header from Ivan Klasnic. The Croats thought they had won it but miraculously in the 121st minute Semih Senturk spanked home a deflected effort which saw the game go into penalties.

There was an air of controversy around the goal as it was scored a minute after the game should have finished but the Turks took advantage as it was clear the Croats were shell shocked by the Turkish comeback and it was clear for all to see that when Modric stepped up to take the first penalty he didn’t look confident which definitely played a part in him missing the goal completely. Up stepped Arda who shot low and straight down the middle. Pletikosa was way off his line, but the ball went under him and into the back of the net anyway. Srna then steps up and sent Rustu the wrong way pulling it back to 1-1. Semih Senturk then stepped up to the plate and sent Pletikosa the wrong way with a well taken penalty which really put pressure on Croatia’s next penalty taker Rakitic who put the ball wide of the goal for the second time in the shoot out which meant all Turkey had to do was score the next penalty and for Croatia to miss…They scored it and Klasnic’s effort was saved by Rustu which meant the Turks were going to their first ever European semi final on a night of real drama and heartbreak for the Croatians.