Croatia Team Preview – Overview
Croatia are one of the strongest sides in Europe these days and had their famous days back in the late 90s when they made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup and the quarter final of this tournament. The days of Davor Suker and Robert Prosinecki might have been the glory days but I don’t think even that squad had the quality their current one does.
In Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic they have three of the best central midfielders in the world game and they should provide plenty of chances for the attacking players as the tournament progresses. A lot of their success in this tournament will come much easier if they can pip Spain to top spot in their group. If they do that don’t write the Croatians off.
Statistics
Best Performance – Quarter-final (1996 & 2008)
Previous Appearances – 4 (1996, 2004, 2008 & 2012)
Qualified – Group H Runner-up
Qualifying Record
P-10 W-6 D-3 L-1 GF-20 GA-5 PTS-20
Fixtures
Turkey vs Croatia – Sunday 12th June, kickoff 14:00 at Parc des Princes, Paris
Czech Republic vs Croatia – Friday 17th June, kickoff 17:00 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Croatia vs Spain – Tuesday 21st June, kickoff 20:00 at Stade Felix Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
Squad
Manager: Ante Čačić
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Hajduk Split), Ivan Vargic (Rijeka)
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev), Sime Vrsaljko (Sassuolo), Gordon Schildenfeld (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Strinic (Napoli), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic (both Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic (both Inter Milan), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marko Rog, Ante Coric (both Dinamo Zagreb)
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Nikola Kalinic (Fiorentina), Marko Pjaca, Duje Cop (both Dinamo Zagreb), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim)
Betting
Although there are a lot of star names in this Croatian side that isn’t necessarily helpful when it comes to betting on them. Mario Mandzukic could offer a little bit of value at 5/2 to be their leading scorer. He has a good pedigree in these sort of tournaments but they do score a lot of goals from midfield so whether he is worth backing I’m not sure.
In the end I’ve decided not to bet on any of the individual Croatia markets. I’ve already taken a chance on them to win their group and that is enough to keep me interested as far as the Croatians are concerned.
Tips
No Bet
