Croatia, or formerly known as Yugoslavia, have been quite a force in the history of the World Cup and the European Cup respectively. Although they have never quite made it to a final, they still remain to be a team of which other national sides fear. In the qualification group stages Croatia – nicknamed The Blazers – finished 2nd in Group F narrowly missing out on 1st position by a mere 2 points.
The other teams that resided in Group F were as follows: Greece (1st), Israel (3rd), Latvia (4th), Georgia (5th), and Malta (6th). The Croatian’s best result had to be their 3-1 Home victory against Israel. After going 1 goal down in the first half, Slaven Bilic – the current manager of Croatia – must have had some serious words with his team, as the Croatians came managed to bag the 3 goals in the second half to ensure that all important victory. Anyone planning to bet on Euro 2012 will have been impressed.
The most disappointing result that The Blazers endured was the 1-0 away defeat against national footballing minnows Georgia. Currently, Croatia’s most prolific player has to be Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Luka Modric. The Croatian star has had a massive impact on the Premiership since joining Tottenham from Dynamo Zagreb for a fee thought to be in and around the region of £16.5 million.
He is sure to take his excellent form from the Premier League, and focus on the up and coming European Cup. Croatia’s last matchup saw them face Turkey in what was the European Championship Qualifying playoff. The first leg ended in a 3-0 away victory for The Blazers after goals from Ivica Olic, Mario Mandzukic, and Vedran Corluka.
The second leg ended in a 0-0 draw ensuring Croatia’s qualification to the European Cup. Now although Croatia are one of the underdogs in the tournament, I could see them getting to at least a quarter-final, if not a semi-final.
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