Allen Hamilton

What: Euro 2012 Group C
Who: Croatia vs Spain
When: Monday 18th June, 2012, at 19:45 UK Time
Where: PGE Arena, Gdansk, Poland

Feather in their Cap

Croatia have given themselves a great chance of making the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, but need to keep things together for another 90 minutes against possibly the best international side in world football.

Slaven Bilic’s men have shown they have their own quality though, comfortably beating the Republic of Ireland in their opening group match (3-1) and then securing a creditable 1-1 draw against Italy. The Azzurri were kicking themselves post-match for not grabbing the three points they felt were well within reach – but Croatia’s dangerous forwards Mario Mandzukic and Nikica Jelavic mean that the Balkan outfit always have more than a chance of scoring.

Mandzukic is a slight doubt for this clash and Jelavic sat out training on Saturday with a slight fever. Bilic will cross his fingers that one or both are ready – and very little will stop the duo pushing themselves to be fit for this one.

Confidence in the Croatia camp is high, with Ivan Rakitic admitting that despite Spain being so good, the feeling is that they can be beaten. "They have more good players than they need, and they could make two good teams who could do well in this competition. But we have seen that they can be unsettled and eliminated from the championship", said the midfielder.

Warming Up Nicely

The reigning European Champions might have been a little slow to get going after drawing their opening group game 1-1 with Italy, but that was shrugged off in style when Ireland were thrashed 4-0 next. Fernando Torres especially enjoyed taking the Irish apart and Spain rarely looked troubled as they got into their groove against Giovanni Trapattoni’s men.

Nevertheless, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has a delicate balance to strike here. He may not want to adopt too attacking an approach, lest Croatia hit his side on the break; defeat for Spain, combined with a win for Italy, would send La Roja out of Euro 2012. Instead Del Bosque is likely to encourage a more measured approach, with the ball possession Spain are so well known for at its heart. Interestingly, should Spain and Croatia draw 2-2, both would be through, and Italy would be out.

Spain though will reject talk of "arranging" a result with Croatia and La Roja should aim to send a message out by beating Bilic’s men. Unbeaten in 16 competitive matches, the Spanish will be just as hard a nut to crack as ever.

Recent form

Croatia:
Norway 1-1 Croatia (02/06; Friendly)
Croatia 3-1 Republic of Ireland (10/06; Euro 2012)
Italy 1-1 Croatia (14/06; Euro 2012)

Spain:
Spain 1-0 China (03/06; Friendly)
Spain 1-1 Italy (10/06; Euro 2012)
Spain 4-0 Republic of Ireland (14/0; Euro 2012)

Players to watch

Croatia – Luka Modric: The heartbeat of this Croatia side, Modric is a world class performer who would arguably even be worth a place in the Spain team. Against Italy, Croatia shifted their tactics to allow Modric to operate further forward and do more damage. Here however, keeping possession may be crucial against a Spain team that love to keep the ball; for that Modric is the main man.

Spain – Fernando Torres: Left on the bench for Spain’s first group game, Torres quickly showed against Ireland that, when chances are there to be taken, La Roja should be counting on him to take them. Looking sharp and confident in front of goal, Torres can smell a successful tournament. Croatia must restrict the chances the Chelsea man gets here.

Match Prediction

Italy are worried about these two teams "arranging" a 2-2 draw, but that will be a difficult thing to do. Spain are moving up the gears, while Croatia are always a goal threat; indeed, it is hard to see neither side scoring. Both will try to win, but may also have an eye on their defence. 1-1 looks an outcome which could occur, even if neither will play for it.

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