Croatia’s playoff streak is threatened by the painful draw with Albania. Tonight’s meeting between the giants of Group B might be the most anticipated match of the group stage.
European Football Championships on channels 14.6.–14.7. Go to the competition website from this link.
Croatia’s streak as a surprise at the prestigious football championships threatens to end. A 2-2 draw against Albania on Wednesday opened the scoring, but left everything on the line for the final round of the group stage.
Croatia had previously suffered a dull 0-3 loss to Spain in their tournament opener. On Wednesday, the opponent was supposed to be a toss-up in the group, but in the last moments it was tied. Now Croatia is tied with Albania, but due to goal difference, they are at the bottom of the group.
– This was a shocking match, especially when we conceded the equalizer in extra time, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic cursed according to the Croatian newspaper Novi list.
In recent years, Croatia has been an overachiever, especially in World Cup tournaments. It played in the 2018 World Cup final, but lost to France. In 2022, Croatia lost to Argentina in the semifinals, but won the bronze medal match. In the previous European Championships, three years ago, Croatia fell to Spain in the first round of the playoffs.
The expectations were high now and the head coach Zlatko Dalic spoke openly even about his championship dreams. After weak performances, the tone has changed and the threat is to remain in the group stage of the prestigious tournament for the first time in ten years.
– They don’t get a full 90 minutes. The first period was slow, low-tempo ball movement with no greater purpose. The second episode started quite well, but then came the disastrous end, Urheilu’s expert Henri Lehto says on Thursday morning’s 11 friends podcast.
The core of the current team is a midfield made up of experienced players who have been involved in practice all that time. 38 years old Luka Modric31 years old Marcelo Brozovic and 30 years old Mateo Kovacic unlikely to play together for many more years. Many other regular players are already over 30 years old.
The old sea rites are no longer enough, and even Modric is not spared from criticism. Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list described the national team after the draw as an old horse waiting to “get to the retirement days”. According to the newspaper, the team went to the games with poor preparation, which still does not forgive the miserable result against Albania.
– Will the strength of Modric and others be enough, or will we see Luka’s last dance in Leipzig – and at the same time the end of the golden era of the Croatian national team, the magazine asks ominously.
All bets remain on the last match of the group stage. Croatia must beat Italy next Monday and hope for suitable results elsewhere as well.
The best two from each group and the best four from the third group will advance. Thus, the probabilities are affected by almost all the remaining matches also outside Croatia’s own B group.
Spain and Italy won their opening matches. The countries meet each other tonight in one of the most anticipated matches of the group stage. There is even a group win at stake.
– Both have started well and are traditional race favorites, but for these races neither of them was perhaps a favorite even among the four. However, if I were to keep my own ranking list here, then Italy and Spain have risen past at least some of them with their performances, Urheilu’s expert Mika Nurmela states in the podcast.
Especially in the camps of Croatia and Albania, the battle is now being watched with even greater interest, as both are still dreaming of advancing.
Albania will face Spain in the last round. At the moment, Albania is tied for third place in the group, as its goal difference is two goals better than Croatia’s.
– We are all disappointed and shocked, but we have a lot of time to recover. I believe everything will work out in the end. The atmosphere is always good, we get along well, Livakovic said.
The top match between Spain and Italy will be played on the last Thursday night at 22:00. Before that, you will see the match between Slovenia and Serbia at 16:00 and the semi-final of the previous European Championships between Denmark and England at 19:00.
At 15:30 EM studio TV2 and Areena
16:00 Slovenia-Serbia, Group C
19:00 Denmark-England, Group C
At 22:00 Spain-Italy, Group B
Listen to the latest episode of the 11 friends podcast below or from this link.
The races are followed moment by moment in the app and on ‘s website in this article.