Experienced team may have regressed slightly but remain major force
After coming so close to lifting the World Cup three years ago, Croatia will look to take that final step this summer and get their hands on silverware.
The Croats have always been a popular choice for “neutrals” due to their newkid-on-the-block status and their often hyper-cool checkerboard shirt, but now they are an established nation, no longer an underdog. Even if some of their more established names have moved on.
The reality is that seven of the starting XI from the Moscow final three years ago are still in the squad. The two most notable absentees are striker Mario Mandzukic and midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who have called time on their international careers.
Croatia are naturally worse off without them. The biggest void is in attack, where Mandzukic has yet to be properly replaced. Former Leciester City striker Andrej Kramaric has tended to fill the No.9 void, although his place is under threat from Dinamo Zagreb’s in-form hitman Bruno Petkovic. The 26-yearold has scored six times in 13 caps and is knocking on the door of the first team.
Behind the main striker is still where Croatia are most dangerous. Ante Rebic and Ivan Perisic continue to mine the flanks, while Atalanta’s Mario Palasic offers a genuine goal threat from attacking midfield.
Luka Modric, Croatia’s prodigal son and captain, will surely draw a line under an illustrious Croatia career when these championships conclude. He still pulls the strings for his team, but the Real Madrid midfielder is not the player of three years ago. His counterpart in the middle and recent Champions League winner, Mateo Kovacic, has become just as important. Croatia still move the ball around neatly, looking cut through the tightest of defences.
Recent results, however, have not been brilliant under Zlatko Dalic, whose stock is still high after the World Cup heroics. They narrowly avoided relegation from Group A3 of the Nations League, relying on goal difference to finish third above Sweden. In March, they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Slovenia to kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign in the worst possible fashion, although subsequent wins over Cyprus and Malta helped their cause.
Croatia still have a rocksolid backline, marshalled by the peroxide ponytail of Domagoj Vida, who looks and plays like an extra out of Game of Thrones. Former Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren – more of a James Bond-villain character – will be his partner, and they form a miserly obstacle, although don’t be surprised if the talented Marseille central defender Duje Caleta-car sees game-time. Their left-back is a familiar one to Scottish football fans. Rangers’ Borna Barisic patrols that flank and is a bundle of energy, plus a live threat from set-plays. Perhaps the biggest weakness is in goal, as Dominik Livakovic and Lovre Kalinic fight it out for the gloves. Neither are as good as World Cup stopper Danijel Subasic, who has since called it a day.
They are not quite the force of old, but Croatia still have a lot in their armoury and will be fancied to make it out of the group. Probable line-up: Livakovic; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Barisic; Kovacic, Modric, Brozovic; Rebic, Kramaric, Perisic.