Outright Odds: 66/1
Team F Winners: 6/one
Croatia enter their 3rd successive finals and may hunt for a repeat in the heroics of 1998 as an alternative to the humiliation of 2002. They topped a challenging qualifying team which incorporated Bulgaria and Hungary and remained unbeaten above 10 matches which involved home and away victories around fellow qualifiers Sweden.
Beneath manager Zlatko Kranjcar Croatia are a distinct crew to how neutrals will remember them from their 1998 exploits which saw them reach 꽁머니 the semi-final. Long gone are flair players which include Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki and previous Golden Boot Davor Suker. They happen to be changed by more practical gamers including the Kovac brothers, Marko Babic and Dado Prso.
Like fellow qualifiers Serbia & Montenegro, Croatias good results stemmed from a strong defence the place they kept 6 clean sheets in ten video games and conceded just 5 ambitions in the process.
One more strength is actually a range of the present Croatia squad are situated in the Bundesliga, with Josip Simunic and Niko Kovac at Hertha Berlin, Babic based at Bayer Leverkusen and Ivan Klasnic contracted to Werder Bremen.
Croatia have unearthed a expertise in midfielder Dario Srna who may have formulated a knack for scoring important ambitions. The Shakhtar Donetsk player scored both of those ambitions in The 2 one-0 wins more than Sweden while in the defining matches from the team.
Vital striker Dado Prso scored five goals in qualifying, his countrys joint top rated scorer with Srna. He burst into prominence when he netted 4 targets for Monaco inside the 8-3 Champions League thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna. He designed his Global debut https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=꽁머니 8 months previous to the match but has considering the fact that develop into an automated preference in attack.
Croatia have long gone about their enterprise quietly and confidently and Irrespective of their unbeaten qualification efforts, will continue being unfancied by a lot of to generate any impact inside the finals. Which will fit them great as former coach Mirko Jozic blamed the stress on The category of 1998 with the dismal failure in the 2002 squad which saw them lose one-0 to Ecuador inside their closing match.
Eventually, they facial area favourites Brazil in their opening match so will not have to bother with facing the reigning champions inside of a crunch group decider. If they will take nearly anything from that game they will be in pole position to reaching the second round.
Advised Wager
Despite the apparent toughness of the team, Croatia are over capable of qualifying from it provided their current showings in qualifying with the finals. With among the meanest defences in Europe and a bunch of players plying their trade in Germany They may be a audio wager to follow Brazil into the last sixteen.
Croatia to qualify from Team F @ 5/6