wow that's confident. I don't think any team in the world would be favourites to beat a generally in-form croatia in croatia. Maybe only a traditional power like brazil, germany or italy that may intimidate them with their name and past success.
To put things in perspective, since independence from Yugoslavia Croatia have not lost a competetive match in Zagreb and only France (with arguably their best side in 2000) have won a friendly there. Croatia are very hard to beat at home and a draw in Zagreb for a qualifying game would be a good result for any visitor.
Croatia never lost competetive games on home soil so chance that england will won re very small. link
Croatia will rightly be favourites for any game in Zagreb, but I would give England more than a very small chance of winning. No unbeaten run can go on forever, and England have the players to be capable of beating anyone on their day.
Dont even go there with that arrogance. Do you know that being croat is better than an orgasm, thats what i always say. YOu can be sure, there is not a croat on this planet who would want to be an englishman. The reason you dont respect croatia is the fact english dont even know in which sports croats are legends. Germans, French and Italians always respect croatia more because they met them be it in bsketball, handball, waterpolo or football. Or tennis or ultimate fight etc etc. Just by knowing the reputation of croatia in sports and after the two defeats agianst us you should be quiet. But no, most english will always be dumb and uninformed. I will never say that croatia will surely win, because you never know, but the english arrogance is something special.
Their last home game they got blasted by Holland 3-0. I watched the game and the Dutch took them to the cleaners for 90 mins. They ain't that good.
it's nice to see at least a couple of posters toiling to keep facts on the radar Based on actual results rather than 'expert' analysis of team sheets, it's difficult to conclude anything other than Croatia are one of the top sides in Europe right now. But it's a fresh start, and england can make their own destiny.
i think alex fergusson made the point after the Zagreb game that you don't want to do there in need of a result, and not to over react to a loss there, because that is certainly on the cards.
if not for bit of bad luck croatia i think would have went to the finals and probably lost to spain..i still cant believe they conceeded in the last seconds of the turkey match but what can u do it happens..
croatia will be favorites not only because of there home record but because of the fact that they are a very good team..croatia have very good technical players in the middle with modric kranjcar and rakitic..the defense is solid.. the one thing they are missing is that elite stiker in eduardo..he probably will not play in the england match..bilic is also a good young coach as well..if i were england i would press croatia and not give them any time on the ball..when you give them time on the ball is when croatia is very dangerous as there creativity is very good..the 2 english players i think croatia are probably most worried about our rooney and joe cole..
Thats Crap, all Croatia do is play on the counter against big teams, thats why their results against smaller nations are worse, they can only play one way.
trust me croatia will not play counter when they play in zagreb..in england ye they will probably play counter as england is a good team..if u remember the game in zagreb croatia dominated the middle of the pitch and created alot more chances then enlgand..when they played england at wembley most of croatia's chances/goals came off the counter..yes croatia does play counter against the big countries like they did against germany in euros but at home they will not play that style..as we say in croatia small country big heart..we believe we can beat any country in the world and i think are results over the 18 years of our existance speak for themslves..
Everyrthing went against England that night, dodgy pitch and a very lucky header. Same with Russia, dodgy pitch and a bad call on the penalty when he was outside the box. Croatia are a quality team, i just think people are getting carried away.
from your prospective it was lucky from mine it was a nice header by eduardo between 2 english defenders..robinson in that match kept england in the game in the first half..like u said croatia are quality.. they dont have the stars like they had in the mid 90's..they have very good young players like corluka modric and rakitic who have the potenitial i feel to be stars in europe..all 3 of those guys are under 23 so they will only probably get better in the next couple of years..i think england underestimated croatia a bit last time..with capello as coach i dont think it will happen again..looking foward to the game in zagreb..hopefully i will be at the match and enjoy another croatia win..
carried away? England and Germany were both horrible exposed the same way, with quality play right through the middle. The biggest problem england had that night was Rio not being there. They really needed a guy who can read the play and snuff stuff out. Because goodness knows the 3 CMs in front of him couldn't manage it. Lampard/Gerrard/Barry were pwned. As were Ballack/Frings. IMO you need a DM and runner against Croatia. First you need someone who will have the positional sense to stop people like Eduardo and Petric drifting into the hole and slotting a winner from 25yards Second you need someone who will get off their arse and close down Modric.
modric is they key man in croatia's team..he never stops running and plays both ends of the pitch exceptionally well..
Lucky penalty at wembley or else it was 3-1. Croatia won that game in style. why was it not dodgy for russia? just like against germany in the '96 and '80 EC finals. Time to stop the excuses zippy. England's displays were not good enough to qualify.
Er i already said England were rubblish, but the team and English Football culture just doesn't deserve all the flak we get here. There's also a difference between a lucky penalty and one that can't be given outside the box, Russia were shit in that match, and at Wembley.