Croatia will face Armenia in the last match of the group stage of the Euro qualifiers on Tuesday. The “fire” is currently leading Turkey 1-0 and needs to win against Armenia to secure a spot in Germany next year. However, Wales has just drawn with Italy, meaning that if Wales loses to Turkey, Croatia will be eliminated from the tournament.
The expert commentator Tomislav Ivković analyzed the Croatian team’s performance during their recent match against Latvia on HRT’s “Stadion” show. The team won 2-0 in cold Riga, which was an important victory for them as they now know that Armenia and Wales drew. This added extra pressure to the game, which was evident in Dalić’s reactions and the team’s motivation levels.
Ivković said that the early goals prevented nervousness and allowed Croatia to control the game throughout. The team played fantastically and tactically intelligently, with Brozović and Modrić playing disciplinedly together. Andrej Kramarić brought them back a lot with his contributions, while Joško Guardiol played well in his left back position despite playing differently at City. Marco Pašalić and Martin Baturina made their debut against Latvia and were excellent in their respective roles as a right winger and striker.
With only one match remaining, Croatia needs to play a tactically disciplined game against Armenia if they want to win it. Ivković believes that their quality is not questionable but that France is currently the first favorite for the Euros due to their impressive performances thus far.