Euro 2016 – Croatia’s Failure Highlights Portugal’s Strength

Euro 2016 – Croatia’s Failure Highlights Portugal’s Strength

When Euro 2016 kicked off in early June, Croatia was a considerable question mark in the eyes of many analysts and fans. No one thought the Croatian side was bad, but Group D looked relatively crowded beyond Spain. With the Spaniards expected to be among the contenders later in the tournament, Croatia was expected to duke it out with Turkey and Czech Republic for second place (or at least a strong enough third place performance to be considered for advancement). As we now know, however, Croatia actually wound up topping the group.

The Croatian team solidified its spot atop the group with a shocking 2-1 victory over Spain, thanks to a late strike from Ivan Perišić. As one match report noted, it was incredibly, and Spain’s first Euro loss since 2004. Frankly, even if the win hadn’t guaranteed Croatia’s spot in the knockout round, this would have been a fairly loud statement indicating that it might be a team to keep an eye on as we move forward and toward the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Unfortunately, winning Group D produced a dubious prize: a date with Portugal in the round of 16. This year’s Portugal squad hasn’t always looked like their strongest in the past decade or so, but behind a few gutsy performances, very strong defending, and some predictable heroics from Cristiano Ronaldo, they’ve managed to storm all the way to the Euro final.

Now, the football tipsters are noting Portugal’s back line as a key to profitable punting heading into the final, and before the semi-final matchup against Wales there were actually decent odds for Portugal to win the whole tournament without winning a match in regulation! These angles from the oddsmakers give a pretty strong indication of just how hard it’s been to score on Portugal.

Like just about everyone else, Croatia failed to net a goal in the round of 16 matchup with the Portuguese, but they did carry the match to overtime, which made for a very strong showing. Heading into the contest many would have considered Croatia to be slightly outmatched, and yet they managed to play Portugal essentially to a draw. In fact, as one recap pointed out, Portugal didn’t even get a shot on target until the decisive goal by Ricardo Quaresma three minutes from the end of extra time. That’s an incredible statistic in favor of Croatia’s defense, and perhaps the best indication that they were actually the better side throughout most of the match.

So where does all this leave Croatia? Well, they were far from the only underdog to experience some success at Euro 2016. After all, we just saw Iceland reach the quarterfinals, and Wales the semis. But a group triumph, a win over Spain and a near draw with Portugal (which will either be the champion or runner-up) have made Croatia look like a formidable squad moving forward.

Furthermore, with the possible exception of defensive standout Darijo Srna, most of the key players on the roster are young enough to be in a position to compete in the 2018 World Cup. The midfield trio of Perišić, Ivan Rakitić, and Luka Modrić will all be in their late-20s or early-30s, Mario Mandžukić, the team’s best striker despite a quiet Euro, will be 32, and the bulk of the defense should fall into the same age range.

For Croatia, this tournament was about earning respect and laying the groundwork for competitiveness in the near future. Though it would have been great to beat Portugal, in this regard Euro 2016 was a success for the Vatreni.

By Manuel Veth –

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