Spain vs Croatia: Spain look to make big splash at Euro 2024
Originally posted on Top-soccer.com
Spain will be looking to get their UEFA EURO 2024 campaign off to a good note when they take on Croatia on matchday one on Saturday. La Roja have been placed in a tough quartet, with reigning Euro winners Italy also part of Group B as well as, of course, a Croatia side who have shown they can certainly cause plenty of problems for many opponents in major international tournaments. Spain are the joint-most successful team in European Championship history, and are the only team to have successfully won back to back titles (in 2008 and 2012). Three years ago, at the rescheduled EURO 2020 tournament, La Roja made it to the semi-finals where they were ultimately beaten by eventual winners Italy on penalties.
They will, of course, get a chance to get some revenge on Italy as the two sides are set to meet in the group stages later on in this competition. Group B arguably has been described as most as the proverbial “Group of Death” due to Spain, Italy, and Croatia’s presence, and there are quite a few who do believe that all three teams could possibly make it to the knockout rounds. Of course, Luis de la Fuente’s men will want to do so as one of the two automatic spots from Group B as opposed to trying their luck as the best third-placed team, and that certainly will start by picking up all three points against Croatia on Saturday.
Spain come into this contest in solid form, having won both of their two pre-tournament friendlies by some margin after cruising to 5-0 and 5-1 victories over Andorra and Northern Ireland respectively. Although much of the chatter around potential favorites at EURO 2024 has been largely been centered around England, France, and perhaps even hosts Germany, Spain’s squad for this competition certainly is not something to sniff at. With a combination of seasoned veterans such as Alvaro Morata, Dani Carvajal, Nacho, and Rodri, as well as promising youngsters such as Pedri, Nico Williams, and rising teenage starlet Lamine Yamal, Spain clearly do have the players within their ranks to make a serious push for what would be their fourth European Championship title this summer.
Meanwhile, Croatia, who have shown over the past few years that they are not a team to be taken lightly, will look to end their disappointing track record at European Championships this year. Although the Vatreni have made huge waves at World Cups, where they finished as runners up in 2018 and took home a third-placed medal in 2022, they have yet to get beyond the quarter-finals at a Euro tournament since becoming an independent nation. Zlatko Dalic’s men have been in great form leading up to this competition, as they have lost just two of their last ten games across all competitions and are on a six game winning streak.
However, the Vatreni have struggled against Spain, who have beaten them in six of their last ten meetings. That also includes losing 5-3 to Spain on extra time during the last iteration of this competition, but Saturday’s game could be a much closer affair as both teams may not want to give too much away with Italy coming up at some point and will definitely be more confident of their chances at picking up all three points against Albania. As such, this could end up being a rather low-scoring, cagey affair as both sides will be really focused on ensuring they put themselves in good stead to try to nick one of the two automatic knockout round spots allocated to Group B.
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