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Croatia will look to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2008 from Group B that also features co-hosts Austria, Germany and Poland.
Goalless draws against Russia in both legs, two wins against Israel and a home win against England were the crucial results that saw Croatia on top of Group E and through to the finals.
However, the injury of Brazilian-born Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva (broken leg), who scored 10 of Croatia’s 28 goals in qualifying, is sure to have an impact on their performance.
The Team:
The most commonly used formation by Croatia coach Slaven Bilic is 4-4-2.
Stipe Pletikosa, who has 67 caps at the Croatian goal, looks set for the keeper’s position.
In front of him, Bilic can count on experienced Dario Simic (AC Milan) and Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), who have 97 and 72 caps for Croatia respectively. Vedran Corluka (Manchester City) and Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin) should round up the defense.
In the midfield, 36 year old captain Niko Kovac is known to take a more withdrawn position in the center, with Dinamo Zagreb’s Luka Modric in front of him, and Niko Kranjcar and Darijo Srna on the sides.
In the attack, Borussia Dortmund’s Mladen Petric, who had 7 goals in qualifying, and Hamburg’s Ivica Olic have enjoyed fine Bundesliga campaigns and are the most likely strike pairing in Eduardo’s absence.
Werder Bremen’s Ivan Klasnic, who is back with the team after being sidelined for 18 months following a series of kidney transplant operations, and Parma’s Igor Budan are also available for Bilic.
Coach Profile:
Slaven Bilic took over as coach of the Croatian national soccer team in July 25, 2006.
A defender during his days as a player, Bilic had 44 caps for Croatia and helped the team finish third at the 1998 World Cup in France. On a club level, Bilic began his career at Hajduk Split, and was also playing for Karlsruher in Germany and West Ham United and Everton in the English Premier League.
Team Record:
Croatia will be hoping to improve on their best ever record and go past the quarter-finals in their third appearance at the European Championships. They managed to reach the quarter-finals at the Euro 96' in England, but were eliminated by Germany, who went on to win the championship that year.
Their best record on the international stage is finishing third at the 1998 World Cup in France.
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