England vs Croatia: Three Lions seek revenge for World Cup loss
England will look to get revenge on Croatia for their World Cup loss when the two sides meet up on Sunday.
The Three Lions will open up their group stage campaign of the EURO 2020 tournament with a clash against the Vatreni. It’s been quite interesting how the two sides’ fortunes have changed since the 2018 World Cup. While England has gone mostly from strength to strength, the same can’t really be said for Croatia. Mario Mandzukic, the man who scored the goal to fire them to the final, is no longer with the squad, having retired shortly afterwards, and while reliable midfielder Luka Modric, who won a Ballon d’Or after his impressive showings for club and country is still in the fold, the team experienced a terrible inaugural Nations League campaign.
They didn’t do better in their second Nations League tournament, either, winning just one of their six games. Whilst, again, the Vatreni were in a tough group, alongside Portugal and France, they did also have Sweden for company, which, on paper, should have presented a slightly easier opponent for Zlato Dalic’s side. Since their meeting with England, Croatia have faced the Three Lions twice and failed to beat them. It’s safe to say that Zlatko Dalic will be hoping to prove that their 2018 win – and run to the final – wasn’t a fluke and Croatia’s success not just a flash in the pan.
Unfortunately, there are those who have been already quick to dismiss Croatia’s World Cup 2018 showing as just that, and their track record since hasn’t helped their case. That being said, all teams have their ups and downs. Croatia have had a mixed 2021, but they could turn up and surprise everyone again. The Vatreni still do have a solid side: there’s Inter’s Scudetto-winning duo Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic, as well as Chelsea’s Champions League winner Mateo Kovacic, who’s finally back to full fitness. And that’s not to mention Hoffenheim’s record-setting striker Andrej Kramarić or AC Milan’s Ante Rebic, who had a pretty solid season with the Rossoneri.
However, Croatia have won just three of their last ten meetings with England, and the Three Lions are simply bursting with talent, especially up front. Indeed, Gareth Southgate faces a really tough choice who to pick to support the talismanic Harry Kane in attack, with names like Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, and Mason Mount all jockeying for position. And Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish now has forced his way into the contention after a very strong season with his club, thus giving Southgate yet another option as England seek to march all the way to the final this summer.
And that’s not to mention teenagers Buyako Saka and Jude Bellingham, who have also been included in Southgate’s very young squad and will be hungry for some game-time in this tournament. Saka, a 19-year-old who plays his club football for Arsenal, was on target to score his first ever senior goal for England during a friendly clash with Austria, while Bellingham, who’s only 17, has just finished his first full season in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.
With the big event staged at Wembley, the Three Lions have even more incentive to make sure they’re one of the two teams on the pitch on July 11th. England were pretty much without fault during qualifiers, but have been less than impressive during their warm-up friendlies. Still, they’ll head into this tie having won six on the trot and will benefit from having a home pitch advantage; in fact, most of England’s games will be played in London. So, in theory, if England can make it to the final, they won’t have to travel far over the course of this competition.
First up on the menu, though, will be to get one over on Croatia. The last time they faced the Vatreni in the EUROs group stages, England won 4-2 back in 2004, so 17 years on, they’ll naturally look to do the same. Will Southgate’s side commence their EURO 2020 campaign with a resounding roar? Or will the Vatreni have another surprise in store for them on Sunday?
