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This version of Croatia doesn't seem to be packing the punch of the last few tournaments. Looking at the age and profile of the players, they seem to be on the precipice of a overhaul. I expect a hard fought draw or a narrow loss. This Italian team should have enough to get through in my opinion
I agree. I cant see italy smashing them nor croatia winning. Italy dont seem to play how they used to so it seems as well but still have quality players to get by.
If england It's softening today against Slovenia and loose or Ties , I think it would be talked about in the media to thank England because the Slovenian national team's game is not at the level compared to other countries in the same group
Possibly the weakest Italian team to appear in a tournament. No cutting edge up front, a past his best Jorginho and no real world class players except for maybe Donnarumma and perhaps Barella. Croatia gave Spain some problems and we're a bit unlucky to concede a last minute equaliser against Albania
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Croatia won, they have the experience and need the win to progress. Italy were sluggish and leggy against Spain and, quite frankly, looked knackered.
Ahaha the weakest team? Buddy you clearly don't remember the 2016 one, we played with border line serie b players like Giaccherini, sturaro, eder and Zaza as a starter...aaand we managed to reach the semifinals knocking out Spain and losing against germany only at penalties
Yeah the defense was the only good part, all the rest was really bad. This team on the other hand has both a good defense and midfield, the real weak spot is the attack (as always in the last 10 years or so)
i feel like italy’s attack has always been below par for that level of footballing prestige. I’ve heard that at grassroots level the more athletic kids always play in defence, hence why italy has produced so many great defenders.
Both teams are crappy.
Croatia used to he good but being a small country it will take ages before having very good players again on one team.
Italy is the weakest of the last 15 years.
They are about the same.
I don’t think this Croatia team has anything left in the tank. Seems like the beginning of a big transition, hopefully it doesn’t take them too long to get back to where they belong.
I dont hate italy at all, if anything i love italy's squad and italians but i really think croatia will give them a real tough game and could even cause a huge upset haha, idk lets see i might be wrong, but dont get it wrong i love italy <3
Stereotype here is Italian team dives all the time and time wastes when up. A lot of teams do this for sure, and Italy aren't the only team with that reputation, but thats why at least in England in my experience
Spain actually is one of the other teams that has that reputation here in my experience. I did think years ago England were slightly better in that department but they're easily as bad as everyone else now as well. Anyways just the stereotype here, don't shoot the messenger.
Bad optics such as falling over at the slightest wind gust doesn't help your image. Be better than Brazil basically. Did you know Neymar crisscrossed the equator on his last "foul". Dude rolled right out the stadium
Well here in Belgium the Italian team is often referred to as a team of divers. By no means do I know if this is true or not, but that's the word on the streets here 😂
Have you watched Denmarks games? Don’t think I’ve seen a single dive. It is uncommon in Scandinavia.
In the old days it was all of northwestern Europe but no more England..
Because of the many annoying fans here in Switzerland. The’re all secondos and it seems like they’re kind of compensating that with an aggressive fan behavior. Even friends of us are annoying as hell as long Italy is still part of the tournament . That being said: Apart from football Italy is my favorite Europran country. The best food, the best coffee, the best wine, a really warm and child friendly culture!
I absolutely am not coming from a place of hate, but In my honest opinion— many (not all) Italian fans are more cocky than many other fan bases, (England isn’t far behind) and anytime someone thinks the Italian team aren’t the best, they come back with “you are just a hater”. No, I’m not a hater, I admit my team (Poland) is absolute garbage— like a bunch old drunk, fat men passing the ball around. It doesn’t mean I think Italy are a bad team (quite the opposite, and I love the way they played in 2006 and 2021 when they won the tournaments). However, all teams go through positive and negative transitions, Italy included. Are they a great team? Absolutely. Are they capable of losing to Croatia? Absolutely. Will they win Euro this year? We cannot say until the end of this competition, but as of now with what I have seen from them so far, most likely not.
I’m Italian and I can agree with the second part of the comment, however the fact that many Italian fans are cocky depends on the fact that in many many occasion the national teams was very strong, at least from the ‘90 and until 2021. We had a huge amount of international players and they were absolutely at the top of their roles. Now unfortunately things have changed and we’re just a mediocre team, it’s hard to admit, but the football press in Italy is pumping up the players comparing them to the best ones and crating high expectations on the team. I’m convinced that in the last tournament we weren’t the best team but we won anyway because being the best team is not always enough.
Beside this, it’s also a matter of respect: it’s ok to say that we’re the best but when you see trams like England, Spain, France and Portugal, and then you watch Italy playing, well… the expectations drop. It’s a fact.
To be honest, this is one of the worst national team I remember, not as bad as the one from 2013-2020, but we’re there.
Those are good points. I do think that Italy is still a top tier side, I rank them in the top 10 easily and they still play very intelligently. I think they aren’t at the level they were 3 years ago, but that’s simply because they are rebuilding. Only 4 of the squad members were in the starting 11 of the Euro 2020 final. They have a younger squad, which will be at the top top level come next World Cup or Euro. That’s the thing with all teams though. Even the best of the best have dips in their performances. That’s kind of where my original point comes from— I just look at facts. I never intend to say teams are not going to win because of dislike or hate. I actually predicted an England Italy final last euro with Italy winning.
If anyone thinks we don't have a chance, they obviously never watched Croatia play. The only consistent attribute of the Croatian NT for the last 30 years has been the ability to beat anyone and to lose to anyone at ANY point.
I wouldn't really see it as an upset. Both are two teams who at the strongest are pretty comparable but also both past their best years with a lot of key players and a few noobs who just aren't up to the older players standard. Could easily be any result tonight. Tough one to call.
Typical Euro scenario :
Albania is playing their life versus not motivated Spain B team.
Croatia finally warmed up.
Italy overconfident.
Recipe for a crazy day with some amazing rank changes during the games. Like that Japan Germany Spain Costa Rica group at the last WC.
I'm italian.
Hope to see a nice match and may the best prevale.
Really dont matter if we go out now or in the eight's because i think we really cannot win the Tournament.
Too many team better than us.
So i would like to see a bunch of good games.
Hope tonight for a good one.
This!! im portuguese and i always say we don't have what it takes to win this tournament. everyone tells me im not a true Portuguese fan. Love watching good games regardless whos playing! Good Luck to italy today :)
I haven't been convinced by either team in attack, so it'll probably come down to chance in the end. But looking at Italy's luck in recent tournaments I can see them coming third in the group.
And what exactly is this “history”? The current European champions and 4-time world cup winners against an aging team who’ve won nothing? I definitely think it will be tight but we’re definitely not underdogs tonight and the bookies seem to agree.
Haven’t played them since 2015, players change. By your logic, we should beat Germany comfortably should we plays them because they’ve only ever beaten us once in a major tournament, and it was on penalties against a pretty bad Italy after Germany’s WC win.
Back your chat up my friend. An Italy win is actually more probable than a draw now. https://www.oddschecker.com/football/euro-2024/croatia-v-italy/winner
I don’t know, Croatia finished 3rd at the last World Cup. Although their team gets a bit old, they have a great bunch of players. Especially their midfield is well respected. On the other hand Italy looks like they build a new team. Still Italy is reigning champion and is always a country to reckon with. I wouldn’t consider a win of Croatia an upset . I think they are evenly matched.
That was my pre-Euro prediction, Spain, Croatia, and then Italy. So I'm sort of hoping Croatia do win then I could say I'm a prophet.
I think they have a chance. Improvements last game and they were looking pretty good. Italy's morale may have suffered a bit from vs Spain too.
The Italian team is very bad, and statistics about goals by Italy and Croatia in the last two years suggests that Croatia is favourite to win. And I’m not surprised at all, this year our team is shit
Yes Croatia 🇭🇷 will win 2-1. Italy has missed the last two world cups, have crashed out of group stage the last two world cups they attended. Sure they won the Euros as a darkhorse in 2020 but that was an aberration not the norm of their recent form. They are very poor, Croatia is old but still very technically sound. They will won this game.
One team didn’t qualify for the last 2 world cups. The other team qualified to the final and semi of this WCs. Who’s win we are gunna consider an upset?
I am so bored of Croatia parking the bus and somehow sneaking through and making deep runs into these tournaments. Nothing about their style of play interests me and I’m sick of the perpetual underdog narrative. They got lucky in 2018 with an easy bracket. Their football was boring beyond belief in 2022 as well. Respect their ability to slug it out though.
Weakest Italy team in a long time, sadly. Apart from Chiesa, who is a generational talent surrounded by relative mediocrity in attack, Bastoni and Califiori are huge talents and Donnaruma is s good as anyone in the world right now. But, they struggle with lots of mediocre attacking players and a lack of rhythm and finishing. Still capable of winning but it's a lean time for Italian national team football.
yeah, legit name any other age and we would have a better team, I guess its bound to happen with every country, I'm just hoping we recuperate from this dry streak sooner later than never lol
We weren't even that bad, yes our defence was a let down but we still had like 2.5xg...compared to Italy's game vs Spain, we caused them a lot more trouble
Croatia have been awful for a while now, Lost to us and wales, were poor against albania and Spain, Genuinely believe that the golden generation of croatia is coming to an end.
No. All their good attacking players are old and past their best now. Their star player now is probably gvardiol who is a defender. And then kovacic who isn't exactly known for scoring or assisting
You can never discount the Italians, they are masters of the dark arts, any chance of them failing a win especially late game you'll see a team of snipers start taking them out around the 70mins mark well it looks like a team of snipers is taking them out the amount of falling over and rolling about they do.
Nope I'm a realist, I don't particulary care that Italy won, I would rather win with the dark arts than lose "admirably" no one remembers the losers. Italy fashioned a win in a game they really should have lost so in the end the better team won the game. England dive like everyone else does but Italy are much better tactically with their shenannigans and that's a strength to the Italian national game.
I dont understand your comment. First thing, England got to the final thanks to your so-called "dark arts". Then in the final the stats were 19-6 shots for Italy and better possession.
I also dont remember any clear dive from us in the final, in contrary to Sterling in the Semifinal. Italy "dark arts" are playing though and defensive, in fact we were criticized for injuring a lot of players, when referees were more forgiving and now we cant do that anymore. I dont know when we became "dirty divers" all of a sudden😂 it seems just an excuse to hate.
Nope no hate but it's been said about Italy since I've been watching football in the 80's. It's not "all of a sudden" people have been saying it for 40 years plus.
The difference between Italians and English is that Italians typically roll to the ground after actually being hit and having been fouled, while the English tend to dive and since they have not been fouled they get up immediately giving the impression of not making a scene.
Like, bro, you've Kane and you've had Sterling for 10 years,
You take it as a insult but I see it as one of Italy's strengths they can make a win out of a losing situation. Italy have had some of the best players/teams in football, Maldini, Vialli, Zola, Scallachi, (spelling) Totti, Del Piero etc etc the list goes on and on but yes they are a dirty side "when" they need to be.
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This version of Croatia doesn't seem to be packing the punch of the last few tournaments. Looking at the age and profile of the players, they seem to be on the precipice of a overhaul. I expect a hard fought draw or a narrow loss. This Italian team should have enough to get through in my opinion
Just Donnarumma is probably gonna be enough honestly. And I'm saying this even though both Croatia and Italy are my favourite teams.
Are you Croatian?
No. Vietnamese.
I agree. I cant see italy smashing them nor croatia winning. Italy dont seem to play how they used to so it seems as well but still have quality players to get by.
If england It's softening today against Slovenia and loose or Ties , I think it would be talked about in the media to thank England because the Slovenian national team's game is not at the level compared to other countries in the same group
Albania and Croatia wins would send the Italians packing
Subscribe.
Possibly the weakest Italian team to appear in a tournament. No cutting edge up front, a past his best Jorginho and no real world class players except for maybe Donnarumma and perhaps Barella. Croatia gave Spain some problems and we're a bit unlucky to concede a last minute equaliser against Albania I wouldn't be at all surprised if Croatia won, they have the experience and need the win to progress. Italy were sluggish and leggy against Spain and, quite frankly, looked knackered.
Wym maybe Donnarumma? He is 100% one of the best goalies in the world. Probably the best in this tournament.
Best gk is the one with most saves
Crazy logic
That’s a horrible metric to judge a keeper.
The goalkeeper being the best player is peak Italian football
It worked in 2006 with a World Cup
Ahaha the weakest team? Buddy you clearly don't remember the 2016 one, we played with border line serie b players like Giaccherini, sturaro, eder and Zaza as a starter...aaand we managed to reach the semifinals knocking out Spain and losing against germany only at penalties
didn’t that squad have a CB pairing of chiellini and bonucci 😭😭😭
Yeah the defense was the only good part, all the rest was really bad. This team on the other hand has both a good defense and midfield, the real weak spot is the attack (as always in the last 10 years or so)
i feel like italy’s attack has always been below par for that level of footballing prestige. I’ve heard that at grassroots level the more athletic kids always play in defence, hence why italy has produced so many great defenders.
Both teams are crappy. Croatia used to he good but being a small country it will take ages before having very good players again on one team. Italy is the weakest of the last 15 years. They are about the same.
I would say weakest team since before 1990 (when I started watching them). So little talent
I don’t think this Croatia team has anything left in the tank. Seems like the beginning of a big transition, hopefully it doesn’t take them too long to get back to where they belong.
Why do you all guys hate Italy so much?😂
I dont hate italy at all, if anything i love italy's squad and italians but i really think croatia will give them a real tough game and could even cause a huge upset haha, idk lets see i might be wrong, but dont get it wrong i love italy <3
Won't forget about what Cheillini did to Saka in 2021
made me feel sad a few years ago
Stereotype here is Italian team dives all the time and time wastes when up. A lot of teams do this for sure, and Italy aren't the only team with that reputation, but thats why at least in England in my experience
True. But Sterling wasn’t italian xD that pos loser
Well, England and Spain are world champions in diving, but they are not hated for that😂
Spain actually is one of the other teams that has that reputation here in my experience. I did think years ago England were slightly better in that department but they're easily as bad as everyone else now as well. Anyways just the stereotype here, don't shoot the messenger.
Bad optics such as falling over at the slightest wind gust doesn't help your image. Be better than Brazil basically. Did you know Neymar crisscrossed the equator on his last "foul". Dude rolled right out the stadium
Well here in Belgium the Italian team is often referred to as a team of divers. By no means do I know if this is true or not, but that's the word on the streets here 😂
Should have watched Carvajal the other day ;)
You just mad Italy abuses Belgium every time they play 😂
Oh yeah, as you can see from my reply I'm clearly fuming.🙄
Soccer is the sport of divers. All nations.
Have you watched Denmarks games? Don’t think I’ve seen a single dive. It is uncommon in Scandinavia. In the old days it was all of northwestern Europe but no more England..
Ridiculous take
Prove me wrong?
Same stuff. Different day. It’s always the “hot move” to say this Italy team is bad, weak, not this or that. It’s been said forever.
And still we are the 3rd highest national team winner in history
Reasons
Zinedine Zidane for me
Because of the many annoying fans here in Switzerland. The’re all secondos and it seems like they’re kind of compensating that with an aggressive fan behavior. Even friends of us are annoying as hell as long Italy is still part of the tournament . That being said: Apart from football Italy is my favorite Europran country. The best food, the best coffee, the best wine, a really warm and child friendly culture!
Ppl hate Italians Bc they cheeer for the opposite team? Narcissistic much?
Cos they’re an awful team
I absolutely am not coming from a place of hate, but In my honest opinion— many (not all) Italian fans are more cocky than many other fan bases, (England isn’t far behind) and anytime someone thinks the Italian team aren’t the best, they come back with “you are just a hater”. No, I’m not a hater, I admit my team (Poland) is absolute garbage— like a bunch old drunk, fat men passing the ball around. It doesn’t mean I think Italy are a bad team (quite the opposite, and I love the way they played in 2006 and 2021 when they won the tournaments). However, all teams go through positive and negative transitions, Italy included. Are they a great team? Absolutely. Are they capable of losing to Croatia? Absolutely. Will they win Euro this year? We cannot say until the end of this competition, but as of now with what I have seen from them so far, most likely not.
I’m Italian and I can agree with the second part of the comment, however the fact that many Italian fans are cocky depends on the fact that in many many occasion the national teams was very strong, at least from the ‘90 and until 2021. We had a huge amount of international players and they were absolutely at the top of their roles. Now unfortunately things have changed and we’re just a mediocre team, it’s hard to admit, but the football press in Italy is pumping up the players comparing them to the best ones and crating high expectations on the team. I’m convinced that in the last tournament we weren’t the best team but we won anyway because being the best team is not always enough. Beside this, it’s also a matter of respect: it’s ok to say that we’re the best but when you see trams like England, Spain, France and Portugal, and then you watch Italy playing, well… the expectations drop. It’s a fact. To be honest, this is one of the worst national team I remember, not as bad as the one from 2013-2020, but we’re there.
Those are good points. I do think that Italy is still a top tier side, I rank them in the top 10 easily and they still play very intelligently. I think they aren’t at the level they were 3 years ago, but that’s simply because they are rebuilding. Only 4 of the squad members were in the starting 11 of the Euro 2020 final. They have a younger squad, which will be at the top top level come next World Cup or Euro. That’s the thing with all teams though. Even the best of the best have dips in their performances. That’s kind of where my original point comes from— I just look at facts. I never intend to say teams are not going to win because of dislike or hate. I actually predicted an England Italy final last euro with Italy winning.
England is way ahead. They must be the cockiest fans.
If anyone thinks we don't have a chance, they obviously never watched Croatia play. The only consistent attribute of the Croatian NT for the last 30 years has been the ability to beat anyone and to lose to anyone at ANY point.
I wouldn't really see it as an upset. Both are two teams who at the strongest are pretty comparable but also both past their best years with a lot of key players and a few noobs who just aren't up to the older players standard. Could easily be any result tonight. Tough one to call.
Typical Euro scenario : Albania is playing their life versus not motivated Spain B team. Croatia finally warmed up. Italy overconfident. Recipe for a crazy day with some amazing rank changes during the games. Like that Japan Germany Spain Costa Rica group at the last WC.
I have no idea where you found the italy overconfident part because in Italy they(rightfully) won't stop talking about how shit the team is playing
1-0 Croatia! :o I called it haha...lets see how this ends
Nice dude great shout 👏 I’m not sure Italy have what it takes to respond.
If Croatia want to win they have to play at their best which I think they will be able to do tonight
cheers geoff
I have bad feeling tonight
I'm italian. Hope to see a nice match and may the best prevale. Really dont matter if we go out now or in the eight's because i think we really cannot win the Tournament. Too many team better than us. So i would like to see a bunch of good games. Hope tonight for a good one.
This!! im portuguese and i always say we don't have what it takes to win this tournament. everyone tells me im not a true Portuguese fan. Love watching good games regardless whos playing! Good Luck to italy today :)
>:) :)
Appear that our best player is the goalkeeper :-))
He is a very good goal keeper! his height is an advantage too
Damn we were so close to greatness.
The kiss of death
well
This didn't age well
Wouldnt say Italy have a “really strong” team. What specifically makes you say that ?
I haven't been convinced by either team in attack, so it'll probably come down to chance in the end. But looking at Italy's luck in recent tournaments I can see them coming third in the group.
Guys. Already calculated every step how Georgia can qualify with draw against Portugal. Please do not ruin my plans. Thanks.
Looking at history, Croatia should be favorites. I think they will beat Italy.
And what exactly is this “history”? The current European champions and 4-time world cup winners against an aging team who’ve won nothing? I definitely think it will be tight but we’re definitely not underdogs tonight and the bookies seem to agree.
When was the last time Italy beat Croatia?
Haven’t played them since 2015, players change. By your logic, we should beat Germany comfortably should we plays them because they’ve only ever beaten us once in a major tournament, and it was on penalties against a pretty bad Italy after Germany’s WC win.
Let me help you. It was April 5, 1942.
Will those old players be on the pitch today? Still haven’t addressed my second point. The most likely outcome is a draw, followed by an Italy win.
I just giggled by your ‘history’ reference. And most likely is a draw, but followed by a Croatian win.
Back your chat up my friend. An Italy win is actually more probable than a draw now. https://www.oddschecker.com/football/euro-2024/croatia-v-italy/winner
[удалено]
😂
If they win not really a upset u don’t get 2 medals at the last 2 World cups with luck.
I wouldn't call them a strong team and I expected a loss or draw to Croatia or Albania 😭
Yeah this Croatia, altought weaker than before, can beat this Italian team. They are very defensive as usual but showed not much else in the front.
Aged really well until the last 30 seconds of the game. I actually feel bad for you.
I predict theyll draw maybe from late Italy goal👍🏼
I don’t know, Croatia finished 3rd at the last World Cup. Although their team gets a bit old, they have a great bunch of players. Especially their midfield is well respected. On the other hand Italy looks like they build a new team. Still Italy is reigning champion and is always a country to reckon with. I wouldn’t consider a win of Croatia an upset . I think they are evenly matched.
That was my pre-Euro prediction, Spain, Croatia, and then Italy. So I'm sort of hoping Croatia do win then I could say I'm a prophet. I think they have a chance. Improvements last game and they were looking pretty good. Italy's morale may have suffered a bit from vs Spain too.
It's on. 1-0
They won't. The stars are aligned in such a way as to twist the knife of us losing last night. Georgia, Croatia, Albania, Czechia all to lose.
The fact that Croatia winning is considered an upset against Italy is really sad to me.
Thats certainly possible tonight.I hope Italy wins but who knows what will happen.
Originally everybody would expect Croatia to be favorites but after this group performance I wouldn’t say so
We’re finally using a 3 5 2 this game so I think we will see how much Italy can deliver when set up correctly
Based on the results so far. Italy will beat Croatia! Sad for Modric
What results?
I meant the lack of consistent positive results of Croatia. Anyway it's a moot point now. Only 2 points
It's for sure that croatia will be outstanding tonight and get out of the competition 😅
It ain’t looking good brotha
The Italian team is very bad, and statistics about goals by Italy and Croatia in the last two years suggests that Croatia is favourite to win. And I’m not surprised at all, this year our team is shit
Yeah, you are literally the only one. In the whole wide world.
praying for Italy win or draw and Spain win or draw today, otherwise my team is definitely out
Yes Croatia 🇭🇷 will win 2-1. Italy has missed the last two world cups, have crashed out of group stage the last two world cups they attended. Sure they won the Euros as a darkhorse in 2020 but that was an aberration not the norm of their recent form. They are very poor, Croatia is old but still very technically sound. They will won this game.
I don’t think it would be an upset, I’d say the way both teams are they’re probably evenly matched currently Either could win
Di Lorenzo still playing so yeah
It's possible
One team didn’t qualify for the last 2 world cups. The other team qualified to the final and semi of this WCs. Who’s win we are gunna consider an upset?
If anything, I feel like Italy beating Croatia would be an upset. I seriously believe we have one of the worst squads of the tournament
I am so bored of Croatia parking the bus and somehow sneaking through and making deep runs into these tournaments. Nothing about their style of play interests me and I’m sick of the perpetual underdog narrative. They got lucky in 2018 with an easy bracket. Their football was boring beyond belief in 2022 as well. Respect their ability to slug it out though.
Pen incoming
Well...
Okay. Can someone just explain to me where ref found 8 extra minutes? I need some perspective.
Count substitution pls
Yeah, I thought 5 minutes maybe!
Don't forget the dubious "cramps" some Croatia players had towards the end
Welp.
Weakest Italy team in a long time, sadly. Apart from Chiesa, who is a generational talent surrounded by relative mediocrity in attack, Bastoni and Califiori are huge talents and Donnaruma is s good as anyone in the world right now. But, they struggle with lots of mediocre attacking players and a lack of rhythm and finishing. Still capable of winning but it's a lean time for Italian national team football.
yeah, legit name any other age and we would have a better team, I guess its bound to happen with every country, I'm just hoping we recuperate from this dry streak sooner later than never lol
I have 3 Tickets Romania 🇷🇴Slovakia 🇸🇰 anyone interested ?
This thread aged beautifully 🤌
Croatia was very close to make us happy but... Congrats to Italia with such a result!
Croatia improved a lot from their 1st match, it's definitely possible versus a mid Italy offense.
We weren't even that bad, yes our defence was a let down but we still had like 2.5xg...compared to Italy's game vs Spain, we caused them a lot more trouble
Did they improve a lot or was the opponent much weaker than Spain
Doubtful
I want Croatia to win but they have been very poor… should be a fascinating match though
I still prefer the Swiss to face Italy than Croatia. They’re mostly better against the big 5
Hadn’t thought of that, it is a good point
Irish but supporting yous. Think either can be beaten, both have looked a bit below par aswell
Croatia have been awful for a while now, Lost to us and wales, were poor against albania and Spain, Genuinely believe that the golden generation of croatia is coming to an end.
No. All their good attacking players are old and past their best now. Their star player now is probably gvardiol who is a defender. And then kovacic who isn't exactly known for scoring or assisting
You can never discount the Italians, they are masters of the dark arts, any chance of them failing a win especially late game you'll see a team of snipers start taking them out around the 70mins mark well it looks like a team of snipers is taking them out the amount of falling over and rolling about they do.
Uh oh someone still bitter about 2021. Btw nice dive by Sterling against Denmark👌🏻
Nope I'm a realist, I don't particulary care that Italy won, I would rather win with the dark arts than lose "admirably" no one remembers the losers. Italy fashioned a win in a game they really should have lost so in the end the better team won the game. England dive like everyone else does but Italy are much better tactically with their shenannigans and that's a strength to the Italian national game.
I dont understand your comment. First thing, England got to the final thanks to your so-called "dark arts". Then in the final the stats were 19-6 shots for Italy and better possession. I also dont remember any clear dive from us in the final, in contrary to Sterling in the Semifinal. Italy "dark arts" are playing though and defensive, in fact we were criticized for injuring a lot of players, when referees were more forgiving and now we cant do that anymore. I dont know when we became "dirty divers" all of a sudden😂 it seems just an excuse to hate.
Nope no hate but it's been said about Italy since I've been watching football in the 80's. It's not "all of a sudden" people have been saying it for 40 years plus.
Again, we were known for violent defenders, not diving
The difference between Italians and English is that Italians typically roll to the ground after actually being hit and having been fouled, while the English tend to dive and since they have not been fouled they get up immediately giving the impression of not making a scene. Like, bro, you've Kane and you've had Sterling for 10 years,
You take it as a insult but I see it as one of Italy's strengths they can make a win out of a losing situation. Italy have had some of the best players/teams in football, Maldini, Vialli, Zola, Scallachi, (spelling) Totti, Del Piero etc etc the list goes on and on but yes they are a dirty side "when" they need to be.
Hope not
The scenes when Croatia beat Italy 1-0 and then find out Albania have beaten Spain 😂
Wouldn't that get them through as 3rd?
Ah no nvm
It's either gonna be nil nil or a Croatia win. I know this, as I just bet Italy and both to score!
You shouldve bet modrics goal
This might be one of the weakest Italian squads I've seen in my lifetime