Croatian midfield is the key to progress from Group C

STV
Luka Modric was responsible for most of the productivity in the Croatian midfield.SNS Group

After watching the group favourites, Spain and Italy, play out a draw in the first game of the day, Croatia will be delighted to get off to a winning start.

The game against Ireland was a must-win for the Croats, with both Italy and Spain coming up, knowing that he has three points inside his beanie hat will be important for head coach Slaven Bilic.

Lady luck was certainly shining on Croatia, with the bad fortune of Irish keeper Shay Given for the first and third goals, Stephen Ward’s pass – that looked like one of my golf shots – leading to the second goal and Robbie Keane not being awarded what seemed like a stonewall penalty.

Getting a goal within the first three minutes helped Croatia not only get a foothold on the game, but quieten the noisy Irish support inside the Stadion Miejski.

Goalscorer Mario Mandzukic showed some great composure throughout the game and his partnership with former Rangers frontman Nikica Jelavic also showed that the loss of experienced striker Ivica Olic wouldn’t be a hindrance.

Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric controlled the centre of the park throughout the game and especially in the first half, where he looked streets ahead of the Irish pair of Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan.

With every scintillating pass, his club boss Harry Redknapp must have seen the pound signs flashing in front of his eyes, because if Modric can put a performance like that in during the final two group games, then not only will Croatia qualify for the latter stages of the competition but his price tag will keep increasing.

The problem for Bilic is not in either the midfield or forward area, but at the back, were Vedran Corluka looked more than suspect in the unfamiliar centre-half position and ultimately this cost the Croats, as the defender’s poor positioning allowed Sean St Ledger to score the equaliser.

As well as the performance of Modric and the front pair, Bilic will also be happy to have Ivan Rakitic finding form after what can only be described as a miserable season at Sevilla this year. Along with Ognjen Vukojevic and Ivan Perisic, the Croatian midfield exerted its dominance.

That kind of midfield prowess will be needed if Croatia are to overcome Italy and Spain in the next two fixtures. In order to prevent an early exit from the competition as the 43-year-old Bilic bows out as coach in order to take over as manager of Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow.

He will definitely be looking for goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to help keep both Gordon Schildenfeld and Corluka on track, because they looked vulnerable at times against the front two of Ireland.

Though they will be glad to see the back of the Irish, who played with strong physical players, such as Richard Dunne, who did everything in his power to make sure that Mandzukic didn’t get his hat-trick.

Both Mandzukic and Jelavic should be able to get even more chances on goal in the final two fixtures. Should Darijo Srna, Modric and Rakitic get balls into the box, then the front pair can use their height and strength to fire Croatia into the quarter-finals.

You can follow Matt Harold on Twitter

Related articles

People who read this story also read