“We will wait to see his condition and then decide whether he will play or not”, Croatia coach Ante Cacic said about Modric.
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– If Croatia draw with Spain, they will finish in second place and will play the victor of Group E in the Round of 16, regardless of what happens in the Czech Republic-Turkey match.
That will be more hard if Croatia’s influential playmaker Luka Modric is unfit, as expected, placing even greater importance on Rakitic’s role. “We urge them to stay out of fights and stay out of trouble”.
Spain and Croatia meet up in France on Tuesday afternoon as both teams compete to lay claim to top spot in in their pool.
“It was different eight years ago, the players aren’t the same, we can’t compare these two matches”.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque: “Ideally, we score early, but we have a team that understands very well what we have to do”.
The Fare Network’s report to UEFA was produced after a game that was halted for several minutes in Saint-Etienne when firecrackers and flares were thrown on the field from an end of the stadium where Croatia fans were sitting.
For Turkey, even victory may not be enough. “We really hope our supporters will be at their best because we really need them against Spain”.
A point would also mean Croatia were guaranteed second place in the group, and passage to the next round, although that would mean facing already-guaranteed Group E winners Italy in the next round next Sunday in Toulouse.
Croatia were in second position in the group on four points, behind leaders Spain, on seven, and need only a point to guarantee qualification for the last 16. “Sometimes things do not go your way in football, but hopefully we can get out of this crisis and start talking about different things”. Uefa opened disciplinary proceedings after Croatia fans threw flares and ran on to the pitch during their opening Group D game, a 1-0 win against Turkey.
A case could be argued for Turkey being one of the flops of the tournament, especially if they were to lose their final match. It’s crucial for us to be first in the group.
Qualifying for Euro 2016, Turkey recovered from a slow start to beat the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Iceland in its last three qualifiers to grab its berth in the competition.
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What’s more, in the last two games they’ve struggled to create chances and the fans were seriously unhappy with the performance against Spain, with confidence in the squad now looking like it’s at an all-time low.
