Date: June 15, 2012
Time: 12:00 AM (GMT +8:00)
| ITALY | Tournament Statistics (as of June 14, 2012) | CROATIA | |
| 1 | Goals Scored | 3 | |
| 6 | Attempts On Target | 9 | |
| 4 | Attempts Off Target | 6 | |
| 3 | Corners | 7 | |
| 19 | Fouls Committed | 18 | |
| 4 | Yellow Cards | 2 | |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | |
| PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS | |||
| Italy (3-5-2) | Buffon; Bonucci, De Rossi, Chiellini; Maggio, Motta, Giaccherini, Pirlo, Marchisio, Di Natale, Cassano. | ||
| Croatia (4-2-3-1) | Pletikosa; Srna, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Strinic; Vukojevic, Rakitic; Modric, Perisic, Mandzukic; Jelavic. | ||
POZNAŃ: Italy and Croatia will battle one another in a bid to remain at the group stage. The Azzurri’s draw with Spain drives them further to win this match. However, they can be kicked out of the group stage if they end up losing.
Croatia has done very well against the Republic of Ireland in the first group match when they won at 3-1. Currently the top team in Group C, they must win this upcoming match to progress further. Otherwise, they might not even win the group stage, especially with Spain to face in their last group match.
Previous Matches
Italy and Croatia only met for 5 times, with the Croats winning in all of those meetings. This is a challenge Italy has to face, despite being a team whose players are of strong international exposure.
The two teams last met in a 2006 friendly match. Croatia won at 2-0 when Eduardo da Silva and Luka Modric scored 1 goal each against goalless Italy.
Pre-Match Developments
Striker Antonio Di Natale is likely to replace Mario Balotelli on Italy’s starting lineup. Di Natale scored the opening goal during the Azzurri’s match versus Spain.
Croatian defender Vedran Corluka is in a proper condition to play for his team. The injury he got before EURO 2012 was not worsened during Croatia’s match against Republic of Ireland.
Italy-Croatia Predictions
Sports Statistics Information Centre
(as of June 14, 2012)
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The match between Italy and Croatia is not going to be an easy one. To emerge as a contender in the quarterfinals, Italy has to go past through Croatia’s record 3 goals through scoring 2 goals ahead in the coming match. For that to happen, Italy needs to realize another feat similar to striker Antonio Di Natale’s success during their promising performance versus Spain. The Azzurris can rely on its team’s international calibre to trounce Croatia’s technical proficiency.
Croatia bears the pressure of upholding its 5-game winning streak versus Italy while being awaited by defending champion Spain in the knockout round. Mandžukić and fellow striker Nikica Jelavić have to cooperate well in order to break Italy’s competitive stance. A repeat of Mandžukić’s quick opening goal against Republic of Ireland timed at 2 minutes and 38 seconds will be a nice spectacle for Croatia.
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