Ireland v Croatia Euro 2012 betting sees Giovanni Trapattoni’s side go into the match as underdogs, but fortunately online bookmaker Paddy Power have a great promotion running for the match. This is Ireland’s opener in the tough Group C alongside Spain and Italy, and the men in green will want to get off to a good start. The bookies have pencilled in the Croatian side as the stronger option though, but if Ireland to win this match, then Paddy Power will refund all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer Correct Score and Scorecast single bets placed on the match. That is a tremendous amount of coverage as Ireland kick off their Euro 2012 campaign.
Paddy Power offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them too, and with the Ireland v Croatia Money Back Special in place, it is worth heading there for your match betting. The insurance means that you can look at the valuable First Goalscorer market for example where Everton star Nikica Jelavic is the favourite to open the scoring at a price of 11/2, with Ireland’s Robbie Keane trading at 13/2. Ireland have had a solid build up and in the Correct Score market for Ireland v Croatia betting, a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 Croatia win are top options at 5/1. Options like these will be covered by the lost stake refund, if the Irish win their opener!
Ireland v Croatia Betting Odds at Paddy Power
Croatia 23/20, Draw 9/4, Ireland 5/2
Ireland seem to be one of the more lucky sides heading to Euro 2012 because they haven’t had too much injury problems to worry about. Coach Giovanni Trapattoni has been pretty transparent about his plans for the Republic of Ireland, already having stated what his likely line up is going to be for their opener. There is no great surprise in the projected line up, with positive news that Shay Given and John O’Shea are ready to play, the only slight surprise is that Sunderland’s James McClean, after impressing during the pre-tournament warm up games, doesn’t get a starting place. It will be a strong and competitive Irish side, with experience coming from the likes of Damien Duff, Richard Dunne and Robbie Keane. The Irish beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 before coming through a tough test against Hungary where they were happy to get a 0-0 draw there.
Ireland are going to need two things, their spirit and Robbie Keane to finish chances. They are the underdogs of their group, and they are not going to face an easy match. However, getting under-way against Croatia should give them a great platform to push forward with. Italy have looked vulnerable at the back, so there is a chance here for Ireland. It needs to kick off, realistically with a win, and it could take a moment of brilliance in what is probably going to be a cagey group opener which could settle it. Ireland are not going to do anything fancy, but they have the ability to outwork their opponents. Everyone in the side knows their job and they work very hard for each other and coach Trapattoni is a canny man, who has managed to get the very best out of Ireland. He knows what their strengths are, and his tactical nous is just enough to give the Irish a chance at causing some big upsets in Group C.
Croatia were rocked by the loss of their veteran striker Ivica Olic ahead of the finals. But there is a lot of flair in the Croatian side. They are the least populated nation at Euro 2012 and you can scan down the squad sheet to see big name players like Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric, Nikica Jelaivc and Eduardo. That is a massive offensive threat right there and the Croatians are at number eight in the world rankings. So there is a tremendous amount of optimism in the Croatian camp, coached by former West Ham man Slaven Bilic. Croatia will be the ones to get the ball down on the deck and stroke it around, and make a creative use of space. They may just bring that tough of flair which could put pressure on the rest of the group. They did lose a couple of games through qualification, one against Georgia and one against Greece (who they also drew against). The Croatians saw off Turkey 3-0 on aggregate in a play off to book their place at Euro 2012.
