Spain v Croatia Euro 2012 betting. Croatia have never faced up to Spain in a competitive meeting before, so this will be new ground for them. The two sides sit on four points and therefore both have a good shot at qualification and both a shot at winning the group. For Croatia, a draw other than a 0-0 or a 1-1 would mean that they qualify without question or any permutations kicking in, while a win would obviously see them top the group. Croatia’s record against Spain, all obviously in international friendlies reads W1 D1 L2, so things have been fairly tight between them. Their win against the Spaniards did come in their first ever meeting since gaining independence and that was back in 1994 though. So there is one tough final challenge in the group ahead for Croatia, but they will probably be happy that this is last, as it has given them some time to build some momentum. After opening against Ireland with an easy victory, Croatia needed a strong second half performance to rescue a point against the Italians, in which the Croatians came out of the blocks a little sluggishly. They will have to be better than that against Spain, who will be able to punish them even more than the Italians were able too. They started with an orthodox 4-4-2 against Italy and they never really got themselves into the game until they switched to two holding midfielders, and pushed Luka Modric forward.
Spain v Croatia Euro 2012 Odds at Bet365
Spain 4/6, Draw 2/1, Croatia 7/1
Croatia have been helped out immensely with the goals from Mario Mandzukic, who has netted three times from his four shots in the tournament. They are waiting on his fitness though after picking up a knock against Italy. Croatia have a lot of quality in their side, and they kept clean sheets in half of their qualification matches to get to this stage. They haven’t managed one yet at Euro 2012, so now would be a great time to start. There is quality in the middle of the park, and up front if they can get the ball forward, however, against Spain, the main difficulty is having any time in possession, and so Croatia are going to have to dig deep and rely on a lot of defensive work, which really isn’t their style. But they should have noticed how Italy took on Spain in their 1-1 draw, and seen that a positive approach can unsettle the Spaniards. It all has to start at the back though, if the back line and holding midfield duties are strong, then that is the main platform from which to enable quick gambles forward. This game is not going to be a question over Croatia’s ability, we know that they have the football skills, it is whether they can get enough of the ball to do anything with it. One dilemma for Croatia though is that they need a win to guarantee qualification, or a high scoring draw, so they need to score.
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Spain need a draw to get themselves through to the next round, as expected, and like Croatia, a win secures top spot in the group. Until Spain drew against Italy in their Euro 2012 opener, they were on a competitive 14 match winning streak. The last time they lost a competitive match was against Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup, and we all know what still happened in that tournament. So Vicente del Bosque’s men are on a 16 match unbeaten streak and it will be interesting to see what the coach does up front. After starting Cesc Fabregas in a forward role against Italy, Del Bosque switched it up to put a recognised striker in, namely Fernando Torres, who scored a brace against the Irish. However, there is no word as to whether Del Bosque is going to trust Torres from the start, because he pulled off the Chelsea striker for Fabregas, instead of letting him push on and get a hattrick. This is tougher test than against the Irish, so we may see Fabregas to start with. There have been discussions over whether or not Spain and Croatia would settle for a 2-2 draw, which would eliminate Italy and send both of these sides through, but naturally both sides have dismissed this, and Spain have only drawn two of their last 37 matches anyway. We know how Spain re going to set up and play, their time on the ball and their possession is going to be high. The amount of passes they string together is remarkable. Spain have had doubts cast over them, because of lack of a world class striker at the moment, and that teams may have just found out how to play against them. It doesn’t seem to stop them however.
Spain v Croatia prediction: The Spaniards have enough in the bag to win this one. Yes, they only need a draw and there doesn’t feel as if there is any real pressure on the game. They are arguably the most professional side in the tournament and you know that they will carve out opportunities. Croatia can’t rely on a draw. If they draw 0-0 and Italy win, they are out. If they draw 1-1 they will only go through if Italy don’t beat Ireland 3-1 or better. Croatia do need to score, but keeping a clean sheet against Spain is not easy to do when seeking goals. Spain -1 Asian Handicap for 43/40 at online bookmaker Bet365 looks good.
