Dream Group For Croatia

The draws for the European Championship groups put Croatia along with Austria, Germany and Poland.

In Lucerne, Switzerland, the draws for the European Championship groups were held, and were more favourable to some more than some others. The first group to be drawn was the ‘group of death’ C, featuring Netherlands, Italy, Romania and France. On the faces of the representatives of these countries it was visible their disappointment. I could have bee better. However, let us go in order.

Group A features Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey. Host Switzerland will open the championship in Basel on June 7th in the match against Czech Republic. The favourites of the group are Portugal and Czech Republic, but the hosts are never to be underestimated. This group is important for Croatia too, because if they are first or second in their group, in the quarter finals they will have to play against the first or the second of this group.

Group B seemed an excellent draw even before the Croats found out they would end up in it, and when Juergen Klinsmann picked the little ball with Croatia’s name, this was confirmed. Thus this group features Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland. The opening game in Vienna will be played by Austria and Croatia on June 8th at 6 p.m., and the last game of the group will be held in the same city with Croatia versus Poland on June 16th and 8:45 p.m. The group is very good and it is likely that the ‘Bilic Boys’ go through to the second round at least.

Group C is totally the opposite and has already received the name of ‘group of death’. As we have already said, it features Netherlands, Italy, Romania and France, and probably any of these teams is happy about the draws. Three of these four teams are former European champions, and Romania is no team to underestimate, considering that they had already been in the qualification group with the Netherlands and qualified in front of them. The French and the Italians are old acquaintances, and we already know everything about them. It is enough to remember the final in 2000, when the French became European champions with David Trezeguet’s golden goal. What the exit of this group will be is hard to tell, and it will surely drag a lot of attention.

The last Group D features Greece Sweden, Spain and Russia. Present European champion, the Greek will find very problematic adversaries in Spain, in Guus Hiddink and his Russia, but also the Swedish national team, that always plays at a very high level in great competitions. We will have to see if luck will still follow Mr Hiddink, or was it taking part the most important thing. The English will surely support for the Spaniards, the Greek and the Swedes with delight.

Surely a spectacular Euro is ahead of us, in which Croatia could finally leave a bigger mark.