HAMBURG, Germany — Chastened by defeats to the heavyweights of Group B, Croatia and Albania both need a win in their clash on Wednesday to ignite their Euro 2024 campaign and give them hope of progressing.
Croatia has a rich World Cup history but have never replicated that at the Euros and began their latest attempt with a disappointing 3-0 defeat against Spain.
Albania is at only their second major tournament and performed creditably against defending champions Italy in their opening match, taking an early lead before succumbing 2-1.
Both teams urgently need points in their second game at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, either to compete for the two qualifying spots or to bolster their chances of being one of the four best third-placed teams who will progress to the knockouts.
Croatia’s coach Zlatko Dalic wants more aggression and speed from a team oozing quality — from veteran midfielder Luka Modric, 38, at probably his last big tournament, to classy defender Josko Gvardiol, 22, at the other end of his career.
“We know what we’re up against. We have two difficult matches. It’s not over, keep your heads up. Our goal is to advance from the group and we will do our best to achieve that,” Dalic said of a game Croatian media have billed as do-or-die.
“Everything is still in our hands, still under our control. We need to be better… It’s up to me to turn things around, point out the flaws and not dwell too much on the Spain match.”
Despite being viewed as minnows, Albania topped their qualifying group over teams such as the Czech Republic and Poland and are not at the tournament to make up the numbers.
Their Brazilian coach Sylvinho will try to keep his team disciplined before hitting Croatia on the break — as they did against Italy with a goal after 23 seconds and so nearly again at the end when they narrowly failed to equalise.
“I have seen other sides in this tournament. If you try and go toe-to-toe with them, they will score five or six against you,” he said. “It’s only our second time here in the Euros. We have young players, very good players, but it’s not easy.”
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