The start of Euro 2008 is only 3 weeks away! Croatia opens up group play on Sunday June 8th in the Austrian capital of Vienna against the Austrian co-hosts.
I asked all of you a month ago how you expect Croatia to perform at this summer’s European championships and 69 people gracefully replied. And in an absolute shocker, 52% (32 people) voted that Croatia will indeed win Euro 2008. But I’m sure there’s no biased Croatian fans on this site. In a distant 2nd, 17% of the poll thought Croatia would make the final 4.
So here’s the expected layout of the tournament. Croatia and Germany should get out of Group B but we definitely shouldn’t underestimate a solid Polish side. We would then play one of the two teams coming out of Group A; the favorites being Portugal and the Czech Republic. Turkey can however make a good push to get out of group play. If Croatia can get past the 2nd round, we could face Germany in a rematch of the group stage game. Croatia cannot face anyone from Groups C or D until the finals. These teams include Italy, the Netherlands, France, Romania, Sweden, Russia, Greece and Spain.
So if Croatia can repeat what they did to Germany in 1998 and manage wins over Portugal or an aging Czech team, thoughts on us getting to the final day can realistically happen with this team.
If we can get out of group stage and finally end the ‘Nike Curse’, Croatia will make some damage on their way to the championship!
the ‘Nike Curse’ is something I came up with to explain their inability to get out of the 1st round. Croatia has not been out of the 1st round in a major tournament since they won bronze in France in 1998. And what happened after they got 3rd in ’98?- they signed a contract to wear Nike and get rid of the beloved Lotto kit that was oh so good to us….If we cant get out of group stage for whatever reason at Euro 2008 with this squad….on the 10 year anniversary of putting Croatia on the world map…I vow we go back with Lotto and end the ‘Nike Curse…
Whats the “Nike Curse”?