Turkey vs Croatia a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
June 13, 2016
1,408 Views
- Croatia went someway to exacting revenge for their dramatic Euro 2008 defeat at the hands of Turkey after winning their opening Group D encounter yesterday Afternoon
- It was quite a scrappy game at times it was always going to take a moment of brilliance to separate the sides
- And it was Luka Modric who performed exactly that
- Modric was one of the two players along with Ivan Rakitic who missed their spot kicks in the 2008 shoot outs so his goal would have been his own personal redemption
- And what a goal it was
- After a Selcuk Inan clearance had fallen at the feet of the diminutive Croat he then promptly returned the ball back with a fantastic looping 25 yard volley to give Croatia
- That goal will surely be one of the contenders for goal of the tournament
- The most striking image of the game would have no doubt been Vedran Corluka having to get bandaged up not once but on three separate occasions after initially taking an elbow to the head from Cesn Tosun in the first half
- Most players would celebrate a win like that with a pint of lager, while Corluka will probably be celebrating with a pint of blood
- On the balance of play Croatia were certainly the deserved winners from yesterday’s matchup
- Dario Srna was unfortunate to see his free kick hit the frame of the goal and out for safety while Ivan Perisic also struck the woodwork
- Marcelo Brozovic was close to scoring an even better goal than Modric but his acrobatic volley went inches over the bar, with the force it was struck with had it had gone in it could have taken the net off the goal
- Turkey’s only real chance of net was a first half header from Ozan Tufan. The header was certainly powerful enough but unfortunately for him it was straight at Croatian Keeper Danijel Subisic, either side of him and it would have certainly leveled the match up
- Arda Turan was disappointing and lost the midfield battle with club teammate Ivan Rakitic. Turan was subbed off after 65 minutes after seemingly lacking fitness due to a shortage of game time at Barcelona
- Hakan Calhanoglu also had quite a quiet game with his set piece delivery not up to his usual standards
- Turkey lacked any real creative spark it must be said and it would have been harsh on Croatia had they not won this game
- So with Croatia getting off to a winning start they now move on to face the Czech Republic, while Turkey’s plight doesn’t get any easier as they face holders Spain
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