CROATIA – Tino Andjic (Business Director, Dubai)
Croatia and Turkey meet in the opening match of Group D with many people viewing this as a battle for runners-up spot in Group D. However, Croatian fans certainly don’t subscribe to the notion that Spain will walk straight through as group winners and the first step towards proving that is a clash with a resilient and aggressive Turkey side.
Both teams have strong, creative midfields and somewhat suspect defences, with Dejan Lovren’s absence likely to be felt by Croatia at this tournament. In my opinion, though, we have more class and firepower, both down the flanks and up front.
.@ivanrakitic and #Croatia just landed in Paris for @UEFAEURO match against @MilliTakimlar tomorrow. #CRO #BeProud pic.twitter.com/la8wukfnjD
— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) June 11, 2016
The main battle will concern who controls the ball in the midfield. These two teams have played some tightly-contested games in the past and I fully expect Turkey to give Croatia a good run for their money once again, though in the end I believe the quality of our side will win through.
PREDICTION: Croatia 2-1 Turkey
LIKELY CROATIA XI: Subasic, Srna, Corluka, Vida, Strinic, Modric, Badelj, Brozovic, Rakitic, Perisic, Mandzukic
CROATIA PLAYER TO WATCH: Mario Mandzukic. He is not a typical fox-in-the-box and he may sometimes look almost uncoordinated. But the Juventus striker’s physical strength and size might just be too much for Turkey’s central defenders.
TURKEY PLAYER TO WATCH: Oguzhan Ozyakup. He had a good season at Besiktas. Calhanoglu and Arda Turan might be more famous but Ozyakup has serious ball skills and I think this guy is Turkey’s best chance to get something going.
WHERE TO WATCH THE GAME: Somewhere simple with a big screen. Girders terrace at JA Ocean View comes to mind.
TURKEY – Ozgur Buyukalaca (Business Development Manager, Dubai)
Turkey have had a great time over the past two years and they are almost on top form going into their first game at Euro 2016 – we are ready to make our mark on this tournament.
We have had three friendlies in the build up to the European Championship, one of which was a 2-1 defeat to England. On the surface, this might seem disappointing but it was actually the first EVER international goal we had scored against the Three Lions in 11 matches.
#AMilliTakım dünkü Paris yolculuğundan... #BizBittiDemedenBitmez #TUR pic.twitter.com/TltOgQYJxi
— Milli Takımlar (@MilliTakimlar) June 11, 2016
The second friendly was against Montenegro in Antalya and although it was a bit of a labored performance Turkey scored in stoppage time to win 1-0. We followed that up with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia. These results exemplified what we know – Turkey doesn’t score many goals but also they don’t concede, something that will be important if we are to progress at the Euros.
TURKEY PLAYER TO WATCH: Emre Mor – Borussia Dortmund were very wise to tie up the signing of the tricky winger before the start of the Euros. He only made his debut for the national team last month but big things are expected of the teenager, who had a fantastic season for Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.
CROATIA PLAYER TO WATCH: Luka Modric. The Real Madrid midfielder simply makes Croatia tick. His passing success rate of 91% in 2015-16 was just phenomenal. Turkey need to keep him quiet.
PREDICTION: Croatia 0-1 Turkey
WHERE TO WATCH: Barasti
