The games are still coming thick and fast at Euro 2024. Here are four things you should look out as the highly competitive Group B comes to a close on day 11 of the tournament with games between Albania and Spain, and Croatia and Italy.
By Ian King
A regular, reliable goalscorer would be the icing on Spain’s cake
The most striking irony of Spain’s win against Italy was that, for all the excellent football they played, they were still dependent on an own goal to win. In their first match against Croatia, a three-goal rush in eighteen minutes was enough to get the game sewn up by half-time, but outside of that brief flowering, they haven’t scored a goal themselves yet in this tournament.
So long as they’re winning this isn’t a major issue, and going into their final group match against Albania having beaten Italy coupled with knowing that qualification has already been achieved, head coach Luis de la Fuente may well consider this an opportunity to try out something different in attack. Because a tournament-leading goalscorer would be the icing on the cake for a Spain team that looks excellent in just about every other respect.
Italy need a first if they’re to beat Croatia
Perhaps the best that can be said for Italy’s night against Spain was that at least it wasn’t a lot worse. Had it not been for an inspired performance by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, it almost certainly would have been.
Italy have had some patchy years, winning the Euros between failing to qualify for two successive World Cups. And getting this match out of the way doesn’t make their passage much easier. Next up are Croatia, who have looked jaded so far but who can still hurt them.
The historical record isn’t great. Since Croatia gained independence in 1991 the two sides have met eight times, with five draws, three Croatia wins and Italy having won… none. A point will be enough for Italy, but defeat would see them drop to at least third place and facing a substantially more difficult second round draw.
Croatia’s old stagers need to pull one last iron from the fire
From the way in which their players slumped to the turf after conceding a last-gasp equaliser to Albania it could have looked like Croatia were out of the competition. But that isn’t the case. A win against Italy would still see them through to the next stage, and they have a good record against them (see above).
One of the most intriguing questions of this last round of fixtures is whether this band of brothers, some of whom are now accelerating towards forty years of age, can pull something out of the fire one last time. Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić, Mateo Kovačić, and Domagoj Vida have ridden this rodeo before. For all the talk that this is a tournament too far for this squad, would you completely rule them out?
Albania have to face the reality of being in a Group of Death
For all the celebrations brought about by their last-minute equaliser against Croatia, the scale of the task ahead of Albania remains stark. A win against Spain will see them through to the next round of the competition, but getting through to the next round requires them beating Spain.
This is the reality of the Group of Death for the outsider. Albania have been decent in this tournament. They scored the Euros’ fastest ever goal against Italy and were only narrowly beaten. Rescuing a point against Croatia may have come late, but few would argue that it was undeserved. But while expanding the Euros has been to the benefit of the continent’s middle-ranking teams, the scale of what they have to achieve once through in order to progress once there remains as huge as ever.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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