And the Croats Are Gone... Euro 2012 Group C

GDANSK, Poland-

Summary

Spain and Croatia met in the final day of Group C matches at the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup, with the Spanish winning the match 1-0 and advancing to the knockout stage, winning the group. 

A win for either team could cause them would advance to the next round, whereas a draw would have allowed both teams to advance, providing that Group C opponents Italy lost or drew to the Republic of Ireland in the other match in the Group.

A Spanish free kick was the first action of the match after they received the first touch. , but was held-off by the Croatian defense. A Spanish attack in the fourth minute was stopped by a Croatian header for a corner, and a miss from a Spanish shot.

The Spanish struck again in the twelfth minute with a short shot from Andres Iniesta from within the Croatian penalty area. Spanish passing once again set the tempo of their play, as they held on to the ball in multi-minute possessions. Iniesta continued his presence in the game when he fouled Darijo Srna in the fifteenth minute. Subsequent fouls in the sixteenth minute continued to break-up an otherwise passing-dominated first half.

The fouls continued with a grimace-drawing tackle on David Silva, who was clearly in pain. A long shot from Sergio Ramos in the 23^rd minute provided a good chance, but Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa. A shot by Gerard Pique in the next minute went high and over the Croatian goal. Croatia counter-attacked, with a shot from Danijel Pranjic. Spanish keeper Iker Casillas made the save. 

An injury to Mario Mandzukic in the 27^th minute came from a clean tackle by Ramos within the Spanish penalty area. There was a card on the play, however, as Croat defender Vedran Corluka mouthed-off to the referee concerning the tackle, and received a yellow for his trouble.  Silva continued his dangerous play, with two more shots coming from close range at 30’, on two different attacks. A quick free-kick in the thirty-fourth minute gave Silva another opportunity to attack down the right flank.

Spain star Fernando Torres was not a major presence during the first-half. Torres had scored a brace against Ireland as a part of Spain’s 4-0 win last Thursday. Torres was brought-off in the 61^st minute, after failing to perform to his usual standard. Jesus Navas came on to replace him.

 Just before the half, the Croats attacked strongly, maintaining possession long enough to get a few chances on goal, and to see Iniesta intercept and lead a good attack against them. 

An attack led by Silva resulted in an uneventful Spanish corner by Xavi. 

Darijo Srna earned a yellow card in the 45^th minute after multiple unbooked fouls.

The first-half ended 0-0 after a grueling physical game, with two yellow cards and a multitude of other fouls from both sides. Croatia featured strong wing play and counter-attacks, while the Spanish continued their possession strategy, coupled with a few scrappy in-the-box attacks.

A Croat corner began the action in the second-half, with the Spanish using their short-passing scheme to continue with possession. It was apparent, however, that the Spanish were beginning to pull out the stops, attacking with real pressure. The clock was in the 52^nd minute when Iniesta provided a good ball for Torres on a breakaway, but it was calmly scooped-up by Pletikosa. The Croats capitalized on a good tackle in the 57^th minute with a drive downfield, ending in a foul. The free-kick was defended well by the Spanish, but the next Croat attack proved to be the nearly-fatal blow against the Spanish, with attack after attack. The Spanish defense finally began to look disorganized, and the Croats took advantage of it.

A Croat attack in the 70^th minute continued their wing-to-wing play, but fell apart with an uncontrolled header. David Silva was brought out for Cesc Fabregas at forward, after three attempts, two shots on-goal, and plenty of chances created.

Spanish play in the second half was at best uninspired. A chance for Fabregas in the 78^th minute was blocked for a corner.  On the other hand, the Croat attacks were creative and precise, but they couldn’t find the back of the net . Perisic made a good attempt in the 79^th minute.  Iniesta shot at 84’, but Pletikosa made the save for a corner. Navas made another shot at 85’; Pletikosa kept it out again.

Jesus Navas came on as
a substitute for Fernando
Torres, and scored the game-winner.

Navas scored off a 2-on-1 chip in a goal which was judged by the Croatian fans (and Pletikosa) to be offsides, putting-away both the game and Group C.

Overall, the second-half cleaned up in terms of fouls, and showed a superior game from both teams. Excellent ending for the game between these two teams, despite my personal disappointment that the Croats did not advance, even after a good showing against Italy and Ireland.

The Italians won their final group match against the Irish, advancing to the knockouts  after finishing second in Group C. Spain advances as well and wins the group after this win. They face the second-place team from Group D on Sunday.

Andres Iniesta's one-two pass to Jesus Navas
 resulted in Spain's win over Croatia.

Man-of-the-Match

Today's Man-of-the-Match award goes to Spain's Andres Iniesta. Iniesta played well off the ball all game, with excellent passing in possession, as well as his chance-creation and shooting. His crowning-moment, however, came from his one-two pass to Jesus Navas at 88', resulting in the only goal of the game, and the Spanish winning Group C. 

Navas came on as a substitute and did not contribute much overall, despite scoring the only goal. Iniesta played a far-better game from whistle to whistle.