[Nepoznat]

vs.

June 26th, 2018 - 20:00 CET (14:00 EDT)

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don (Capacity 43,472)

​

Squad:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/998524025025499136

Betting odds (from Oddschecker.com):

Statistical odds (from FiveThirtyEight.com):

 

[pivorakija]

 

[Ante]

Basically we have won the group so this will be a stress free match...and any line up we put out there should be enough vs Iceland.

 

[Ero]

I'd rather keep the skeleton of the team intact, rest the carded players and make timely subs.

We've played B squads before when qualified, against Spain and Poland at Euros winning both, but we went on to lose our next A squad games. The reserve squad his can break down the momentum created from the first two games, I have a hunch Dalić will not make many changes, especially in defense.

But then again, when you have a deep bench of the quality of Croatia...tough decisions to be made.

 

[Andy Christ]

if you plan to go far then you should rest your key players if there's a chance for it

this energy saved might become very useful later on

 

[Morierinho]

Rostov... classic WWII location. :thumbsup:

 

[dinamozagreb86]

A no stress game. Love it.

I would like to see a few changes, we have the quality to beat Iceland with any team. I'm not sure if Iceland have a chance to come second but if they do they'll probably go all out, and I wouldn't want to risk an injury to our starters.

 

[DiegoDalma]

10 days without a game for the players is a lot...i think we should bring a mixed team and the players having a yellow card should go easy in this game. Just to keep the rythm.

 

[DiegoDalma]

Rebic is injured it seems...

 

[[email protected]]

I would not play any of the guys with yellow cards or Modric.

 

[[email protected]]

Rebic is injured it seems...

Apparently got hurt when he made that nice dribble around the Argentine defender before getting hacked down. Doctors say he will be fine but Rebic says he can't put weight on his leg right now. Hopefully he will be ok for the round of 16 game.

 

[Sulla]

The boys who haven’t featured will be chomping at the bits to play. I hope he rests most of the regular starters.

 

[SPURS_LUKA_FAN]

I'd rather keep the skeleton of the team intact, rest the carded players and make timely subs.

We've played B squads before when qualified, against Spain and Poland at Euros winning both, but we went on to lose our next A squad games. The reserve squad his can break down the momentum created from the first two games, I have a hunch Dalić will not make many changes, especially in defense.

But then again, when you have a deep bench of the quality of Croatia...tough decisions to be made.

I agree Ero, the SPINE of the team must stay intact, protect the players on cards, but by changing the whole team we are making a mistake of losing that battling momentum until the next round match, the players have to much time to relax, they get out of combat mode and therefore are not able to reach 100% competitiveness when they really need it, the next round of 16 against TEAMS THAT MIGHT HAVE FOUGHT FOR SURVIVAL FOR EVERY GAME UP TO THAT POINT (Portugal 2016?!) :| Why do this again when it clearly did not work at the Euro's? FFS. BY the way, ICELAND got still something to play for, its disrespectful not to acknowledge that - I really don't like the mentality - "dobili smo 2 utakmice - najbolji smo ... lako cemo" - that kind of thinking and Balkan mentality got us NOWHERE in the PAST, Germany, ITaly BRazil et.c simply don't do this.

IF ANYONE HERE BELIEVES FOOTBALL IS ALL ABOUT REST AND RECUPERATION THEY CLEARLY DON'T UNDERSTAND TOURNAMENT FOOTBALL, TO GIVE PLAYER'S REST FOR 10 DAYS UNTIL THE NEXT MATCH, THEY GET INTO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT HEADSPACE, I PLEAD WITH MR DALIC NOT TO REPEAT THE MISTAKES WE MADE IN THE PAST DURING TOURNAMENTS! I know its good for the "morale of the team" to give the other guys a game - but its detrimental to our momentum -what's more important to keep everyone happy - or actually GO AND WIN THIS WC? Nobody has impressed me yet, no other team out there is unbeatable-this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and must not be squandered.

At least let Vida-LOvren and Strinic "bed in" and add Jedvaj to the mix, my worry if this lineup up there is to be believed is that we will play Bradaric in a whole WC match, come on Iceland aren't mugs, yes they lost v Nigeria yesterday, but the team went further than us in the Euro's and kicked England out, anyone here thinking "lako cemo sa njima" is sadly delusional. They are not easy to play as we've seen during the WC qualifications, yes they lack flair and quality, but they make this up with combatitiveness and organization. We must not play a B-team. At least mix it up a bit. Marko ROG would have been an ideal player for this match, Bradaric and Badelj are to lethargic to protect Kovacic's more advanced role, but hey what do I know?! We obviously want to rest LUka and Raketa, Broz can't play so we got to play the players we got, what if one of the mid fielders gets injured?

....sorry about the rant, might seem a bit over the top but I really think if this lineup above is to be believed is a big mistake, not because they are not able to get a result, they are, but the aforementioned loss of momentum for the first team players ....

 

[SPURS_LUKA_FAN]

A no stress game. Love it.

I would like to see a few changes, we have the quality to beat Iceland with any team. I'm not sure if Iceland have a chance to come second but if they do they'll probably go all out, and I wouldn't want to risk an injury to our starters.

An Iceland win potentially takes them through to the next round as long as they have a better goal difference than the other second best team who could be Nigeria or Argentina, these guys got EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR ... nema labavo DZ86:wink2:

 

[majstor]

4:0 Kramarić sva četiri

 

[SPURS_LUKA_FAN]

4:0 Kramarić sva četiri

:devil2:

 

[Sulla]

I hear you SLF but we have to plan for getting to the last four. Momentum is important but what’s the point if you run out of steam later in the tournament? And you also have to appreciate that the yellows don’t get wiped till the semi’s.

With good management, I think we can get maximum benefit from the opportunity that we’ve earned.

 

[SPURS_LUKA_FAN]

I hear you SLF but we have to plan for getting to the last four. Momentum is important but what’s the point if you run out of steam later in the tournament? And you also have to appreciate that the yellows don’t get wiped till the semi’s.

With good management, I think we can get maximum benefit from the opportunity that we’ve earned.

Sulla ...why would we run out of steam later, aren't the other teams playing the same amount of games and get the same amount of rest? We have used this tactic and I really think it didn't help us in the game v Portugal, we lacked edge in that game, with that edge Portugal were there for the taking!

As for the management that's all good and well, but these players are used to playe games every 4-7 days, sometimes 2 in a week, so not playing for 10 days could be a problem ... I would minimize problems if we can, but again maybe I'm wrong ... . Physical rest is obviously one aspect, but the mental side of not being in competetive mode for that long could have a negative effect, we are not German's in mentality, I'm just basing this on the understanding of our people and mentality.

 

[Sulla]

I think it’s a stretch to conclude that we’ll lose our edge simply because of what happened in ‘08 and ‘16. Each game coming will be a final and every advantage you can take should be exploited to the fullest IMO.

In any event, Dalic is surrounded by experienced people who will know what and how the players will be feeling. I’m confident that he’ll do what’s best.

 

[10Boban10]

Just rest all the players on yellows.

Jedvaj for Vrsaljko
Badelj for Brozovic who's suspended anyway
Kovacic for Rakitic and bring Rakitic (or Bradaric) on in the 2nd half to rest Modric
Pjaca for Rebic
Kramaric for Mandzukic

3:0