Spain-Croatia is a match in the group stage of the European Under-21 Championship 2023 and will be played on Saturday at 20:45: news, formations and predictions.
Spain did not disappoint in their debut match against Romania at the European Under-21s, literally sweeping away the hosts with a resounding 3-0.
A result which, for all that Santi Denia’s men showed, could have been bigger if Rojita had capitalised on all the goal-scoring opportunities they built up over the ninety minutes: it was practically a shoot-out towards the goal defended by Romanian goalkeeper Popa, although only five shots out of a total of 24 went in. After the first day, the Iberians were probably the most convincing selection to win the title, together with England (who won 2-0 over the Czech Republic): Portugal were surprised by Georgia; reigning champions Germany did not go beyond a draw with Israel; France beat Italy, but in a match heavily conditioned by refereeing errors. Qualification, at this point, should be child’s play for Rojita, who, in the event of a victory over Croatia, could secure a pass to the knockout phase with a day to spare.
Spain, after all, arrived at this European Championship with 14 positive results, an impressive streak in which only on two occasions did Ruiz and his team-mates fail to score at least two goals.
Skocic
Croatia, on the other hand, can do no wrong. Despite some interesting talent, they are not at the level – proportionally, of course – of the major national team, which for years now has been able to put a spoke in the wheels of several big names. Not a positive debut for the selection led by Dragan Skocic, who proved to be inferior to Ukraine (2-0) without finding the way of the goal. Against Spain, they will have to do their homework if they want to repeat the quarter-finals won in the last edition, the best result ever for the Croatian national team.
The prediction
The last train to the quarter-finals seems to have already passed for Croatia, who played their all in the opener with Ukraine. Beating this Spain side now equates to a mountain to climb: the Iberians favourites in another match of at least three goals in total.
The official line-ups for Spain v Croatia
- SPAN U21 (4-2-3-1): Tenas; Gomez, Paredes, Pacheco, Miranda; Blanco, Veiga; Riquelme, Sancet, Gomez; Ruiz.
- CROATIA U21 (4-2-3-1): Kotarski; Sigur, Franjic, Perkovic, Colina; Bulat, Hodza; Sego, Baturina, Vidovic; Beljo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
