Ageing Croatia fail to shake European Championship hoodoo
LEIPZIG, Germany - After failing to conjure a last moment of magic from an ageing squad, Croatia bowed out meekly from Euro 2024 in the group stage having once again failed to reproduce their World Cup heroics on the continental stage.
While Zlatko Dalic's side were drawn in arguably the toughest group, alongside Spain, Italy and Albania, their return of two points was a disappointing haul for the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists.
A crushing 3-0 defeat to Spain was followed by draws with Albania and Italy and their fate was sealed when Slovenia's goalless stalemate with England on Tuesday ensured they could not finish among the tournament's four best third-placed sides.
The European Championship has never been a happy hunting ground for Croatia, who have never gone past the quarter-finals, and Euro 2024 looked like one tournament too far for a squad that reached the 2018 World Cup final and the last four in Qatar 18 months ago.
With midfield conjuror Luka Modric, who became the competition's oldest ever scorer at 38 against Italy, Ivan Perisic, 35, and forward Andrej Kramaric, 33, Dalic largely kept faith with an the old guard that had served him so well in the past.
Yet what was meant to be a last hurrah for this set of players ended with a whimper.
Dalic admitted concerns about the squad's advancing years during the tournament and also flagged issues with a leaky defence that conceded five goals in their opening two games.
Their failure to shut door on opponents when leading came back to bite them and ultimately proved their undoing, with both Albania and Italy finding equalising goals deep into stoppage time.
"Football was merciless with us tonight, it was cruel," Modric said after Italy had scored in the 98th minute to snatch away their hopes of qualification.
They also struggled to turn possession into a goal threat. When it comes to keeping the ball, few sides are better than Croatia, who had over 60% of possession in their opening two games.
They were the first team to have more possession than Spain in 136 competitive matches since the Euro 2008 final - but still ended up losing 3-0.
It was a similar story against Albania where their opponents were left chasing shadows for much of the match, but escaped with a point after scoring a 95th-minute leveller.
Croatia's Euro 2024 exit is likely to prove a turning point for the squad, who will almost certainly undergo a major revision before the 2026 World Cup.
Modric, who will turn 39 in September, has probably graced his last major tournament, although he does not seem ready to call it quits just yet.
“I'd like to keep playing forever but there probably will come a time when I must hang up my boots. I'll keep playing on, but I don't know for how much longer,” he said after the draw with Italy. REUTERS