'Croatia rising' was the headline in The Straits Times the day after they beat Germany in the group stages. To think of it, I should have call it...'Battle of the underdogs'. But then again, Croatia had been widely expected to progress from their group. Turkey almost literally came back from the dead and beat the Czech Republic to be in the quarter-finals.
But, maybe it's about time all of us stop calling Croatia the dark horses, as Reuters said in a preview of the match in Vienna. Their 2-1 win over Germany in the group stages got many to sit up. If they are able to beat a major football powerhouse in the form of Germany, it's possible they are able to beat anyone (they did it with England already during the qualifying stages, both home and away). In fact all along, Croatia has been the perennial dark horses since they came into being and with the Euro 1996 being the first tournament the country has taken part (current coach Slaven Bilic remembered that well, given he was part of the squad who played in England then) since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. As for Turkey, now they are called the 'comeback kings'. Not only they came back from the dead and beat the Czech Republic, they beat co-hosts Switzerland before that.
Which is why Croatia is wary of comeback kings Turkey. As for Croatia's Niko Kranjcar, winning the midfield battle will be crucial in Croatia winning over Turkey. There has been concerns whether Kranjcar's teammate Ivan Rakitic will be able to start but, he says he is fit and raring to go. According to Croatia coach Slaven Bilic, complacency is not an issue for his squad. Bilic's boys may have been the favourites coming into the match in Vienna, but the coach is keeping his feet on the ground when speaking to the press the day before.
With Slaven Bilic's pedigree as a coach, no wonder at one time, clubs in Europe wanted to secure his services but he turned them down. One cannot blame the former defender being patriotic. Other coaches could have jump ship and take on a new challenge (which will means, more money to earn) but not for Bilic. He is the coach for the Croatian national team and he wants to take the team all the way in the tournament.
For Turkey, no more waiting games. It's the quarter-finals and there are no way to make amends. In or out. Continue to play on or go home. Turkey coach Fatih Terim took time out ahead of the match and spoke on the fragility of life. Actually on the night when Turkey beat the Czech Republic, there were celebratory gun-shots back home and people were injured. It's a common practice in the Middle East and for Terim (who is not a fan of the celebratory gun-shots), football is not as important as life.
With players getting injured for Turkey, they are almost down to the bare bones. But coach Fatih Terim is not fazed. Though his first-choice goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is suspended for this one for giving a shove to Czech Repbublic's Jan Koller in the previous match, veteran keeper Rustu Recber (who has 117 caps, and the most for any Turkish player) will be returning for this match. He only recently lost his starting spot but he took it with dignity. For striker and captain Nihat Kahveci (who was the hero in the match against the Czechs) who play his club football in Spain (Villarreal), he is dreaming of meeting Spain in the final.
On the team news front now. For Croatia, defender Dario Knezevic will miss the rest of the tournament with a knee injury. Reserve goalkeeper Igor Budan is out as well. For Turkey, Mehmet Aurelio is suspended for this match after acquring a second yellow. Defender Servet Cetin is ruled out with a knee injury. A few other players are going to be out for this one as well - Emre Güngör, Emre Belözoğlu, Tümer Metin.
Due to historical reasons between the two nations, there is always a tendency tensions will rise among both sets of fans. Let's hope for the sake of football, things will be settled peacefully on the pitch in Vienna.
