Euro 2012 Betting Croatia
Welcome to our Euro 2012 Croatia betting and team guide. Here we preview the chances and make our predictions on Croatia for Euro 2012. We also take a look back at their Euro 2012 qualifiying performance and previous appearances at the European Championships.
Croatia Euro 2012 Match Betting Previews
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Rep of Ireland v Croatia 
- Group C - 19:45
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Italy v Croatia - Group C - 17:00
Monday, 18 June 2012
Croatia v Spain 
- Group C - 19:45
Croatia Coach - Slaven Bilić:
Slaven Bilić is the current Head Coach of Croatia and he was appointed in 2006. To date, he has successfully guided Croatia to the Quarter Finals of Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and now Euro 2012 where they qualified via the play-offs!
Before his move into management 43 year old Bilić played as a forceful central defender and is best remembered for his spell in England with Everton and West Ham.
Bilić is well known as a colourful character both on and off the pitch. He can often be seen smoking on the touchline urging Croatia on or playing the guitar with his Croatian band Rawbau! Bilić is also infamous for his controversial quotes like - "With the greatest respect to women, football is the most beautiful thing in the world."
Croatia - Euro 2012 Qualifying:
After a mediocre qualification performance Croatia needed the playoffs to reach the Euro 2012 Finals having finished runners up behind Greece in their group. In the play-off match Croatia convincingly beat Turkey 3-0 on aggregate to book their place at the Euro 2012 Finals.
| Date | Home Team | Result | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/09/2010 | Latvia | 0-3 (0-1) | Croatia |
| 07/09/2010 | Croatia | 0-0 (0-0) | Greece |
| 09/10/2010 | Israel | 1-2 (0-2) | Croatia |
| 17/11/2010 | Croatia | 3-0 (2-0) | Malta |
| 26/03/2011 | Georgia | 1-0 (0-0) | Croatia |
| 04/06/2011 | Croatia | 2-1 (0-1) | Georgia |
| 02/11/2011 | Malta | 1-3 (1-2) | Croatia |
| 06/11/2011 | Croatia | 3-1 (0-1) | Israel |
| 07/10/2011 | Greece | 2-0 (0-0) | Croatia |
| 11/10/2011 | Croatia | 2-0 (0-0) | Latvia |
| 07/10/2011 | Turkey | 0-3 (0-1) | Croatia |
| 11/10/2011 | Croatia | 0-0 (0-0) | Turkey |
Croatia - Past European Championship Performances:
Croatia have a decent record at the European Championships and they have two Quarter Finals appearances to show for their efforts in recent times.
A Quarter Final appearance at Euro 2008 meant hopes we're high that Croatia would kick on and become a real force at International level. However, their failure to then qualify for World Cup 2010 combined with a dodgy qualification for Euro 2012 means Croatia are perhaps being overlooked by both the bookies and punters?
- Euro 1996 - Eliminated In The Quarter Finals
- Euro 2000 - Did Not Qualify
- Euro 2004 - Eliminated Third In Group
- Euro 2008 - Eliminated In The Quarter Finals
Croatia - Player to Watch - Luka Modric
Our player to watch for Croatia at Euro 2012 is their midfield maestro Luka Modric! Modric currently plays for Tottenham primarily as a midfield playmaker where has gained a reputation as one of the best talents in the Premier League.
Modric started his career Dinamo Zagreb where he made 112 appearances and scored 31 goals. After some eye catching performances the big European teams were queuing up and it was Tottenham who snapped him up for a cool £16.5 million in 2008.
During his spell with Spurs, Modric has gone from strength to strength and is now a key player for both his club and national team. His importance was best highlighted in the summer of 2011 when Tottenham turned down a massive £40 million bid from rivals Chelsea for Modric's services!
If Croatia are to progress from Group C and into the knockout stages they will rely heavily on Modric pulling the strings in midfield for the likes of Jelavić and Olić up front!
Croatia - Our Prediction
Croatia have been drawn in Group C at Euro 2012 and on paper they face a tough task to qualify for the Quarter Finals. However, we're not totally convinced Italy and Ireland have enough about them to trouble Croatia and there could be value for punters.
The beteuro2012.com team expect Spain to qualify with relative ease but we're going to side with the unpredictable Croatia to follow them into the Quarter Finals. Slaven Bilic's men may have scraped through qualifying but their team is littered with class players and if on form they can qualify at the expense of Italy and the Republic of Ireland.
From a betting perspective, we don't think Croatia can actually win Euro 2012 but on their day they are more than a match for anybody. We will be paying close attention to Croatia in-play, they will certainly entertain, score goals but can they stop conceding them?
Croatia to qualify from Group C (even money/2.00 at bet365.com), be eliminated at the Quarter Final stage (100/30 at bet365.com) and over 2.5 goals both pre-match and in-play could prove a decent strategy!
Bet on Croatia for Euro 2012:
For all the latest betting odds on Croatia for Euro 2012 please visit our Croatia Republic Euro 2012 Betting Odds page!
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