By Jay Mwamba
Croatia
Group G
Last time around, Croatia emerged from the rubble of the old Yugoslavia federation to stun the soccer universe by reaching the semifinals of France ’98 on their World Cup debut.
Coached by Miroslav Blazevic, whose attempt to lead another bunch of outsiders to the finals was thwarted by Ireland in last November’s playoffs, Croatia bumped off Romania, Germany and the Netherlands en route to a sterling third-place finish.
In the individual honors, Davor Suker left France ’98 with the Golden Boot award as the tournament’s top scorer, along with the title of world’s best striker on account of his seven-goal tally from as many matches.
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It was a lofty debut indeed by any measure and one that the Croats will be hard pressed to emulate in Japan/Korea ’02. Theirs is an aging, injury-prone squad whose key players are on the downside of once illustrious careers.
Now under the tutelage of Mirko Jozic, who qualified the team by a point — albeit undefeated — over Belgium in European zone Group 6, Croatia are led by a quartet of thirty-something veterans, some of whom got their international start with the former unified Yugoslavia.
The 33-year-old Suker is easily his country’s most successful footballer, largely on account of his France ’98 heroics. But he’s lost a step or two up front in the four years since and is no longer the eagle-eyed finisher of old. This fact is highlighted by his latest comeback bid with 1860 Munich in Germany after several months in soccer limbo.
Still enamored with Suker despite his dip in form, Jozic has been leaning towards playing the slowing goal-poacher in midfield.
A year younger than Suker, and more likely to make an impact in the scoring department, is the star-crossed Alen Boksic, who, at any rate, will be just happy to make the trip. It will be a case of third-time lucky for the powerful attacker, a member of the Yugoslav bench at the 1994 World Cup finals in Italy, if he avoids injury before the finals.
A player of refined technique, both on and off the ground, who has flirted with greatness on stops at Hajduk Split, AS Cannes, Olympique Marseille, Lazio, Juventus, and now Middlesbrough, the towering Boksic missed Euro ’96 in England and France ’98 because of injury.
Blonde midfield ace Robert Prosinecki, another once promising European star now toiling in the second-tier English First Division with Portsmouth, and seasoned defender Robert Jarni of Las Palmas in Spain are the other senior citizens in Jozic’s squad.
Both are 33 and along with Suker, Chelsea linkman Mario Stanic, Stuttgart’s Zvonimir Soldo, Juventus hard man Igor Tudor and Dario Simic (Inter Milan), played in France ’98. Jarni was also capped by the old Yugoslav regime.
However, with advanced age comes the risk of injury and Croatia have in recent times become a magnet for bad breaks.
Apart from the brittle Boksic, the fitness of the notoriously injury-prone Prosinecki, a heavy-smoker, is always a source of concern. In addition, Tudor has also been plagued with injuries, while Jozic has all but given up on the sidelined Kovac brothers from Bayern Munich, Robert and Niko.
On the field, Croatia’s performances have not matched domestic expectations since Jozic, heavily criticized for sacrificing the team’s attacking philosophy for a more defensive approach, succeeded Blazevic three games into the qualifiers.
The difference is discernable in Croatia’s World Cup stats, which show that they scored only 15 goals in eight qualifiers while conceding just two. It’s also been evident in their build up to the finals. Fielding Suker and Boksic, they recently played out two goalless draws with Slovenia and Bulgaria, prompting a national outburst.
Among the critics was Blazevic, who thundered: “Jozic has betrayed our traditional offensive approach. Imagine this — we did not have a single shot on the goal in the last game.”
They’ll certainly have to crank up their game several notches just to stay alive in the first round, which is infinitely more challenging than that (group winners Argentina aside) posed by the starry-eyed Jamaicans, and the still raw Japanese in France four years ago.
This time around, Croatia are drawn with Italy, Mexico and Ecuador in Group G.
And it may not be comforting for Jozic that his side tackles its two toughest opponents, Mexico (June 3, Niigata) and Italy (June 8, Ibaraki), first before closing with Ecuador (June 13, Yokohama).
But conceivably, two ties from those two matches and a win in the final game could see them through to the next round, where the pressure and heat may finally take its toll on a side with one too many players long in the tooth.
(Each week, Jay Mwamba previews a World Cup finalist or finalists. The teams profiles to this point are Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Denmark, Uruguay, Senegal, France, Paraguay, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Turkey, the United States, South Korea, Portugal, Poland, Nigeria, Sweden, Argentina and England.)