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Portugal vs Croatia Match Preview, Predictions & Free Bets
Portugal and Croatia complete their pre-tournament preparations with a meeting in Lisbon on Saturday.
The Final Exercise
Both Portugal and Croatia have experience of going deep within international tournaments, can they go all the way in Germany?
Going The Distance
As the last wave of pre-tournaments bets are made before this year’s European Championships, Portugal find themselves as current fourth-favourite and when you consider the quality within their ranks, you can begin to understand why.
The easy starting point when looking at that quality is Cristiano Ronaldo and although his Saudi Arabian sojourn means he is not quite as prominent as he once was, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid icon considers international football as his optimum environment.
An environment that has seen the 39-year-old score the most international goals ever and with a tally of 128 before events in Germany get underway, you get the feeling 129 and more are not going to be too far away.
Then again, it is not just Cristiano Ronaldo that will be ready to torment opposition defences and with Goncalo Ramos stealing his limelight in Qatar two years ago, the PSG forward will be ready to usher in the next era of potential Portuguese success.
Add a midfield that includes the likes of Bernado Silva and Bruno Fernandes and the two Manchester rivals will be playing in front of respective defensive teammates Ruben Dias and Diogo Dalot.
Now that talented crop has one more practice game before the intensity of international football increases and it is a test that comes in the form of Croatia – a nation that reached the 2022 World Cup semi-finals.
A squad that if they were accused of not having the legs in Qatar two years ago, will only face further accusations in 2024 and once again, the question will be just how much the team can squeeze out of Luka Modric in the middle of the park.
With the 38-year-old collecting another Champions League trophy just a few days ago, he has also managed to collect a one-year extension on his Real Madrid contract and the diminutive midfielder will be the metronome for everything that makes Croatia tick.
While like Portugal looking to elder statesmen, Croatia also have the ability to look toward those who are tasked with leading the next generation and with Josip Gvardiol finding his form for club at just right time, he will now be tasked with carrying it over to his country.
But now it is time for the first of my two tips and with Portugal winning four of their last five and Croatia doing the same, the parallel form guides only point to one thing. A draw and both teams scoring at odds of 9/2.
In addition to this, I am going to make things interesting as the visitors take the lead and with Andrej Kramaric tasked with getting Croatia’s goals, I am backing the former Leicester man to break the deadlock at odds of 10/1.
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