Croatia should beat Portugal & other picks for the quarters
Croatia v Portugal | The collective versus the individual
Set at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, this fixture, just like several others in this round is highly unpredictable. The Croats had a very impressive group stage run, finishing ahead of defending champions Spain in group D, and even coming from behind to beat the Spaniards in their final group game to stamp their superiority in the group.
It was however a different story entirely for Portugal, who could only finish as one of the best third-placed teams in a seemingly soft group that had Hungary, Iceland and Austria. They finished with only three points from the group, and had to rely on the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo to pull out a 3-3 result against Hungary in their final group game.
But that being said, this stage is set for the team that would make the least mistakes and takes its chances when presented. So the Saturday clash is expected to be a completely different ball game.
While Portugal appear to have more renowned individual players like Ronaldo, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Pepe and new kid on the block Renato Sanchis, the Croats have succeeded in showing that sometimes all these don’t count.
That is not to say they lack brilliant individual players of their own, as Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic has shown thus far, but they appear to have a better team ethic than the Portuguese.
It will be a tough game no doubt and Portugal have shown over the last few tournaments that they can progress very far in a competition despite a slow start in the group stages and that is one thing the Croatians will be wary of.
It is a tough call here but judging by how the teams fare in the group stages, it is easy to tip Croatia to progress but would you bet against Ronaldo and Portugal?
Prediction: Croatia 2-1 Portugal
The Swiss came second behind group A winners and hosts France, and while they weren’t spectacular during the group phase, they did enough to earn a place in the round of 16.
In a group that also had Albania and Romania, nothing less would have been fathomable for them. But going into the knockout stage, they know they have their work cut out and must be much more effective than they were during the group stages.
And talking about effectiveness, one team that proved to be very effective in the group rounds was Poland. Paired in group C with Germany, Ukraine and Northern Ireland, the Poles stood out with their compactness and organization which was most evident in their second group game against Germany.
All that being said, it will be a game involving two very organized sides that could end up being decided by one moment of sheer brilliance. Just to underscore how organized they are, Switzerland conceded just one goal while Poland conceded none in groups that had France and Germany respectively and both teams even held the French and Germans – the toughest opponents in their groups – to goalless draws in their respective games.
They also didn’t score much either, with both sides scoring two apiece but the format of the competition probably encouraged teams to defend better and pay slightly less attention to scoring, seeing the possibility of having three teams from the same group progress.
Jakub Blaszykowski has been in fine form for the Poles and while talisman Robert Lewandowski is yet to find the back of the net, he has also proved a handful for opposing defenses.
For Switzerland, Granit Xhaka has somewhat lived up to the pre-tournament hype as has been evident in him winning the man-of-the-match awards in the three group games, while Breel Embolo has also been impressive.
It may be a difficult game to predict seeing how close both teams appear to be, but it does look like Poland have a slight edge, in terms of team organization and individual quality, which may turn out to be the deciding factor on the day. But don’t also rule out the possibility of a penalty shootout.
This appears to be one of the more predictable games in this round. Hosts, playing in front of their home fans, with what seems like a better team and a better set of players, against a team that is yet to make any meaningful impact in a major tournament, and really surprised themselves by getting into the knockout rounds.
But stranger things have happened in football, haven’t they?
While the French will look to impress their home support by winning and progressing to the quarter final, there could be an entirely different motivating factor for the Irish.
It was France; it was Thierry Henry, who stopped the Republic of Ireland from going to the World Cup in 2010, when the former Arsenal striker stopped a goal-bound effort with his arm inside his goal, with the referee waving play on.
Who knows, that might be what will be playing on the Irish minds, except of course, the opportunity of stunning the hosts in front of their own fans and progressing to the quarters.
France expectedly finished first in Group A, with Dmitri Payet the new hero of French football, while N’Golo Kante has not looked out of place in his maiden appearance at an international tournament.
The Irish, meanwhile, only qualified third from group E. Robbie Brady is the new hero following his late goal that sealed an unlikely 1-0 win over Italy in their final group game and also their place in this round.
But as sweet and as romantic as that sounds, this appears to be the end of their journey in the competition and I doubt even the Irish themselves will bet on them progressing at the expense of France.
Prediction: France 3-1 Rep. of Ireland
The battle of the British. And a very unlikely battle at this stage of the competition for that matter. Wales surprisingly topped group B that had Russia, Slovakia and England, while Northern Ireland finished third in group C, and would not have qualified if the tournament had not been expanded.
But Michael O’Neill would be thankful it was, as his team now face their British brethren with Gareth Bale in fine fettle in the round of 16.
While Wales wouldn’t have been overwhelming favourites only a few years ago, they still would have been tipped to win this one and it is the same thing that is expected when both sides clash at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
The Northern Irishmen lost to Germany and Poland in the group as expected, but got a surprise 2-0 win over the very poor Ukraine which turned out to be enough to see them through, but it wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination.
It was the complete opposite for Wales, however, as they enjoyed their first major tournament since 1958 with impressive victories over Slovakia and Russia in between a heartbreaking loss to England.
While it is difficult to select any individual player that has raised the roof with his performances in the Northern Ireland side, it is the complete opposite in the Welsh camp as talisman Gareth Bale has so far lived up to expectations, while Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen have hugely impressive as well, and not forgetting captain Ashley Williams.
Most of the games in this round appear to be somewhat too close to call, but this certainly isn’t one of them as Wales should go through.
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