Croatia hosts France on Thursday in the opening match of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals at Stadion Poljud in Split. France, which has been successful in recent major tournaments, enters the match as the favorite, but Croatia should not be underestimated – the small nation, Hrvatska, is still very much capable of pushing forward under the leadership of Luka Modrić!

Modrić is still Croatia’s best player, period. He’s a bit defensively and athletically limited at this point in his career, as you’d expect for a 39-year-old, but he hasn’t lost any of his ability on the ball. Modrić remains one of the world’s best deep-lying playmakers and it will be a pity to see him go, which is always one day closer.

In last year’s European Championship, Croatia failed to make it past the group stage in the so-called "group of death," failing to secure a single win. However, three matches is a very small sample size, so there’s no need to overstate Croatia’s struggles in football. In the Nations League, Zlatko Dalić’s men lost to Portugal and Scotland away, but they also managed two wins and two draws, which was enough for second place in the group!

Team news - Croatia:

Croatia will be missing Luka Sučić, Lovro Majer, and Igor Matanović for the March window due to injury, and Bruno Petković was also not fit enough for a call-up. Among the veterans, along with Modrić and Mateo Kovačić, Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, and Ante Budimir continue to push forward.

Like Croatia, France is under the guidance of their long-time coach – who would dare remove Didier Deschamps from the helm of Les Bleus! In the Nations League, France began with a bit of a stutter when Italy came to Paris and claimed an impressive victory, but this ignited a fire in France, and Belgium, Israel, and ultimately Italy were all swept aside. France has come to resemble Germany in that the team tends to rise to the occasion only when the real matches begin.

Team news - France:

Kylian Mbappé returns to the squad after taking several breaks. However, missing are Wesley Fofana, N’Golo Kanté, Kingsley Coman, Christopher Nkunku, and the recently injured Marcus Thuram. Antoine Griezmann, on the other hand, retired from international duty last fall.

France is likely to take an early advantage on Thursday, setting up a return leg next week. Les Bleus’ attacking front, led by Ousmane Dembélé and Mbappé, is in top form, and Croatia can expect difficult moments against the speed and skill of France's attackers. The Croatian midfield can not handle the French, in fact, the most athletic of midfields would struggle to slow down Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise on the counter and Croatians are rather slow.

Good luck mates!

周四，克罗地亚将在斯普利特波尔朱德球场举行欧洲联盟四分之一决赛的首场比赛，东道主是法国。法国队在最近的大型赛事中取得了成功，作为最受欢迎的球队进入比赛，但克罗地亚也不应该被低估——在卢卡·莫德里奇的领导下，这个小国家，赫瓦茨卡，仍然有能力向前推进！

莫德里奇仍然是克罗地亚最好的球员。在他职业生涯的这个阶段，他的防守和运动能力有点有限，正如你所期望的那样，对于一个39岁的人来说，但他并没有失去任何控球能力。莫德里奇仍然是世界上最好的中场组织者之一，看到他离开将是一件遗憾的事，他总是离我们更近了一天。

在去年的欧洲杯上，克罗地亚在所谓的“死亡之组”中未能出线，一场胜利也没有取得。然而，三场比赛的样本量非常小，所以没有必要夸大克罗地亚在足球方面的挣扎。在国家联赛中，兹拉特科·达利奇的球队在客场输给了葡萄牙和苏格兰，但他们也取得了两胜两平的成绩，足以获得小组第二！

球队新闻-克罗地亚：

由于伤病，克罗地亚将在3月的转会窗口失去卢卡·苏<e:1>伊奇、洛夫罗·马耶尔和伊戈尔·马塔诺维奇，而布鲁诺·佩特科维奇也没有足够的体能参加征召。在老将中，除了莫德里奇和马特奥·科瓦<e:1>伊奇，伊万·Perišić，安德烈·克拉马里奇和安特·布迪米尔继续向前推进。

和克罗地亚一样，法国队也在他们的长期教练的指导下——他敢于把德尚从蓝衣军团的掌舵人手中赶下来！在国联中，当意大利来到巴黎并取得令人印象深刻的胜利时，法国开始有点磕磕绊绊，但这点燃了法国的火焰，比利时，以色列，最终意大利都被击败了。法国队与德国队的相似之处在于，他们往往只有在真正的比赛开始时才会奋起应对。

车队新闻-法国队：

基利安·姆巴佩尔在休息了几次后回到了球队。然而，错过了韦斯利·福法纳，恩戈洛·坎特维尔，金斯利·科曼，克里斯托弗·恩昆库和最近受伤的马库斯·图拉姆。另一方面，安东尼·格列兹曼（Antoine Griezmann）去年秋天从国家队退役。

法国队很可能在周四的比赛中占据先机，并在下周进行返程比赛。蓝衣军团的锋线，由奥斯曼·登巴姆萨梅斯和姆巴佩尔领导，处于最佳状态，克罗地亚可以期待面对法国攻击手的速度和技术的困难时刻。克罗地亚的中场对付不了法国人，事实上，最具运动能力的中场球员将会努力减缓姆巴佩，奥斯曼·登贝莱和迈克尔·奥利斯的反击，克罗地亚人的速度相当慢。

祝你们好运！