A look at Croatia, Iceland and Austria – How far could these sides progress?
A fair number of the semi-finalists of these tournaments are teams that you would expect to find there, the powerhouses of world football. What’s often more fun to see is the team that no one really expected to make to the last 4, and yet they find themselves there, having wowed the fans every step of the way. Think of Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup, Turkey and Russia in Euro 2008. Could Croatia or Austria possibly find themselves on an unlikely run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals? Even Iceland performed remarkably well in qualifying and form a cohesive unit, with the efficient Gylfi Sigurdsson performing quite magnificently for them of late.
Croatia have the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic, Mandzukic and Brozovic, the latter three all having good seasons in Serie A while Modric and Rakitic are considered amongst the best players in their position. Austria have David Alaba, Arnautovic constantly catching the eye at Stoke City and Christian Fuchs, who is coming off a splendid season with Leicester.
