Five key take-aways: Ireland vs Croatia

FIFA World No. 8 team Croatia overwhelmed the brilliantly supported Republic of Ireland in the second match of Group C in Poznan. Croatia moved to the top of the table courtesy their own win and the draw between Spain and Italy in the other group match. Let’s have a look at the five key take-aways from the enthralling contest:

Croatia possess the best strike-force in Group C

Injuries to David Villa, Giuseppe Rossi and Bayern striker Iviva Olic had reduced the quality of strikers, not only in Group C, but also in the tournament, to a large extent. Croatian coach Slaven Bilic’s decision to include the in-form Nikica Jelavic as a replacement turned out to be an inspired selection. He combined brilliantly with Wolfsburg’s Mario Mandzukic as the duo scored all three goals between them. Croatia have another equally talented striker Eduardo at their disposal which makes one admire the quality of their strike-force at a time when both Italy and Spain are yet to find the right combination in the final third, an issue which forced the latter to play with three midfielders in an advanced role in their opening game.

Refereeing blunders arrive at the Euros

If football critics, pundits, fans and media were expecting an error-free competition from the referees, they have reasons to be disappointed after this game. Croatia were awarded their second goal in highly controversial circumstances, as the ball took a deflection from Richard Dunne and fell to Jelavic, who was atleast 2 meters offside. The highly debatable offside law, that refers to players “gaining an advantage by being in an offside position”, has been put under the scanner again. There was more outrage from the huge and loud Irish support, as Ireland were denied a clear penalty near the hour mark when Robbie Keane was clumsily hacked by Schildenfeld inside the box.

Ireland lack flair and creativity in midfield

You know you don’t stand anywhere amongst the best when you play Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan in the centre of the park. These two Premier League midfielders are nothing but simply ordinary. Playing for mid-table teams West Brom and Stoke City respectively, Andrews and Whelan were figures of despair on the pitch and looked short of ideas when in possession of the ball. The more creative options in Aiden McGeady and Damien Duff were not used to their potential and the entire width of the Poznan pitch wasn’t utilized by Ireland. A more wide tactical setup, in which the wingers see more of the ball, would have surely reaped more rewards for Giovanni Trapattoni’s team.

Ireland’s Christmas is over, they have one foot out of the door

The defeat to Croatia has all but ended Ireland’s Euro 2012 campaign. With games against defending world and European champions Spain and 2006 world champions Italy to follow, Ireland seem to be heading for the exit. Their phenomenal 14-match unbeaten international streak came to an abrupt end and it’s difficult to imagine them getting anything out of their remaining two fixtures. As far as Spain and Italy are concerned, they’ll be instructed to do a professional job against the boys in green while Croatia will be fancying their chances of advancing to the knockouts, more so after Spain and Italy played out a draw.

UEFA should ban whistles and flares in stadiums

One of the most annoying aspects of the game at the Municipal Stadium in Poznan was the constant use of a duplicate referee whistle from a fan in the crowd. The fact that the whistle being blown was surprisingly of a similar decibel level to the one being used by Bjorn Kuipers made it even harder to distinguish. There were many instances when the players ended up following the fake whistle and the perpetrator did a decent job of almost prematurely blowing the full-time whistle.

The match also saw flares and firecrackers being used by a section of the Croatian support right after their team’s second goal. The referee had to delay the resumption of proceedings by a couple of minutes until the smoke cleared up. More importantly, it has given UEFA ample reasons to ban the use of such disturbing elements inside the venue and encourage fans to use other less intrusive objects of entertainment.