Croatia head in to this morning’s clash with Italy knowing that taking the three points here will be enough to see the Balkan nation into the quarter-finals of the tournament. Join us from 2am AEST as we bring you live scores and blog of the important Euro 2012 clash.
Slaven Bilic’s farewell tour began brightly with a comfortable 3-1 over the Republic of Ireland, and at around 4am in Poznan, we’ll know if they become the first team to stamp their ticket into the next round.
Italy fought for a tough point in their opening match of the group against favourites Spain, and arguably could have come away with all three were it not for a couple of skittish moments in front of goal – Mario Balotelli being the chief offender.
It was be interesting to see if Donadoni sticks with the Manchester City man who divides opinion so, or if he wants to give a start to the goalscoring hero of Game 1, Antonio Di Natale – whose well taken goal was a lesson to all the misfires we saw in front of goal in this one (especially you, Fernando Torres).
They will try to take down a Croatian team led by Manchester United/City/Chelsea/PSG-bound Luka Modric, deadly marksman Nikica Jelavic and a supporting cast full of talent, and alarmingly bereft of vowels in their surnames.
Regardless, this promises to be a high quality encounter between two of Europe’s top nations, and I’ll be glued to the TV screen and computer screen bringing you updates. I hope you will be too.
Join us just before 2am for all the team news, line-ups and formations.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
A much, much better second half from the Croatians. Italy were a bit average in the second half and that one golden chance for Mandzukic made them pay. A draw is also the best result for the Irish, and for the neutrals, as it means we can't have any dead rubbers on the final day. The media will no doubt attack Mario Balotelli again and I can't see the youngster getting a third straight start with another disinterested performance. That said, no Italians were above criticism in the second stanza. I'll see you all again shortly for the second game of the night. Feel free to drop me a tweet @TheMattBungard or @TheRoarSports
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
FULL TIME ITALY 1 CROATIA 1
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
96th min, 1-1 Kranjcar from distance!! It's beaten away by Buffon and that should be enough..
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
94th min, 1-1 Mandzukic is carted off, and Kranjcar will come on for the dying seconds
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
91st min, 1-1 Italy on the attack but too much congestion to get a shot away. Poor communication from the Azzurri there.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
Five minutes of added time...enough for a hero?
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
90th min, 1-1 Strinic with an ill-advised shot from a tight angle, it's out for a goal kick.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
89th min, 1-1 Croatia are piling on the pressure, Italy doing enough to clear it away before something opens up
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
86th min, 1-1 Schildenfeld in the book as he was adjudged to be holding back Giovinco.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
85th min, 1-1 Srna takes no chances there as he hoofs it away for a corner...but it comes to nothing for the Italians.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
and at the same time, Italy will bring on Giovinco and take off Cassano.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
83rd min, 1-1 Jelavic off, Eduardo on.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
82nd min, 1-1 Croatia forward on the counter, Jelavic in acres of space but he elects to pass instead of shoot and turns the ball over.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
80th min, 1-1 Yellow card for Montolivo as he clattered into the back of Mandzukic
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
79th min, 1-1 Great souvenir for a bloke in the crowd as Howard Webb deems that ball unusable and it's punted into the stands
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
77th min, 1-1 Flag is up against Maggio, but he flashed it wide from a good position anyway.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
76th min, 1-1 Montolivo with a long range effort that's parried away by Pletikosa
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
75th min, 1-1 Jelavic was clean through there but he was well offside, and flagged as such.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
74th min, 1-1 More smoke engulfs the field from the flares. Idiots.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
Wow. That really came out of nothing. A lovely ball from Strinic, Mandzukic took a touch and lashed it in off the upright. Croatia are level, and that's the reward for a much more proactive second half!!