- Title: Euro 2016 - Group D Profile
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: CROATIA SPLIT, CROATIA (FILE - JUNE 11, 2015) (REUTERS) HAMBURG STRIKER, IVICA OLIC, TRAINING TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS CROATIA GOALKEEPERS PRACTISING CROATIA PLAYERS LINING UP ON PITCH FOR EXERCISE CROATIA PLAYERS JOGGING JUVENTUS FORWARD, MARIO MANDZUKIC, AND OLIC STRETCHING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS STRETCHING ON PITCH ZAGREB, CROATIA (FILE - OCTOBER 9, 2015) (REUTERS) CROATIA PLAYERS TRAINING ON PITCH REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER, LUKA MODRIC, PRACTISING BALL CONTROL CROATIA COACH, ANTE CACIC, WATCHING TRAINING MODRIC DOING KICK-UPS CROATIA AND SHAKHTAR DONETSK CAPTAIN, DARIJO SRNA, DOING KICK-UPS BARCELONA MIDFIELDER, IVAN RAKITIC, TRAINING MODRIC TRAINING WITH TEAM MATES ZAGREB, CROATIA (FILE - MARCH 27, 2015) (REUTERS) CROATIA PLAYERS WARMING UP CROATIA PLAYERS, LED BY MANDZUKIC, RUNNING CZECH REPUBLIC AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (FILE - OCTOBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ARSENAL GOALKEEPER, PETR CECH WITH BALL CECH AND OTHERS ON PITCH CZECH REPUBLIC COACH, PAVEL VRBA ON THE PITCH CECH STRETCHING BORDEAUX MIDFIELDER, JAROSLAV PLASIL CHASING THE BALL PLAYERS JOGGING / PLASIL EXERCISING TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS TURKEY KONYA, TURKEY (FILE - OCTOBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) TURKEY SOCCER TEAM IN A HUDDLE ON PITCH GOALKEEPERS JOGGING TURKEY COACH, FATIH TERIM WALKING ON PITCH PLAYERS JOGGING TURKEY CAPTAIN AND BARCELONA MIDFIELDER, ARDA TURAN (LEFT) JOGGING WITH TEAM MATE GOALKEEPERS WALKING PLAYERS JOGGING TURKEY ASSISTANT COACH ABDULLAH ERCAN LOOKING ON TURAN TRAINING GALATASARAY STRIKER, UMUT BULUT TRAINING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING BULUT WALKING NEXT TO BEIJING GUOAN STRIKER, BURAK YILMAZ / YILMAZ DOING TRAINING DRILL FENERBAHCE MIDFIELDER, MEHMET TOPAL WALKING ON TRAINING PITCH
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 08:26
- Keywords: Euro 2016 Group D Spain Croatia Czech Republic Turkey
- Location: SEVILLA, MADRID, OVIEDO AND LOGRONO, SPAIN / CURITIBA, BRAZIL / SPLIT AND ZAGREB, CROATIA / AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / KONYA, TURKEY
- City: SEVILLA, MADRID, OVIEDO AND LOGRONO, SPAIN / CURITIBA, BRAZIL / SPLIT AND ZAGREB, CROATIA / AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / KONYA, TURKEY
- Country: Various
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0044JC3QDB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
SPAIN
For all Vicente del Bosque's confidence that he has the right balance of experience and youth to return Spain to their familiar place on the winner's rostrum, questions remain about his best starting line-up ahead of Euro 2016.
On the surface, Spain's qualifying record of nine wins out of 10 going into the tournament looks impressive but they rarely delivered performances to suggest they could pick up a third successive title or banish the memories of their 2014 World Cup failure.
No-one will be keener to prove the doubters wrong than Del Bosque in what looks to be his last hurrah as Spain's coach.
Once again he can call on trusted stalwarts Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Cesc Fabregas, all regulars before or since the 2010 World Cup triumph, this time blending them with a new generation of young players such as Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke and Juventus striker Alvaro Morata.
Another triumph will require a settled spine to his team, yet there remains uncertainty over who will start as central striker and in goal, where the manager must decide whether to demote Iker Casillas in favour of De Gea, whose consistently outstanding performances in the last three seasons contrast with the long-standing captain's waning powers.
Up front, the situation is equally fluid. After leaving out Diego Costa and Paco Alcacer -- top scorer in qualifying -- Del Bosque is likely to opt for Morata as first-choice striker, although he made just 16 league starts for Juventus.
Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz is in the form of his life at the age of 35 and scored more goals than any other Spaniard in the campaign but there are doubts about whether his physical, direct style fits in with Spain's possession game.
At the back there remains an alarming lack of depth to cover for Sergio Ramos, who appears to have hit form at the right time after an inconsistent season, and Gerard Pique, who arrives on the back of another brilliant campaign with Barcelona.
Injury to either would be a major headache because the inclusion of Barcelona's Marc Bartra, who has played relatively little first-team football this season, suggests experienced cover is not at hand.
CROATIA
The ability of central midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic to recover from gruelling club seasons will be essential if Croatia are to make an impact at Euro 2016.
Modric has had another fine season at Real Madrid while Rakitic shone at arch-rivals Barcelona, proving an apt replacement for the club's playmaker Xavi.
The form of both will be crucial to Croatia's adventurous strategy which is based on their lively midfield setting up a potent three-pronged attack led by towering striker Mario Mandzukic.
Euro 2016 is the eighth time Croatia have qualified for a major tournament in 10 attempts as an independent nation. This will be their fourth European Championship and they will look to at least emulate quarter-final appearances in 1996 and 2008 when they were seconds away from advancing to the last four.
Croatia took a 1-0 lead against Turkey with one minute left in extra time but conceded an equaliser with the last kick of the game and then lost the penalty shootout in an epic clash in Vienna.
The Turks again stand in their way in Euro 2016, with holders Spain and the Czech Republic completing arguably the toughest pool of the 24-nation event.
However, the tournament's expansion from 16 teams has given the Croatians a fair chance of progressing from Group D, with the top two from each section and the best four third-placed teams guaranteed knockout-stage berths.
The team can be inconsistent, though, and past campaigns have been marred by dressing-room discontent and fan racism.
In qualifying for France they seemed to be in control of their group after winning four and drawing two of their opening six games, but a 0-0 result at Azerbaijan and a 2-0 defeat in Norway triggered the departure of coach Niko Kovac, who reportedly came to loggerheads with key players.
In his place came 62-year-old Ante Cacic, who steadied the ship to see them finish group runners-up behind Italy.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech fans' primary concern heading into the Euro 2016 finals in France is likely to be the fitness of Tomas Rosicky even though they qualified without help from the gifted playmaker for half of their campaign.
The Czechs topped their qualifying group, twice beating the Netherlands and unearthing new talent in midfielder Borek Dockal, who finished as their top scorer with four goals.
A number of key players, such as Arsenal's Petr Cech, remain from the Euro 2012 team to give them a mix of youth and experience.
However, Pavel Vrba's attack-minded side lack a proven threat up front and rely heavily on playmaking through the middle. No one does that better than a fully-fit Rosicky, although to return to the international stage at the age of 35 with scarcely any game time after a season disrupted by injury is a huge ask.
While his inclusion in the squad may reflect the paucity of alternatives, the emergence of Sparta Prague player Dockal has made the Czechs a more complete side in attack, where David Limbersky can also be a threat coming from deep on the left.
To qualify, the Czechs will almost certainly have to make history because they have never beaten their first two opponents, Spain, who have only once conceded against them in four games, and Croatia, who are undefeated under new coach Ante Cacic.
The Czechs' final group match will come on June 21 against Turkey, who eliminated them from the 2008 finals with two late goals.
At the back they do not always convince and keeper Petr Cech failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their 10 qualifiers.
Their tournament record is formidable, though. As Czechoslovakia, they won the tournament in 1976 and, since independence in 1993, the Czech Republic have qualified for every European Championship tournament, reaching the final in 1996 when they lost to Germany.
TURKEY
Turkish fans worried that their side have been drawn in one of Euro 2016's toughest groups can take comfort from the events of 2008 when Turkey reached the semi-finals of the tournament.
Two of their Group D opponents this time, Czech Republic and Croatia, lost to Turkey in dramatic fashion eight years ago.
First Turkey rallied from 2-0 down to beat the Czechs 3-2 and reach the quarter-finals, then they produced an even more stunning fightback against Croatia.
Having fallen behind in the penultimate minute of extra time, Turkey levelled with the final kick of the game and went on to win a penalty shootout in Vienna.
If they are to reach the knockout stages this time -- Spain are also in their group -- they will need all that famed resilience, which they also showed in qualifying.
After taking only one point from their opening three games, the Turks got their campaign on track with a 3-1 home win over Kazakhstan and a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, the team at whose expense they eventually progressed.
Turkey's revival culminated with a 3-0 home rout of the Dutch followed by a 2-0 win in the Czech Republic and a 1-0 home defeat of Iceland.
Turkey qualified as the best third-placed team from the nine qualifying groups, albeit with a slice of luck as results went their way in the other groups in the final round.
Captain Arda Turan, talented 22-year playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu and striker Burak Yilmaz, who joined Chinese top division side Beijing Guoan after four years at Galatasaray, are the team's backbone.
Most of Turkey's squad play in the country's 18-team first division, with Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray providing the core.
That makes for a compact and well-drilled unit whose midfield, also boasting Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin and Galatasaray's Selcuk Inan, is their strongest suit.
Turkey will bank on the vast experience of their talismanic 62-year-old coach Fatih Terim, who was also at the helm in 2008 when their adventurous football won the hearts of many neutral fans at the tournament. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None