2 rounds of 1 point! Croatia is in a desperate situation, the magic flute does not sound, the sword rusts, the professor is inaccurate, and the golden generation is withering

Lazy Meow Sports

2024-06-19 23:12Published in Sichuan

In the world of football, there is no such thing as a winner. When the golden generation has gradually grown old and the younger generation is not in stock, decline has become an inescapable fate.

On June 19, Beijing time, in the first game of the second round of the group stage of the European Cup, Croatia played against Albania. One is ranked 10th in the world and the other is ranked 66th in the world, and the difference in strength between the two teams is obvious.

But Croatia's pace was clearly too slow, and Albania instead created more chances. In the 11th minute, Razi's header gave Albania the lead.

In the second half of the game, Croatia scored two goals in 3 minutes to complete the overtake, one of which was an own goal from Jasura. However, Croatia was too conservative in the face of Albania after taking the lead and failed to hold on to the victory.

In the 95th minute, Jasura scored a goal to redeem himself.

In the end, Croatia drew 2-2 with Albania, the weakest team in the group. In the first round of the group stage, Croatia lost 0-3 to Spain. After two rounds of the Group of Death, Croatia have only one point. In the final round, Croatia will face defending champions Italy.

According to the performance of the first two games, Croatia was more than lucky. Perhaps, the swan song of the golden generation, there are only 3 group games.

Aging Croatia, why can't it grow old and be strong?

The 36-year-old left Tottenham Hotspur to return to the Croatian league and made just seven league appearances in half a season, five of which came as a substitute. The saber that couldn't run back then was already dying.

The 32-year-old Brozovic left Inter Milan and came to the Saudi league for more income and became teammates with Ronaldo. Although he scored five goals in 43 games and also provided 12 assists, the stats look pretty good. However, the intensity and level of confrontation in the Saudi league are far less than those of the five major leagues.

When it comes to a major tournament like the European Cup, the decline in Brozovic's ability is obvious. Xu Yunlong, a famous national security player and former international player, said bluntly in the commentary that as a midfielder and as the team's metronome, Brozovic's push speed was obviously slow, which directly slowed down the overall rhythm of Croatia, and when defending, Ronaldo often lost his position.

The 31-year-old left Chelsea last summer to move to Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola has long been a favourite of Kovacic. However, Kovacic has not yet integrated into Guardiola's tactics, and has started more from the bench, and he is known as the "football professor", who has made 30 appearances this season, scoring one goal, zero assists and four yellow cards.

Looking at the 38-year-old Modric, the Magic Flute's pass is still an iconic highlight, perhaps because of the relatively short interval between cup matches, Modric's physical strength is difficult to sustain the 90 minutes of high confrontation. Judging from the field, Modric has slipped quite a bit from his peak self.

In terms of age, this is also normal, in Real Madrid, Modric has faded out of the main lineup, more from the bench.

By the time of the next European Championship, Modric will be 42 years old, Kovacic will be 35 years old, Brozovic will be 37 years old, Perisic will be 40 years old, and the golden generation will finally come to an end.

Of course, for the Plaid Legion, which has a total population of only 4 million, it is also completely normal for a short period of time.

Finally, let's take a look back at the surprises that Croatia's golden generation has brought to fans:

In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Croatia entered the final as a dark horse, losing 2-4 to France and winning the runner-up.

In the final of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Croatia lost to Spain on penalties and unfortunately finished second. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Croatia defeated Morocco 2-1 and won the third place.

……

Euro 2024, 0-3 Spain, 2-2 Albania......

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