After a one-year delay, Euro 2020 is underway at last. In honour of the tournament's 60th anniversary, the tournament is being held across Europe - an unprecedented event befitting of such unprecedented times as now.
One of the standout fixtures of the opening matchday of the tournament saw England and Croatia face off at Wembley. It was England who came out on top, with Raheem Sterling's goal proving to be enough to give the Three Lions the victory.
As for Croatia, this was not how they would have envisioned starting the tournament. What made this loss even more galling for the Vatreni is that this was arguably not even England's strongest 11. Jordan Henderson and Jadon Sancho did not even feature, while Marcus Rashford came off the bench.
For the most part, the Vatreni have not been able to back up their underdog run to the 2018 World Cup final. In 10 UEFA Nations League matches since, Croatia have won just two and drawn one, losing seven. They only avoided relegation to the second tier of the next tournament by one goal; Croatia's goal difference was -7 to Sweden's -8.
Croatia also suffered an upset loss at the hands of neighbours and regional rivals Slovenia during the qualifiers for next year's World Cup. They were fortunate to have been drawn in a relatively easy group; otherwise, they might have struggled to even qualify for the very same tournament in which they had made the final in the prior edition.
It does appear that Croatia will be added to the list of "one-hit wonder" international football teams. Greece 2004, Turkey 2002, Denmark 1992, and many others before them - none of them could ever back up that one amazing run they had.
When comparing the starting 11 of the team that played in the World Cup final against France to the one which played against England yesterday, the decline is obvious. Of the six players who started both matches, none of them are even close to the level at which they had been playing three years ago. This includes captain and legendary midfielder Luka Modrić. It must be kept in mind that the greatest Balkan player of all time was the Ballon d'Or winner in 2018. While still an excellent player at 35, he was never realistically going to reach those heights again.
On a related note, the future of this Croatian team must be called into question. Modrić is 35, Ivan Perišić and Domagoj Vida are 32, and though they did not play in yesterday's match, Dejan Lovren is 31 while Milan Badelj is 32. All five players have been some of Croatia's leading contributors in recent years. The question then becomes: what next? Croatia could very well be heading for a future in which their best player is Mateo Kovačić. While not a scrub by any means, a team with the Chelsea midfielder as the main man will struggle to even qualify for tournaments, let alone make deep runs in them.
Croatia have had a run like this before. They made the World Cup semifinals in 1998; after that, they did not even advance beyond the group stage of a tournament until Euro 2008. As their World Cup run was so unexpected, a rebuild was always on the cards. The question then becomes: how?
Only six players on Croatia's Euro 2020 squad are 24 or younger; none of them have shown that they might reach the level at which a title contender can be built around them.
Given Croatia's small population and relatively limited historical footballing pedigree in comparison to other European powerhouses, it would be understandable for their fans to "take what they can get". However, after such a run in 2018 and with the national team being the strongest it has ever been, it may have been the case that the country's football association became a little complacent and didn't adequately invest in the national team's future, leading to a likely tough next few years. This will be especially true after Modrić retires.
Croatian fans will surely never forget the magic of 2018; however, results since then have proven to be a reality check. The loss against England only solidifies this point. Surely, a rebuild is coming soon.
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