The national teams of Spain, defending champion Italy and Croatia are waging a fierce war to emerge unscathed from the “Group of Death”, as they seek to reach the knockout rounds of the 2024 European Cup in football.
The stubborn Albanian team completes the terrifying trio in the wonderful second group, and is determined not to be merely an addition to the number.
The Spanish national team is considered a candidate to qualify after it defeated Italy and Croatia, on its way to winning the European Nations League in 2023. But those difficult matches revealed that the differences are very small between the three strong teams.
Luis de la Fuente led Spain to its first title since “La Roja” won the European Cup in 2012, when it won its third title in the continental championship.
As for Italy, which defeated England to win the title in the last edition in the summer of 2021, it appears to be a difficult team despite its failure to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The two-time title-winning squad includes several players from Italian champions Inter, led by playmaker Nicolo Barella.
Paris Saint-Germain’s French goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, was a key factor in Italy’s victory in the last edition, and he will be a winning card again.
On the other hand, Croatia was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Spain in the last European Cup, but it has a mix of experienced players and young talent that may take it further on this occasion.
Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia, runner-up at the 2018 World Cup and third in Qatar two years ago, will try to give 38-year-old veteran midfielder Luka Modric a great farewell as he will play in his last continental tournament.
Osasuna’s Spanish striker, Ante Budimir, is having a good season, while it can rely on Mateo Kovacic from Manchester City and Marcelo Brozovic from Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia in the midfield, and Joshko Gvardiol in defense, and thus all its lines appear integrated.
In contrast, Albania has no star names but is able to defend deep and wait for the right moment to counter-attack.
