Croatia players celebrate their win with supporters.
When Croatia meet Spain in
their final Euro 2016 group match on Tuesday there will be as much
scrutiny of developments in the stands as on the pitch.
The wilder element of the Croatian supporters have caused trouble at
both of the country's games so far and European soccer's ruling body
UEFA was expected to make an announcement on its probe into their
behaviour later on Monday.
UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings after Croatia fans threw flares
and ran on to the pitch during their opening Group D game, a 1-0 win
against Turkey.
Then Friday's 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic was halted with four
minutes to play when supporters again threw flares and fought among
themselves.
After the teams returned to the pitch, Croatia's players felt their
concentration had been disturbed, which contributed to the Czechs
scoring a late equaliser with a penalty.
That means instead of already having qualified for the last 16 along
with Spain, Croatia still require a point from Tuesday's game, adding to
the tension of the occasion.
The Spaniards, however, have not been blameless in a tournament which has seen several incidents of bad behaviour from fans.
Three of Spain's followers were arrested in Nice for carrying
neo-Nazi banners, and another three for trying to bring flares into the
stadium ahead of the match against Turkey.
The Croatian FA's security officer said on Saturday they had told
UEFA and the police there would be a planned demonstration near the end
of the Czech game and they have further information about Tuesday's
match, which they will pass to the authorities.
"We lost our pace when play was suspended because of our supporters," midfielder Ivan Rakitic told reporters.
On Sunday he preferred to talk about the pleasure and apprehension of
facing friends and team mates from Barcelona in the Spain team, like
Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.
"I’ve spoken to them a bit," he told a news conference. "We know it’s
going to be tough because we are aware of their individual and team
quality.
"But we have to show that we can hold our own against them. We have to impose ourselves and make them worry about us."
That will be more difficult if Croatia's influential playmaker Luka
Modric is unfit, as expected, placing even greater importance on
Rakitic's role.
Although Spain have already qualified, they want to win the group and
meet a third-placed team in the last 16. Losing to Croatia would mean
coming second and facing Italy, the winners of Group E.
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