The second round of the 2008 EURO Quarter Finals gets started, on Friday June 20, with Croatia vs Turkey, at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna. Turkey will be without their starting goalie after he was suspended two games. Will this favor a Croatian team that’s proven themselves offensively throughout the EURO Group stages? Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com think so as Croatia are -115 moneyline favs over Turkey who are listed as +320 underdogs. Get your Croatia vs Turkey: EURO 2008 Quarter Final Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com
Turkey finished second in Group A standings with a 2W-0D-1L record after losing their opener to Portugal 0-2, then beating Switzerland 2-1 and the Czech Republic 3-2. They scored five goals and allowed five. Nihat Kahveci (2), Arda Turan (2) and Semih Senturk are the goal scorers for Turkey. A big blow to the Turks is the two game suspension to goalie Volkan Demirel after he pushed Czech striker Jan Koller to the ground in an off-the-ball incident. He sat on the bench after his dismissal when he should have left the technical area, thus the two game ban. 2002 World Cup keeper Rustu Recber will take Volkan's place. Defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurelio is suspended for the quarter-final after picking up a second yellow card against the Czechs and captain Emre Belozoglu has a hamstring problem and has not played since their opening Group A defeat by Portugal. Central defender Emre Gungor, who was carried off in the second half of Sunday's match, has a calf strain and is out of the tournament. Turkey is going to have to rely on players that haven’t played in this tournament or haven’t played enough. They have a total of seven starting players out. But despite all that’s bad Turkey will continue to attack Croatia. “We have been disappointing in the first half of our matches but I think this happened because we were trying to spot our opponents' weak spots so we could attack them in the second. Against Croatia, we will start aggressively, at a high-tempo.” Defender Sabri Sarioglu added. “Our biggest advantage is that we never give up.”said coach Fatih Terim. Get your Croatia vs Turkey: EURO 2008 Quarter Final Prediction in now
Croatia finished first in Group B standings after a perfect 3W-0D-0L record. They shutout Austria 1-0, beat Germany 2-1 and shutout Poland 1-0. They had four goals for and one goal against. Ivan Klasnic, Ivica Olic, Darijo Srna and Luka Modric are the goal scorers for Croatia. Croatia striker Igor Budan will miss the rest of Euro 2008 with a knee injury and defender Dario Knezevic is out with a knee injury after their 1-0 Group B win over Poland on Monday. Croatia has been impressive throughout Group qualifying but they don’t feel like they’ve proven anything yet by making the final eight. “We don't see ourselves as a revelation any more, although some people perhaps still do. In our own eyes, we haven't achieved anything spectacular by reaching the last eight because that was our primary objective before the tournament started” coach Slaven Bilic said. Croatia have great talent and if they can play as a team instead of depending on individual players, they will be a force to reckon with.
Head to Head: 3 matches played
- Croatia leads 1-0
- 2 matches ended in a draw
- Croatia scored four goals
- Turkey scored three goals
EURO 2008 Quarter Finals: Coatia vs Turkey
When: Friday, June 20 2008 2:45 PM ET
Line: SBGglobal.com
Pick: Croatia -115
Point-Spreads.com Croatia vs Turkey: EURO 2008 Quarter Final Prediction – Croatia -115
The Bottom Line: Croatia don’t just play football for themselves as a team, they play for their country’s pride. They play with heart every time they put on their famous checkered jerseys. Turkey has too many injuries to contemplate and not enough time to gel as a new team. Get your Croatia vs Turkey: EURO 2008 Quarter Final Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 30% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit!
