Without yet knowing if Luka Modric will be available for this next crucial round of 16 match between Portugal and Croatia, next Saturday will be instrumental in both national teams' goals for this tournament. Both have a relatively easy road ahead, their most difficult match on paper will be this one and after they will be able to play against apparently easier sides. Croatia midfielder Cacic gave a small preview of what his side can expect against Portugal.
He spoke about his team's 12-match unbeaten run and the challenge of playing against Cristiano Ronaldo and company: "In this phase of the competition there are no easy opponents and we probably got the most difficult. But we were in the toughest group of Euro 2016 and we successfully went through, so there is no reason not to be confident in this match too. We respect Portugal but we believe in our quality, collective and the character we showed so far. We are looking forward to this new challenge."
On the Portugal side, veteran goalkeeper Eduardo spoke about the young Croatia team who they have much respect for: "They have enormous talent, they're young, they have a strong competitive mentality and they will create a lot of problems for us. We have confidence in our potential and we believe we can beat them. At this stage, there are no easy games. Everyone knows that."
Possible lineups:
Croatia starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Subasic; Srna, Corluka, Jedvaj, Vrsaljko; Rog, Badelj; Perisic, Rakitic, Pjaca; Kalinic.
Portugal starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Patricio; Vieirinha, Pepe, R. Carvalho, Eliseu; Mario, W. Carvalho, Moutinho, Quaresma; Ronaldo, Nani.
Photo credit: Portugal National Team