Solid defending the key to a Croatia win over Turkey: Tokic

SINGAPORE- They are blessed with an abundance of creative midfielders ranging from Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic to Real Madrid duo Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic. But if Croatia are to get a vital opening day win in their Euro 2016 Group D opener against Turkey tonight (9 pm), then they will need to be on top of their game defensively.

That is the view of Croatian forward Niko Tokic, who signed for S.League side Balestier Khalsa last week.

“I would say if you look at the defence, players like Srna (Darijo), Corluka (Vedran) and Strinic (Ivan) are all very experienced and have played in many major tournaments,” said the 28-year-old who scored on his S.League debut against Hougang United on Friday. 

“They will be of big help to the younger players in the team, and I believe they need to be at their best against Turkey.”

In fact, Niko revealed that he is friends with Strinic, who was his teammate at Croatian second division side Hrvatski Dragovoljac some 10 years ago. While he is keen to see Strinic and his teammates get of to a winning start, he cautioned it won’t be easy.

“It will be a hard game tonight against Turkey because we have played them a number of times in the past and it’s always tricky,” explained Tokic, referring to the fact that three of the last four matches between the two countries have ended in draws. 

However, with Croatia set to face reigning European champions Spain and the Czech Republic in their next two group matches, Tokic believes a win would go a long way to ensuring they have a good chance of qualifying for the last 16.

“It is very important to win this first game because as you know the next two matches after this will be even tougher,” he said. “Croatia are in one of the hardest groups in Euro 2016 and we will need to be at our best throughout the tournament.”

If Croatia do manage to keep things tight at the back, Tokic is confident that the firepower they have further upfield can get them all three points.”

“You look at world-class players like Modric and Rakitic, they play for two of the best teams in the world and are coming into the Euros after performing really well in the last season,” he said. “I think they have quality to pick out our main striker (Mario) Mandzukic, who can find the back of the net and fire us to victory.” 

Niko Tokic’s prediction: Croatia 1-0 Turkey