Spain scrape past Croatia thanks to a late Jesus Navas goal and book their place in the knockout stages as Group C winners. Andrea Pirlo is amongst the points once again for Italy, as Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli break their scoring ducks to seal the Azzurri’s spot in the last eight and leave Republic of Ireland without a point on the board:
Italy 2 Republic of Ireland 0
Cesare Prandelli changed formation for last night’s match with Republic of Ireland. The Italy manager ditched the 3-5-2 system used in the previous couple of games and moved to a more attack-minded 4-3-1-2, with only Giorgio Chiellini keeping his place at the back. The Juventus man looks the only nailed-on defensive option for the Azzurri but his Fantasy owners were left frustrated when he limped off with a possible hamstring problem just before the hour mark, preventing him from picking up a clean sheet. With no many doubts in defence, 6.5 priced Gianluigi Buffon is perhaps the safest best – the keeper is the only member of Italy’s backline to play every minute so far.
Ignazio Abate and Federico Balzaretti came in at right and left-back respectively, with Andrea Barzagli slotting in at centre-half; Christian Maggio, Emanuele Giacherrini and Leonardo Bonucci were all omitted from the first-team. The switches at the back afforded Daniel De Rossi the chance to move into midfield, having played as part of the back-three in the previous two games. Antonio Di Natale partnered Antonio Cassano up top, with Mario Balotelli dropping out.
Andrea Pirlo provided an assist for Antonio Cassano’s opener and has now moved to 19 points in the McDonald’s game – the 8.1 priced midfielder was the only player in Group C to produce attacking returns in all three of his fixtures and is set for heavy investment in light of his nation’s progress to the last eight. Cassano – the only forward to start all three games for Prandelli – was again subbed off midway through the second half, while Balotelli proved a point to his manager by notching the second from an Alessandro Diamanti corner 15 minutes after climbing off the bench. Di Natale was somewhat unlucky not to pick up the points, though; he had six shots and created three goalscoring opportunities for the Azzurri.
For Ireland, Kevin Doyle returned to the starting XI to partner Robbie Keane up front with Simon Cox dropping to the bench in Giovanni Trapattoni’s only change from the Matchday 2 4-0 defeat to Spain. Damien Duff was the chief creator – the Fulham winger provided four goalscoring opportunities, while Keith Andrews managed four of his side’s nine goal attempts before picking up a second yellow close to the final whistle. Priced at 4.0, Andrews was the most popular Irish player in the McDonald’s game with over 10% of Fantasy managers snapping up his services, though with an extra 5.0 in our knockout stage budgets and some decent squad-filler alternatives from the Czech Republic and Greece, there are plenty of budget options still out there.
Spain 1 Croatia 0
Vicente Del Bosque rolled out the same starting XI that hammered Republic of Ireland last Thursday. Fernando Torres continued up top after his double against Trapattoni’s troops, leaving Cesc Fabregas to warm the bench but, worryingly for Torres owners, he was the first to be subbed off as his side struggled to break down a stubborn Croatian rearguard – just 61 minutes were on the clock before he was hauled off for Jesus Navas.
Andres Iniesta picked up his first attacking returns of the tournament by setting up Navas to hammer home the winner, though the former offered plenty threat; he had three attempts on goal and provided four goalscoring opportunities over his 90 minutes. With Fabregas handed just 17 minutes and the likes of David Silva also subbed off, it’s clear that, in terms of value and guaranteed game time, the most secure options are clearly at the back for Spain. Gerard Pique sits on 17 points (just three behind Silva) and is 3.1 cheaper, coming in at 7.5; the Barca man has picked up an extra point due to the recovered balls rule in all three of his appearances. Jordi Alba costs just 6.5 and, like every member of the back-four, has played all 270 minutes of his nation’s campaign thus far, while Iker Casillas and Alvaro Arbeloa both come in at just 7.0.
Slaven Bilic makes a couple of changes for the Spain game. Domagoj Vida came in at right-back, allowing Darijo Srna to move further forward on the right wing, while Danijel Pranjic was handed a starting role on the left wing in a reshuffle that saw Nikica Jelavic drop out as Croatia lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Bilic’s tinkering handed the opposition a problem they struggled to break down but, in turn, it tempered his side’s attacking forays, with lone forward Mario Mandzukic managing just a single attempt all game. The 1-0 loss means Croatia join Republic of Ireland in packing their bags and will see three of the most popular Fantasy assets leave the tournament; Ivan Strinic, Luka Modric and Jelavic found a place in 23.7%, 17.3% and 31.7% of teams, with their former owners likely to shop around for low-to-mid cost alternatives amongst the Greece and Czech Republic squads in the McDonald’s game.
