The Croatian flair was missing in the first game against the co-hosts Austria, and the team that are perennially taken to the hearts of many folk now face the mighty efficiency of the German side, who have cold hearts and no sentimentality when it comes to finishing off their opponents. Just ask Lukas Podolski, who having virtually secured the win with his first goal against Poland (when did Germany ever lose a 1-0 lead?) twisted the knife further in the hearts of his forefathers by bagging himself a second. ‘Feel the cold steel, Poland,’ you could almost see him think.

The stats show that Podolski was as clinical and clean as he was hard-working. The heat map below shows him hugging the left wing, making occasional forays into the middle of the park only when it was deemed necessary. He touched the ball just 5 times when inside the Poles’ penalty area – and came up with two goals – now there’s a model of efficiency if ever there was one.

The possible flaw in the German efficiency is highlighted in their pass accuracy rate. With the ball reaching its intended target 77.71% of the time, there may be a small light at the end of the tunnel for Croatia if they can ‘get amongst them’ and harry the opposition into making more mistakes. They’ll have to step up their own game however, as their own stat is a less than impressive 66.86% completion. One suspects the German team won’t be happy with 4^th place in this particular table.

Tom thinks this will be a clinical 3-0 to the Germans

Jack, on the other hand, thinks Croatia will see an unlikely Slaven Bilic-style victory 1-0

Stats, as ever, powered by http://www.castrolindex.com