the tournament develops. I remembered Ireland from their playoff match against France back in 2010 (the one with the infamous Henry handball). Most of that team played here, but what happened to them ? 2 years ago, they were able to pass the ball nicely enough. Solid, disciplined, functional and not very beautiful, but still capable. Today, they were just kicking it forward aimlessly without any ideas about what to do with it. It was like seeing a coloured film of a 1930's match... I was very impressed by Croatia. They have several attacking weapons -- Rakitic, Perisic, Eduardo, Kranjcar, Jelavic, Mandzukic, etc. -- and seem flexible enough to cope with contrasting approaches. It's difficult to see them advancing to the next round, but they should put up a good fight against Spain and Italy. Stephen on June 11, 2012 at 12:51 am Great analysis as ever ZM, did you not think Doyles withdrawal was strange ? seemed to be giving Corluka a difficult time in the first half, Mcgeady was outrageously annonymous john on June 11, 2012 at 1:25 am as an irish fan i never expected us to control the game. i am just disappointed at the soft goals conceded. i expected us to be more resilient MARIO on June 11, 2012 at 1:59 am Again, zm, you are underestimating Croatia. I have to admit, that i had doubts about this team, but if i would watch this game alone, without prior matches from Croatia or Ireland, Croatia