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Crystal Ball: What Needs to Happen Next Round

Group C resumes play Monday, with both matches kicking off simultaneously

Spain vs. Croatia

If Fernando Torres merely shows up, Croatia’s central defense is in trouble. If he plays like he did on Thursday, Vedran Corluka and Gordon Schildenfeld are toast. They’re the worst central defense pairing in the tournament, they don’t play behind a Dutch-esque two-man shield, and Spain almost exclusively attacks down the middle. This should be sufficiently ugly.

At the other end, it will be interesting to see how Vicente Del Bosque deals with Slaven Bilic’s two-forward set up. Against Ireland, his fullbacks were released knowing the Republic uses only one forward. Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique could be left alone. Against Croatia, expect defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets to help keep the man advantage against Nikica Jelavic and Mario Mandzukic.

Italy vs. Ireland

As bad as Ireland looked today, they match up well against Italy. The Italians are at their best when opponents come after them. That’s not going to happen against Ireland. In addition, Italy doesn’t possess a passing game like Spain’s, and they lack the type of target men Croatia used to score on Sunday.

Another approach: Try to generate as many chances as possible. Eventually, one will find net. At least, that’s what happened for France against England. Daniele de Rossi being able to help in the attacking phase (with Ireland only using one forward) can’t hurt.

For Ireland, the two big questions concern motivation and adaptation. Will Ireland be at their best when all they’re playing for is pride? And will Trapattoni finally change things up, having been outscored one-to-seven through two matches.