Today the battles of Group D began. In the first match, the footballers of Turkey and Croatia clarified their relationships. The latter are already being called the "dark horses" of this championship, and some experts even spoke that after a month under Ante Čačić's guidance, we could see his students with a trophy. Meanwhile, Turkey can also surprise - just remember their reaching the semi-finals in 2008. The Croatians sought revenge for the defeat they experienced in the quarter-finals that time. Team lineups: Turkey: V. Babacan; G. Gönül, M. Topal, H. Balta, C. Erkin; O. Tufan, S. İnan; O. Özyakup (46' V. Şen), H. Çalhanoğlu, A. Turan (65' B. Yilmaz); C. Tosun (69' E. Mor). Croatia: D. Subašić; D. Srna, V. Ćorluka, D. Vida, I. Strinić; M. Badelj, L. Modrić, I. Rakitić (89' G. Schildenfeld); M. Brozović, I. Perišić (86' A. Kramarić); M. Mandžukić (90+3' M. Pjaca). The first half started without delay, and both teams began to attack. Already in the second minute, Ivan Rakitić made a decent shot. However, both the Turkish and Croatian defenses worked excellently - there were no dangerous episodes for the goalkeepers and attackers. In the 29th minute, Ozan Tufan had a chance to score, but his shot after Gökhan Gönül's pass was saved by Danijel Subašić. After that, blood was shed on the field and Vedran Ćorluka had to leave the field after a collision. However, the Croatian fans did not mourn this for long, as Luka Modrić led their team forward with an incredible long-range bomb to the opponent's goal. The second half, as expected, started more energetically for the Turks. However, after a few mistakes and a yellow card for Hakan Balta, they slowed down a bit. Then the initiative was taken by the Croatians. Initially, Rakitić shook off several opponents and earned a penalty that Darijo Srna almost scored, and a few minutes later the same captain of the Croatian national team received a loose ball after Subašić's save and shot beside the goal. The game evened out a bit, but Čačić's students' attacks were noticeably more dangerous. One of them came in the 72nd minute when Mario Mandžukić passed to Ivan Perišić, who headed the ball towards the crossbar. The Turkish footballers tried their best, but the organized Croatian defense was too solid for them today. The match ended with a minimum result. Result: Turkey 0 - 1 Croatia [0-1] 41' Luka Modrić When Modrić scores, Croatians never lose: Croatia have never lost when Modrić has scored, winning nine and drawing one #EURO2016 #CRO He also became the best player of the match: Luka Modrić is the @carlsberg Man of the Match #EURO2016 #TURCRO
