新聞來源 - Goal.com Modric: England Fans Should Follow Croatia Croatia maestro Luka Modric has a proposition for most England fans they daren't even consider, as he believes they should follow Croatia at Euro 2008: the team that knocked them out in the qualifying stages... England fans are by now well-acquainted with Luka Modric, with his ￡16.5 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur towards the end of the season secondary to his masterminding England's downfall at Wembley, on that night when the Three Lions lost at home to throw away their chance of qualification to Euro 2008, which starts tomorrow. Modric has now recalled the time he arrived in the country to join Spurs and was confronted by several English fans who had nobody to follow at this summer's Austria-Switzerland showpiece, and he is hopeful they will forgive and forget that painful night in London and be backing Slaven Bilic's men all the way. "When I was in England to join Tottenham, I was told by its fans that now they will have someone to watch at the European Championship," he recalled. "I hope the English fans will forget that we eliminated them from the championship and that they will support us." Croatia do have their links with the English game. Modric aside, Niko Kranjcar is a fan favourite at Portsmouth, while Vedran Corluka's versatility and work rate have won him respect at Eastlands with Manchester City. Even their coach, Slaven Bilic, was a defender for West Ham United and Everton during his playing days. So admirable has Bilic's motivational and tactical upheaval of his side been that many are pining for the former Hammer to return to the Premier League in a managerial capacity. Fulham's mid-season vacancy was rumoured to tempt the Croat but, unlike Alex McLeish who left for now-relegated Birmingham City, Slaven was not to be tempted. "I'm a big fan of English football but this is sport and we beat them," said a stone-eyed Bilic. "It's as simple as that." Croatia must negotiate their way out of Group B: opening against co-hosts Austria in Vienna on Sunday before facing Germany, the most successful side in the competition's history, but who have failed to register a single win in 2000 or 2004, despite winning the competition in 1996. Finally there is Poland, who did extremely well to pip Portugal to first place in their qualification group, but, taking into consideration Austria's home advantage, may be the easiest team in the group. "It's a very strong group, one of the toughest - Germany are the favourites, not only in the group but in the whole tournament," noted Bilic. "But when we play well, like at Wembley, we can beat any team in the world." Bilic did not give such a glowing review of Austria, going as far as to suggest that Germany's neighbours - in their first ever European Championship - only know one way of playing. "We are prepared for all possible scenarios," declared Bilic. "But the style in which the Austrians play is always the same. "We have watched them as much as possible. They have changed their line-ups a lot but that is for a simple reason: there are only three or four players who merit being selected the whole time." ============================================================================== 相信英格蘭球迷現在都很了解Luka Modric 季末他轉會熱刺 在小組賽又痛擊英格蘭以致於英格蘭失去晉級的機會 Modric回想起他剛加入熱刺的時候遇上了幾名英格蘭的球迷 他們沒有一個人想看這次的歐錦賽 然而他希望英格蘭球迷能原諒和忘卻那一夜 並加入支持克國的行列 Modric說: " 當我加入熱刺的時候 幾位球迷告訴我'現在他們終於有人可以支持了' " " 我希望英格蘭球迷能忘掉我們把他們淘汰的事情 並支持我們 " 除了Luka之外 Niko Kranjcar在港嘴也很有人氣 Vedran Corluka也在曼城贏得球迷的尊敬 克羅埃西亞的主教練Bilic也曾經在西漢姆,艾福頓踢過球 Bilic說: " 我是英格蘭的球迷 但是這是運動 我們打敗了他們 就是這樣而已 " Croatia在B組將面對歷史成績最好的德國 但是德國前兩屆成績不佳 最後一戰面對的是波蘭 他們在小組賽的成績很優秀 第一場的對手奧地利有擁有主場優勢 " 這個小組很強 德國不只是小組熱門也是大賽的熱門 " " 但是我們只要踢的好 就想在溫布里一樣 我們可以贏下世界上任何的球隊 " 談到第一場的奧地利之戰 " 我們準備了各種情況 但是奧地利人的方法總是只有那一套 " " 我們盡可能的看他們的比賽 他們大幅改變先發 但是理由很簡單 他們只有三,四位球員是絕對主力 " -- ┌─────────┐ ┌────┐ │托特納姆熱刺│ │ │ 搜 尋 │進階搜尋∣使用偏好 └─────────┘ └────┘ 搜尋： ⊙所有網頁 ○中文網頁 ○繁體中文網頁 ○台灣的網頁 國家體育場 -> PttFootball -> FootballClub -> Hotspur ※ 編輯: GoldSky 來自: 116.80.29.60 (06/06 19:54)