Belarus Has A Surprise For Croatia

In the match for second place in the group against Belarus, Eduardo da Silva joined Croatia. Both managers are sure of victory.

Belarusian football squad manager is determined that his team will give 100 percent to win against Croatia and secure second place in group 6 of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, UEFA website claims. In an analysis of the upcoming match, they point out the match is essential for second place, while both managers are sure of victory. Also, it is pointed out that Croatian attacker Eduardo da Silva is back.

Second place

While England is firmly at the helm, Belarus, Croatia and the Ukraine are in the run for the second position. Croatia and Belarus will meet today in Minsk, and then in Zagreb on September 5: none of the teams can afford to lose.

England is ahead with 21 points, Croatia and the Ukraine have 11, while Belarus has 9, but Stange is convinced they will beat their rivals today. However, Croatia manager Slaven Bilic said all options were open. Even if they lost in Minsk, they can be second, but also, it is possible for the team not to qualify if they do not will all other matches.

Victory is mandatory

- We must win at home – Belarus manager Bernd Stange said. This is his first manager role at a big competition.

- At first sight a draw against a team as strong as Croatia might be considered a good result, but we`re still in the race for second and we will fight to win. Have you heard of SV Eintracht Trier? I don`t think so, but this team from the fourth division beat Hannover 96 in the German Cup recently. That happened because they played with all their heart. We will try to do the same - Bernd Stange said.

Confident Bilic

Captain of the Belarus team Aleksandr Hleb is not in full form, but he promised to give it his best for as long as he can.

- I want us to score one or two goals during this time – Hleb said.

Croatia manager Slaven Bilic will do his best to prevent Hleb from his target.

- The most important thing is that we are at full strength. Other than Robert Kovac, there are no new injuries to report so for the first time we will be able to play our full side. Of course, Robert Kovac is missing, but it`s good news he's the only one. We are motivated and full of optimism. We believe we are working well – Bilic said.

Eduardo`s return

The key of success for the Croatian squad could be the comeback of attacker Eduardo da Silva, who was unable to play after suffering an injury as Arsenal played Manchester United in May. Da Silva is under a lot of pressure, because Croatia is counting on him to compensate for the 2:2 results the team ended up with after playing against the Ukraine in June.

- Hold on, I am not playing alone. The team should win the match and I am sure it will be like that – Da Silva said.

The question can Belarus, which is ranked 74 th, surprise Croatia, which is ranked 10 th in the world, becomes meaningless if we know that Croatia does not have an alternative. After a long time, Bilic has compiled a short list for the match, but points out that the amount of players is compensated with their quality.

After a long break, the list includes Dudu and Vukojevic, while recovered Kranjcar is expected to play in the first line-up, along with runje, Corluka, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic, Srna, Modric and Olic, while Petric, Rakitic and Juric will be on the bench in the beginning.

Although the Croatian team announces their best, this will hardly be enough for the fans in face of possible defeat. Not qualifying for the World Cup will be considered a real disaster.