France v Croatia Leiria, 7.45While insisting that his players are upbeat about their prospects of beating the French in Lisbon this evening, Croatian coach Otto Baric took out a little insurance by getting the team bus to stop off at Fatima on the way to training last night.
Emmet Malone
"The players are all ready," announced Baric. "They have all been training and there have been no problems but we will stop at Fatima before tonight's session to pray."
On the face of it, the Croats need all the help they can get. Having failed to beat a Swiss side that was reduced to 10 men shortly after the break on Sunday they are badly in need of something out of this game if they are to have any real chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Their preparations have not been helped, though, by their former coach Miroslav Blazevic who, now employed for Croatian television, has taken to berating Baric over his tactics at the team's press conferences.
Baric says he will make changes to his starting 11 but is coy about the extent of the overhaul. Defender Igor Tudor is set to return from suspension while Dado Prso, the team's big striker who picked up a booking against Switzerland, is likely to be rested in order to ensure he is not suspended for the game with England, a match Croatia clearly believe will be more winnable than this evening's game.
It is possible, though, that there will also be other changes.
Jacques Santini has somewhat less cause to meddle with a side hailed in France as the "Kings of Suspense", in the wake of Sunday's remarkable victory over England. A win tonight will guarantee his side a place in the last eight and changes are likely to be kept to a minimum.
Michael Silvestre looks about the most vulnerable of the team that started against England and he may make way for Marcel Desailly. Olivier Dacourt will replace Claude Makelele in the event the Chelsea midfielder fails to recover from a shoulder injury.
"I don't know if Baric is going to opt for a strategy similar to the one used against the Swiss," said the French coach when asked about the defensive approach adopted in the last game by Croatia. "If so, we will have to find solutions to break the lock just like we did against England."
When you have the likes of Zinedine Zidane to call on, it seems, divine inspiration is considered unnecessary.
PROBABLE TEAMS
FRANCE: Barthez; Gallas, Thuram, Silvestre, Lizarazu; Pires, Vieira, Dacourt, Zidane; Henry, Trezeguet.
CROATIA: Butina; Simic, R Kovac, Simunic, Zivkovic; Tudor; Mornar, N Kovac, Rapaic; Olic, Sokoto.
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