Davor Suker used a Seville event to put Spain on alert before Tuesday's Spain vs Croatia meeting at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. Speaking at a Meet, Greet & Table Football event in the city, the Croatia icon said Spain are favourites, but insisted his old side can still cause problems if they are taken lightly.
"Spain are the favourites, but as a Croatian, I want to win. You have an amazing team, a good manager, and ambition. Hopefully you relax, but whenever people underestimate us, we step up," Suker told goal.com. He also pointed to Luka Modrić, saying: "Modric has shown he can still perform. We have incredible quality. Hopefully there will be goals because I don't like 0-0s."
Spain's edge in the numbers
The caution is there for a reason. Spain's unbeaten run has reached 39 games, and they have won each of their last three meetings with Croatia. Sports Mole also reported that Spain have won seven of their 10 official meetings with Croatia, which is why the favourites tag is still doing a lot of work here.
That does not make Suker's warning empty talk. Croatia have their own evidence that this fixture can bite if Spain switch off, and Modrić added another layer by becoming Croatia's oldest-ever goalscorer at 41 during a 2-1 win over Czechia.
Croatia's belief around Modrić
There is a bit of old-school confidence in Suker's words, and it suits a tie like this. Croatia are not being sold as the better team, but they are being sold as a side with enough quality to punish loose defending and a relaxed start.
Spain are still the team with the cleaner recent record, but the message from Seville is that the game should not be treated like a routine home assignment. Tuesday's fixture is there for Spain to control, and for Croatia to test whether the favourites have listened.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
