I'd just like to go back to the match between Croatia and Hungary yesterday. I think that Croatia didn't look good in the second half. I guess they let their guard down a little bit after Kleinheisler received a red card. But they are at the first place in the group with just two games to play.
Don't forget that Croatia have very difficult and important match with Wales in only 3 days.
We have some old players in the team like Modric, Rakitic etc so it was wise to replace them with younger players so that they can rest and be ready for next match.
Match with Wales is very important for Croatia and can decide about first place in the group.
Also, this match is last chance for Wales.
Wales are yet to beat Croatia in their last five games with the games ending with four wins for Croatia and a draw.Both teams are with a two wins and a draw in their last three international games. A loss will seriously hurt Wales chances since they are currently in fourth place six points behind leaders Croatia but they have one extra game to play against Azerbaijan.
If that game against Azerbaijan didn't happen, then I'd say that Wales doesn't have any chance against Croatia. However, we have seen how Croatian players can quickly "forget to play football" in the game against Azerbaijan. But I'm still pretty sure that Croatian players can easily beat Wales if they repeat the game against Hungary or especially the game against Slovakia.
Also, a win against Wales will probably be a ticket to the EURO 2020 and we wouldn't have to shudder from the match against Slovakia in November.
Croatian coach Dalic has already said that he made a mistake in preparing the match with Azerbaijan, which could be seen as the Croatian players lost power in the second part of the match.
This time Dalic learned a lesson, resting key players like Modric and Rakitic, and psychological preparation is likely to be different.
This is actually going to be a much easier match for Croatia, because if they lose to Wales they can still fix everything in a match with Slovakia in November.
If Wales lose, their chances for Euro become minimal.