"Ireland will qualify all right, I don't know about us but Ireland will definitely get through . . ."
The man offering that optimistic view of Ireland's vital European Championship qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje next Saturday speaks with a certain authority for he is none other than Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban. Your correspondent caught up with Boban at AC Milan's Milanello training ground last Friday where the injured midfielder had just finished another solitary training session.
Currently out because of a complex back and stomach muscle problem, Boban has yet to play for the Italian champions this season while, of course, he also missed out on Croatia's last gasp 1-0 win against Ireland in Zagreb last month. As things stand, he is extremely unlikely to play in Saturday's other all-vital Group Eight clash, Croatia v Yugoslavia, a game that will have a direct bearing on Ireland's final placing. Analysing the situation, Boban seems less than optimistic about Croatia's prospects. "We're a good team . . . much better than Ireland, much better footballers but Ireland will probably qualify and we, well, it is difficult for us . . . All credit to Ireland because they have played well throughout the Group, except for the last game in Zagreb where they were perhaps not so good. "Frankly, Ireland were completely shameless in Zagreb," he says.
"They didn't even try to play football, they just hoped to belt the ball into touch and into the grandstand at every available opportunity. At international level, it's not serious to go and play a big game in that manner . . . Perhaps they were missing Roy Keane, perhaps with him Ireland would have taken a different approach, I don't know.
"I know we didn't play especially well in Zagreb ourselves and people said that the side was missing a bit of creative invention in midfield (from Boban himself perhaps) but at least we went at the game the right way even if we had to wait until the very end before getting the winner.
"Certainly, Ireland were a very different side in Dublin . . . I know everybody says that Ireland beat us that day (2-0) because we were still suffering from France '98 World Cup anti-climax and that's perhaps true. But you have to give it to Ireland because they played well against us that day and deserved to win . . ."
Croatia, of course, have been the major surprise packet at both the last European Championship and World Cup finals, reaching the quarter-finals at Euro '96 (beaten 2-1 by eventual winners, Germany) and reaching the semi-finals at France '98 (again beaten 2-1 by the eventual winners, France). Having thus clearly established their credentials and class, what has gone wrong with their Euro 2000 qualifying campaign?
"The simplest reason for our not playing well comes from looking through our team list," Boban says. "I am one of the few guys in the squad who played regular club football last season, most of the other players were in and out of their club sides and when you don't play regular matches, you simply cannot play at a high-level for your country. Match fitness and match practise is everything . . ."
Neutral observers might also point out that several members of the current Croatia team are no longer in the first flush of footballing youth - goalkeeper Drazen Ladic is 36, midfielder Aliosha Asanovic 33, while defenders Slaven Bilic and Robert Jarni, striker Davor Suker and Boban himself are all 31.
Boban rejects this view, however, arguing that a combination of the lack of match practise for squad members plus an inevitable post-France '98 sense of anti-climax have proved more critical in compromising Croatia's qualifying campaign. Anyway, he adds, talented younger players such as 23-year-old Inter Milan defender Dario Simic have come through into the squad.
On the subject of Croatia v Yugoslavia next Saturday, Boban is extremely reluctant to make predictions: "It will be very hard, very tight, very tough . . . Ireland, however, should be good enough to beat Macedonia".
Croatia's chances against Yugoslavia will have certainly been helped by the long overdue return to full competitive action of Lazio striker Alen Boksic, impressive in Sunday night's 4-4 draw between Lazio and AC Milan and a candidate for a place alongside Suker in a potentially intriguing attack. Boban himself, of course, is destined for the frustration of watching from the sidelines, or so he says.
Watch out for the team selection, however. Last August when Croatia travelled to play Yugoslavia in Belgrade, Boban was scheduled to sit that one out too. However, after a five-day holiday on the island of Brac, he felt so good he persuaded coach Miroslav Blazevic he should play, saying the game had "too much symbolic importance for the captain not to play". Who knows, Boban may feel the same way on Saturday evening. After all, the return Croatia v Yugoslavia tie is not without either symbolism or importance.
