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Poznan, Group C: Italy v Croatia

The first half of this exciting game belonged to the blue of Italy who despite all their creativity only managed to get one past Croatia.

And what a great goal it was too – a free kick from Andrea Pirlo after 39 minutes.

It could have been and should have much more.

Croatia are a good side, though you would not have guessed it, as italy continued to dominate in the second. However with only a one goal lead, their opponents always had a chance to get back into the game.

And so it came after the 72nd minute, when Mario Manzukic slid one in and it was game on.

Now, Croatia who felt they had a chance to seal the deal.

That did not mean that Italy were out of it either.

And you could never really predict which side would score in the closing ten minutes, which included five minutes of extra time.

Perhaps, the substitution of Mario Balotelli midway in the second half meant Italy lost their edge as Croatia looked the more threatening at the end.

But this a great game between two very fine teams.