Football

Croatia's Euro 2024 campaign has hit a roadblock after a humbling 3-0 defeat to Spain in their opening match. The loss has raised concerns about the future of the team's "golden generation," as several key players are nearing the end of their careers.Captain Luka Modric, 38, winger Ivan Perisic, 35, and midfielders Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic, as well as forward Andrej Kramaric, are all in their 30s. Former lynchpins of the national team, including Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic, and Dejan Lovren, have already retired from international football.The average age of the 15 players who featured in the loss to Spain was 28.5 years old. Coach Zlatko Dalic insists that the defeat was not a fatal blow, but there are fears that this could be the end of an era for Croatia.Dalic is expected to opt for a switch in formation, potentially breaking up the midfield trio of Modric, Kovacic, and Brozovic. Brozovic has looked off the pace for Croatia since his move to Saudi club Al-Nassr last year.Despite creating chances against Spain, Croatia were unable to capitalize, and a through ball from Fabian Ruiz split them open and sent Alvaro Morata in on goal to score the first goal."I don't think it looked as bad as the result suggested," said winger Lovro Majer. "It's football, sometimes you concede and you don't score, but it didn't look so terrible."Croatia have experience of recovering from similar positions at major tournaments. They progressed from the group stage at Euro 2020 despite an opening 1-0 loss to England and started their excellent Qatar World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against Morocco.Dalic apologized to the fans after Saturday's defeat and his players vowed to battle on. "We can only promise that we will do our best and fight to the end and that we will celebrate in the next two games and get through the group," said Wolfsburg's Majer.