Things don't look good for Croatia at Euro 2024 in Germany, but they can still turn their fortunes around to reach the next round.
This was stated by Croatian Bojan Hodak who coached Kuala Lumpur to the 2021 Malaysia Cup title.
Hodak still has faith in his nation after the 2018 World Cup runners-up were held to a 2-2 draw by Albania and routed 3-0 by Spain in their first two Group B matches.
Hodak believes Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic is capable of turning his team around by beating defending champions Italy in their last group match.
Hodak said Croatia could still secure an automatic berth by finishing second in the group, or qualifying as one of the best four third-placed teams.
"One draw and one loss is definitely not good. They must win the next match. It also depends on the Italy-Spain match," said Hodak.
"The results after two matches are not good, but let's see the third game. Croatia are a team that do well under pressure... Let's see what they will do in the third game."
Hodak said Croatia's talismanic skipper Luka Modric's decline was expected, along with the rest of their ageing stars who are at the tail end of their international careers.
"It's the end of a generation. Modric is at the end of his career, (Marcelo) Brozovic is playing in the Saudi Arabian league, which is not really the strongest league in the world... He's struggling with the pace in the Euro. There are a few more players who are at the end of their national team careers," said Hodak.
"The national coach needs to make changes, put younger players in, but for a coach, can he make the changes? He has a special bond with the players. If he can make the changes, it's good, but if there's no result, he needs to go.
"A few years ago, Modric was the best in the world; everyone looked at him. He's still playing at a top level, having played a huge number of games with Real Madrid last season. He's not at his best, but this happens to all players at the end of their careers."