Netherlands welcome Croatia to Rotterdam for the UEFA Nations league semi-final on Wednesday night. Netherlands blitzed and dominated the competition in League A Group 4 to make the final stages, while the Ukrainians overcame the reigning champions France in League A Group 1, and a hugely intriguing night of football is expected in Rotterdam. Having reached the quarter and semi finals of the World Cup, respectively, only to see their runs come to a halt at the hands of eventual tournament winners Argentina, both nations are placed inside the top ten of FIFA's world ranking system with the Dutch in sixth and the Croatians in seventh. Before the World Cup campaign, the Netherlands laid down quite the marker in the UEFA Nations League, taking 16 points from a possible 18 against Belgium, Poland and Wales to sail through to the final four. Meanwhile, Croatia capitalised on France's misfortunes to finish at the summit of League A Group 1 in the Nations League, taking 13 points from six games against France, Denmark and Austria to make the finals for the first time. I am expecting a draw or a win for Croatia for the following reasons:

Firstly. No team in League A accumulated more points than Ronald Koeman's team, whose tally of 14 goals was also the highest in the top tier, and only in a 2-2 home draw with Poland did the 2018-19 runners-up fail to take maximum points. Coming back from their World Cup campaign which ended in the hands of the Argentines, Netherlands were trashed 4-0 by France in their opening game of the Euro Qualifiers in March. They however recovered in their next match against the minnows, Gibraltar, by beating them 3-0. So, they are relatively in a good form.

Secondly. Croatia came back from the World Cup campaign with a bronze medal to add to the silver medal they got from the 2018 World Cup. Since their return, they have drawn and beaten Wales and Turkey respectively to kick-start their Euro Qualification campaign and are currently heading their group pack. Croatia recovered from a nightmare start in their Nations League group campaign, in which they lost 3-0 to Austria in the opener, to string together a five-game unbeaten run in the section, winning each of their final four games while conceding just two goals.

These two teams look almost equally-matched that the stage is almost set for a draw to be played out. But Croatia have shown to be a more formidable force by their performances in the most recent outings in the World Cup and Euro qualifications. The advantage tips to their side to get a probable win from the encounter. So, I will have my money on a win or a draw for Croatia.

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荷兰欢迎克罗地亚队在鹿特丹参加周三晚上的欧洲联盟半决赛。荷兰队在联赛第四组的比赛中占据了优势，进入了决赛阶段，而乌克兰队在联赛第一组战胜了卫冕冠军法国队，一个非常有趣的足球之夜将在鹿特丹上演。这两个国家分别进入了世界杯的四分之一决赛和半决赛，但却在最终的冠军阿根廷手中止步不前，这两个国家在国际足联的世界排名系统中都名列前十，荷兰排名第六，克罗地亚排名第七。世界杯开赛前，荷兰队在欧足联国家联赛(UEFA Nations League)中表现出色，在对阵比利时、波兰和威尔士的比赛中，荷兰队从18分中取下16分，顺利晋级四强。与此同时，克罗地亚利用法国的不幸，在与法国、丹麦和奥地利的六场比赛中拿到13分，首次进入国家联赛A组第一名。我预计克罗地亚队将战平或取胜，原因如下:

首先。在甲A联赛中，没有一支球队的积分能超过罗纳德·科曼的球队，他们的14粒进球也是顶级球队中最高的，只有在主场2-2战平波兰的比赛中，这支2018-19赛季的亚军球队没有拿到满分。荷兰队在3月份的欧洲杯预选赛揭幕战中以0 - 4惨败于法国队，结束了被阿根廷人击败的世界杯之旅。然而，在下一场对阵直布罗陀的比赛中，他们以3-0击败了他们。所以，他们的状态相对较好。

其次。克罗地亚队在2018年世界杯上获得银牌后，又获得了一枚铜牌。回国后，他们分别战平和击败了威尔士和土耳其，拉开了欧洲杯预选赛的序幕，目前在小组中排名第一。克罗地亚在国家联赛小组赛中开场0 - 3不敌奥地利，经历了噩梦般的开局后，克罗地亚在小组赛中实现了5场不败，最后4场比赛全胜，只丢了2球。

这两支球队势均力敌，势均力敌的局面几乎已成定局。但在最近的世界杯和欧洲杯预选赛中，克罗地亚表现出了更强大的力量。这一优势对他们有利，他们很可能在这场比赛中获胜。所以，我赌克罗地亚队赢或平。

06月15日荷兰 VS 克罗地亚比赛分析直播