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| Kyle Korver starred at Creighton before becoming an NBA 3-point shooting specialist |
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| Luka Modric, sporting Croatia's awesome checkerboard jersey |
"Croatian" kind of sounds like Creighton. Like their kindred spirits from Omaha, Croatia is the international footballing equivalent of a "mid major" team. They're not a big name, and they don't have much of a history (they've only even existed as an independent country since 1991), so they tend to fly under the radar. However, like Creighton, the Croatians are very dangerous and more than capable of pulling an upset or two. In yet another similarity, Croatia's ability to pull any such upsets (I'd say them beating Mexico really wouldn't really be an upset, though it would be perceived as such) hinges almost entirely on the performance of one floppy-haired white guy. Croatia's Doug McDermott / Kyle Korver is Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, who was arguably the man of the match in the Death Star... I mean Real's victory in the Champions League final. They have some other high quality players too, such as Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic (who scored in last year's Champions League final) and Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic (who just led the Andalusian side to the Europa League title and is now allegedly being pursued by Barcelona, Real, and Atlético Madrid). However, if Croatia are to advance from their group, Modric will need to be the difference maker.
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