Both sides were terribly unlucky to be placed into the same group as Spain and Italy, which basically means they have to win this game in order to keep their qualifying chances alive.

Republic of Ireland have progressed a great deal under experienced manager Giovanni Trapattoni and they have finally managed to qualify for a major tournament.

After being robbed of a place at the 2010 World Cup, the Irish rallied the troops and made sure they qualify for the Euro 2012.

It is now that things get tough as the prospect of facing the likes of Croatia, Spain and Italy is enough to strike fear into even much stronger national teams, but one thing’s for sure, nothing will stop the Irish from giving their all at the tournament finals.

A passionate approach, rock-solid defence and tactical genius of boss Trapattoni could go a long way, so you should know Ireland are 3.60 (13/5) with Stan James to win their opening game.

Giovanni Trapattoni can field his strongest side now that Shay Given has fully recovered from injury, and the Italian looks set to stick with the side that shared spoils with Hungary in their final test.

The game at Ferenc Puskas Stadion in Budapest was 11th of last 14 games in which Ireland kept a clean sheet.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Given – O’Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Ward – Duff, Andrews, Whelan, McGeady – Keane, Doyle.

Croatia have become regular at major tournament finals and nobody was surprised to see them qualify for the Euro 2012, even if they needed to beat Turkey in the play-offs.

Vatreni have since encountered numerous problems as several important players were forced to withdraw because of injury, but boss Slaven Bilic remains adamant his side are in it to win it.

That is a bold statement when we know that Croatia are in the same group as Italy, Spain and Ireland, but if you believe the boss then you can take odds of 61.00 (60/1) offered at Bodog on the Croats.

After Dejan Lovren and Ivica Olic, Ivo Ilicevic was also ruled out of the tournament, with Sime Vrsaljko being called as a replacement.

Coach Bilic has received some good news as defender Vedran Corluka has been passed fit for the Ireland game after recovering from a muscle problem.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Pletikosa – Srna, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Pranjic – Rakitic, Modric, Vukojevic, Perisic – Mandzukic, Jelavic.