Sunday Euro 2016 talking points
Monday 13 June 2016 00:31, UK
Following Sunday's Euro 2016 action, we take a look at talking points from Turkey v Croatia, Poland v Northern Ireland and Germany v Ukraine.
Luka Modric handed Croatia a deserved victory over Turkey as they won the opening game of Group D in Paris, Northern Ireland suffered defeat to Poland by the same scoreline in Group C.
There was also a win for Germany over Ukraine in Group C as Joachim Low's side kept their unbeaten record in European Championship openers intact.
Should Northern Ireland be more ambitious?
Poland had never won a match nor kept a clean sheet at a European Championships before, but Northern Ireland rarely looked like keeping those records intact during Sunday's clash in Nice.
Michael O'Neill's back five stood firm for 51 minutes, but from the moment Arkadiusz Milik's left-footed drive beat Michael McGovern the result was rarely in doubt.
Northern Ireland registered just two attempts during the match - and neither were on target.That's the joint-lowest total by a team in a European Championships match since 1980 and one of those attempts was an audacious overhead kick from edge of the box from isolated striker Kyle Lafferty.
Given that Northern Ireland's starting XI included a Fleetwood Town player, it's perhaps not surprising that O'Neill opted for a compact, defensive system - but they must surely offer more attacking threat against Ukraine on Thursday if they are to have any hope of extending their stay in France beyond the group stage.
Robert Lewandowski didn't come to the party
Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski arrived in France with 48 goals to his name for club and country this season, but Poland's main man had little impact against Northern Ireland.
He did not have a single attempt at goal during the 90 minutes and was well marshalled by Northern Ireland's defenders, Jonny Evans in particular.
The stats show Lewandowski won just three of the 17 duels he took part in and on several occasions he stayed down after losing an aerial battle with Evans.
The striker complained at the referee throughout the first half and had a lengthy conversation with him at the start of the second period, as Northern Ireland successfully nullified his goal threat.
Strike partner Milik bagged the only goal of the game, but Lewandowski's rehearsal for Thursday's showdown with Germany, the nation where he plies his trade. Did not go well.
Magic Modric stole the show in Paris
There was no denying who the star man was for Croatia, with the Real Madrid midfielder turning up with a stunning strike to win the game while continuing to pull the strings in the middle of the park throughout the game and putting in a fine defensive shift when called upon.
He made the most passes of any player on the pitch at the Parc des Princes - with 52 of his 59 being accurate - and had the second highest pass completion rate of the Croatia squad at 88.1%. Modric was bettered only by defender Domagoj Vida's 95.5% although this was with significantly fewer passes.
Croatia coach Ante Cacic was also full of praise for his player, telling a post-match press conference: "Luka really deserves to be talked about, especially after this match.
"He scored a magical goal and at the end it was the only goal. We need Luka in this form. All the team looks better and more aggressive when he plays like that."
Courageous Corluka was in the wars
While his side may have been victorious, Croatia defender Vedran Corluka was certainly in the wars after a clash with Cenk Tosun just after the 30 minute mark left him with a gash in his head and blood pouring down his face.
While he had fresh bandages applied to his head on no less than three occasions, the Lokomotiv Moscow man played the full 90 minutes and made twice as many clearances as any other Croatian player - doing so on six occasions - and continued to put his body on the line in the name of three points until the final whistle.
He also won all seven of his duels and of the outfield players who started the game, he was the only man who didn't concede a foul during the contest at the Parc des Princes. Not a bad shift for any defender, even more so with a gouge in the head for an hour of the game.
Are Germany the real deal?
Germany produced a comfortable, if not entirely convincing 2-0 victory against Ukraine at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Sunday evening.
Despite keeping an impressive 88 per cent possession and creating the early chances, Germany also showed rare vulnerabilities at the back which Ukraine were unable to exploit, but other teams will.
Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi powered home the opener and then Bastian Schweinsteiger came off the bench to score his first international goal in five years and seal three points.
With games against Poland and Northern Ireland to come coach Joachim Low will fully expect his side to make progress, but he will be hoping to see further signs of improvements as the tournament progresses.
