He may not be here, but his face is everywhere. In the large team photos dotted around Croatia’s Bad Tatzmannsdorf base, he is kneeling down in the front row, possibly soon to score one of the ten goals he racked up in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying. The journalists playing table football at the Croatia Media Centre cannot escape his gaze and nor, surely, can coach Slaven Bilić on his way to negotiate press conferences. He is, of course, injured striker Eduardo da Silva, and as a reminder of what Croatia are missing, his ghostly, almost life-size presence here seems close to cruel.

‘Big blow’
"Losing Eduardo was a big blow for us," said Bilić yesterday, remembering the moment the Arsenal FC marksman suffered a compound double fracture of his left leg in February. "We’re simply less good without him. I have other excellent strikers, but without Eduardo we’re not the same team." Bilić is nonetheless convinced Croatia can triumph in Austria and Switzerland. So can his back-up strike duo of Mladen Petrić and Ivica Olić provide the goals they need, or will that duty fall to midfield dynamos Niko Kranjčar, Luka Modrić and Darijo Srna? Alternatively, will Eduardo’s absence expose a team lacking firepower without him? Let us know your thoughts.