Croatia vs Australia friendly match on June 6, 2014: Where to watch it live

Topics: Croatia, Australia, Live Stream, TV Schedules, Live Scores, International Friendly

This will be the last friendly for both Croatia and Australia before beginning their World Cup campaigns.

Friday's fixture is the last opportunity that both Croatia and Australia will have to prepare before beginning their respective World Cup campaigns; the former takes on hosts Brazil on June 12th while the latter faces off against Chile the following day. Hence, observers can expect both sides to tinker with their formations over the course of the match.

Interestingly, this year's tournament represents the fourth appearance for both sides. For the Socceroos, their last appearance was in 2010 and ended in utter disappointment as they finished third in their group, which contained Germany, Ghana, and Serbia, and hence were unable to progress. As for the Vatreni, they last featured even further back--in 2006--and that, too, was a campaign they would like to forget as the squad were knocked out in the group stages.

Australia have not enjoyed a good run in their friendlies this year, first losing in a 7-game thriller against Ecuador and then being held to a draw by South Africa. This will definitely be a source of concern as they easily finished top of their group in the third round and although then were second to Japan in the next one, they still had a comfortable +3 margin over Jordan.

Croatia, on the other hand, had a tougher time securing their spot in Brazil, as they had to go through the play-off rounds after finishing second in their group. However, following a scoreless draw in the first leg, they were able to finish off Iceland at home by a score of 2-0, despite having to play much of the game with a man down after striker Mario Mandzukic was sent off.

Nonetheless, Niko Kovac's men have fared better in their own friendlies, with a 2-2 draw with Switzerland back in March and most recently, defeating Mali 2-1.

All in all, an added benefit of this friendly is that it also helps both sides get more acclimatized with the humid and hot conditions that they will have to face in just a week.