World Cup finalists Croatia face Portugal but look to the future

Still riding the wave of their historic World Cup run, Croatia are heading for a potential reality check as their new season starts with a friendly against Portugal in Faro on Thursday.

It will be the tiny Balkan nation's first match since the side led by star midfielder Luka Modric succumbed to France in the World Cup final in July -- a loss celebrated like a victory by underdogs who had never made it so far on the world stage.

That fairytale glow took the spotlight off controversies plaguing football in Croatia, from the unsavoury ultra-nationalism of its hardcore supporters to a litany of legal problems.

But fans will be reminded of the former when Croatia face England in its first Nations League home match on October 12.

The game will be played in an empty stadium -- punishment by UEFA for the swastika drawn on a pitch in Split, on Croatia's Adriatic coast, ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier with Italy.

The perpetrators were never found, but it was not the first time Croatian fans have tainted the team's image by using fascist slogans and symbols.

That darker side of Croatia's football fairytale also reared its head during the World Cup celebrations, when the players invited a singer known for pro-Nazi sympathies to join them on the bus and stage at their welcoming party in Zagreb.

- Legal woes -
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- Player shake-up -
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"I am not worried or restless. My goal is Euro 2020, not the match with Portugal or the Nations League... We will try to win, but our real goal is the Euro."