Croatian Football Federation arranged the final two senior national team friendly matches ahead of the UEFA EURO 2016
The Croatian Football Federation has announced the opponents and the venues for the last two friendly matches of the Croatian national team. On April 2, 2016, we took a quick look at their selection and we feel that the officials have again shown the lack of respect for the fans.
For the first time in history, Croatia senior national football team will play in the city of Koprivnica, at the end of May against Iran. Furthermore, the final Croatia’s warm-up before the departure for UEFA EURO 2016 in France will be played at Rujevica Stadium in Rijeka, against San Marino.
We will not get into the analysis of the opponents, as there is always the doubt if it is better to have intense matches before big tournaments, or if it is better to build up confidence by playing against the likes of Iran and San Marino, as the Federation officials have decided.
One cannot avoid raising the question about the venues for the matches. While playing in Koprivnica for the first time is great news for the region, it is a stadium with 3134 seats only, so we wonder how manyuch of the local people will be able to actually attend the match after all the officials and sponsors get their tickets for the event?
Rujevica Stadium in Rijeka can host 5786 people, and with Rijeka being the third largest city in Croatia, that’s another controversy. It is known that CFF officials are aware that they are to be insulted all over Croatia by the football fans, so it seems that they have simply chosen the venues small enough to avoid the verbal abuses by controlling the ticket sale.
There is still no news about how ticket sale for the EURO itself is doing, but as history has shown, fans usually find their way to enter the stadiums, and with this approach, Croatian Football Federation is not getting any new friends among them.
In France, Croatia will face Turkey (Paris, 12 June), Czech Republic (Saint-Etienne, 17 June), and Spain (Bordeaux, 21 June).
