October 7, 2024 – The October Nations League campaign is upon us, as Croatia gathers today in Zagreb.
Croatia gathers in Zagreb on Monday ahead of two UEFA Nations League matches. On Saturday, October 12, coach Zlatko Dalić’s team will play against Scotland at Maksimir, while on Tuesday, October 15, they will visit Poland. Croatia opened the competition with a defeat against Portugal (2-1) and defeated Poland in Osijek (1-0).
The first two national teams in the group will advance to the quarter-finals, the last team will be relegated to League B, while the third-placed team will play in the playoffs to stay in League A.
Coach Dalić addressed the press in Zagreb this morning.
“Today is exactly seven years since I took over the national team. I didn’t expect it to last this long. We didn’t expect to win three medals. I’m happy that even after seven years I have a lot of motivation — it’s fascinating to me. It’s an honor and pride to lead the national team and the best job I will ever do.
Thank you to everyone who was in and around the national team. I didn’t think I would be here seven months, let alone seven years. I hope there will be more beautiful moments. We have quality and motivation,” said Dalić before speaking about the status of his players.
“Scotland awaits us on Saturday. We have two more training sessions than before. Scotland is last in our group with no points, but we must not relax. They played two good games. Our history with them is not great either, with only one victory at the Euros. Pongracic has dropped out due to injury.
Kovačić will not come to the gathering today as he has private matters, and I hope everything will be fine. Perišić was injured two days ago, but luckily it’s not that bad, and I expect him today or tomorrow. Šutalo got injured yesterday, and we still don’t know exactly what happened. He felt pain in a muscle, he will come today, and we will do an examination and know what exactly it is.
In agreement with Olić, we will see if we will bring any centre-backs from the U21s to the A national team. During the day, we will see what the situation is. I hope there won’t be any other problems,” revealed the coach, and then answered questions from journalists.
What about Pjaca and the form of the players going into this campaign?
“We’ll see what happens with Pjaca. I hope he can join. We have a good situation with the players as far as their clubs are concerned, and most of them gave good performances. I hope that we will continue from the last cycle.
I am happy with the form of the players, and now they are in a better condition than in September. Perišić started to do what we wanted and he found a club. Unfortunately, he got injured but is in competition for Scotland. With PSV, he plays right wing, which opens another option for us.”
You said that there are no players for the national team in SHNL. Has your opinion changed?
“We are looking at the players we need and who can. The stimulus is Europe, and the matches against Istria, Varaždin and Slaven Belupo are not a benchmark. We follow everyone and the players who impose themselves will get a chance. I do not underestimate SHNL, but the reality is there.”
Will problems with the centre-backs change your plans?
“They won’t. Unfortunately, we are left without Pongracic and we don’t know what will happen to Šutalo. We will react. Centre-backs like Luka Vušković and Dominik Prpić are coming. We have solutions from the young national team. We will see the way we play.
Playing three in the back turned out to be good. Ćaleta-Car plays in Lyon, Gvardiol is unquestionable, and Erlić has recovered. Now we have time to do something, but we do not need to change anything after two games.”
Will Dalić make changes against Scotland?
“We know our goal in the Nations League. The goal is to make the skeleton of the national team. There are 23 players on the list, which was not the norm, but we want to give them a chance. Our first goal is to reach the quarter-finals and remain in the strongest group of the Nations League. The result must not suffer. Scotland is tough and strong.
So far our matches against Scotland have not been great, and we have not had big victories. I expect a tough match. Let’s do the best we can. Through four training sessions, we want to find the best. We have reason to be optimistic, but some problems are always present.
We didn’t have time until now, but now we have four real training sessions in Zagreb. It is important especially now that we are trying out some new things. Now it is not so condensed, and we have two days more than before, which means a lot to us.”
Croatia and Scotland meet on Saturday at 18:00!
