September 28, 2020 – Croatia is the winner of the second International U-16 category football tournament “Vlatko Markovic”, held in Osijek over the weekend.
In the final match, the young Vatreni overcame their peers from Romania with a convincing 4:0 result and thus ascended the throne. Tomislav Rukavina’s team did not concede a goal during the tournament and reached the final with victories against Qatar (3:0), Montenegro (2:0), and Bulgaria (1:0). Goals in the final against Romania were scored by Marko Cukon (26th), Marin Prekodravac (33rd), Lovro Zvonarek (57th) and Luka Dudukovic (65th).
Slobodan Kadic
“We did what we announced and expected as hosts, the guys deserve all the praise, not only for the presentations on the pitch but also for the overall behavior during all the days of the tournament. We are really very satisfied, this generation is very high quality and with a lot of dangerous players. If they develop properly, we will have a great generation again,” said coach Rukavina for HNS.
Nemanja Poznanovic (Croatia) was chosen as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, Joseph Banda (Zambia) was the best scorer, and Rocco Zikovic (Croatia) was the best player.
Slobodan Kadic
“We expected to win the tournament because we knew we were by far the best team. We proved that on the pitch as well, so I am satisfied with how we played this tournament; we can be proud of each other. More than anything, I am glad that we have shown that together we can achieve a lot,” concluded the best player of the tournament and captain Rocco Zikovic for HNS.
Slobodan Kadic
The Osijek tournament was organized with the support of Fifa’s Forward program and is named after Vlatko Markovic, one of the most prominent people in the modern history of Croatian football – former player, coach, selector, football employee, and honorary president of HNS, who led the Croatian Football Federation from 1998 to 2012.
Slobodan Kadic
The Osijek final was attended by Davor Suker, president of the Croatian Football Federation, Zorislav Srebric, senior presidential advisor, Ante Vucemilovic Simunovic, vice president of HNS, Petar Krpan, chief instructor and Aljosa Asanovic, instructor for the diaspora.
Final standings: 1. Croatia, 2. Romania, 3. Qatar, 4. Zambia, 5. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6. Bulgaria, 7. North Macedonia, 8. Montenegro.
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