The Croatian First League begins with Dinamo and Rudeš on July 27th at Maksimir.
The World Cup is over, and though Croatia will remember their days in Russia forever, life must go on. At least we’re lucky to have the Croatian First Football League back, with quite a few new faces to follow this year.
Did you know that until now, 661 foreigners from 65 countries have played in the Croatian First League? And this season, that number will go up to 68, reports Goal.hr on July 21, 2018.
To date, there have been 27 national championships in Croatia, which never featured a player from Guatemala… that is, until now. Slaven Belupo will present the 25-year-old Jorge Aparicio, a 170cm tall “terrier” with 13 appearances for his country, in the 2018/19 season.
“My first impressions are great, the teammates and coaches are really good, and I’m especially happy to see that the people are open and accepting me quickly. I hope that will greatly facilitate this adjustment. I will play in Europe for the first time, and this is my first season out of Guatemala, but I expect everything will be fine and we will satisfy the appetites of our fans,” Aparicio said at the start of his European adventure.
Slaven Belupo has welcomed yet another new face to the team – a player named Roei Gordana. Hailing from Israel, from Bnei Yehuda, he is only the second Israeli to play in the Croatian First League. The first was Jamal Khatib, who played for Cibalia in the 2016/17 season.
Until now, no players from Uganda have ever played in Croatian clubs, though HNK Gorica’s signing of the 20-year-old offensive midfielder Farouk Miya will change that this year.
“The boy is a hell of a player, you’ll see. The style of his game is reminiscent of Mane from Liverpool… And he is already very impressive, which is not surprising, especially since he was in Belgium, at the Standard Liege,” it was said about the new Croatian First League player.
HNK Gorica has also welcomed the first Armenian to the Croatian League – the 23-year-old striker David Arshakyan, who is a massive 195 cm and played in Denmark for Vejle BK.
Even more foreign talent could be on the horizon, as the transfer period lasts until August 31st.
