Croatian national team coach Dražen Anzulović announced a preliminary list of players he can count on in the next qualifying round for the 2019 World Cup.
All Croatian NBA players have been preliminarily listed as part of the 28 candidates for the two remaining matches against Italy and Romania in the first qualifying round for the World Cup, announced the new men’s national team coach Dražen Anzulović on Wednesday. Of the players who achieved the only victory of qualifying appearances against the Netherlands in February, members Luka Žorić and Dominik Mavra have dropped from the list, reports Gol.hr on May 30, 2018.
On Anzulović’s list today is Bojan Bogdanović (Indiana Pacers), Dario Šarić (Philadelphia 76ers), Ivica Zubac (LA Lakers), Ante Toni Žižić (Cleveland Cavaliers), Mario Hezonja (-), Dragan Bender (Phoenix Suns), Krunoslav Simon (Anadolu Efes), Hrvoje Perić (Umana Reyer Venezia), Rok Stipčević (-), Karlo Uljarević (Cibona), Mate Kalajžić (Split), Krešimir Radovčić (-), Luka Babić (-), Filip Krušlin (Cedevita), Jakov Mustapić (-), Domagoj Bošnjak (Cibona), Josip Bilinovac (Cibona), Roko Badžim (Petrol Olimpija), Ivan Ramljak (Cedevita), Darko Planinić (-), Josip Sobin (Anwil Wloclawek), Kristian Krajina (Zadar), Antonio Vranković (Duke), Željko Šakić (UBT Cluj Napoca), Karlo Žganec (Cedevita), Domagoj Vuković (Zadar), Marko Arapović (Cedevita) and Marin Marić (-).
“Concerning the new system of competitions and the arrival of NBA players, we have made a wider list for this qualifying cycle. Once the NBA players join the team on June 20th, we will shorten the list to fourteen candidates who will fight in the qualifying matches in Italy and Romania,” explained Anzulović, and added:
“Later this summer, we will have a tournament in China, and in September and November, there will be a new qualifying cycle, so we want to check this list with as many players as possible.”
For Croatia to enter the second qualifying round for the 2019 World Cup, they will need at least one win in the remaining two games. After four losses, they have taken the last place in Group D, below the Netherlands who is 1-3. Italy is the leader with 4-0, and Romania is in second with 2-2. Three teams from every group advance to the second round.
Croatia’s preparations will begin on June 11th in Sv. Martin, which is already a traditional destination of the national team. On June 17th, the entire delegation will move to Opatija where they will play two friendly matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first match will be closed to the public, scheduled for June 19th, while the other will be open and on June 22nd.
The national team will go to Trieste on June 27th and play their qualifying match against Italy on June 28th (at 20:45). The qualifications will end with an away game in Cluj against Romania, scheduled for July 1st.
