November 21, 2020 – The Croatia basketball team travels to Istanbul on Sunday, November 23, for a new cycle of qualifications for the European Championship.
According to stringent rules, the qualifications will be played in a ‘bubble, so as not to risk the health of players, coaches, referees, and the rest of the delegations. Croatia national team members will only move from the hotel to the hall and back, in a special bus and without interacting with anyone outside their own delegation, except, of course, during the official game.
Before the team heads to Turkey, Croatia national team coach Veljko Mršić, despite all the challenges that are unquestionably posed to the national team, but also sports in general, is determined and currently focused on only one goal: going to the European Championship.
“I expect to provide good games and, given the good outcome of the previous windows, our goal is to secure a place in the European Championship now,” the coach began.
“But it’s hard to plan. There are many unknowns, another round of coronavirus testing awaits us before departure, there are very few days of preparation, and we will only see the strength of the rival teams on the spot. In this cycle, we will play against Turkey and Sweden. It is a pity that we are in this current epidemiological situation because we were supposed to play Turkey at home, in front of our audience. As for the list of players, we waited to announce it until the first test results. Fortunately, only a small number of players were positive, so more or less everyone we wanted is on the list. “
In the upcoming qualification cycle, coach Veljko Mršić will count on the following players:
BILAN, Miro – Dinamo Sassari
DREŽNJAK, Mateo – Cibona
GABRIĆ, Tomislav – Enea Astoria
JORDANO, Antonio – Vrijednosnice Osijek
KRUŠLIN, Filip – Dinamo Sassari
MARČINKOVIĆ, Pavle – Split
MARIĆ, Marin – BC Lietkabelis
MAVRA, Dominik – Zadar
PERKOVIĆ, Toni – Split
PRKAČIN, Roko – Cibona
RADIĆ, Ivica – Anwil Wloclawek
RAMLJAK, Ivan – ŚLĄSK
ROGIĆ, Roko – Mitteldeutscher BC
ŠAKIĆ, Željko – Avtodor
STIPČEVIĆ, Rok – Krka Novo Mesto
UKIĆ, Roko Leni – Cedevita Olimpija
VRANKOVIĆ, Antonio – Split
* There are 17 players on the list, and 14 travel to Istanbul.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION MATCHES
11/27/2020 at 17:00 (19:00 in Istanbul): Croatia – Turkey
11/29/2020 at 18:00 (20:00 in Istanbul): Sweden – Croatia
Source: HKS
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