Croatian Football's Biggest Names to Participate in '4 Cafes' Humanitarian Tournament in Split

Šimić, Prosinečki, Pršo, Olić and Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić are all coming to Split this December?

On the 26th of December, known to many as St. Stephen’s Day and not just the ‘day after Christmas’, the people of Split come together for one of the most highly anticipated football events of the year: ‘4 Cafes’, reports Dalmacija Danas on December 5, 2017.

While not exactly a ‘football’ tournament and more so about futsal (or what we like to call malonogomet here in Croatia), the tournament is named “Memorial Dino Petrinović” for one of the original tournament pioneers, and each year the event has a humanitarian character. Like every year, all revenue from the ticket sales goes to the Center for Rehabilitation ‘Mir’.

One of the unique parts of the event, however, is that each year it attracts quite a few of Croatian football’s biggest stars – remember, many of them have the pleasure of a break from their respective clubs during this time. As you would expect, their football skills and fancy footwork are always impressive to see on the shiny floors of Gripe’s Big Hall.

But this is where things get interesting.

Yesterday at cafe bar Camel, former footballer Ivica Mornar and one of the founders of the tournament drew the team pairs for this year’s competition. The pairs were drawn by Antonio Plazibat, the winner of the K1 tournament in Japan.

“We’ve gathered good players, and hopefully we will be able to fill the hall again. We hope to accomplish the basic goal, which is to gather as many resources as possible for the Mir Center. Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić is behind the tournament this year, and he will try to bring as many names to the tournament as possible. We are glad that some great players will participate in the tournament again this year,” said organizer Damir Karaman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=k4juEWW_Osc

The four Split cafe bars competing in this year’s tournament are Tropic, Tempera, Camel, and Kauri.

Tropic announced that Zlatko Dalić would run their team and the captain of the team will be Marko Livaja. The other players include Križanac, Milović, Biliškov, and Jarni, and while they contacted Ivan Perišić and Nikola Kalinić, they won’t be able to participate in the tournament due to club commitments.

Tempera’s team this year has confirmed Letica, L. Simic, Toni Šunjić, Igor Musa, Mario Maloča, Zvonimir Kožulj, Franko Kovačević, Stanko Bubalo, and Hrvoje Milić with more names to be announced in the coming days. Vedran Runje will lead the Tempera team.

Camel, a cafe that will participate for the first time, has announced an absolute dream team for the tournament. Their lineup includes Pletikoso, Vejić, Dario Šimić, Stanić, Đolong, Mornar, Prosinečki, Pršo, Olić and perhaps Klasnić too. Stanko Poklepović will be the coach of the team.

Kauri cafe has gathered Ibričić, Bradarić, Pašalić, Rebić, Mora, and Ante Erceg for the tournament with coach Marenzzi on the bench. It is possible that Hodzić, Elez, and Andrija Vuković will be announced for the team as well.

What a way to feel good by doing good this holiday season!

More info on ticket sales can be found here.