The 2018 World Cup finalists will meet on September 3 to take on their newest challenge.
Croatian national team coach Zlatko Dalić selected 25 players for the upcoming matches against Portugal and Spain. The World Cup finalists are led by captain Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić, though several new names can be found in the team, announces HNS on August 20, 2018.
At Portugal’s Algarve Stadium in Faro, a friendly match between Portugal and Croatia will be played on September 6, and on September 11, Croatia will play their first Nations League match against Spain in Elche.
Coach Dalić has invited 25 players for the upcoming national team duties, not including Danijel Subašić, Mario Mandžukić, and Vedran Ćorluka, who have recently retired from the national team. Among the players who did not participate in the World Cup are Karlo Letica, Borna Barišić, Antonio Milić, Matej Mitrović, Ivan Santini, Marko Livaja, Marko Rog and Mario Pašalić.
“In agreement with the U-21 national team coach Nenad Gračan, I did not call up Josip Brekalo, Born Sosa, and Duje Ćaleta-Car, who we carefully monitor and certainly count on in the near future. However, this time it is more important for the U21 team to fight for the European Championship, which would be an important success for a gifted generation,” Dalić explained.
“With the players who have retired from the national team, we will not have Ivan Strinić, who we all wish a quick and complete recovery. We will look closely at the injuries of Lovren and Kramarić, and I hope everyone will remain healthy until we meet. There are two great challenges ahead of us, with big opponents, and we certainly want to continue to represent Croatia in the way we did it in Russia – courageous, engaged and with quality,” concluded Dalić.
The Croatian national team will gather on September 3 in Portugal, where they will stay until September 9 when they travel to Elche for the Nations League match against Spain.
Goalkeepers: Lovre Kalinić, Dominik Livaković, Karlo Letica
Defenders: Domagoj Vida, Dejan Lovren, Šime Vrsaljko, Josip Pivarić, Tin Jedvaj, Matej Mitrović, Borna Barišić, Antonio Milić
Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Mateo Kovačić, Milan Badelj, Marcelo Brozović, Marko Rog, Mario Pašalić, Filip Bradarić
Attackers: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Rebić, Marko Pjaca, Ivan Santini, Marko Livaja
