Will Croatia’s best U-21 players be the key against Spain and England in the final Nations League games next month?
The Croatia national football team will return mid-November for two highly anticipated Nations League games against Spain at Maksimir and England at Wembley, reports Gol.hr on October 18, 2018.
Zlatko Dalić will announce a list for the national team duties next month, and it is expected that some of the best U-21 players who advanced Croatia to the 2019 Euros will join the team.
“I am constantly saying that we have good young players, potential, and some of them are in focus. It is up to them to continue playing well in their clubs and confirm their form to receive a chance at the A team. When I talk about the need for new energy and strength, I’m talking about these young players,” said Dalić to Nova TV.
The young players in focus are primarily Nikola Vlašić, Josip Brekalo, Borna Sosa and Duje Ćaleta-Car.
“Well, there are other players as well. I will not talk much about the names, we’ll see what the situation will be with their clubs in a few weeks. We need them, and they will bring a new energy and strength to us.”
Dalić announced that for the games against Spain and England, he will invite 20 players plus three goalkeepers which means there will be fewer call-ups than there has been before. It is logical think that, if some of the young players join the team, there will be no place for some who played with Croatia in September and October.
“We had games against Portugal and Jordan where we could make a lot of substitutions, but now we have two games in three days where we have to focus on quality, only those players who will play and that’s why we will not broaden that list because there are no more friendly games. I cannot talk about the lineup or names now, we still have two more weeks. The form is getting better, but that’s not what we need. We will need to be really great to win these two games and be the first in the group now that the situation is open to us. It will take a lot, and it needs to be much better than it has been until now,” Dalić added.
Is there any new information regarding Šime Vrsaljko’s injury?
“Šime is good, however, he had a break, he played one game, so it was better that he rest. It was nothing critical in the game against England, he just needs to rest and prevent anything further. I hope that he will be ready for Spain and England, we need him, but we have to save him – he gave everything at the World Cup and went beyond his maximum. We have to take care of the players, we cannot force them to play if they are not in the best form,” concluded Dalić.
