July 24, 2020 – As expected, the Executive Board of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) at its session on Thursday confirmed that Zlatko Dalic had extended his contract until the 2022 World Cup.
His existing contract expired this summer, but HNS president Davor Suker and Dalic officially agreed on a new contract for two years and five months.
Their agreement was confirmed by the HNS Executive Board, but it was only a formality.
The Executive Board of the Croatian Football Federation confirmed the agreement between HNS President Davor Suker and Croatia national team coach Zlatko Dalic on extending cooperation until the end of the FIFA World Cup, which will be held at the end of 2022.
“For us, at no time was it questionable that Zlatko will lead the team at the Euros next summer, and I am very glad that we immediately agreed to cooperate until the 2022 World Cup. Zlatko is a straightforward and genuine person to talk to, and we easily agreed on all details about continuing the collaboration. His results speak for themselves; we are proud of everything he has achieved so far as a coach and the Federation will provide him and the national team with maximum working conditions, as it has been so far,” said HNS President Davor Suker.
“I thank Davor as the president of the Federation, the leadership of HNS, and the Executive Board for the expressed trust. As the situation with the epidemic and the postponement of the Euros to next summer unfolded, we agreed that it makes sense to round out the whole story until the 2022 World Cup. I have always said that there is no greater honor than leading the national team of my country and that is why I had no dilemma about continuing the cooperation. I have a lot of motivation, energy and ambition, and as long as I feel that way, I will lead the Croatia national team with a lot of pride,” said the coach of the 2018 World Cup finalists, Zlatko Dalic.
Dalic took over the helm of the “Vatreni” in October 2017 after Ante Cacic was fired. Under his leadership, the Croatia national team won the playoff qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and then achieved its greatest success in Russia, winning second place at the World Cup.
With Dalic, Croatia also qualified for the 2020 European Championships, which was postponed to next summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Along with Miroslav Blazevic, Dalic will become the only Croatia coach who will play with the national team at the World and European Championships.
Blazevic is also a record holder in the number of matches on the bench of the Croatia national team. Ciro led the national team 72 times, Slaven Bilic is second with 65 appearances, and Dalic is currently in third place with 30.
The Croatia national team is expecting a busy autumn program. From September to November, they will have as many as eight appearances – six in the Nations League, and two friendly matches.
The World Cup finalists are in the Nations League in a group with the world champions France, the European champions Portugal, and Sweden. The first place from this group will win a place in the Final Four, while the last place will fall to a lower rank.
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