September 23, 2024 – Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić invited 25 players for the matches against Scotland and Poland, which will be played in October for the UEFA Nations League.
Croatia continues their Nations League campaign at home against Scotland on October 12 in Zagreb (18:00) and then visits Poland in Warsaw (October 15 at 20:45). Coach Dalić called up 25 players for this action and has six on standby (Nikola Vlašić, Marco Pašalić, Nediljko Labrović, Toni Fruk, Robert Ljubičić and Dominik Prpić).
“It is logical that we remained loyal to the team that achieved a quality gathering in September, and it is good that we have no new injuries, that is, that some players have returned. Unfortunately, we are still without Juranović and Stanišić on the right side, but I believe that with these players we can compensate for that well, as was the case in September,” said coach Dalić.
“I am really happy that after a serious injury, Mislav Oršić is with us again, who fought for good playing time in his club, and will expand our options in the wing positions. September filled us with new energy and optimism, and now we want to maintain that good rhythm against Scotland and Poland. We are aware that through these two matches we can take a significant step towards our goal, but we respect our opponents to the maximum and we know that we will only be able to achieve the desired points with the same approach, togetherness and focus as we had in Osijek against Poland,” added Dalić.
Croatia will gather on October 7 in Zagreb, where they will train until the match against Scotland at Maksimir. The World Cup bronze medalists then travel to Warsaw on October 14, where they will do an official training the day before the match against Poland.
After two rounds in Group 1 of League A, Croatia shares second place with Poland with three points. First-placed Portugal has two wins after two home games in September, while Scotland is at the bottom without any points. The first two national teams will advance to the quarter-finals, the last team will be relegated to League B, while the third-placed team will play in the playoffs to stay in League A.
Croatia is defending the silver medal from the previous edition of the Nations League, when they advanced to the final tournament over France, Denmark and Austria. They defeated the Netherlands in the semi-finals before the final match against Spain, who was more successful on penalties.
Player list:
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Ivica Ivušić, Dominik Kotarski
Defensders: Joško Gvardiol, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Borna Sosa, Josip Šutalo, Marin Pongracic, Martin Erlić
Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pasalić, Luka Ivanušec, Luka Sučić, Kristijan Jakić, Martin Baturina, Petar Sučić, Nikola Moro
Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Bruno Petković, Mislav Oršić, Marko Pjaca, Ante Budimir, Igor Matanović
Standby: Nikola Vlašić, Marco Pašalić, Nediljko Labrović, Toni Fruk, Robert Ljubičić, Dominik Prpić
