Coach Ante Čačić has announced the final list of the players for the EURO 2016
Ten days before the start of the EURO, Croatian National coach Ante Čačić announced the squad which will represent Croatia at the final tournament in France. On May 31, 2016, he surprised nobody withhis final choice.
“It was not an easy decision, as all the players invited deserved it with their form and effort. I have talked to all the players and explained my decision and the criteria which I was following. I would not like them to think that some mysterious gray hand is making the decisions about the matter. I can look myself in the mirror” - Čačić said at the press conference.
The players who will leave the team are substitute goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, who was invited as a backup anyway, defender Duje Ćaleta-Car, and two midfielders Domagoj Antolić and Alen Halilović. As we said, there were no surprises there, unless one tries to understand why was young Halilović good enough while being benched in Dinamo, but is not good enough while playing in the Spanish Primera regularly.
Here is the squad which will appear at the tournament:
Goalkeepers:
Danijel Subašić (Monaco), Lovre Kalinić (Hajduk), Ivan Vargić (Rijeka)
Defenders:
Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Darijo Srna (Schaktar), Šime Vrsaljko (Sassuolo), Gordon Schildenfeld (Dinamo Zagreb), Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev), Ivan Strinić (Napoli)
Midfielders:
Mateo Kovačić (Real Madrid), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid), Marcelo Brozović (Inter), Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marko Rog (Dinamo Zagreb), Ante Ćorić (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Perišić (Inter)
Attackers:
Marko Pjaca (Dinamo Zagreb), Mario Mandžukić (Juventus), Nikola Kalinić (Fiorentina), Duje Čop (Malaga), Andrej Kramarić (Hoffenheim)
Croatian team is not complete yet, as Mateo Kovačić and Luka Modrić will join the team tomorrow, due to their commitments in the club. On Saturday, the team will have its final pre-tournament friendly match against San Marino in Rijeka.
