December 9, 2021 - Great news for Croatia football fans worldwide as Zlatko Dalić will extend his Croatia contract until 2024.
The Croatian Football Federation president Marijan Kustić and the Croatian A national team coach Zlatko Dalić agreed to extend their cooperation, and the 2018 World Cup finalist coach signed a new contract that binds him to the UEFA European Championship in 2024, announced HNS.
Zlatko Dalić took over the Croatian national team in October 2017 and managed to bring them to the FIFA World Cup in Russia through a complicated playoff round. As a result, Dalić led Croatia to the World Cup final, i.e., the silver medal that inscribed that generation in the history of Croatian football.
Dalić then successfully qualified for EURO 2020. Croatia advanced to the second round of the competition. He then became the first Croatia coach to qualify for three major competitions, winning first place in Group H in qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar. Between those qualifiers, Dalić and Croatia twice managed to stay in the Nations League elite group.
At the Croatian Football Federation headquarters, President Kustić agreed to continue cooperation with the most successful coach in the history of Croatian football.
"I thank President Kustić and the leadership of the Federation for this expression of trust. I have pointed out many times that there is no more tremendous honor for me than leading the Croatia national team. Although considerable responsibility and pressure come with this job, leading your national team is the most incredible privilege a coach can have. That is why I did not hesitate when the HNS proposed I continue cooperation. The past few months have convinced me that we are on the right path; I feel great energy and ambition to continue to work great results with this refreshed Croatia and thus make our people happy.
Furthermore, I am convinced of our success in qualifying for EURO 2024. Considering that the host is Germany, I believe that we will have an unforgettable atmosphere and the support of our fans. That image is an incredible motive for my further work," said coach Dalić.
"Of course, Zlatko should have unlimited credit with all of us based on the silver medal in Russia, but everything he did with the national team after that silver shows that he is the ideal man to lead Croatia. He achieved all the goals, won groups to qualify for big competitions, and at the same time he was highly successful in the demanding change of generations, so today we again have a team with excellent prospects. Zlatko is a man who unites, who promotes togetherness, puts his whole self into this work and for us, it was only logical to extend this successful collaboration. Thank you to him for accepting our proposal and making it easy to agree on everything. The Federation will, as before, give full support to the coach and the national team.
We are looking forward to new challenges and new successes," said the HNS president Marijan Kustić.
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