March 24, 2023 - Croatia and Wales open the EURO 2024 qualifiers at Poljud Stadium on Saturday at 20:45. Coach Zlatko Dalić and captain Luka Modrić addressed the press ahead of the important match.
Croatia and Wales meet on Saturday at Poljud to open the EURO 2024 qualifiers. Poljud has long been sold out for Croatia's first match after winning the bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup. Dalić and Modrić addressed the press on Friday to announce the game and what we can expect.
Luka answered questions first. He learned he is the oldest Croatia player to appear in a qualification cycle.
"Our focus is 100% on Wales. It is important to open the qualifications with a good result. We are opening at home in front of a full stadium, and we want a win," said Modrić to begin. "I don't know if it's good or bad that I'm the oldest player to appear for Croatia in a qualifying cycle, haha. I am happy to break this record, and I am happy to play with Croatia. I need to keep going this way," he added.
How is the team looking at this first game together since the World Cup?
"We always want to qualify as early as possible but always encounter problems during the qualifiers. The group is small, with only five teams. Therefore, we need to be maximally concentrated and focused on tomorrow. Wales and Turkey are our biggest competitors in this group. First, we need to focus on this game, and then we will think about the match against Turkey. I don't want to talk about points right now. We are the favorites in this group, and we want 6 points in these two games, but football is unpredictable.
We won two medals at the World Cup in the last five years. We also played a good EURO in 2021. Everyone is playing against us with respect and proving themselves against us. Because of that, we need to be even better."
Luka said he wouldn't be able to achieve the success he has without everyone around him.
"Without my teammates and coach, I wouldn't be who I am. I thank all players from the beginning of my professional career, as all of these results were achieved by the team."
How will Croatia look tomorrow, and is this Luka's last game at Poljud?
"All we can say about tomorrow is that we will give 100%. We all know about the atmosphere in Split. I said I am with Croatia until Nations League, and we will see from there."
Dalić answered the press next.
"We are starting a new cycle. We have done incredible things in the last five years but want to achieve more. We want to start the qualifications with a win. Apart from the fact that Petković is injured and Lovren retired, we mostly have the same team we had in Qatar and will play how we did in the last World Cup game against Morocco."
What can we expect from Croatia?
"We had a great week of training. This is a dangerous game where we have a lot to lose. The first game together after the World Cup is crucial, so this game will be very tough. We can't allow ourselves to lose points at home. We have the quality, we need to be patient, and I expect us to win. But it will be a tough game."
What does Dalić expect from Wales?
"It's a different team than during the World Cup, and there is no Gareth Bale. However, they still have good players with quality and can be dangerous in the center attack. We are in for a tough game," Dalić concluded.
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