May 22, 2023 - Croatia national team coach Zlatko Dalić announced the players he is counting on for the UEFA Nations League finals which will be held from June 14 to 18 in the Netherlands.
By winning first place in the group with France, Denmark and Austria, Croatia won the Nations League final tournament for the first time in its history, together with Holland, Italy and Spain. Croatia will face the Netherlands in the semi-final on June 14 in Rotterdam, while the second semi-final between Italy and Spain will be played on June 15 in Enschede. The final is scheduled for June 18 in Rotterdam (8:45 pm), and the third-place match is on the same day at 3:00 pm in Enschede.
Coach Dalić invited 24 players with seven potential call-ups, and the final list of 23 players will be sent to UEFA by June 5 at 11:59 pm. Marcelo Brozović will play the Champions League final with Inter on June 10, so he will join the national team after that. The national team gathers on June 5 and will prepare in Rijeka. Then, on June 12, they will travel to Rotterdam.
"The list shows that we trust the proven staff - with minor corrections, it is a list of players who won the bronze medal at the World Cup, and they deserve our trust now. We are aware that at the end of the season, there is noticeable physical and mental fatigue, but ahead of us is a historic opportunity to win the first trophy in the history of our national team, and through this week of preparation, we will try to refresh and prepare the team as much as possible to play the final tournament at the highest possible level," coach Dalić stressed.
"We greatly respect all three national teams that advanced to the final tournament, but we believe in our quality and togetherness. As the host, the Netherlands will be very motivated, but we will also have great support from the stands, which will give us additional strength. We know that a tough job awaits, but we do not hide that when we have already managed to reach this stage of the competition, we want to take those two final steps and thus write history once again," said Dalić.
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Ivica Ivušić, Nediljko Labrović
Defenders: Domagoj Vida, Borna Barišić, Josip Juranović, Joško Gvardiol, Borna Sosa, Josip Stanišić, Josip Šutalo, Martin Erlić
Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Marcelo Brozović, Mario Pašalić, Nikola Vlašić, Lovro Majer, Luka Ivanušec
Attackers: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Bruno Petković, Marko Livaja, Petar Musa, Dion Drena Beljo
Call-ups: Josip Brekalo, Mislav Oršić, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Filip Uremović, Ivo Grbić, Nikola Moro, Matija Frigan
Source: HNS
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