February 23, 2021 - Croatia basketball completes the 2022 EuroBasket qualifiers in the first place, even after losing to the Netherlands and Turkey in the final cycle. 

The last qualifying match for the 2022 EuroBasket was played without a decisive result on Monday. Recall, Croatia entered the last cycle undefeated, with four victories and an already secured spot at the European Championship. Even with a final two defeats against the Netherlands on Saturday and Turkey on Monday, Croatia still remained on top in its qualifying group.

Croatia v Turkey

The game's first points went to Shane Larkin, who hit two free throws, while Željko Šakić scored Croatia's first basket for 2:2. However, with Ugriclu's three-pointer and Haltali's dunk, Turkey took the lead at 7:4. Marčinković's first basket kept Croatia in the game (7:6), and Drežnjak gave Croatia the 8:7 lead. Croatia then led 10:7 with a 6:0 series, but Turkey returned to finish the first quarter at 21:21.

Four minutes into the second quarter, the score was 27:27. After Turkey led 33:29, coach Mršić asked for a time-out and demanded that his team raise the intensity. Gabrić made it 32:32 with a shot from outside. However, at the end of the first half, Turkey gained 6 points (42:36), and coach Mršić called on his players to be serious and pick up their aggression, which helped Croatia reduce Turkey's lead to 40:42.

Goran Filipović, who recorded his debut performance for the senior national team in this cycle, played an excellent attacking game, and at a critical moment, hit one long-range three-pointer for 49:50. Sakić's three-pointer and Antonio Vrankovic gave Croatia the 56:54 lead. The last quarter began with Croatia up 65:62 after Mustapić's three-pointer.

A three-pointer by Gabrić resulted in Croatia's biggest lead of 6 points (68:62). Seven minutes before the end of the game, Mršić returned the core players, Bilan and Šakić, to the game, though with Shane Larkin back in, Turkey led 72:70. Larkin scored a three-pointer for 79:75 but luckily missed a free throw. Twenty-six seconds before the end of the game, Turkey was up by 6 points, and the game ended 78:84 for Turkey. 

Tomislav Gabrić was the best for Croatia with 13 points, Miro Bilan and Goran Filipović added 12 points each, and Željko Šakić and Antonio Vranković added 10 points each.

Željko Šakić, captain of the national team in this cycle: "I am pleased that we have brought this to an end. We knew this was not going to be an easy group. We knew we would have to fight for every victory. Unfortunately, in these last two games, we did not have the strength to win, but you must know that not a single Euroleague player played for us, that there are local guys, and I am proud of them because they did their best. You also have to know that we don't have foreigners and that's it. That is Croatia."

Goran Filipović made his debut for the senior national team in this qualification cycle: "I think we played somewhat better offensively than in the last game against the Netherlands. Unfortunately, that was not enough today, and I think Turkey is a more organized team than the Netherlands. We can be proud, we fought, and what is important is that we have already qualified for EuroBasket."

Antonio Vranković scored 10 points with 100% accuracy: "We fought. We made a game plan and stuck to it. Unfortunately, we lost in the end, but Turkey deservedly won. They were stronger today, and we move on. We qualified, we are first in the group, and that's great."

Coach Veljko Mršić is satisfied with what the national team showed: “It was a very good and competitive match between the two teams. The result was not important, but we had to play the game at a good level and with high intensity. We saw that Turkey wanted revenge for that defeat in the previous cycle, and we also saw that our team didn't want to allow it. They had Larkin in the plan for just one quarter, but we saw how he played to beat us on one or two possessions. I’m happy with this team, and we came here without four important players in the previous two windows. But we also realized that we have a slightly wider base, that we are a real team and everyone enjoys playing for the national team. It looked much better than the first game against the Netherlands, which is normal - there were debutants, without preparations and friendly matches. But all the players who deserved the invitation are there. Above all, I congratulate them on their placement in the European Championship and on how they played with the national team."

Source: HKS

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November 28, 2020 - In the third qualifying match for EuroBasket 2022, Croatia basketball topped Turkey in the Istanbul bubble on Friday evening.

The Croatia national team defeated Turkey 79:62 in the third qualifying match for the European Championships in 2022!

In the previous cycle of qualifications, Croatia beat the national teams of Sweden and the Netherlands, and Friday's game continues their perfect qualifications - three wins, no defeats.

On Sunday, November 29, at 18:00, Croatia will play against Sweden (broadcast on HRT2 and SportKlub), and in February 2021, the qualifiers will end with two more return matches against Turkey and the Netherlands. These matches will also be played in a bubble, and the host of Croatia's group has not yet been determined.

The most effective player of the match was the fantastic Miro Bilan with 30 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Željko Šakić with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Roko Rogić also hit double figures with 12 points.

It should certainly be noted that Roko Prkačin made his debut for the Croatia national team with 6 points. Filip Krušlin also made an important contribution with 9 points and 4 assists, while captain Roko Leni Ukić, who recorded 5 assists and 2 rebounds, was an important and experienced support.

Croatia started the game strong, and their power over Turkey extended to the entire first half. 

Croatia ended the first quarter with a 16-0 series advantage, which grew to +17 (24-7) thanks to Roko Rogić's three-pointer. 

Nothing changed in the second quarter either, which was opened by a three-pointer by Filip Krušlin for +20 (27-7).

In the 27th minute, Croatia came to an unexpected 25-point advantage (40-15), when Miro Bilan nailed two free throws.

In the last minute of the first half, Turkey hit a three-pointer (43-24), but Bilan made it +21 (45-24) at half time.

Turkey recovered from the shock experienced in the first 20 minutes and opened the second half with a 9-0 series, leaving Croatia without a steal for a full three and a half minutes.

However, Veljko Mršić's team did not allow Turkey to get closer than 11 points (47-36) in the third quarter.

In the second half, there was a lack of a little more flow and precision in Croatia's attack, and Turkey continued to gain the advantage.

With a triple by American Shane Larkin, Turkey was eight points behind (70-62) just under two minutes before the end.

However, a possible turnaround was prevented by Bilan (4), Sakić (3), and Rogić (2), who finished the game with a 9-0 Croatia series for the final +17 (79-62).

In the second game, the Netherlands beat Sweden 78-76.

Saturday is a day off for the basketball players in the "Istanbul Bubble", and the remaining two games are scheduled for Sunday.

Turkey - the Netherlands will play from 3 pm, and at 6 pm Croatia will look for a victory against Sweden to confirm their placement in the EuroBasket.

Source: HRT

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November 11, 2020 - Croatia national team player Domagoj Vida played coronavirus-infected in the friendly match between Croatia and Turkey on Thursday evening, which ended 3:3.

On Thursday, we will find out what the further procedure is and whether this situation will affect the Nations League matches this Saturday against Sweden and Tuesday against Portugal.

We are transmitting the HNS press release in its entirety:

"Immediately after midnight local time in Istanbul, the Croatia national football team's medical service received the SARS-CoV-2 virus test results, among which was a positive result among the players.

After all the players and staff members were negative in the regular test for the match against Turkey on Monday, the regular test for the match against Sweden was done on Wednesday morning. HNS received the official test results after midnight local time, which showed that national team member Domagoj Vida is positive for coronavirus.

The Croatia national team's medical service received initial information at the end of halftime that there was one potentially positive result. This is a common test procedure, and a questionable result is retested to confirm the result.

At that time, coach Zlatko Dalic had already decided to substitute Vida. The national team's medical service isolated Vida according to all epidemiological measures until the confirmation of the test results.

Vida will spend the next few days in self-isolation in Istanbul following regulations.

All other national team members and staff members, who tested negative, will travel to Stockholm. It is taken into account that the national team complied with all epidemiological measures, following UEFA's Return to Play protocol.

In addition to Vida, one member of the HNS delegation was also positive, and was not in contact with national team members or staff members."

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November 11, 2020 - Turkey and Croatia met in Istanbul for a friendly match on Wednesday as preparation for their upcoming Nations League matches against Sweden and Portugal. 

The Croatia national team met Turkey in a friendly match in Istanbul at 6:45 pm on Wednesday. The friendly was played at Besiktas stadium and served as preparation for coach Zlatko Dalic before the Nations League matches against Sweden and Portugal. 

Croatia's starting 11 was anything but standard, featuring several young players - Sluga - Juranović, Vida, Pongračić, Melnjak - Rog, Badelj - Brekalo, Pašalić, Oršić - Budimir.

As announced, Dalic gave priority to players who did not have many opportunities in the national team jersey. 

The match kicked off without spectators and was fairly even until the 22nd minute when carelessness in the Croatia defense resulted in a Turkey penalty. Tosun scored for 1:0.

Fortunately, just 10 minutes later, Budimir equalized the score, though Croatia wouldn't have been as lucky if VAR was involved. A missed Budimir handball and goal made the game 1:1 in the 32nd minute. 

But not even 10 minutes after that, Croatia's defense fell apart... again. Juranovic was beat on the right side, and Turuc scored for the 2:1 lead at the half. 

The second half began with one substitution - Uremovic came in for Vida.

It didn't take long for Croatia to equalize. Oršić found Brekalo on the right side, who sent a sharp ball into the box, which found Pašalić alone on the left to score for 2:2 in the 53rd.

Just two minutes later, Oršić found the head of Brekalo, who put Croatia in the lead for the first time of the match - 2:3!

Unfortunately, Croatia's lead didn't last long - Under equalized for Turkey in the 58th (3:3).

In the 60th minute, Toma Basic replaced Badelj and debuted for Croatia, while Caleta-Car replaced Pongracic, and Perisic replaced Brekalo.

In the 66th minute, Mirko Antonio Colak was subbed on for Budimir, also making his Croatia debut.

By the 68th minute, Turkey had 3 shots on goal to Croatia's 5.

Even Luka Modric got his chance against Turkey, replacing Mario Pasalic in the 76th minute. 

With 10 minutes to go, Croatia didn't want to settle for a draw and was hunting for their fourth goal. The referee added three minutes, though neither side was able to score.

The friendly ended 3:3. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

August 25, 2020 - During his visit to Riva, the president of the Croatian Football Federation, Davor Suker, signed a contract for a friendly match with Croatia and the national team of Turkey in November this year.

HNS announced that the national teams of Turkey and Croatia would meet on November 11, 2020, at Istanbul's Atatürk Stadium, after a match between the same rivals scheduled for June had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After a several-month break, Croatia will return to the pitch as part of the Nations League, away against Portugal (September 5 in Porto) and France (September 8 in Paris). In October, they will play a friendly match against Switzerland (October 7) and home matches in the Nations League against Sweden (October 11) and France (October 14).

The match against Turkey will be played before the two final Croatia matches in the Nations League, in Sweden (November 14) and at home against Portugal (November 17).

Turkey will also participate in the postponed European Championships. They have been drawn in Group A with Italy, Wales and Switzerland and is currently the 29th best national team in the world, according to the FIFA rankings. In the Nations League, they will play with Russia, Serbia and Hungary.

The friendly clash in November will be the jubilee tenth meeting between Croatia and Turkey, and several meetings are very memorable. Turkeywas Croatia's historic first opponent at major competitions, at the Euros in 1996, and thanks to a goal by Goran Vlaovic, it also became the first victory of the Vatreni.

Croatia also defeated Turkey 1-0 at Euro 2016 with a great goal by Luka Modric, and we certainly remember passing Turkey in the qualifiers for EURO 2012, with a brilliant 3-0 victory in Istanbul. On the other hand, the match at Euro 2008 is also unforgettable, when Turkey celebrated after a dramatic finish which ended in penalties, and thus reached the semifinal of the tournament.

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February 12, 2020 - The Croatia national football team will open June with a friendly match against Turkey in Osijek as part of their preparations for the European Championship.

Gol.hr reports that while waiting for confirmation of the two friendly matches that the 2018 World Cup finalists will play in March, the Croatian Football Federation has confirmed the first of two friendly games to be played in June.

Namely, on June 1, just before the Euro 2020 begins, Croatia will welcome Turkey at the City Garden Stadium for their first friendly preparatory match. Turkey will also play at the Euros and is currently the 29th best national team in the world in the FIFA rankings.

The second friendly match before the start of the European Championship should be played on June 8 in Nice against France, though we are still waiting for the official confirmation of that match.

The meeting between Croatia and Turkey in Osijek will be the tenth jubilee match between these two teams. Several of these meetings are very memorable.

At the Euros in 1996, it was Turkey that was Croatia's historic first opponent in major competitions, and thanks to Goran Vlaovic's goal, it also became the first Croatia win. Croatia also beat Turkey 1:0 at the Euro 2016 with a brilliant goal by Luka Modric, and we certainly remember playing Turkey in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, with a glorious 3:0 victory in Istanbul.

On the other hand, we still cannot forget that Euro 2008 match when Turkey celebrated after a dramatic penalty shootout and thus advanced to the tournament semifinal.

Ticket prices and ticket sales for this friendly will be announced at a later date.

Recall, Croatia will play in the European Championship this summer in Group D against England, the Czech Republic, and the playoff winner of Nations League C.

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