June 24, 2019 - Croatia and England met for the final group stage game of the U21 Euros on Monday. Because both teams stood at the bottom of Group C, they would not be advancing further in the tournament and only played for pride.

Croatia's U21s ended the Euros in San Marino against England with a Recall, Croatia’s young side lost 4:1 to Romania and 1:0 to France in their first two games of the tournament.

Coach Nenad Gračan made some changes in the lineup compared to the games against Romania and France. Namely, in the initial list, the previous reserves were Grbić, Čabraja, Kalaica, Moro, and Kulenović. Today's starting lineup included Grbić, Uremović, Kalaica, Katić, Čabraja, Vlašić, Šunjić, Moro, Majer, Kulenović, and Brekalo.

The game started with a bit of bad luck on Croatia's side as England was awarded a penalty in the 11th minute to lead 0:1. Both teams had chances in the following minutes, with England having the better of them. 

However, Croatia finally got their chance in the 39th minute. The promising Josip Brekalo sprinted up the left side, cut into the middle of the box to beat the defender and hit a far-post rocket for the equalizer! The game was 1:1 at the half.

England dimmed Croatia's hopes just three minutes into the second half. After a blunder in Croatia's defense, James Maddison put England back in the lead for 1:2.

But Croatia wouldn't allow England's lead to last long. Majer capitalized on a catastrophic defensive mistake by England, found the foot of Kulenović who then touched the ball to Nikola Vlašić for his second goal of the tournament and the equalizer! The game was 2:2 in the 62nd minute. 

Unfortunately, England took the lead for the third time in the game. Kenny scored in the 70th minute for 2:3. But Croatia continued to press, and a perfect through ball to Brekalo saw him nutmeg the keeper for 3:3!

The game ended 3:3, which was Croatia's only draw of the tournament. Croatia has also finished last in Group C. 

By advancing to the semifinal of the Euros, Croatia would have automatically secured a spot at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which would have been historic for Croatian football.

However, Croatia's young side will have to wait a bit longer. 

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

June 23, 2019 - The Croatia water polo team lost to Serbia by a goal in the dramatic FINA World League final in Belgrade (12:11). 

The 18th edition of the World League has come to an end, and while the final tournament of this competition is officially called the ‘World League Super Final’, the last game, the one for the gold, really was a super final.

Croatia vs. Serbia, two of the world’s water polo giants, met on Sunday in Belgrade to determine not only who would win the World League, but who would secure their spot at the Tokyo Olympics next summer. 

This ‘El Classico’ of water polo was held for the second time this week, after Serbia defeated Croatia by a goal in the group stage of the competition on Wednesday. Thus, Sunday became the rematch of rematches, with more than a medal on the line. 

It’s no coincidence that we’ve seen these two nations often meet - recall, they were finalists in the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, and met in the semifinals of the World Cup in Budapest 2017 and the Euros in Barcelona in 2018.

"What is more beautiful than playing at this pool in Belgrade, one of the water polo temples? Another final, against Serbia. Where do you get more motivation? This is why we live for sport. That's what I'm going to tell my players, and be assured that we will welcome the match in that respect,” coach Ivica Tucak said before the game. 

“Today, my boys and I will give our all, our whole heart, and I hope, I think we have a very, very great chance of winning.”

At 4:45 pm, the game was off. 

The first half of the first quarter saw goals by Buljabašić and Vukičević for 0:2 Croatia, and thanks to a goal by Maro Joković with a second to go, the first quarter ended 1:3 for Croatia. 

Serbia woke up in the second quarter - and Filip Filipović tied the game for Serbia at 4:4 with just over three minutes to go. With a minute to go in the second, Serbia led 6:4. 

Croatia won the sprint in the third quarter. Vukičević scored for the equalizer, and Fatović scored to retake Croatia's lead for 6:7! With a minute to go in the third, the game was tied at 7:7, but Bušlje threw a rocket for 7:8 Croatia with less than 30 seconds to go. The third quarter ended at 7:8. 

The final decisive quarter was met with a downpour, which is no surprise, considering Belgrade's dark sky hinted at it throughout the game. With extremely difficult conditions to play in, Serbia managed to equalize for 8:8 with seven minutes to go. Croatia retook the lead thanks to Vrlić for 8:9 with six minutes to go. The final minutes wouldn't go without excitement, and Serbia managed to equalize at 9:9, but Croatia came back for 9:10! 

With four minutes left, Bijač made an incredible save to keep Croatia in the lead, but Serbia came back for 10:10 with three minutes to go. Filipović scored for Serbia - it was 11:10 with one minute to go. But Vukičević saved the day, and brought Croatia back with a goal. Serbia was granted a shot from 5 meters with 20 seconds to go, and scored to take the lead. In Croatia's final attack, they were unable to equalize. The game ended 12:11 for Serbia.

Serbia has thus won the FINA World League and qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

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

June 22, 2019 - The Croatia water polo team is one game away from securing a spot in the Tokyo Olympics next summer after defeating Spain in the semi-final of the World League Super Final in Belgrade on Saturday. 

Croatia and Spain met in the second semi-final of the World League Super Final in Belgrade on Saturday after Serbia beat Australia to secure the first spot in Sunday’s finale. Recall, in the group stage of the tournament, Croatia defeated Kazakhstan and Australia, and lost to Serbia. They defeated Japan in the quarterfinal on Friday. 

Spain was no stranger to Croatia and no easy opponent, even though the two teams met back in April in Zagreb for the Europa Cup finals where Croatia celebrated 12:9. 

“For the last few years, Spain has always tortured us. It’s true that we’ve won, but not without difficulty. Still, I believe we have the strength to pass them today, I believe we are better and we will take this victory too,” said coach Ivica Tucak before the game. 

And defeat them,  they did. 

Croatia opened the first quarter with a goal by Vrlić, which was followed by two goals from Garcia and one from Lončar for 4:0 Croatia with a minute and a half to go. Spain finally got their first goal at the minute mark, though Vrlić scored again to make it 5:1 for Croatia at the end of the first quarter. 

Spain’s second goal came halfway through the second quarter, with their third goal scored with less than three minutes to go. Croatia, however, saw goals by Joković, Šetka, and Fatović for 8:3 at the end of the second. 

Spain came back at the start of the third quarter, and two minutes in they were down by just three goals - though it was short-lived after Buljabašić scored for 9:5. It was 10:7 to end the third quarter. 

The final quarter went two and a half minutes before seeing a goal by either side, and it was Spain to score for 10:8. The result remained 10:8 with just two minutes to go, and Joković hit the post without any luck. Bijač defended the goal brilliantly, and it was Croatia to hold their own for a place in the final against Serbia on Sunday! 

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

June 21, 2019 - The Croatia water polo team and Japan met on Friday for the quarterfinal of the World League Super Final in Belgrade. 

Croatia continued their fight for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics next year against Japan in the quarterfinal of the World League Super Final in Belgrade, Serbia. In the group stage of the tournament, Croatia defeated Kazakhstan and Australia and lost by a goal to Serbia. Croatia thus secured second place in Group B. 

Croatia kicked off the quarterfinal match with a goal by Maro Jaković a minute into the first quarter, which was followed by another from Andro Bušlje for 0:2 Croatia. Japan came back with a goal by Inaba with less than 5 minutes to go in the first and equalized with just over three minutes to go. Japan even took the lead a minute later for 3:2,  but Bušlje and Fatović put Croatia back ahead for 3:4 at the end of the first quarter. 

Fatović opened the second quarter for Croatia with a goal, which was followed by another for 3:6 with just under six minutes to go in the second. Japan came back with one for 4:6 30 seconds later, and Krapić increased Croatia’s lead to 4:7. A goal by Vukičević made the game 4:8, and while Japan came back for 6:8 with a minute and a half to go before halftime, Šetka and Miloš pushed the result to 6:10 at the half. 

Croatia continued dominating in the third quarter - Fatović scored for 6:11, and by the middle of the quarter, Croatia was leading by six goals (8:14). The third quarter ended at 8:15 for Croatia. 

Croatia won the sprint at the start of the fourth quarter and increased their lead thanks to a goal by Krapić for 8:16 a minute in. Japan came back with two goals to decrease Croatia’s lead to 10:16, but Buljubašić scored for 10:17. It was 11:17 with four minutes to go, but Joković put Croatia back up to 11:18 seconds later. 

With two minutes to go, Croatia led 12:20, and the game ended an incredible 13:20 for Croatia. 

In the semifinal, Croatia will play the winner of Spain v. Kazakhstan. 

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

Croatia, a country that heavily relies on tourism, can let out a sigh of relief. Although figures were not so encouraging until May, June has put Croatian tourism back on trend. Namely, the statistics that reveal the number of overnights and arrivals for foreign guests are good - and growing, reports Vijesti.hr on June 16, 2019. 

Specifically, Istria leads the pack, as it usually does every year. And so many travelers made their way to the sea by highways, traffic at the Lučko toll station has already seen a 4 percent increase compared to last year.

Holidays, summer heat, and humidity always seem to work in favor of Croatian tourism - and according to eVisitor data, this June is already stronger than last year.

Namely, there have been 1.3 million arrivals and 5.6 million overnights recorded, which is up 17 percent in arrivals and 11 percent in overnights compared to last year. 

All coastal counties have recorded growth, too. Istria leads the way with a 33 percent increase in arrivals and a 21 percent increase in overnights. Šibenik-Knin County leads Dalmatia with 16.7 percent more arrivals and 7 percent more overnight stays.

"It is common for Czechs to come to Croatia for the sea. It's close, the people are friendly and we enjoy it here,” said David from the Czech Republic.

But some have also noticed a rise in prices.

"Compared to Italy, the prices are the same. We expected them to be a little cheaper, but they are the same," said Rossana from Italy.

The price increase was also noted by Alen from Slovenia: 

"We noticed that the prices are higher each season. One example is that parking this year is twice as much as last year. That was the first thing we noticed today. We have only been here for two hours and we'll see what's going to be next."

Many tourists travel to Croatia by car, which could be seen by the line of traffic inching its way to the sea. Namely, the first hit tourist weekend saw 82,000 vehicles pass through the Lučko toll station on their way to the sea. 

The biggest traffic day was Friday, but on Sunday some 15,000 drivers set off to the Adriatic.

Thanks to these results, the forecast for this tourist season remains the same, and that is to surpass the year before one more.

Yo read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatia handball team celebrated against Switzerland in the second to last round of the qualifiers for the 2020 European Championships, to be played in Austria, Norway, and Sweden in January 2020, reports Gol.hr on June 12, 2019. 

The Croatia national handball team defeated Switzerland 33:28 (17:13) in the fifth round of the Group 2 qualifiers for the European Championship.

Even before this game, the ‘Cowboys’ secured a spot at the Euros, but it was important to win to secure the first place. Recall, placing first in the group is a bit friendlier when it comes to the group draws for Euro. The Euro 2002 draw will be held on Friday, June 28, in Vienna.

As for Wednesday’s match between Croatia and Switzerland at Bossard Arena in Zug, Switzerland, the game started goal for goal, though Croatia eventually took the lead, and was up by four points at halftime. Switzerland tried to catch up, but Croatia routinely played their game - and at a time, they were up five and six goals!

Although coach Lino Červar was without a few critical and strong players, like Luka Cindrić, Igor Karačić, Marin Šego, Domagoj Pavlović, and Marin Marić, Croatia was very determined to win in Zug. Filip Ivić was in goal, while the wing positions were given to Manuel Štrlek and Josip Božić -Pavletić. Željko Musa was the pivot and on the outside was Marko Mamić, Domagoj Duvnjak, and Luka Stepančić. 

Croatia realized 72 percent of their attack and scored 12 goals from nine meters. Luka Stepančić and Marko Mamić scored 14 goals together.

With 15 goals,  Andy Schmid was the best for Switzerland. Matej Ašanin was fantastic in goal in the second half with nine defenses.

Croatia will end the qualifications on Sunday against Belgium in Poreč.

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

Just how many problems employers have finding workforce was demonstrated on Tuesday by the interest of employers in Dalmatia who sought information about Filipino workers and ways to hire them. Organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy - County Chamber of Split and in cooperation with the Pasat agency, representatives of the Filipino employment agency Magsaysay International Corporaticon INC. were presented, reports HRTurizam on June 11, 2019.

"For 2019, more than 65,000 foreign workers were approved, which is twice as many than in the previous year. The odds are bigger than ever, the workforce is missing, and this is a problem not only affecting Croatia but also neighboring countries in the region. Therefore, colleagues from the FBiH and Montenegro Chambers are now in contact with us to share information on the possibilities and procedures for recruiting Filipinos workers,” said Croatian President of the Chamber of Commerce of Split, Joze Tomaš.

According to Antonija Bašićiz of ŽK Split, in the first half of the year, 60% of the quota has been used or will be, and said that most workers are missing in tourism and hospitality, construction and shipbuilding. Tuesday’s presentation is a continuation of a series of activities that the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in Split realized this year to support members in solving the problems of finding a workforce.

One of the largest recruitment agencies in the Philippines is Magsaysay International Corporaticon INC.

The director of the agency for the employment of seafarers 'Pasat d.o.o.', Ino Munitić, said he has the best experiences with Magsaysay, his longtime partner, and with the Filipino labor force. 

"Given the great lack of labor in Croatia, Filipinos represent a quality, substitute workforce, and according to my experience, they are calm, quiet and working people. The process of granting Filipinos labor visas in Croatia takes about a month,” Munitić said.

The participants were interested in many details of employing Filipinos, such as the how long it’ll take to bring the workers overs, the length of their contracts, and their employment opportunities not only in tourism and hospitality, but also in other activities such as vineyards, quarries or, for example, installing lifts.

Goran Rihelj writes that thanks to the chronic lack of workforce in Dalmatia, employers in tourism are willing to take such measures and adventures. However, in the long run, this is certainly not good because, besides returning to the root of the problem - cheap labor, rather than quality workers from Asian countries cannot be ambassadors of our destination, as they do not help the local economy or plan to move here. But if we want cheap labor, then we will have such tourism - inexpensive, massive, seasonal, which means we have to reduce prices in all segments significantly.

Rihelj suggests that the only solution is to raise wages and working conditions in tourism, focusing on quality rather than mass tourism. On the other hand, Croatia has high VAT, high tax burden and tolls, and a short season… So, what’s the best solution?

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The football legends of Bayern Munch and the Croatia national team will meet in Pula Arena on July 8, as part of a spectacular program prepared by the Istria County Tourist Board, reports HRTurizam on Jun 10, 2019.

Thus, the Pula Arena will be transformed into a football field, that is, a grass futsal field, for the first time. The ground of the Arena will feature a 40x20 meter field, and tickets will be sold online and at the cashier in front of the Arena. Ticket sales should begin on June 14th.

This event is the result of the strategic partnership of Istria and FC Bayern, which was signed in June last year for three-year cooperation.

Also, before the friendly match, from June 25 to 27, there will be about 110 representatives of the management of the German first-division club, co-owners and strategic partners of Bayern.

The strategic partnership of FC Bayern Munich and Istria is the largest and most important marketing project in tourism. For Istria, it is also a strategic project in positioning the destination

The basic idea of the strategic partnership was to connect two premium brands through which identification of quality and top-class products would be created through the networking of marketing activities offline and online, e-marketing, social networks and concrete marketing campaigns in cooperation with Bayern.

In the framework of the strategic partnership, the Istria County Tourist Board has contracted 10 marketing projects in order to use the strength of the FC Bayern Munich brand and thus incorporate a part of the image and reputation of Bayern into the brand of Istria. This contract represents the biggest and most powerful advance of Istria as a destination in the marketing sense, and the effects of this partnership will have an impact on the global level, primarily thanks to the popularity of the legendary club around the world.

Bayern is one of the four richest football clubs in the world that owns 25 percent of ownership divided into equal shares among reputable companies: AUDI, ALLIANZ, ADIDAS, while the remaining 75 percent is 299,000 members who are co-owners of the club. They have 4,300 official fan clubs and over 340,000 members; over 652 million fans across the world and over 70 million followers on social networks.

The first extensive media campaign of Istria in Bavaria was held in February this year through three projects.

1st project: Dedicated photoshopping - At the beginning of the year, TZ Istria County started filming the activity of the players. Three key players were proposed, and after long and persistent lobbying, Istria got three ambassadors: Neuer, Alaba, and Martinez.

2nd project: Matchday Presenter - Matchday presenter is a big project that involved the seven-day presentation of Istria through all promotional channels four days before the match, the day after, and two days after the match.

The first part of the presentation was done during the Free Tourism Fair in Munich. With Istria and Croatia’s participation at the Fair, three major representatives of Bayern Munich came to the official stand of the Croatian Tourist Board. They were Giovanni Elber, the legend of FC Bayern Munich, Andreas Jung, marketing director and Joerg Wacker, director of the strategic development of the German football club.

The most important event within the Matchday presenter marketing project was the special presentation of Istria at the Siemens Cooking Lounge Arena where TZ Istria County organized an Istrian menu for forty invitees - mostly the owners of FC Bayern, then the strategic partners of the FCBM and several representatives of the media.

Stephan Lehmann, the official speaker of the FC Bayern who led the lottery at halftime of the games, transferred his experiences from Istria to the audience of 73,000 spectators and invited all attendees to visit the Croatian destination.

The main event at the half was a prize game involving a goal on the north side of the football field equipped with a large banner with four motifs from Istria: the views of Rovinj, Poreč, Motovun and Grožnjan. On the goal, four places were indicated to be hit to win a seven-day holiday in Istria. A special website was even created — namely, a landing page where interested parties could apply to play the game. 

Additionally, TZ Istria County broadcasted a digital banner around the perimeter of the football field in the length of 250 meters, where they cooperated with FC Bayern Munich under the name 'Istrien Urlaubtraum der Champions' with the logo of Istria and Croatia.

In the end, the entire marketing project was rounded off with a broadcast of the new promotional film for Istria, which was played across four large screens at the legendary Allianz Arena.

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

According to the latest annual report on monitoring the quality of water for swimming in Europe, more than 85 percent of European bathing sites surveyed met the EU's stringent standards and received a rating of "excellent" for water purity, including Croatia who scored 94.4 percent in quality. The results are a good indicator of where you can find the best spots to swim this summer, reports HRTurizam on June 8, 2019. 

Some 95.4 percent of the 21,831 bathing sites in the 28 EU Member States monitored met the minimum quality requirements in line with EU regulations, according to this year's European Commission and European Environment Agency (EEA) report. The report also includes 300 bathing sites in Albania and Switzerland.

The number of bathing areas that met the strictest quality standards and received the "excellent" rating rose slightly, from 85 percent in 2017 to 85.1 percent last year. Looking at bathing areas that met the minimum conditions for assessing "satisfactory quality", the picture is somewhat different. In 2017, they made up 96 percent, and in 2018, slightly less - 95.4 percent. The main reason for this is the opening of new bathing areas, and according to the Bathing Water Directive, the classification is based on data for four bathing seasons. Last year, water quality in 301 bathing areas (1.3% of them) in the EU, Albania, and Switzerland were rated as "bad", compared to 1.4 percent in 2017.

"Yesterday we marked World Environment Day. There are many challenges ahead of us, and that is why it is important to remember the success stories of the European Union on ecology. The quality of European swimming spots is one of those stories that are close to everyone. By researching, reporting, tracking and exchanging professional knowledge, we strive to improve the quality of our favorite swimming spots. A new review of environmental activities will enable member states to show each other how to achieve the best and maintain the outstanding standards that have come to fruition during my mandate. I want to thank the European Environment Agency for helping to improve standards and regularly send reliable information, because you will be able to choose where you want to swim this summer easily,” said Karmnu Vella, the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

European Environment Agency Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx added that "the report confirms that the Member States have been making efforts for more than 40 years, primarily in the area of wastewater treatment. Most Europeans today enjoy excellent quality bathing. Nevertheless, this is just one of the main issues, with the contamination of plastics and the protection of sea life, which we have to solve so that our sea, lakes, and rivers are healthier. "

Bathing water requirements are laid down in the EU Bathing Water Directive. By enforcing its provisions, we have significantly improved the quality of bathing water in Europe for the last 40 years. This directive introduced effective monitoring and management, and combined with investments in the purification of municipal wastewater, there was a drastic reduction in the amount of untreated or partially purified waste water from households and industries that are being discharged into watercourses. Local authorities are required to collect water samples at official bathing sites during the bathing season. The samples are then searched for two types of bacteria whose presence indicates pollution that causes wastewater or waste of animal origin.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

June 8, 2019 - Croatia and Wales met in Osijek on Saturday for their third qualification for the European Championship in 2020. 

Just over 17,000 fans came out to City Garden Stadium in Osijek to watch the Croatia and Wales qualification match for the 2020 European Championship. Croatia was without superstars Ivan Rakitić and Ante Rebić for the game. 

Croatia had their first real attack in the 8th minute, though Perišić shot over the goal. Croatia attacked well in the first 10 minutes of the game and managed to keep their play in Wales’ half. In the 10th minute, Wales had their first chance by Wilson, though Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković made an easy save. 

Croatia had another opportunity in the 13th minute from a corner, though Perišić shot over the goal again. 

After numerous attacks, Croatia finally got their chance in the 16th minute. Perišić crossed the ball into the box to Brekalo, though it hit the foot of Wales defender Lawrence for an own goal and 1:0 for Croatia! 

The game stopped for a 'cooling break' in the 23rd minute due to the Osijek heat - it was said to be around 30 degrees Celsius. 

After a perfect through-ball by Modrić in the 36th minute, Kramarić had a chance to score but hit just over the goal. 

Wales had a good chance in the 41st minute by Vaulks, though Livaković made a great save to keep Croatia in the lead. 

With no real dangerous attacks from Wales in the last 5 minutes, the game ended 1:0 for Croatia at the half. 

The second half started with a goal by Kovačić, though it was called offside. But it was not long for Croatia to get their second goal, which finally came for Ivan Perišić in the 47th minute. Croatia started to look like the World Cup finalists we know well. 

Wales continued without chances, though what could have been a dangerous free-kick from Bale went over the goal in the 55th minute. 

Croatia made their first sub in the 66th minute - Brekalo came out for Pašalić - and in the 75th minute, Kovačić came out for Badelj. 

In the 76th minute, Wales finally got their chance - Brooks scored with the help of a Vida deflection. It was 2:1 for Croatia. 

Croatia had another golden opportunity in the 91st minute thanks to Pašalić, but Kramarić missed in front of the goal. Five minutes of extra time was played.  

While Wales tried to press, it was Croatia to prevail, and the game ended 2:1 for Croatia!

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