Osijek, Croatia
This will be their third successive appearance to the final stage of the tournament since they are an independent country. Croatia finished on top of the qualifying round in group 8 from the Europe zone.
In teams news Croatias coach Zlatko Kranjcar announced on Friday an expected 24-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Germany next month where he said he hoped his team would reach the second round at least.
“I earlier said I would pick the players who carried the burden of qualifying so I’ve had a pretty clear picture of who to choose for some time,” Kranjcar told a news conference.
In the group stage Croatia face Brazil, Australia and Japan and Kranjcar said he saw his team progressing. “I can feel a great team spirit in the squad and I think we’re well capable of doing it,” he said. As we see the Croatian team is very motivated toward the start of the World Cup and is a team that can give big surprises if they keep playing like they did in the qualifying round.
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