Croatia national football team 2018 FIFA World Cup

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

On July 7, in Sochi, at the Fisht stadium, the Croatian national team will fight with Russia for a ticket to the semifinals. The composition of the visiting team at the 2018 World Cup is very strong. Therefore, analysts often praise this team.

Who came to Russia for the World Cup

The roster of the Croatian national football team for the 2018 World Cup was selected by head coach Zlatko Dalic.

Until 2000, he was an ordinary player, and after completing his career he took up the post of assistant coach at Varteks club in Varteks, subsequently replacing Miroslav Blazevic in the main post in 2005.

Dalich also ran clubs:

• Rijeka in 2007-2008;
• the reigning champion of Albania, Dynamo Tirana in 2008-2009;
• Al-Faisali from Saudi Arabia in the period 2010-2011, then moving to their direct competitors in the country, the Al-Hilal club in 2012-2013;
• Al Ain from the UAE in 2014-2016.

On October 7, 2017, the experienced coach was temporarily appointed to lead the Croatian national team in the qualifying stages, replacing the poorly performing Ante Cacic. After the team's victory, Zlatko Dalic received a permanent contract.

He brought with him a well-played and powerful team to Russia:

1. Goalkeepers: Lovre Kalinich, Dominik Livakovic and Daniel Subasic.
2. Defenders: Dejan Lovren, Tin Yedvay, Vedran Chorluka, Duje Chaleta-Tsar, Ivan Strinich, Shume Vrsalko, Josip Pivarich, Domagoy Vida.
3. Midfielders: Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Marcelo Brozovic, Milan Badel, Philip Bradaric.
4. Forwards: Andrei Kramaric, Nikola Kalinich, Ivan Perisic, Mario Mandzukic, Marko Piazza, Ante Rebić.

The "checkers" team, as they were nicknamed for their checkered uniforms, defeated all their opponents in the group stages:

• Nigeria - 2: 0;
• Argentina - 3: 0;
• Iceland 2: 1.

In the playoffs, after a quick exchange of goals in the first minutes of the match, Croatia and Denmark determined the winner only thanks to a penalty kick.

To better understand how the national team was able to break through to the ¼ final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, you need to take a closer look at its composition.

Goalkeepers

1. 33 year old Daniel Subasic from the French "Monaco" takes 8th place in the TOP-10 of the best goalkeepers of the 2018 World Cup. And earlier in 2017 he took 1st place in the League 1 ranking. He has been playing for the Croatian national team since 2006, having played 37 matches before the start of the World Cup.
2. 28 year old Lovre Kalinich little inferior to his illustrious colleague. The representative of the Belgian club Ghent earlier in the Croatian championship was able to set a record without conceding a single goal in 8 games in a row.
3. 23 year old Dominik Livakovich from the Croatian "Dynamo" Zagreb is a newcomer to the national team, who practically never entered the field. Played only 1 time during his debut in 2017. He is unlikely to be seen at the 2018 World Cup.

Defenders

• 26 year old Shime Vrsalko from Spain's Atletico Madrid also finished 7th in the FIFA World Cup 2018 rankings for right-wing defenders. For the national team, he played only 35 matches. In addition to him, the Croatian national team also includes:
• 32 year old Vedran Chorluka in the national team for 12 years and managed to play 98 matches for the team before the start of the World Cup. As an experienced player, he has changed many clubs and is now the captain of Moscow Lokomotiv.
• 29 year old Domagoi Vida played for Bayer 04, Zagreb, and since 2013, Dynamo Kiev. Now he is the defender of the Turkish Besiktas, playing for the Croatian national team since 2010, having played a total of 58 games.

• 30 year old Ivan Strinich first entered the field as a player of Dnipro of Ukraine. His debut was marked by a goal scored from 30 meters. Having gained experience in 8 years, I was able to move to Milan. Now plays for the Italian "Sampdoria".
• 29 year old Dejan Lovren traveled a lot between clubs. Having started as a footballer for Karlovets, he subsequently moved to Dynamo. Then there were the French "Olympic Leon", the British "Southampton". Now he is the defender of English Liverpool.

• 29 year old Josip Pivaric for a long time he remained loyal to his native Zagreb club Dynamo, only playing for Lokomotiv for a while. And since 2013, he began to participate in matches for the national team, having already participated in 19 meetings before the start of the World Cup in Russia. Since 2017 he has been a defender of Dynamo Kiev.
• 22 year old Tin Jedvai started at Dynamo Zagreb. In the 2012/2013 season he managed to become the champion of Croatia, after which he was bought by Roma. But in 2014 the player was rented by Bayer 04, where Tin and the donkey.
• 21 year old Duye Chalet-Tsar a pupil of the Šibenik club, who has been in the Red Bull Salzburg since 2014. For the national team he played in the youth squad since 2013 in the European and World Championships. In 2018 he moved to the main team.

Midfielders

This is the main treasure of the Croatian national team, as proven by the official FIFA statistics:

• 32 year old captain Luka Modric, who saved the team in the match with Denmark with a spectacular penalty. In the 2018 World Cup ranking, he takes an honorable 2nd place among attacking midfielders. Outside the national team plays in the starting lineup of the Spanish "Real Madrid".
• 30 year old Ivan Rakitic also hit the FIFA TOPs becoming 11th in the top twenty attacking midfielders of the tournament. His debut took place in 2005 at Basel, Switzerland. After 2 years, he moved to the German Schalke 04. Then there was the Spanish "Sevilla" and from 2014 "Barcelona", where the player remains now.

• 24 year old Mateo Kovacic Is one of only two Croatian players who made it to Real Madrid. Before that, he also played for Internazionale Milan. Participated in the 2014 World Championships and 2016 European Championships.
• 29 year old Milan Badel started, like many of his Croatian colleagues at Dynamo Zagreb. Initially, he planned to move to Moscow, but ended up in 2012 in the German "Hamburg", having managed to become the Croatian Champion 4 times by that time. In 2014 he moved to the Italian Fiorentina, where he still remains.

• 25 year old Marcelo Brozovic started his career in the club "Hrvatski Dragovlyac". Until 2015, he remained in Croatia, having managed to become twice the champion of the country and the owner of the Super Cup. Then he was rented by the Italian Intarnationalale.
• 26 year old Philip Bradaric - another newcomer to the national team, a graduate of the "Hajduk" club. In 2015 he moved to the Croatian Rijeka.

Forwards

Croatia's forwards also made it to the FIFA rankings, making it to the top 20 center midfielders:

• 24 year old Ante Rebic, ranked 8th, plays for Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt. The pupil of the Split club was bought out in 2013 by Fiorentina, the contract with which ended only on July 1, 2018. All this time, the Italians have rented the player to the clubs RB Leipzig and Hellas Verona, and subsequently Eintracht Frankfurt since 2016.
• 29 year old Ivan Perisic took 17th place in the ranking. Over a long career in various clubs, he managed to become the owner of the Super Cup and twice the German Cup. Also, the footballer received the title of Top Scorer of the Belgian Championship in the 2010-2011 season. Now plays for the Italian "Internationale".

• 32 year old Mario Mandzukic started in the German youth "Dietzingen". The club career continued with the Croatian Marsonia, Zagreb and Dynamo. In 2010 he returned to Germany, playing first for Wolfsburg and then Bayern Munich. In 2014, he got to Atletico Madrid for 1 season, and then with good recommendations from the hardworking striker moved to the Italian Juventus, where he remained.
• 30 year old Nikola Kalinich - striker of the Italian Fiorentina, temporarily on loan to Milan. Prior to that, he managed to play for the English professional club Blackburn Rovers and the Ukrainian Dnipro.

• 23 year old Marco Piazza started his career in the youth club of Dynamo Zagreb in 2004. In 2009 he moved to Croatian ZET, and a year later to Lokomotiv. But in 2014 he returned to Dynamo already in the senior squad. Since 2016, it has been bought out by the Italian Juventus, which was the best deal of the home club (23 million euros) in history. In 2018 rented by the German Schalke 04.
• 24 year old Andrey Kramarich actively built his career in Croatia, becoming twice champion and winner of the country's cup. He was also a member of Rijeka in 2014 was able to win the Super Cup. In 2015, it was bought by the English Leicester City, and a year later by the German Hoffenheim, where it remains today.

If we use only the value of the players for the assessment, then the Croats are estimated at 364 million euros against 161.8 for the Russians. But the former coach of the “checkers” national team claims that the hosts of the tournament have a chance to win.