Dalic announced his provisional nomination for the EURO. Croatia will bet on experience

Euro football is knocking on the door and the next team to reveal its nomination for the final tournament is Croatia. Coach Zlatko Dalic’s charges have won bronze and silver at the last two World Cups, but they have not done too well at the European Championships. This time around, it’s up to proven names to break Croatia’s European curse.

Goalkeepers

It will probably not surprise anyone that Dominik Livakovic will take the number one position. The twenty-nine-year-old Fenerbahce goalkeeper has had his first season in Turkey, where he transferred from Dinamo Zagreb.

Livakovic was one of the mainstays at the last World Cup and the Croatians will rely on him again. He will be backed up by the pair of Nediljko Labrovic from Rijeka and Ivica Ivusic from Paphos.

Defenders

Manchester City’s Joško Gvardiol, only twenty-two years old, is expected to be the driving force in the back row. He moved to the English giant from Leipzig a season ago for a whopping €90 million, a record amount for a stopper. He showed his potential under coach Guardiola and will now be tasked with managing the national team’s defence.

Right-back Josip Stanišić also had an excellent season at Bayer Leverkusen. The German team has not lost a single game so far this season and Stanišić has put in an outstanding performance, highlighted by four goals across all competitions.

The 24-year-old defender, along with Guardiola, could rejuvenate an experienced team. He will be joined by Union Berlin stalwart Josip Juranovic for a place on the right flank.

There are also two representatives of Ajax Amsterdam, twenty-four-year-old stopper Josip Šutalo and two years older left back Borna Sosa. Domagoj Vida should bring experience and the proverbial calm to the defensive line.

At thirty-five years old, he is still on a roll at AEK Athens, where, in addition to his reliable performances at the back, he has also scored six goals. Other players in the list are Martin Erlic from Sassuolo and Marin Pongracic from Lecce.

Midfielders

As usual, the Croatians will rely on playing legend Luka Modric from Real Madrid. The game director of the Spanish big club is still keen to move on and would love to add a Euro success to his CV.

Along with him, another mainstay Marcelo Brozovic, who moved from Inter Milan to Saudi Arabia before the season, is very likely to feature in the starting eleven. The thirty-one-year-old defensive midfielder has been one of Croatia’s best players at past championships.

The duo of old acquaintances should be complemented in midfield by another 30-year-old from Manchester City – Mateo Kovacic. Above this trio, Mario Pasalic from Atalanta Bergamo and Lovro Majer from Wolfsburg could act as free-flowing offensive midfielders.

Pasalic is one of the mainstays of Bergamo at the age of twenty-nine and will play in the Europa League final this season, while twenty-six year old Majer has had his first season in the Bundesliga where he scored five goals and added five assists. The same age Nikola Vlasic from Torino, who hasn’t shone much in Serie A this season, will also be looking to compete for a place.

Another interesting name in Dalic’s selection will be 25-year-old Feyenoord midfielder Luka Ivanusec. He will want to fight for his minutes, which he could use at the next World Cup. There are also two young midfielders in the nomination, Luka Sucic, who at the age of twenty-one is already a regular at Salzburg, while Martin Baturina, who is the same age, is at Dinamo Zagreb.

Forwards

Andrej Kramaric should be the goal scorer. Even at the age of 32, he helped Hoffenheim to qualify for the European Cups with 15+6 league statistics. Besides him, the name of another veteran Ivan Perisic is also on the nomination list.

He transferred to Hajduk Split before the season, but his form will be in question. The 45-year-old winger injured his knee in September and did not return to the pitch until the end of February. As a result, he has only seven starts, during which he scored one goal.

Another candidate for the starting line-up will be pure number nine Bruno Petkovic. Even at 29 years old, he continues to play in domestic competition, scoring 11 goals for Dinamo Zagreb in the league this season and adding seven more in the Conference League.

Marko Pjaca also returns to Dalic’s squad after a successful restart in Rijeka. The Croatians have also nominated twenty-three-year-old Marko Pasalic from that club. The last name on the roster this year is 16-goal Ante Budimir from Osasuna Pamplona.

Source: HNS, Euro 2024