Croatian national football team gathered in Zagreb on Monday ahead of the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship in Germany.
‘Vatrene’ expects a match with Turkish (Thursday, Osijek, 8:45 p.m.) and Wales (Sunday, Cardiff, 8:45 p.m.). At the last gathering in September, Croatia won three points against Latvia and Army, and Zlatko Dalić announced on Monday that the winning streak will continue, even though there are big problems in the attacking line.
Andrej Kramarić and Bruno Petković are questionable for the performance, Luka Ivanušec, Ivan Perišić and Mislav Oršić have been written off, so in the new cycle trumps like Stone Musa i Josip Brekal, who returned to the national team after more than a year.
Brekalo and Musa addressed the public ahead of the training session of the “fiery”. The first to speak was Brekalo, who scored a goal for Fiorentina in the victory against Napoli last weekend.
– I am ready for Turkey, I feel great and in good shape. How we will play tactically is on the menu, I am ready. I have to admit, since I haven’t been with the national team for a while, the team is getting younger and younger. There are more and more famous faces. The atmosphere is great as always, said Brekalo.
– I really missed the national team a lot, it means a lot to me to be at the gathering. It was difficult for me to follow the World Cup because I wasn’t there, but now I’m happy, I worked hard to come back and I hope to stay as long as possible – added Brekalo.
He singled out the most special performances in the “fire” jersey.
– I remember the debut the most from my performances. I played at Maksimir, which is a stadium that I have fond memories of, and we beat a great power like Spain. Among the others, there is the victory against France in Paris.
Then Petar Musa spoke.
– It’s a great feeling when I’m at a gathering with the national team. I am ready and full of self-confidence, this season I have much more playing time at Benfica. I want to help the team and score a goal! Benfica entered the season well, I’m happy with the playing time, but we entered the Champions League badly. There are still four games, and we have the same goal as last season – Musa points out that Benfica wants to go to the knockout phase of the LP.
– We are not expecting easy games with Turkey and Wales. I think it will be two very different games. We beat Turkey there, they have a new coach, but I don’t think it will be a problem if we are ‘right’.
Considering the numerous injuries in the “fire” squad, it is Musa who could play the “nine” from the first minute with Turkey.
– I haven’t talked to Dalić yet about minutes. I hope for the opportunity like the other players, I want to make the most of it, I’m ready – concluded Musa.