Croatia manager, Zlatko Dalić, has named the preliminary squad that will face the Netherlands in Rotterdam June 14th in the first UEFA Nations League semifinal. Spain will play Italy a day later in the other semifinal. The Final will be played June 18th.
No major changes to the squad from March’s two Euro 2024 qualifiers against Wales and Turkey. However, there is a notable call-up for 21 year-old striker, Dion Drena Beljo, who has been hot for Bundesliga club Augsburg over the past month. Beljo has two goals and two assists to his name in his last five Bundesliga matches dating back to April 21st. Could he and Musa give Kramarić and Livaja a run for their money for the remainder of the year?
The only other thing to mention regarding this squad is Marcelo Brozović’s late addition to the team. He of course will be part of this Croatian squad, but he will join the team in Holland late as Inter Milan will be playing Manchester City June 10th in the Champions League Final in Turkey. Broz is not guaranteed to start for Inter in the Final which should keep him relatively fresh for the Dutch match. Veterans Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić, and Andrej Kramarić should all be at 100% rest when the semifinal kicks off.
https://cazn.me/v/b94ef2
Brozovic with a sweet assist. Brekalo did not play.
That’s the truth today🤣
We had the best mid-field in the world during the World Cup.
When Croatian player’s wear the grb they put in twice the effort they do for their club teams.
Unfortunately we will have to rely on Kramaric as our only reliable forward once again. It will most likely go to penalty shots. 0-0 regular time result and then penalties.
———— NETHERLANDS ————
National League players level -o
this is the standard – not to divert.
World Class [Gold Type]
……………………………………..
Be Considered [Silver Type]
…………………………………………….
Decent Players [Bronze Type]
High Level –
Virgil van Dijk
Mid-level >
Matthijs de Ligt
Low level –
Wout Weghorst, Ryan Gravenberch
______________________________________| below list]
Be Considered as Decent Players –
Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries
Average players
Nathan Ake, Steven Bergwijn, Steven Berghuis, Jasper Cillessen
Davy Klaassen, Marten de Roon,
Not Impressive
Jurrien Timber, Cody Gakpo, Vincent Janssen, Brian Brobbey,
Devyne Rensch, Tyrell Malacia, Daley Blind, Kenneth Taylor,
Andries Noppert, Mark Flekken
————– CROATIA —————-
National League players level -o
this is the standard – not to divert.
World Class [Gold Type]
Luka Modric
Be Considered [Silver Type]
…………………………………………….
Decent Players [Bronze Type]
High Level –
………………………………………….
Mid-level >
Perisic, Brozovic
Low level –
Gvardiol, Kovacic
______________________________________| below list]
Be Considered as Decent Players –
…………………………………………………..
Average players
Livaković, Juranovic, Kramaric, Mario Pašalić,
Lovro Majer
Not Impressive
Livaja, Petkovic, Sosa, Stanišić, Šutalo, Barišić
Martin Erlić, Vlašić, Vida, Ivica Ivušić, Labrović,
Ivanušec, Petar Musa, Dion Drena Beljo
Orsic fan as well . Speed , man!! Only thing that i can think of is some sort of injury even minor but this guy wants to play for HNS . You can tell. He’s a gamer
I warned you guys to keep a careful eye on brozo-vic and how croatia has played better without him. Now he can’t even make the starting midfield for his club team after allegedly being the best midfielder in Italy, which was always a joke.
maybe he could just transition now to marathon running.
In terms of these calls ups, it’s good to see the young guys, but leaving Orsic off is a mistake regardless of if he hasn’t played since the world cup.
Outside of a quickly fading perisic, Croatia has no players with the ability to attack and bend the defense. Orisc and Brekalo were the only two. And now it seems Dalic has decided to leave both off in favor of carrying 5 strikes, when he’ll only likely ever play 2 of them and luka Ivanusec who has never shown anything for the repka.
I say give me Brekalo and Orsic. Drop Petkovic and Ivanusec or make a choice between Musa and Beljo.
“I ride the short bus” Brekalo isn’t the answer.
I think it depends on the injury status of Mkhitaryan. Broz came in to replace him after he got injured last game. If Mkhitaryan’s still injured, then Broz will start and probably play the full game.
Do you guys think broz will start in the final?
If I’m not mistaken he came off the bench last couple of cl games
I imagine they will need his experience and shut down ability if they want any chance at the man city juggernaut right now
Thoughts?
Lol…no Josip Misic??
Dalic hasn’t tended to call up a back-up CDM as of yet for this years international breaks but in the past he usually did, seems strange.
It’s only two games and the tail end of the tournament so I don’t think Dalic saw a reason for the extra CDM.
That being said if Brozovic is tired given the final for Champions League beforehand, then Dalic also doesn’t have a replacement so I guess it depends on his fitness level.
I am happy to see both Beljo and Musa on the squad. The youth need to be integrated more, especially given that some players may not have another tournament in them depending on their own fitness levels going forward.
Hopefully Dalic and the squad can win this one, I am really hoping that they take home the trophy.
Should’ve still called up Orsic.
That’s what I was saying a few days ago
I don’t want livakovic to end up making an orsic type move and really stall out the momentum he has for repka
We all know orsic has the unfortunate spot of playing in Perisic position
But was really finally getting some play time
I still think he has good value
But dalic is sticking with his guns about trying to keep guys that are in game form
Have to trust the coaches
Bummer for him and the repka tho
Dalic would have called him up of he were from Split.
Form is important, but Orsic always plays well for us and deserves some leeway (especially after what he did against Brazil and Morocco).
Dalic likes to satisfy everyone, and is trying to make for an evenly represented National Team (which is why it will take a long time for Livaja to be off the team). Vlasic got leeway too when he was rotting on the bench at his club too.
I like the callup list, especially the inclusion of Beljo and Musa (this was most important)…but leaving off the reliable Orsic might cost us in these Nations League if we need some offense off the bench and he’s not there.
I agree I want orsic to come in. He is that wild card that can get you an absolute world class goal from seemingly no where. We don’t have this in spades
I would take orsic over livaja personally but like you said got to make everyone happy
Especially the folks in split
I’m good with the kids getting some time
The future is now
Agree on Orsic. He always shows up for us and still deserves a spot regardless of rotting away in England. Why call up Ivanusec? He’s been invisible every time I’ve watched him play for the repka. Orsic deserves that spot.
Aside from that, its our best roster and it’s good to see Dalic give a Beljo a call.