World Cup Team Checks: Croatia
March 16, 2006
World Cup qualifiers
Seven wins in 10 games: these results are nothing to be ashamed of. The Croatians remained unbeaten in their group and ultimately asserted themselves against rival Sweden in the fight for first place. Although Sweden ended up with just as many points as Croatia in the qualifiers, it had to admit defeat against the Croatian team both at home and away.
Stars
The "hero" of both decisive 1:0 wins in the qualifiers against group opponent Sweden was Darijo Srna, who shot the winning goal both times. Well-known professionals from the German Bundesliga are also part of the Croatian team, such as Ivan Klasnic (SV Werder Bremen), Marko Babic (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Josip Simunic and Niko Kovac (both Hertha BSC).
Trainer
The Croatian team could confidently qualify itself for the World Cup 2006 under the leadership of Zlatko Kranjcar. He succeeds Otto Baric, who had to clear his post after Croatia was knocked out of the European Cup 2004 in Portugal already in the preliminary round. Kranjcar has succeeded in putting together a homogenous unit without superstars. It is curious, though, that Kranjcar's son Nico is also in the contingent. This was initially met with skepticism, but he has played himself into the team with his good performance.
World Cup history
Croatia has qualified for the World Cup for the third time in a row.
1998: Third place, 2002: Preliminary round
Match schedule: preliminary round
June 13, 2006: Brazil -- Croatia in Berlin
June 18, 2006: Japan -- Croatia in Nuremberg
June 22, 2006: Croatia -- Australia in Stuttgart
World Cup base
The Croatian team is setting up camp in North Rhine-Westphalia during the World Cup. It will reside at the Dorint Ressort & Spa in Bad Brückenau.
Outlook
The Croatians celebrated their biggest international success by taking the surprise third place in the World Cup 1998 in France. In Germany, they want to make up for their knock-out in the preliminary round in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.