Croatia Ready to Impress at U-19 EURO 2016

Whilst Croatia’s run at EURO 2016 ended on the weekend at the hands of Portugal, the nation’s fans won’t have long to wait before another EURO starts…

Croatia are expected to impress at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship which starts in Germany in just over a week, after coach Ferdo Milin named a strong side this week, one which includes one of the most expensive teen signings in football history.

Croatia U-19 will gather in Zagreb this Saturday before going into camp at Sveti Martin na Muri. On 9 July the squad will head off to Germany where they will kick off their UEFA EURO tournament on 12 July against the Netherlands.

Once again Croatia find themselves in a tough group, with their remaining Group B matches against France (15.07) and England (18.07). The tournament features the best 8 sides in Europe with Group A featuring Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria.

CROATIA: Adrian Šemper, Matej Hudećek, Borna Sosa, Filip Benković, Vinko Soldo, Bojan Knežević, Davor Lovren, Karlo Plantak, Nikola Moro, Ivan Božić, Matija Fintić, Borna Borovec, Tin Kulenović and Marijan Čabraja (Dinamo), Tomislav Turčin (Rijeka), Karlo Letica (Hajduk), Luka Ivanušec (Lokomotiva), Kristijan Jakić (Split), Josip Špoljarić (Osijek), Martin Erlić (Sassuolo), Josipa Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Fran Brodić (Club Brugge), Andrija Balić (Udinese Calcio), Silvijo Anočić (Roma), Dominik Martinović (Rasenballsport Leipzig).

Josip Brekalo

Players to watch include Wolfsburg’s Josip Brekalo, who was reportedly the third most expensive teen signing in history when he moved from Dinamo Zagreb earlier this year, captain Nikola Moro and Udinese’s Andrija Balić.

Andrija Balić

“England, France and Netherlands are motivating opponents, we will prepare the best we can to try and achieve our goal of being among the best 5 teams in Europe,” coach Milin said.

The squad will be cut down to 18 before the tournament starts.