Croatia squad announced for Qatar Airways International Tournament in Doha

(Photo: HNS)

ZAGREB, 9 March 2020 – Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has named his squad on Monday for the Qatar Airways International Tournament which will take place in Doha later this month. 

The Qatar capital will host the 4-team international tournament which features teams which are all ranked inside the Top 12 in the world. 

Along with World Cup runners-up Croatia, the tournament features world No. 1 Belgium, current Euro champions Portugal (ranked 7th) and Switzerland (ranked 12th). All four teams are also taking part in Euro 2020 in the summer.  

Croatia will face Switzerland in the first match of the tournament on 26 March (7:30 pm local time). The next match for Zlatko Dalic’s side will be on 30 March when they take on Portugal (8:30 pm local time). 

It will be the first time Croatia has played in Qatar, the country that will host the FIFA World Cup at the end of 2022, and both matches will be played at the spectacular Education City Stadium.

Croatia squad: 

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković (Dinamo), Lovre Kalinić (Aston Villa), Simon Sluga (Luton Town)

Defenders: Domagoj Vida (Bešiktaš), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Tin Jedvaj (Augsburg), Mile Škorić (Osijek), Duje Ćaleta-Car (Marseille), Borna Barišić (Rangers), Šime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Dario Melnjak (Rizespor)

Midfielders: Luka Modrić (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona), Mateo Kovačić (Chelsea), Marcelo Brozović (Inter), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Nikola Vlašić (CSKA Moskva), Mario Pašalić (Atalanta)

Strikers: Ivan Perišić (Bayern), Ante Rebić (Milan), Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Andrej Kramarić (Hoffenheim), Bruno Petković (Dinamo)

On-call: Ivo Grbić (Lokomotiva), Josip Juranović (Hajduk), Domagoj Bradarić(Lille), Filip Benković (Bristol City), Filip Bradarić (Celta Vigo), Marko Rog (Cagliari), Mislav Oršić (Dinamo), Mirko Marić (Osijek) and Antonio Mirko Čolak (Rijeka).

Despite fears of sanctions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, coach Dalić said they were preparing as if everything was going ahead as planned.

“We named a larger squad just in case there need to be changes. I hope all players will be available but we will follow the situation,” Dalic said.