PHOTOS: Croatia Arrives in Nizhny Novgorod Ahead of Argentina Clash

Croatia Arrives in Nizhny Novgorod (HNS)

The Croatian football team has made the two-hour flight from their base near St. Petersburg to Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday afternoon ahead of their FIFA World Cup match with Argentina on Thursday Saturday.

Zlatko Dalic’s side arrived back at the Woodland Rhapsody Resort at Illichevo in the early hours of Sunday morning after their 2-0 victory over Nigeria and trained on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning before flying out to Nizhny Novgorod.

Croatia Arrives in Nizhny Novgorod (HNS)

Only Nikola Kalinic, who was sent home on Monday, is not available for selection for Thursday’s clash as the side came away injury-free from Saturday’s opener.

(HNS)

According to reports from their base, it seems as though Andrej Kramaric will make way for Milan Badelj who will return to the side and be given the responsibility of looking after Lionel Messi.

“I believe in Croatia’s quality, especially against quality opposition. We can cope with pressure,” Badelj said.

Milan Badelj (HNS)

Dalic looks as if he will stick to the same back four of Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Sime Vrsaljko and Ivan Strinic who done a solid job on Saturday night.

Andrej Kramaric celebrates his birthday today (HNS)

Croatia is top of Group D with 3 points and a victory over Argentina would seal a second round birth. Croatia v Argentina kicks off at 9 pm Croatian time.