Croatia CT Niko Kovac has announced his squad that will take on Italy in Euro 2016 qualifying at San Siro on Sunday.
Croatia CT Niko Kovac has announced his squad that will take on Italy in Euro 2016 qualifying at San Siro on Sunday.
Inter’s Mateo Kovacic will be in familiar surroundings as he makes the 25, while Andrej Kramaric could soon be seeing a lot more of the famous stadium if rumours linking the forward with both Inter and Milan come to fruition.
The Croatia team which lines up against the Azzurri on Sunday night is likely to be hugely different to the one defeated 2-1 by Argentina in a friendly on Wednesday, with Kovac stressing the Euro 2016 qualifier is of far greater importance.
“The reason for rotating [against Argentina] is simple,” Kovac said prior to the Argentina defeat.
“We have Italy on Sunday, and it’s a qualifier, so it’s more important and in that match the regulars will play.
“Honestly we’re not happy to be playing Argentina before the Italy game, we’d have preferred it to be the other way round.”
Croatia squad to face Italy
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subašić, Lovre Kalinić, Ivan Vargic
Defenders: Šime Vrsaljko, Tin Jedvaj, Darijo Srna, Vedran Ćorluka, Dejan Lovren, Hrvoje Milić, Domagoj Vida, Marin Leovac
Midfielders: Milan Badelj, Mateo Kovačić, Alen Halilović, Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Danijel Pranjić, Ivan Perišić, Marcelo Brozović, Anas Sharbini, Domagoj Antolić
Strikers: Ivica Olić, Andrej Kramarić, Mario Mandžukić, Duje Čop