Croatia: a World Cup regular with German connections

Croatia cannot look back on a long football history of their own as the Balkan country’s national association only joined the International Football Federation (FIFA) in 1992. A part of multi-peopled Yugoslavia prior to 1991, the Croatians regularly provided outstanding players for the republic’s national team. And it didn’t take long before they became the focus of a great deal of attention in their own right. The international team has quickly become one of the regulars at big competitions ever since the nation with a population of five million became independent. Within the space of ten years the Croatian national team has succeeded in qualifying for major finals on five occasions. The “Republika Hrvatska” appeared at the European Championships for the first time in England in 1996. They then mastered their first attempt at qualifying for the World Cup when making it to the finals in France in 1998. After the 2002 World Cup and the 2004 European Championships, they succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup finals for a third time in succession on October 8, 2005.

Here you can find information about the star of the team ...

The national team have set their sights high for the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. Five players were born and brought up in Germany. They will be virtually playing in front of a home crowd. Additionally, many Croatians reside in Germany so that the team can count on a lot of support. The team showed its strengths in qualifying. Croatia remained undefeated in Europe’s Group 8 and amassed seven wins in 10 games. In doing so, they twice beat group favourites Sweden 1-0. Darijo Srna scored the all important goals on both occasions, on 8 September 2004 in Göteborg and on 8 October 2005 in Zagreb. The goals were a decisive factor in getting them to the World Cup in Germany. Equal on points in the end with Croatia, the Scandinavians still reached the World Cup finals without having to endure the play-offs as one of the best second placed teams.

Croatia’s achievements stem from an excellent schooling system for young players. Common earlier in Yugoslavia, the system was retained to a large extent in the successor states. Zvonimir Boban, Davor Suker, Robert Prosinecki, Robert Jarni and Igor Stimac appeared in the Yugoslavian team that became Youth World Champions in 1987. Eleven years later at the World Cup in France they formed the framework  for the biggest achievement in the history of Croatian football. Germany were catapulted out of the competition (3-0) in the quarterfinals. In the semis they were only just defeated 2-1 by eventual World Cup winners France but they then recovered to win the play-off for third place 2-1 against the Netherlands. Suker scored his seventh goal in the “mini final” and became the World Cup Golden Boot winner.

The older players, once Youth World Champions they all then played for Europe’s top clubs, were termed the “golden generation”. The new team will attempt to follow in the footprints of their successful predecessors in summer 2006. Igor Tudor, who previously turned out for Juventus and who now wears the AC Siena jersey, plus the brothers Niko (Hertha BSC Berlin) and Robert Kovac (Juventus) are the most experienced members of the team. The Kovac brothers were born in Berlin and played for the Bundesliga clubs Hertha BSC, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. Up front there’s Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen) another pro born in Germany. Recently he has formed an attacking duo with Dado Prso, who contributed the most goals – five – in World Cup qualifying. The thick set player now turns out for Glasgow Rangers after spending five years at AS Monaco. His biggest coup was his four goals in Monaco’s 8-3 win in the Champions League against La Coruna in February 2003. In the same month he made his debut aged 28 in the national team in the 4-0 win over Belgium.

Three players, Joey Didulica, Anthony Seric and Josip Simunic stem from Australia and took the chance, due to their Croatian extraction, of playing for their parents’ home country. Simonic (Hertha BSC Berlin) is one of the regulars in defence and Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen) is another in midfield. Only one regular plays in the Croatian league. Niko Kranjcar, who was transferred in summer 2004 from Dynamo Zagreb to Hajduk Split, is the son of national coach Zlatko Kranjcar. That the coach called up his son initially caused scepticism but Niko has often confirmed his selection with good performances as an attacking midfielder. He is considered to be Croatia’s most creative player. 

Zlatko Kranjcar took on the job of directing the national team in their striking red and white diamond jerseys after the 2004 European Championships. His predecessor was the experienced Otto Baric. But the team disappointed at the tournament in Portugal when they were eliminated after the group phase. The same thing happened to them at the FIFA World Cup 2002 in Korea and Japan. Coached by Mirko Jozic, who replaced the 1998 side’s successful trainer in November 2000, they lost to Mexico and Ecuador and were forced to return home early in spite of a win against Italy.

Croatia only once had problems in the World Cup 2006 preliminaries. Opening wins against Hungary (3-0) and away in Sweden (1-0) were followed by a 2-2 home draw against Bulgaria. Two home wins over Iceland (4-0) and Malta (3-0) plus two away victories in Bulgaria (3-1) and Iceland (3-1) ensued before 3 September 2005. They lost their top of the table position four days later after a  surprising 1-1 away draw versus bottom of the table Malta. A goal scored by defender  Darijo Srna (Schachtjor Donezk/Ukraine) gave them a 1-0 triumph in the penultimate group game against Sweden on 8 October. The win put them back in first place and ensured they would be making the journey to Germany. A goalless draw in the final match against Hungary was sufficient for them to keep their top of the table position. Though the current Croatian national team no longer possesses the outstanding quality of the 1998 side, the following generation certainly makes up for it with their fighting spirit. And it should take them a long way at the World Cup in Germany.