11.06.2013, 02:46
Croatia ready to confirm the top spot

The Group 4 leaders travel to Slovakia with three recent EHF Champions League winners

Croatia ready to confirm the top spot

The ticket for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark has almost securely booked for Croatia, but there is still much at the stake in the last two qualification rounds for the bronze medallists of the last three top international tournaments (EHF EURO 2012, London 2012 and World Championship 2013).

Croatia lead the Group 4 ahead of Hungary only thanks to a better goal difference and if they want to stay in the race for the top spot and thus the better seeding at the preliminary round draw (21 June in Herning, Denmark) they have to give their best in the last two matches in Slovakia and at home against Latvia.

Especially the first match in Bratislava on Wednesday (20:30 hrs local time) might be a tough challenge for the group leaders as Slovaks are trying to clutch at a straw in the qualification.

But the head coach Slavko Goluža can rely on three newly-crowned VELUX EHF Champions League winners as Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković and Igor Vori from HSV Hamburg.

''In our roster for matches against Slovakia and Latvia we cannot count with Alilović and Ninčević due to their injuries. On the other hand some players like Štrlek, Buntić and Losert have returned. The goal is of course to finish as number one in our group," said Goluža, who also had to replace injured Marko Kopljar by Luka Stepančić on Monday as the new addition of Paris SG hurt his shoulder.

"We know that game in Slovakia won't be easy, especially due to the fatigue and only one training with a complete team before this match. We'll also be missing some players due to Carlos Perez's farewell match in Veszprém. But we know that we have to win and we are ready to do everything we need to achieve it," he added.

It is going to be a busy summer for the Croatian federation as besides the last two qualification matches their men's teams will also play at the Mediterranean Games, the Junior World Championship in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Men's 19 European Championship in Hungary this summer. Goluža will be also at the helm of two teams and therefore he decided to make a larger selection to create a chance for those players who still haven't been given a chance to play for Croatia.

"Some young player like Ivić or Mandalinić were left out because of the fact that they will play for juniors later so we decided to give them some rest. There are also some players who haven't been playing much lately like Marić and they will be given a chance on Mediterranean Games. There we'll look for players who can play for the A-Team in near future," commented Goluža.

Croatia squad for EHF EURO 2014 qualifiers against Slovakia and Latvia:

Goalkeepers: Ivan Pešić (Maribor), Venio Losert (Kielce)
Wings: Manuel Štrlek (Kielce), Lovro Šprem (CO Zagreb), Ivan Čupić (Kielce), Zlatko Horvat (CO Zagreb)
Back court players: Blaženko Lacković (HSV), Jakov Gojun (Atletico Madrid), Damir Bičanić (Chambery), Drago Vuković (Lübbecke), Domagoj Duvnjak (HSV), Josip Valčić (CO Zagreb), Luka Stepančić (CO Zagreb), Denis Buntić (Kielce).
Line players: Igor Vori (HSV), Željko Musa (Kielce)

TEXT: Bruno Pinević / br