Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has cut his provisional World Cup squad to 24, meaning he still has to reduce it by one more player before the June 4 deadline.
Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic of Juventus, Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic and Dejan Lovren of Liverpool are among the key names in a squad that plays friendlies against Brazil and Senegal before the tournament.
“We need two quality players in each position and I see our versatile striker Mandzukic leading the line because that’s his natural position,” Dalic told a news conference.
“I can’t make everyone happy, but the World Cup is not the time or the place for sweeping changes. I have decided to rely on tried and tested stalwarts and a bit of fresh blood.”
Either uncapped defender Duje Caleta Car or Filip Baradaric, who has three caps, is likely to be dropped from the final squad unless centre-back Vedran Corluka fails to recover from a calf problem.
“I hope he will win the race against time to be fit and I will be very sad if he doesn’t, but we can’t take any chances,” Dalic added.
“I have plenty of faith in this group and we believe we can make our dreams come true.”
Croatia open their World Cup campaign against Nigeria on June 16 and also face Argentina and Iceland in Group D.