Croatia have announced their squad for the World Cup. The finalist from 2018 has five Bundesliga players in the squad. With Ante Rebic and Duje Ćaleta-Car, two prominent players are surprisingly missing.
The stars Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Perisic are of course in the squad and form the face of the team. Five Bundesliga players were also happy to be nominated. The defenders Borna Sosa, Josko Gvardiol and Josip Stanisic are also there. Youngster Gvardiol should be set as a regular player, but there is still a small question mark with Sosa. The Swabian flank god always had a moderate standing in the national team. Josip Stanisic is more of an outsider in a regular place. Frankfurt’s Kristijan Jakic has also made it into the squad. The all-rounder is listed in midfield, but in view of the competitive situation, he probably only has a chance as a right-back. Of course there is also attacker Andrej Kramaric, who could be set as a striker.
With Ante Rebic and Duje Caleta-Car, two well-known names are missing from the squad. This comes as a surprise. Although Rebic is more of a joker than a regular at AC Milan, he has scored five in his nine Serie A appearances. His quality should have been sufficient for the squad. The ex-Frankfurter could have been doomed by being a bit moody in recent years. Caleta-Car got off to a bad start at FC Southampton, but was allowed to start four times in the last five Premier League match days. Given the tenuous competition in central defence, his omission is not entirely logical. Gvardiol is well placed despite his form crisis, but Lovren and Vida are – in line with Qatar – in the early winter of their careers. On paper, Caleta-Car should actually be number two behind Leipzig. The World Cup will show whether Zlatko Dalić didn’t gamble there.
This article was originally published on 90min.de as Without Ante Rebic: Croatia’s World Cup squad reveals surprises.
