Zagreb (AFP)

Croatia, with a new generation of players launched in the big bath at the beginning of the qualifying campaign, will be very present at the Euro-2020, where it intends to defend its status of vice-champion of the world.

Eighteen months after the World Cup in Russia, it is still there, despite its limited reservoir of 4.2 million inhabitants!

"We have trusted young players, who today have the assurance of old," said Zlatko Dalic, coach of the team in the red and white checkered jersey, after qualifying on Saturday. against Slovakia (3-1).

"Vlasic and Peric have played superbly," added coach Luka Modric, the 2018 Golden Ball, who is still the captain, but also the aging 34-year-old symbol of a team that had to renew after his formidable Russian course.

Nikola Vlasic (22, Everton) and Dino Peric (25, Dinamo Zagreb) play with Bruno Petkovic (25, Dinamo Zagreb), Josip Brekalo (21, Wolfsburg), or Duje Caleta-Car (23, Marseille) this "next gen" of Croatian football.

Scorers against Slovakia are among them: Vlasic, Petkovic and Perisic.

Several of them play in Dinamo Zagreb, still in the Champions League, who corrected Atalanta Bergamo 4-0 in the opening of his group with a hat-trick of 26-year-old Mislav Orsic, who came into play against the Slovakia.

This new blood, Dalic began to inject after the international retreats of several executives - the goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, the defender Vedran Corluka, the striker Mario Mandzukic-- the day after the disillusionment in the final of the World-2018 against the France.

It was not all that rosy for Croatia, which has had a difficult start in the Euro-2020 campaign, with a bitter success in the face of the weak Azerbaijan followed by a setback in Hungary.

- Successful lifting -

But these "Vatreni" ("fiery" in Croatian) have emerged more and more over the matches, and Croatia finally dominated his group, where the initial defeat on the land of Magyar was the only one suffered by the new men of Dalic in eight games.

In this group E, certainly without cador with three nations - Hungary, Wales, surprise semi-finalist of the previous Euro, and Slovakia - still fighting for the 2nd place directly qualifying for the Euro, Croatians honor their status.

"I am relieved, proud and happy," said Dalic. "These guys deserve to go to the European Championship, which is the culmination of all that we have achieved in this year and a half since the World Cup."

"In just over a year, Croatia has made an excellent facelift, and we are now looking forward to the European tournament," said the sports daily Sportske Novosti Sunday.

"Croatia will not be a + black horse + next summer, but will go to the assault of the first places", adds the newspaper, about this new Croatia, which intends to play the surprises, again.

© 2019 AFP