This team isn't based on sole international performance, but the best players from this nation in a balanced squad.
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STARTING XI
REMAINING SQUAD MEMBERS
3 best players not in the squad:
Prior to the Croatian national team, if a player was born in Croatia and played only for the Yugoslavia national team, then I considered them here. Dragan Holcer was difficult to define to one nation. He is often listed as a Croat, but he was born in Germany, grew up in Serbia, played for Yugoslavia, and had Austrian and Slovenian parents. I assumed he qualified for Yugoslavia through his Slovenian heritage, so I considered him in my team for Non World-Class Nations instead. While Croatia's achievement of reaching the 2018 World Cup final is the greatest achievement of any nation from this region, including the Yugoslavia national team as a whole, there are more players in this squad from the 1950's than any other decade. I can try to understand this by looking at Yugoslavia's strong Olympics silver medal winning team of 1952 - they lost to a Hungary team in the final who are considered the greatest side to never win a World Cup (5 Croatians make it from this Yugoslavia team). The 2018 and 2022 teams were also heavily led by the midfield players - the talent wasn't as spread out as it was in the 50's. Danijel Subasic wasn't far from the third goalkeeper spot. Holcer's pre-mentioned omission made Horvat a definite starter at centre-back, with Buljan narrowly starting next to him ahead of Zajec. I also could have played Zebec centrally and Jarni on the left, there were several options. At right-back, I preferred to start Srna rather than moving Buljan there to accomodate Zajec, as Srna was better suited as a wing-back in this formation. He can still be a back-up option if needed. Ivica Surjak couldn't quite make it as full-back option here, or in positions further up the pitch. I am not considering Crnkovic to be Croatian. As a back-up holding midfielder to Cajkovski, I considered choosing Marcelo Brozovic, but Perusic was too strong to leave out, despite not being as natural in the role. Belin can also play here if needed. Rakitic, Prosinecki and Jerkovic cover the rest of the midfield diamond. Ante Zanetic was the closest player to making it here, while Aljosa Asanovic, Stjepan Lamza and Mateo Kovacic also missed out. Boksic, Skoblar and Hitrec can be alternative options upfront. Skoblar could also be the main option as a left-winger for the squad. It was best to rely on Prosinecki for the right, who often played out wide and notably started on the right in the 1991 European Cup final. Ilija Petkovic would have been the strongest natural option. Players by Decade: 1950's (6), 1990's (6), 2010's (3), 1970's (2), 1960's (3), 1980's (1), 1940's (1), 1930's (1) |
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Top 10 Croatian Players of All-Time
(& their all-time positional rank)
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