Slaven Bilić Set to Name First Squad of New Croatia Tenure, With Four HNL Players in Contention

Slaven Bilić will announce his first Croatia squad of his new tenure at 11 a.m. at the Hilton hotel, followed by a news conference. The selection will cover the new Nations League cycle, in which Croatia is scheduled to play four matches.

Croatia will face Czechia in Prague on Sept. 26 and Spain in Seville three days later. The team will then host England in Rijeka on Oct. 3 and Spain at Poljud on Oct. 6.

One major question has already been settled. Croatia captain Luka Modrić confirmed that he will continue playing for the national team, the Croatian Football Federation said on Saturday. He will lead the team into the new Bilić era, a decision Bilić said “delights me enormously.”

Attention now turns to how much the new coach will change the squad selected by his predecessor, Zlatko Dalić, for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Four players from the domestic HNL are being considered: Dinamo’s Dion Drena Beljo, Luka Stojković and Josip Mišić, along with Hajduk’s Šimun Hrgović.

Other players viewed as having a chance include Como right-back Ivan Smolčić, Portsmouth winger Adrian Segečić and NEC Nijmegen defensive midfielder Darko Nejašmić. The article says it is unlikely that all of them will make the squad, and that most of the existing players are expected to keep their places.

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Delights me enormously.