Croatia wins UEFA Regions' Cup, youngsters stay on course

In July, Croatia was represented by the selection of Football Centre Zagreb, who won silver medal two years ago. This time, they have returned wearing - gold. In the final match, Croatia faced Republic of Ireland once again. However, it was Adžić strike that decided the outcome (1:0).

The Croatian team has reached the final competing with Portugal, Ukraine and host nation Turkey. "Ten beautiful days. What is impressive is that we have drawn in the first match, and then won the remaining three games", said Croatia manager Tomislav Gričar.

"I can only praise our camp, our attitude, our performance, and finally, our celebrations on return journey and later in Zagreb. I believe we have 20 more amateur players who deserved to be here. The quality of Croatian amateur football is very high, are leagues are excellent, and winning the domestic qualifiers was probably the most difficult task", he added.

In 2017, Croatia U-21 national team has started another qualifying campaign, for the EURO 2019 in Italy and San Marino. Gračan's youngsters are staying well on course, considering convincing wins over Moldova, San Marino and top seeds Czech Republic, as well as brilliant comeback win in added time over Belarus, and a 1:1 draw away at top rivals Greece.

Croatia U-19, led by head coach Milin, was tested in March in the Elite Round in Portugal. A dramatic set of events saw young Croatians finish second, just a step behind the hosts. Later in the year, the new head coach Jarni took the U-19s into the new campaign. The Qualifying Round tournament was held in Rovinj, with Croatia meeting Denmark, Latvia, and San Marino, but the third place was not enough to progress.

This May, Dario Bašić's Croatia U-17 was in football focus due to being the host nation at the European Championships. Long-awaited appearance in front of the home crowd was completed following a narrow loss to Italy (0:1), defeat by Turkey (1:4), and an exciting draw with future champions Spain (1:1). Afterwards, Petar Krpan was appointed at the helm of U-17s, and in October the efficient national team played Albania, Liechtenstein, and always dangerous Spain to secure first place and progress to the Elite Round.

Croatia women and head coach Miletić have used the spring dates to successfully perform in a couple of friendly internationals. In autumn, they have embarked on a World Cup 2019 qualifying campaign. An excellent draw at Ukraine was recorded despite a red card, a valuable point was also won in Hungary, and the group favourites Sweden and Denmark met a tough resistance when playing Croatia.

Croatia national futsal team secured runner-up position and a play-off spot in the EURO 2018 qualifying tournament in April, facing hosts Ukraine, Belgium, and Montenegro. In September, France won a tense two-legged tie by the narrowest of margins and got the ticket to Slovenia. Furthermore, Croatia won an international friendly tournament in China in October.

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