CROATIA CAME TO UZBEKISTAN AND HAD THE FIRST TRAINING -

The Croatian futsal national team had its first training session after arriving in Uzbekistan, where it will soon be expected to perform at the World Cup.

Marinko Mavrović’s team in Bukhara are expecting the first two matches in the group, against Thailand on September 14 and Brazil on September 17.

After a long journey, we arrived at a hotel that meets all our requirements and conditions, we did a little easier training, purely to get rid of the fatigue after the tiring trip to Bukhara. Starting tomorrow, we start with real work and we can’t wait for the first game, said the coach Marinko Mavrović

The first game against Thailand is perceived as crucial in the context of Croatia’s placement in the second round of the competition.

We consider it absolutely so. It is a direct duel between the teams who want to win the second place in the group, the team that wins will have a much better chance to qualify for the next round of the competition from the position number 2. The match with Thailand will determine our ambitions in the championship in any case. We don’t need to spend too much time talking about Brazil, he is a great favorite of our group and one of the contenders for the title of world champion, Mavrović added

The team has done its preparations and strongly wants to make a breakthrough in results at the world tournament.

There is a big difference between the first part of our preparations in Prelog and those in Slavonski Brod. The boys and all of us around them are extremely motivated, it is no small thing to achieve a place in the world championship after 24 years, there is a little pressure, but all this is due to the strong desire to present Croatia in Uzbekistan at its best, Mavrović concluded

SOURCE: Croatian Football Federation