Dalić: I'm pleased that after seven years I am still motivated

After two rounds of play in League "A" Group "1" Portugal is first with six points. Croatia and Poland have three points each; however Croatia is second having beaten them 1:nil in the second round. Scotland is last in the group having yet to register a point.

Exactly seven years ago, Zlatko Dalić assumed the reigns as the coach of the Croatian national football team. In that time he has achieved colossal success, winning two medals at the World Cup (silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022), as well as finishing second place in the League of Nations last year. At Monday's press conference ahead of Croatia's upcoming two Nations League games, coach Dalić said that he is still motivated to continue working and reaching new heights.

"Today is exactly seven years since I took over the national team. I didn't expect it to last this long. If someone had told me seven years ago that I would win three medals, and enjoy this kind of success ... but that's not the way to live. Let's move on. I'm happy that after seven years I have the desire and the motivation, and that I look forward to these gatherings. This is the best job I could hope to have. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the national team during my seven years here," Dalić said at the opening of Monday's press conference.

The national team is gathering ahead of its Nations League matches against Scotland on October 12th in Zagreb and Poland on October 15th in Warsaw. Unlike the gathering in September, when the first match against Portugal followed only three days after the gathering, this time the national team will have five days to prepare for the first match.

However, Coach Dalić is facing some serious injury concerns on defense, as along with Bayern's Josip Stanišić and Berlin's Josip Juranović; Fiorentina's Marin Pongračić has also been ruled out, while Ajax's Josip Šutalo is questionable. In spite of this, Dalić said that he does not plan to move away from his existing formation of three defenders: "With this formation we've been solid and displayed quality, proving that this formation suits us, so I think we'll continue with this formation. As you can see we have young defenders such as Luka Vušković and Dominik Prpić. So we do have solutions to draw on from the under-21 side. We've got time to do something and we'll continue with this game plan."

Dalić added that Ivan Perišić and Marko Pjaca should be ready for the games in spite of minor injuries, and that no one is taking Scotland lightly: "The Scots are waiting for us on Saturday, they are last in the group, they have no points, but we must not relax. Both Portugal and Poland barely beat them. We have always had a hard time with them; we have only beaten them once."

Dalić was also asked to comment on the increasingly busy football schedule. In addition to the Nations League, which is a relatively new competition, the number of matches in the Champions League has now been increased, and the Club World Cup has been expanded: "There are too many games, it's much more demanding and the expectations are high. It's a business. Clubs are affected by these decisions; they pay the players and have to fight for them. As a coach, I can't interfere, but I think there are too many games."

He also commented on the announced player’s strike in response to the increasing number of matches: "It's not my job to comment on this, but I will always support the players. After all, I was a player."

Source: HRT