Čačić: "Against Russia, Croatia starts EURO preparations"

Croatia will face Russia, another EURO 2016 participant, on 17 November in Krasnodar, and head coach Čačić has called up the following players:

Goalkeepers: Danijel Subašić (Monaco), Lovre Kalinić (Hajduk), Ivan Vargić (Rijeka)

Defenders: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar), Šime Vrsaljko (Sassuolo), Josip Pivarić (Dinamo), Danijel Pranjić (Panathinaikos), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev), Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Marko Lešković (Rijeka), Goran Milović (Hajduk).

Midfielders: Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marcelo Brozović (Inter), Ivan Perišić (Inter), Domagoj Antolić (Dinamo)

Strikers: Ivica Olić (HSV), Mario Mandžukić (Juventus), Nikola Kalinić (Fiorentina), Andrej Kramarić (Leicester City)

Croatia head coach Ante Čačić called up 20 players for the friendly match against #Russia in #Krasnodar: pic.twitter.com/29UlVrwBmH

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) October 26, 2015

Hajduk Split defender Goran Milović is a new name on Čačić's list, while Dinamo midfielder Domagoj Antolić returns to the squad.

Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovačić while join his compatriots, but will not be available for Russia encounter. He will be at disposal of Croatia U-21 head coach Nenad Gračan for an extremely important Qualifying Round match against Spain.

Head coach Čačić looks forward to testing his players against a strong opponent following the successful EURO 2016 qualifying campaign:

"This match represents our start of EURO 2016 preparations. We will face another team that has secured a direct final tournament berth, and that says enough about the quality of this match. We expect to get some answers to a couple of open questions".

Luka Modrić is not in the squad this time.

"He is continuously playing while having certain injury problems. Therefore, I have decided to give more opportunity against Russia to our other midfielders".

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