Croatia national under-21 football team

Croatia Under-21

Nickname(s)	Mladi Vatreni ("The Young Blazers")
Association	Croatian Football Federation
Head coach	Niko Kovač
Most caps	Tomislav Vranjić (26)
Top scorer	Tomislav Bušić (13)
First colours Second colours
First international
Croatia 0-0 Italy 13 February 1993, friendly
Biggest win
Croatia 6-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Osijek, 5 September 1997, qual. EC
Biggest defeat
Spain 6-0 Croatia Alicante, 10 September 2012, qual. EC
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 2000)
Best result	Group stage 2000 & 2004

The Croatia national under-21 football team, also known as Croatia under-21(s) or Croatia U21(s) is a youth association football national team which represents Croatia at this age level and is a feeder team for the Croatia national football team.

This team is for Croatian players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side and again for the U21s, as Ivan Rakitić and Nikola Kalinić have done recently. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible). For example, Ivan Rakitić is a former Switzerland U21 player who later became a Croatia international.

The under-21 age category came into existence with the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976. The Croatia U21 team was formed following Croatia's independence from SFR Yugoslavia in 1991 and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation (from 1976 to 1990 Croatian players played for Yugoslavia U21). A goalless draw in a friendly against Italy played on 13 February 1992 was Croatia U21s' first result.

Competition history

As a European U21 team, Croatia compete for the European U21 Championship, with the finals held every odd-numbered year, formerly even-numbered years. There is no U21 World Cup, although there is an U20 World Cup. Since the Croatian Football Federation was recognised by UEFA in June 1993, in the middle of the two-year European Championship cycle, Croatia U21s began their first competitive campaign in 1994, in which they tried to qualify for the 1996 finals. They eventually finished 4th in a six-team group, with 5 wins out of 10 games and 4 points behind group winners Italy.

They failed to qualify for the next tournament in 1998, but then managed to win their first qualification for the 2000 tournament. However, they finished bottom of a four-team group in the group stage, losing to Netherlands and Czech Republic and drawing with Spain.

In their next five campaigns Croatia U21 managed to qualify for the finals only one more time (for the 2004 finals), but again they failed to progress past the group stage. They came close to qualifying for the 2002 and 2006 tournaments, as they had reached the qualification playoff round, but were knocked out by Czech Republic U21 and Serbia and Montenegro U21 respectively.

UEFA U-21 Championship record

UEFA U-21 Championship record										UEFA U-21 Championship Qualification record								Manager
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1996	Did not qualify									10	5	2	3	13	12	+1		Martin Novoselac
1998										8	4	0	4	13	9	+4		Ivo Šušak
2000	Group stage	3	0	1	2	4	6	−2		10	7	2	1	28	9	+19		Ivo Šušak
2002	Did not qualify									8	3	4	1	10	7	+3		Martin Novoselac
2004	Group stage	3	0	1	2	3	5	−2		8	4	2	2	11	5	+6		Martin Novoselac
2006	Did not qualify									12	8	1	3	16	11	+5		Slaven Bilić
2007										2	0	0	2	2	4	−2		Dražen Ladić
2009										10	7	1	2	20	12	+8		Dražen Ladić
2011										10	5	2	3	18	15	+3		Dražen Ladić
2013										8	2	1	5	7	16	−9		Ivo Šušak
Total	2/10	6	0	2	4	7	11	−4		86	45	15	26	138	100	+38

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Spain 8 7 1 0 27 2 +25 22 Switzerland 8 5 2 1 15 4 +11 17 Georgia 8 3 1 4 8 18 −10 10 Croatia 8 2 1 5 7 16 −9 7 Estonia 8 0 1 7 2 19 −17 1

Croatia — 4–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 Estonia 0–1 — 1–2 0–1 0–0 Georgia 1–1 2–1 — 2–7 0–1 Spain 6–0 6–0 2–0 — 3–0 Switzerland 4–0 3–0 5–0 0–0 —

3 June 2011	Croatia	0 – 1	Georgia	Stadion Hrvatski vitezovi, Dugopolje
16:00		Report	Tarkhnishvili  5'	Referee: Ilias Spathas (Greece)

5 September 2011	Switzerland	4 – 0	Croatia	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
19:30	Zuber  8' Toko  62' Kasami  79' Seferović  81'	Report		Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

6 October 2011	Croatia	0 – 2	Spain	Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek
20:30		Report	Koke  18' Rodrigo  57'	Referee: Steven McLean (Scotland)

10 October 2011	Estonia	0 – 1	Croatia	Tamme Stadium, Tartu
15:00		Report	Vukušić  89' (pen.)	Referee: Ioannis Anastasiou (Cyprus)

14 November 2011	Croatia	4 – 0	Estonia	Stadion Aldo Drosina, Pula
17:00	Čop  14' Vukušić  42', 81' Ademi  75'	Report		Referee: Oleksandr Derdo (Ukraine)

2 June 2012	Croatia	1 – 2	Switzerland	Gradski stadion, Koprivnica
16:30	Glavica  73'	Report	Seferović  15' Drmić  90+2'	Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (Sweden)

15 August 2012	Georgia	1 – 1	Croatia	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi
18:00	Skhirtladze  20'	Report	Kramarić  37'	Referee: Anatoliy Abdula (Ukraine)

10 September 2012	Spain	6 – 0	Croatia	Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante
20:15	Sarabia  3' Deulofeu  10' Vázquez  17', 81' Isco  34' Montoya  38'	Report		Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

Current squad

The following is the list of players called up to the squad by manager Ivo Šušak for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification match against Spain scheduled on 10 September 2012.
Caps and goals listed refer to Croatia U21 team only, and are correct as of the last competitive match against Spain U21 held on 10 September 2012. Sorted by caps.

#	Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Goalkeepers
1	Simon Sluga	(1993-03-17) 17 March 1993	Hellas Verona	2	0	v. Switzerland, 15 August 2012
12	Ivan Čović	(1990-09-30) 30 September 1990	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	0	0	N/A
Defenders
2	Šime Vrsaljko	(1992-01-10) 10 January 1992	Dinamo Zagreb	7	0	v. France, 2 March 2010
4	Dario Župarić	(1992-03-05) 5 March 1992	Cibalia	3	0	v. Spain, 6 October 2011
5	Igor Bubnjić	(1992-07-17) 17 July 1992	Slaven Belupo	2	0	v. Switzerland, 15 August 2012
15	Nino Galović	(1992-06-07) 7 June 1992	RNK Split	1	0	v. Spain, 10 September 2012
13	Marko Lešković	(1991-04-27) 27 April 1991	Osijek	1	0	v. Spain, 10 September 2012
14	Ivan Boras	(1991-10-31) 31 October 1991	Lokomotiva	0	0	N/A
16	Karlo Bručić	(1992-04-17) 17 April 1992	Lokomotiva	0	0	N/A
N/A	Josip Čalušić	(1993-10-11) 11 October 1993	Dinamo Zagreb	0	0	N/A
Midfielders
N/A	Arijan Ademi	(1991-05-29) 29 May 1991	Dinamo Zagreb	8	1	v. Spain, 9 October 2010
3	Mario Tičinović	(1991-08-20) 20 August 1991	Nordsjælland	9	0	v. Macedonia, 11 February 2009
N/A	Domagoj Antolić	(1990-06-30) 30 June 1990	Lokomotiva	4	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011
N/A	Marcelo Brozović	(1992-11-16) 16 November 1992	Dinamo Zagreb	4	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011
7	Ivan Paurević	(1991-07-01) 1 July 1991	Fortuna Dusseldorf	4	0	v. Estonia, 10 October 2011
6	Tomislav Šarić	(1990-06-24) 24 June 1990	Inter Zaprešić	4	0	v. Hungary, 28 March 2011
N/A	Dejan Glavica	(1991-08-20) 20 August 1991	Slaven Belupo	3	1	v. Estonia, 14 November 2011
N/A	Mijo Caktaš	(1992-05-08) 8 May 1992	Hajduk Split	1	0	v. Switzerland, 15 August 2012
11	Antonini Čulina	(1992-01-27) 27 January 1992	Rijeka	1	0	v. Spain, 10 September 2012
17	Mario Babić	(1992-07-03) 3 July 1992	Radnik Sesvete	0	0	N/A
Forwards
10	Andrej Kramarić	(1991-06-19) 19 June 1991	Lokomotiva	8	4	v. Norway, 5 September 2009
N/A	Duje Čop	(1990-02-01) 1 February 1990	Dinamo Zagreb	6	1	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011
8	Mario Šitum	(1992-04-04) 4 April 1992	Lokomotiva	6	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011
18	Ante Budimir	(1991-07-22) 22 July 1991	Inter Zaprešić	2	0	v. Switzerland, 15 August 2012
9	Ante Rebić	(1993-09-21) 21 September 1993	RNK Split	1	0	v. Spain, 10 September 2012

Recent callups

The following players have also been called up to the Croatia U21 squad during the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifications and were not named in the above squad list for various reasons, but are still eligible for selection.
Sorted by most recent callup.

Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut	Most Recent Callup
Goalkeepers
Lovre Kalinić	(1990-04-03) 3 April 1990	Hajduk Split	6	0	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Dominik Picak	(1992-02-12) 12 February 1992	Lokomotiva	2	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Matej Delač	(1992-08-20) 20 August 1992	Vitória de Guimarães	4	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Marko Vasilj	(1991-05-06) 6 May 1991	Winterthur	0	0	N/A	v. Estonia, 14 November 2011
Ante Topić		Solin	0	0	N/A	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011
Defenders
Mateo Pavlović	(1990-06-09) 9 June 1990	NK Zagreb	9	1	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Renato Kelić	(1991-03-31) 31 March 1991	Slovan Liberec	9	0	v. Slovenia, 9 February 2011	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Dino Štiglec	(1990-10-03) 3 October 1990	NK Zagreb	0	0	N/A	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Dino Škvorc	(1990-02-02) 2 February 1990	Beitar Jerusalem	4	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Estonia, 14 November 2011
Tonći Kukoč	(1990-09-25) 25 September 1990	Hajduk Split	3	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011	v. Estonia, 10 October 2011
Tomislav Glumac	(1991-05-14) 14 May 1991	RNK Split	1	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011
Goran Jozinović	(1990-08-27) 27 August 1990	Hajduk Split	14	0	v. Togo, 18 May 2008	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011
Vedran Celjak	(1991-08-13) 13 August 1991	Pergocrema	5	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011
Dario Rugašević	(1991-01-29) 29 January 1991	Cibalia	3	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011
Midfielders
Franko Andrijašević	(1991-06-22) 22 June 1991	Hajduk Split	4	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Filip Mrzljak	(1993-04-16) 16 April 1993	Lokomotiva	0	0	N/A	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Roberto Punčec	(1991-10-27) 27 October 1991	1. FC Union Berlin	7	0	v. France, 2 March 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Besart Abdurahimi	(1990-07-31) 31 July 1990	NK Zagreb	7	0	v. Cyprus, 7 June 2009	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Filip Ozobić	(1991-04-08) 8 April 1991	Hajduk Split	6	0	v. Macedonia, 11 February 2009	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Zvonko Pamić	(1991-02-04) 4 February 1991	Dinamo Zagreb	5	1	v. France, 2 March 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Antonio Jakoliš	(1992-02-28) 28 February 1992	Hajduk Split	5	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Mateo Kovačić	(1994-05-06) 6 May 1994	Internazionale	4	0	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Damir Šovšić	(1990-02-05) 5 February 1990	NK Zagreb	2	0	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011	v. Estonia, 14 November 2011
Dario Vujičević	(1990-04-01) 1 April 1990	Heracles Almelo	8	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Estonia, 10 October 2011
Dinko Trebotić	(1990-07-30) 30 July 1990	Lokomotiva	5	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Switzerland, 5 September 2011
Forwards
Anton Maglica	(1991-11-11) 11 November 1991	Hajduk Split	2	0	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012	v. Georgia, 15 August 2012
Ante Vukušić	(1991-06-04) 4 June 1991	Pescara	11	3	v. Norway, 11 August 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Petar Slišković	(1991-02-21) 21 February 1991	Dynamo Dresden	7	0	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Switzerland, 2 June 2012
Ivan Lendrić	(1991-08-08) 8 August 1991	Zulte Waregem	7	2	v. Slovenia, 16 November 2010	v. Estonia, 14 November 2011
Filip Škvorc	(1991-07-22) 22 July 1991	Lokomotiva	1	1	v. Hungary, 28 March 2011	v. Georgia, 3 June 2011

Past squads

• 2000 UEFA European Under-21 European Championship squad
• 2004 UEFA European Under-21 European Championship squad

See also

• Croatia national football team
• Croatia U19 national football team
• Croatia U17 national football team
• UEFA U21 European Championship

External links

• Under-21 at UEFA.com
• U-23/U-21 Tournaments at the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website
• Croatia youth teams players' statistics at the Croatian Football Federation website