Fujairah: Croatia are placing all their emphasis on an opening win in their first Fifa Under-17 World Cup Group C game against event debutants Morocco in Fujairah at 5pm on Friday.
Three points will be a vital foothold for the squad that failed to progress beyond the group stages of the Under-17 European Championships in April, despite goalless draws at that tournament against both the eventual finalists, Russia and Italy.
They also face a tough test in their World Cup group against Asian Under-16 Champions Uzbekistan and Central and North American Under-17 Championship runners-up Panama, who meet at the same stadium on Friday from 8pm. Croatia will therefore be looking to start strongly against the Under-17 African Nations semi-finalists, Morocco.
Croatia coach Ivan Gudelj said: “Our goal is to get out of the group and this plan will be determined by the first game, so we are therefore concentrating on Morocco. It is important not to lose the first game, as a win would clearly raise the probability of passage from the group.”
All eyes will be on Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Alen Halilovic, who holds the Croatian record as the youngest player to make a senior national team appearance and the youngest to score in the Croatian Premier League.
“We’re expecting a better end result than at the Euros, where we didn’t get out of our group,” said Halilovic. “We drew against Russia and Italy, both of whom ended up reaching the final. The only reason we didn’t qualify for the semi-finals was because we didn’t score enough goals.
“I expect our team to give it everything on the pitch. We want to show that we qualified for the World Cup for a reason and that we can compete with anyone. We have big expectations and this Croatia side is really strong. That said, I think every team that have qualified for the World Cup is strong, but if we play to the level that we’re capable of, we don’t need to fear anybody.”
NK Osijek player Charles Lulic said: “The atmosphere in the team is great and we cannot wait to start the championship. The preparations and the previous matches have proved that we can play against the strongest teams, so I do not recognise anyone as favourite.
“We are very much ready for this championship. We have a very good team, from which most of the players are already playing in Europe with clubs. Congratulations guys, but let’s go with a win at the start.”
Meanwhile, Moroccan coach Abdullah Al Edrissi said: “We fully respect our first-round opponents and have prepared well to acclimatise to the conditions of the host country.
“We have come to the UAE to raise the Moroccan flag high and defend our national colours with dedication.”
While Morocco are World Cup debutants, Croatia have failed to progress beyond the group in their only previous appearance in 2001. Uzbekistan reached the quarter-finals on their debut in the last World Cup in 2011, where Panama incidentally reached the second round in what was also their first appearance.
