Turkey and Croatia played out a dramatic encounter the last time they met in a European fixture. The visitors on Friday are plotting for revenge.
Croatia are looking to triumph in the playoffs even without the services of talisman Niko Kranjcar. The latter has been sidelined through injury along with Mladen Petric and Ivan Strinic.
Bolton Wanderers’ Ivan Klasnic didn’t receive Slaven Bilic’s call up for the two-legged tie against Turkey but Bayern Munich’s Ivica Olic and Pranjic have been handed a role to play. As quoted by UEFA.com, Croatia’s Slaven Bilic explained his squad choices stating:
“Strinić's injury is a big problem for us but we have several solutions for his position. I have plenty of information about Turkey and we have our people there watching them.
“We are scouting their players and we have the strength and character to win this tie and reach the finals. We will go into the match in Istanbul like it is the only match of the tie.”
But Turkey will have hurdles of their own to jump as they cannot boast of a fully fit team. Nuri Sahin, who finally made his Real Madrid debut last weekend, has been omitted from Guus Hiddink’s squad.
The La Liga-based player joins Gokhan Zan and Yekta Kurtulus on the list of excluded names. Meanwhile, Nuri Sahin’s Real Madrid team mate Hamit Altintop is part of Turkey’s roster. The midfielder is poised to participate in the match with some playing time.
Turkey’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe SK), Sinan Bolat (R. Standard de Liège), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor AŞ)
Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe SK), Sabri Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray AŞ), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray AŞ), Ömer Toprak (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Egemen Korkmaz (Beşiktaş JK), Giray Kaçar (Trabzonspor AŞ), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AŞ), İsmail Köybaşı (Beşiktaş JK)
Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Real Madrid CF), Gökhan Töre (Hamburger SV), Selçuk Şahin (Fenerbahçe SK), Mehmet Topal (Valencia CF), Emre Belözoğlu (Fenerbahçe SK), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahçe SK), Selçuk İnan (Galatasaray AŞ), Arda Turan (Club Atlético de Madrid), Ozan İpek (Bursaspor)
Forwards: Burak Yılmaz (Trabzonspor AŞ), Colin Kazım Richards (Galatasaray AŞ), Umut Bulut (Toulouse FC), Halil Altıntop (Trabzonspor AŞ)
Croatia’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (FC Rostov), Danijel Subašić (GNK Hajduk Split), Ivan Kelava (GNK Dinamo Zagreb)
Defenders: Vedran Ćorluka (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Josip Šimunić (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Dejan Lovren (Olympique Lyonnais), Gordon Schildenfeld (Eintracht Frankfurt), Darijo Srna (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Šime Vrsaljko (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Domagoj Vida (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Manuel Pamić (AC Sparta Praha)
Midfielders: Luka Modrić (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Ognjen Vukojević (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Tomislav Dujmović (FC Dinamo Moskva), Ivan Perišić (Borussia Dortmund), Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla FC), Mato Jajalo (1. FC Köln), Danijel Pranjić (FC Bayern München), Ivo Iličević (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Eduardo (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Mario Mandžukić (VfL Wolfsburg), Nikola Kalinić (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Nikica Jelavić (Rangers FC), Ivica Olić (FC Bayern München)
Bolton Wanderers’ Ivan Klasnic didn’t receive Slaven Bilic’s call up for the two-legged tie against Turkey but Bayern Munich’s Ivica Olic and Pranjic have been handed a role to play. As quoted by UEFA.com, Croatia’s Slaven Bilic explained his squad choices stating:
“Strinić's injury is a big problem for us but we have several solutions for his position. I have plenty of information about Turkey and we have our people there watching them.
“We are scouting their players and we have the strength and character to win this tie and reach the finals. We will go into the match in Istanbul like it is the only match of the tie.”
But Turkey will have hurdles of their own to jump as they cannot boast of a fully fit team. Nuri Sahin, who finally made his Real Madrid debut last weekend, has been omitted from Guus Hiddink’s squad.
The La Liga-based player joins Gokhan Zan and Yekta Kurtulus on the list of excluded names. Meanwhile, Nuri Sahin’s Real Madrid team mate Hamit Altintop is part of Turkey’s roster. The midfielder is poised to participate in the match with some playing time.
Turkey’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe SK), Sinan Bolat (R. Standard de Liège), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor AŞ)
Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe SK), Sabri Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray AŞ), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray AŞ), Ömer Toprak (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Egemen Korkmaz (Beşiktaş JK), Giray Kaçar (Trabzonspor AŞ), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AŞ), İsmail Köybaşı (Beşiktaş JK)
Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Real Madrid CF), Gökhan Töre (Hamburger SV), Selçuk Şahin (Fenerbahçe SK), Mehmet Topal (Valencia CF), Emre Belözoğlu (Fenerbahçe SK), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahçe SK), Selçuk İnan (Galatasaray AŞ), Arda Turan (Club Atlético de Madrid), Ozan İpek (Bursaspor)
Forwards: Burak Yılmaz (Trabzonspor AŞ), Colin Kazım Richards (Galatasaray AŞ), Umut Bulut (Toulouse FC), Halil Altıntop (Trabzonspor AŞ)
Croatia’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (FC Rostov), Danijel Subašić (GNK Hajduk Split), Ivan Kelava (GNK Dinamo Zagreb)
Defenders: Vedran Ćorluka (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Josip Šimunić (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Dejan Lovren (Olympique Lyonnais), Gordon Schildenfeld (Eintracht Frankfurt), Darijo Srna (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Šime Vrsaljko (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Domagoj Vida (GNK Dinamo Zagreb), Manuel Pamić (AC Sparta Praha)
Midfielders: Luka Modrić (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Ognjen Vukojević (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Tomislav Dujmović (FC Dinamo Moskva), Ivan Perišić (Borussia Dortmund), Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla FC), Mato Jajalo (1. FC Köln), Danijel Pranjić (FC Bayern München), Ivo Iličević (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Eduardo (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Mario Mandžukić (VfL Wolfsburg), Nikola Kalinić (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Nikica Jelavić (Rangers FC), Ivica Olić (FC Bayern München)
