Email
Print
Digg This
ZAGREB, March 11 (Reuters) - Scotland will provide an ideal test for Croatia in their Euro 2008 warm-up in Glasgow on March 26, coach Slaven Bilic said on Tuesday.
"Scotland are such a competitive nation that any match against them can hardly be called a friendly," Bilic told reporters after naming a 19-man squad.
"It will be a real test that will show us where we stand two months before the European Championship because Scotland narrowly missed out on the finals from a very tough qualifying group," he said.
"It's also our final test before the preparations for Euro 2008 get underway in mid-May so we have to make the most of it."
Scotland finished third in Group B behind world champions Italy and France, while Group E winners Croatia qualified for the June finals in Austria and Switzerland along with Russia at the expense of England.
Bilic recalled Ivan Klasnic, back in action after a kidney transplant last year, and fellow striker Igor Budan, who has recovered from a long-term injury. Both are likely to get a chance at Hampden Park with Bilic set to try out various partnerships up front with Arsenal's Eduardo out of the tournament after breaking a leg.
"I've called less players than usual because I want to test certain candidates against Scotland, meaning that those I haven't called up are by no means written off," Bilic said.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), Mario Galinovic (Panathinaikos)
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), Dario Simic (AC Milan), Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin), Dario Knezevic (Livorno)
Midfielders: Niko Kovac (Salzburg), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb), Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth), Jerko Leko (AS Monaco), Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04), Ognjen Vukojevic (Dinamo Zagreb)
Strikers: Mladen Petric (Borussia Dortmund), Ivica Olic (Hamburg SV), Igor Budan (Parma), Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen).
