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By Zlata Zsolnay
ZAGREB, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Croatia's coach Slaven Bilic announced a 22-man squad on Wednesday for their opening World Cup qualifiers next month.
The only new face is Zenit St Petersburg defender Ivica Krizanac, who made his international debut in a friendly against Slovenia last month.
Croatia, who host Kazakhstan on Sept. 6 and England four days later in Group 6, are still without Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva, who has been sidelined this year due to a multiple foot fracture.
Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar will miss both qualifiers due to an ankle injury he suffered during Croatia's friendly with Slovenia on Aug. 20. He has undergone surgery and doctors said it would take him two to three months to recover.
"Kranjcar's injury came as a great shock and it's needless to say how much he means for the squad. But it does not change our ambition and that is to get the most out of each game ahead of us," said Bilic.
"This is a hard group, perhaps a little less hard than the one we had in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, but this time only one team goes directly into finals so we'll have to take it step by step and concentrate on the Kazakhs first and think about the England match afterwards."
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), Vedran Runje (RC Lens)
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), Dario Simic (Monaco), Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin), Dario Knezevic (Juventus), Hrvoje Vejic (Tom Tomsk), Ivica Krizanac (Zenit St. Petersburg)
Midfielders: Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Niko Kovac (Salzburg), Luka Modric (Tottenham), Jerko Leko (Monaco), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04), Ognjen Vukojevic (Dynamo Kiev), Nikola Pokrivac (Monaco)
Forwards: Mladen Petric (Hamburg SV), Ivica Olic (Hamburg SV), Ivan Klasnic (Nantes), Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split), Mario Mandzukic (Dinamo Zagreb)
