In their final group-stage match, the Croatian U-16s beat Bulgaria with a 1:0 result and thus earned the top spot in their group. The winning goal was scored by Luka Duduković in the 31^st minute. Croatia U-16 will meet Group B winners Romania in the final match, which is to be played on September 27.

Head coach Tomislav Rukavina and his players were successful at winning all three of the matches they have played so far and have also managed to keep a clean sheet during the entire tournament group stage.

“I think that we really showed our quality at all three matches and that we deserve the top spot in our group. The final match that’s ahead of us definitely won’t be an easy one – Romania plays excellent football. Though we were pretty certain that we’d be in the final even before our match with Bulgaria, we didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We were the stronger team from the first second of the match and that got us another victory,” says Rukavina.

 

HNS president Davor Šuker also travelled to Osijek to follow the third matchday of the “Vlatko Marković” Tournament. He was joined at the tournament by HNS head instructor Petar Krpan and diaspora instructor Aljoša Asanović.

 

Group A

Matchday 3 results: Qatar - Montenegro 2:0, Croatia - Bulgaria 1:0. 

Standings: Croatia 9, Qatar 6, Bulgaria 3, Montenegro 0.

Group B

Matchday 3 results: Romania - Zambia 2:1, Bosnia and Herzegovina - North Macedonia 6:0. 

Standings: Romania 7 (2.33), Zambia 3 (1.5), Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 (1.33), North Macedonia 0 (0).*

* The average number of points per match played is stated in the parentheses, as the Matchday 1 match between North Macedonia and Zambia was cancelled. The final standings were thus determined according to the average number of points earned per match.

Schedule for September 27

7^th place play-off: Montenegro - North Macedonia (9:30 CET, NK Grafičar Stadium)

5^th place play-off: Bulgaria – Bosnia and Herzegovina (11:00 CET, NK Elektra Stadium)

3^rd place play-off: Qatar - Zambia (12:30 CET, NK Grafičar Stadium)

Final match: Croatia - Romania (16:00 CET, NK Osijek Stadium)