Croatia Face More Injury Problems

October 7, 2009

In Hamburg SV’s 3-1 win over Hertha Berlin this past weekend, Croatia striker Malden Petrić was forced to leave the pitch in the second half with an injury worry. HSV’s club doctor, Oliver Dierk, confirmed the injury and its extent early this week. Unfortunately, Petrić will be sidelined until no earlier than mid January with a torn ankle tendon that requires an operation, which he will undergo today in Basel, Switzerland.

With Petrić now unavailable to the Croatia national team for the end of World Cup qualifying, Slaven Bilić has only three strikers from the original lineup left and one he had to call in after an inconvenient injury to Eduardo da Silva. Despite being plagued with injuries and under extreme pressure in this match, they should not worry too much as Croatia always have a good squad, no matter what the lineup. In their qualifying campaign, they have six wins, two losses, and one draw in nine games; while Kazakhstan have only two wins, and six losses in eight games.

The squad has met in Croatia early this week and are preparing for the friendly with Qatar tomorrow. The starting eleven are expected to be Runje; Ćorluka, Kovač, Križanac, Pranjić; Srna, Vukojević, Pokrivač, Kranjčar; Olić, and Klasnić. Then they’re off to Astana, Kazakhstan to finish up the qualifiers.

Jill Guthrie

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