CROATIA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Croatian and Israel preparations for qualifier for Euro 2008

The Croatian team were training on Friday (October 12) for their important qualifying match against Israel to book a place in the Euro 2008 finals. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said on Thursday (October 11) that he was confident his injury-hit team could beat Israel at home in their Group E qualifier on Saturday (October 13) (1815gmt), but said Israel, which needs a point to keep its hopes alive, is a "great opponent which seldom loses". "We are in a position to solve everything three matches before the end (of qualifying) and we will do everything not to miss this opportunity. We will play smartly, aggressively and patiently, we have maximum motivation and are ready to play against a great opponent which seldom loses. An opponent which as dangerous as a wounded lion that hasn't lost his chance yet. They are still harbouring hope deep inside and know their nation expects them to win tomorrow," Bilic told reporters in the team's training base in Catez, Slovenia. Croatia will miss injured strikers Igor Budan, Bosko Balaban and Mladen Petric as well as captain Niko Kovac, while midfielder Darijo Srna is doubtful with a hamstring problem. Bilic is likely to field Ivica Olic alongside Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva up front and playmaker Ivan Rakitic in the centre of midfield if Srna fails a late fitness test. Croatia lead the group with 23 points from nine games and need four points from their remaining three fixtures, with away games at Macedonia and England to come, to be mathematically sure of qualifying. They can secure qualification with a win over Israel if England, lying second in the group on 20 points, win on Wednesday at third-placed Russia, who have 18. England play Estonia at Wembley on Saturday. Israel, in fourth, are a further point adrift and need a result against unbeaten Croatia to keep alive their own hopes of reaching next year's tournament in Switzerland and Austria. At a news conference in Zagreb on Friday Israel's coach Dror Kashtan told reporters that Israel's chances of qualifying now depended on the performance of other teams too. "I think first of all we direct our attention to the Croatian team before we discuss our chances," he said. "I think that I've discussed our chances before and said that before the England match they were dependent only on our performance. This time they are not only dependent on ourselves." Apart from Benayoun, Israel coach Dror Kashtan has only two first-choice players at his disposal, Shimon Gershon and Chelsea centre back Tal Ben Haim, after struggling to put together two full teams for Tuesday's practice in Tel Aviv.

ITN Source | October 15, 2007

Tags:. .injured. .struggling. .patiently. .attention. .soccer