Kazakhstan opener: Croatia seeks second round

Mato Stanković's men start their UEFA Futsal Euro campaign against debutants Kazakhstan and hope to repeat the 2012 and 2014 performances, when they have reached second round, including the semifinals stage in Croatia.

The Kazakhstan encounter is the key, says Croatia national team coach: "Every competition brings further motivation to do something more, even though our Group C is the group of death here in Belgrade. However, if we play our cards right against Kazakhstan, we can see ourselves in the quarterfinals".

Croatia came to Serbia with less injury problems than during the December World Cup qualifiers, with Kazakhstan coach Cacau emphasizing the quality of two Croatian starts, Dario Marinović and Franco Jelovčić.

No break for the Croats in Belgrade. Less than a day left until kick-off of the first match at @UEFAFutsal #Euro. pic.twitter.com/NF5zC8FNMi

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) February 4, 2016

Kazakhstan lost to European vice-champions Russia 2:1 in their opening match, opening the door to Croatia to secure quarterfinals berth with a victory. The second loss would send the Kazakhs home.

"Croatia's squad is similar to the squads from 2012 and 2014. A couple of new, younger players have replaced several experienced players, but this team's core has not changed. Some of us were young in 2012, and now we have more experience, but that will mean nothing if we do not perform the way we should during this 40 minutes", says Marinović.

Croatia's match against Kazakhstan kicks off at 18:30 CET, with Oleg Ivanov from Ukraine and Gabor Kovac from Hungary as the first and the second referee. The second match on Friday (21:00 CET) is Azerbaijan - Czech Republic in Group D.

Jelovčić: "I am certain #Croatia will deliver good performances at the @UEFAFutsal #Euro in Serbia." #BeProud pic.twitter.com/wuVtGgRjzt

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) February 2, 2016

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