Matchday 4: Croatia beats Russia in the final

Head coach Sergej Milivojević’s team took the lead early on with a goal by Maro Kosović (17’), but Topinka (31’) soon even the score for Russia. Croatia was more successful during the penalty shoot-out, with Majić, Perić, Kujundžić and Vušković all scoring, while keeper Jan Hlapčić made successful saves against Cheburakov and K. Volkov.

 Belarus beat Lithuania in the third-place play-off (1:0), while Bosnia and Herzegovina took the fifth place in the final standings with a win against Bulgaria (3:1). Albania won the seventh-place play-off against Macedonia after a penalty shoot-out (4:2).

The final match was attended by higher advisor to the president Zorislav Srebrić, head instructor Petar Krpan, diaspora instructor Aljoša Asanović, and Croatia U-17 coach Tomislav Rukavina. Russia’s Stanislav Topinka was named the best player of the tournament, while Maro Kosović of Croatia took the title of best goal-scorer and Jan Hlapčić was named the best goalkeeper.

The third edition of the "Vlatko Marković" International Youth Tournament was once again organize with financial support from FIFA through the FIFA Forward Programme.

CROATIA - RUSSIA 5:3 11m (1:1)
KARLOVAC - Branko Čavlović-Čavlek Stadium. Referee: Patrik Pavlešić. Assistant referees: Kolarević and Varivoda. Goals: 1:0 Kosović (17’), 1:1 Topinka (31’). 11m: 2:1 Majić, 2:2 Aleksandrov, 3:2 Perić, Čeburakov - Hlapčić brani, 4:2 Kujundžić, 4:3 Pridava, 5:3 Vušković, Volkov - Hlapčić brani. Yellow cards: Kolobov (Russia).
CROATIA: Hlapčić, Sopić, Ivković (41’ Levak), Babić (57’ Reić), Kujundžić, Perić, (57’ Lazar), Majić, Jureško (41’ Hodak), Lukadinović (41’ Krstanović), Vušković, Kardum (41’ Perić).
RUSSIA: Ladoka, Kolobov (78’ Prodava), K. Volkov, Zubenko, Aleksandrov, Bober, Utkin (41’ Akimov), Topinka, Erofeev (41’ Čuprina), Efimov (41’ Čeburakov), Traigel. 

Final match: Croatia - Russia 5:3 11m (1:1)
3rd place play-off: Belarus - Lithuania 1:0
5th place play-off: Bulgaria - Bosnia and Herzegovina 1:3
7th place play-off: North Macedonia - Albania 2:4 11m (0:0)

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