Australia: Croatia's last check-up before Brazil

Croatia - Australia
International friendly.
6 June 2014, 20:00 local time (01:00 CRO time)
Governador Roberto Santos Stadium, Salvador.

Six days before the World Cup opening match in Sao Paulo, Croatia will face the Australians, who await Group B matches against the last World Cup finalists Spain and Netherlands, as well as Chile.

Australia's FIFA ranking in June was at 62nd place, but under the leadership of head coach Ange Postecoglou, it is the team that must not be taken lightly.

"Australia plays nice, direct and aggressive football. It can certainly be one of the surprise packages of World Cup", warned Croatia head coach Niko Kovač. "However, we want to achieve a positive result".

Kovač is still in search for a couple of answers regarding Croatia's first team for the Brazil showdown: "There is always a possibility of an injury, but that exists at the training pitch as well. We wanted this match mostly because of the weather conditions, since it is different to play a serious opponent in Brazil than having practice sessions and friendlies in Austria or Croatia".

Croatia has already met Socceroos during the final preparations for the World Cup. On 6 June, 1998, Miroslav Blažević's team won 7:0 in Zagreb and went on to win a bronze medal in France. Croatia encountered Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, with Australia progressing to the second round after an exciting 2:2 draw in group stage.

Friday's friendly will be played at the Governador Roberto Santos Stadium in Salvador, Bahia, starting 20:00 local time (01:00 Croatian time), with Brazilian Francisco Carlos do Nascimento as the referee.

"Every victory brings more self-confidence, but the most important thing is to avoid injuries and not get into trouble", summarized Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

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