A group of new players, known as the “fiery ones,” arrived in Zagreb just after midnight on Sunday. Although they had not slept enough, they were thrilled to be there and eager to start their training.
Dalić had invited a rookie named Dion Drena Beljo to join the call-up, but the youth coach Dragan Skočić argued that Beljo did not play for the club. However, Skočić bypassed Beljo when he scored three goals for Augsburg in a friendly match against a third division team. On Saturday evening, Dalić’s call finally came through. He needed another striker because Budimir was the only one available.
The other players arrived by bus, and Mandžukić and Ćorluka were looking for a field suitable for training. They didn’t want to use the main field because assistant Hitrec-Kacian was in poor condition. Instead, they decided to use Luka Modrić’s field.
The boys from Lokomotiva congratulated Mandžukić and Ćorluka with a photo before getting off the bus. The children from Dinamo’s open school lined up along the fence as the “hot guys” got off and greeted Livaković and Modrić with cheers.
Ivica Olić announced that Vida was missing his workout and had gone to Hitrec instead of practicing with them. The two players laughed about it as Ola said that they could punish themselves anyway if they wanted to improve their skills even further.
Dalić praised his team’s performance in Riga, where nobody got hurt or wasted during their training session. However, he kept Kramarić on the field for 80 minutes despite him being newly recovered from an injury. This showed how much faith he had in his players’ abilities and their potential to perform at high levels even under pressure or adverse conditions.
Therefore, Dalić decided that Livaković – Stanišić, Šutalo, Erlić, Gvardiol – Modrić, Brozović – Majer, Kramarić, Ivanušec – Budimir should start on Tuesday against their next opponent. Additionally, having match-winners like both Pašalić and Baturina on the bench gave Dalić and fans alike confidence that they could achieve success no matter what challenges lay ahead of them on the field of play