Key strikers missing for Croatia against Malta

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic will be without two key strikers, Ivica Olic and Nikica Jelavic, for the Euro 2012 in Zagreb this month.

Olic, who plays for Bayern Munich, will be out for at least six months as he is set to undergo knee surgery while Jelavic, of Rangers, is troubled with an ankle injury.

Yesterday, Bilic also confirmed that Lyon defender Dejan Lovren and midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic, of Dinamo Kiev, will also miss the match on November 17 due to yellow cards.

Bilic said: “Despite the absences we will be fully engaged because both the fans and the media already count on our three points. I am convinced that we will beat Malta and end up at no.1 of our group. This will be our last match this year.”

Victory over Malta will see Croatia leapfrog Greece into top place on 10 points. Greece currently have eight from four matches, one more than Bilic’s team.

Malta coach John Buttigieg still has to decide on his squad. He will probably name his list after the next round of Premier League matches which stretches between tomorrow and Monday.

At present, Malta occupy bottom place with no points from three matches. In their last outing, away at Georgia, the Maltese were unlucky not to break their duck in Group F after losing 1-0 in Tbilisi, the winning goal coming deep into stoppage time.

Meanwhile, Bilic will be relying on newcomers – Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Milan Badelj and striker Srdjan Lakic, of Kaiserslautern – to fill the voids left by the notable absentees.

Bilic said the team will most miss Olic. He was convinced, however, that although “the surgery is not easy, Olic will give a lot to Bayern Munich and the national team in the rest of the season.”

Croatia can still field a formidable team though with several players in Bilic’s selection coming from top European leagues including the quartet Stipe Pletikosa, Vedran Corluka, Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar, all on the books of Tottenham Hotspur.

Kranjcar scored twice in Croatia’s last match from the group as they beat Israel 2-1 in Tel Aviv last month.

The squad

Goalkeepers: Vedran Runje (Lens), Stipe Pletikosa (Tottenham).

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Tottenham), Josip Simunic (Hoffenheim), Gordon Schindelfeld (Sturm Graz), Sime Vrsaljko (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Strinic (Hajduk Split), Jurica Buljat (Hajduk Split).

Midfielders: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Tomislav Dujmovic (Dynamo Moscow), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke), Danijel Pranjic (Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur), Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham Hotspur), Milan Badelj (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivo Ilicevic (Kaiserslautern).

Strikers: Eduardo da Silva (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mladen Petric (Hamburg), Mario Mandzukic (Wolfsburg), Mate Bilic (Sporting Gijon), Nikola Kalinic (Blackburn), Srdjan Lakic (Kaiserslautern).