Croatia have been gearing up for their home meeting with Malta as if it were a World Cup final, coach Slaven Bilic said.
Aware that Malta have caused problems to Croatia in the past, Bilic is keen to guard against complacency ahead of this evening’s qualifier.
“We are approaching this game as if we were going to play Brazil,” Bilic told The Times.
“We are preparing for the match in the best way possible, just like we would if we were preparing for a World Cup final.
“We can’t make mistakes. Everyone knows that we have the better team but in football anything can happen. The motivation is high and we are just concentrating on completing our task which is to win this qualifier.”
The embryonic Group F standings show why a Croatia victory today is regarded as a formality, what with the hosts still unbeaten after three qualifiers and Malta without a point from the same number of matches.
Bilic is not reading much into Malta’s status as the back markers of Group F, insisting that the Maltese team deserves respect.
He said: “In Tel Aviv, Malta were drawing 1-1 with Israel at the start of the second half. In Georgia, Malta lost in the last minute.”
In readying his team, Bilic and his assistants have analysed Malta’s strengths and weaknesses.
Striker Michael Mifsud is always earmarked by coaches as Malta’s most dangerous weapon but Bilic has also been suitably impressed with other players.
“I like the centre-forward, Mifsud,” Bilic observed.
“He runs a lot, he puts big pressure on the defence. There’s also Bogdanovic, who plays behind the striker. He’s playing in a respected league (The Championship).
“Malta also have two players from Ferencvaros (Andre Schembri and Justin Haber) and the midfielder, Jamie Pace, is also a good player. But Malta’s main strength is their teamwork.”
Meanwhile, the early kick-off today, because of TV requirements, has led to scepticism about the turn-out even though entrance will be free as the country is marking its 20th anniversary since the first international as an independent state.
The Croatian FA is concerned that the hard-core fans of Dinamo Zagreb will stay away from the game due to rising tensions with the executive vice-president of the club, Zdravko Mamic, over the way the team is being run.
The Maksimir Stadium is home to Dinamo Zagreb and the Bad Blue Boys, the club’s most ardent supporters, are boycotting games played at this venue.