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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Former Celtic star Josip Juranovic unavailable for Croatia's clash with Scotland

Croatia have recalled World Cup hero Mislav Orsic for their Nations League clash against Scotland after an absence of two years.

But former Celtic star Josip Juranovic hasn't recovered from injury in time and there's no place for ex-Rangers defender Borna Barisic.

Steve Clarke's side face Croatia and Portugal in their double-header after suffering two defeats from Poland and then in Lisbon to Portugal in the opening encounters.

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic has named his squad to face the Scots in Zagreb and recalled ex-Southampton winger Orsic for the game.

Orsic, who now plays in Turkey for Trabzonspor, scored the winning penalty in a quarter-finals shoot-out win over Brazil in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He also netted the winning goal in the third and fourth place play-off against Morocco.


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Dalic said: "I wanted to remain loyal to the players who did well in the first couple of games.

"Unfortunately, we are still without Josip Juranovic.

(Image: SNS) "I am really happy that Mislav Orsic is back with us again after a serious injury. He has battled hard to get back playing and deserves to come back into the squad.

"September filled us with new energy and optimism, and now we want to keep that good rhythm going against Scotland and Poland.

"We respect our opponents to the maximum and we know that we will only be able to reach the desired outcome with the same approach, togetherness and focus as we had in Osijek against Poland."

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