Croatia university futsal team are the new world champions
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Croatia University Futsal team (Photo: Croatia University Futsal/Facebook)
While the Croatian team had a poor start against Spain at Euro 2024 in Spain, the Croatian university futsal team achieved remarkable success at the World University Championship in Shanghai.
Croatia has won the gold medal in an impressive fashion.
In the quarter-finals, they defeated a strong Portugal team 4-1, and in the semi-finals, they overcame Ukraine 4-2, who had arrived with an exceptionally strong squad composed of first-division players.
In the final, Croatia beat the favoured Brazilians 4-1.
Group stages
After a 9-0 victory against Mongolia, Croatia suffered a heavy defeat to Ukraine, losing 9-1. In the crucial match for advancing to the quarter-finals, they beat New Zealand 7-4.
Few expected Croatia to overcome Portugal, who had dominated the group stage with three victories and a goal difference of 82-3, including an incredible 65-0 win over the UAE. Following their victory against Portugal, the Croatian players believed anything was possible, Gol.hr writes.
Croatia was represented by students from the University of Zagreb and Edward Bernays University College, including numerous first-division players, five of whom were from the current champions, Futsal Dinamo.
The Croatian team was coached by Alen Jukić, who is also an assistant coach for the Swedish futsal team and a coach at the Futsal Dinamo academy, with Saša Ledinščak as his assistant.
The world champions are: Ante Piplica, Lukas Mlinarić, Mateo Mužar, Matija Tolić, Bepo Paus, Branko Artić, Filip Novak, Ivan Penava, Nikola Gudasić, Toni Vučković, Jure Jakovljević, Ivan Marković, Lovro Cigler, and captain Bruno Kovačić.
Hrvatska sveučilišna futsalska reprezentacija je prvak svijeta – čestitamo! 🇭🇷🌍🏆
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 16, 2024
Do trijumfa u kineskom Šangaju hrvatski su reprezentativci stigli finalnom pobjedom protiv Brazila 4:1, nakon što su prošli skupinu s Mongolijom, Ukrajinom i Novim Zelandom te potom izbacili… pic.twitter.com/6M9JbByFat
