EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2016/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadion Maksimir - Zagreb Thursday 9 November 2017 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Croatia Play-off, First leg Greece Last updated 10/11/2017 19:50CET EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Squad list 3 Head coach 5 Match officials 6 Competition facts 7 Match-by-match lineups 8 Legend 11 1 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA EURO 2012 Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Samaras 71, Gekas 07/10/2011 QR (GS) Greece - Croatia 2-0 Piraeus 79 07/09/2010 QR (GS) Croatia - Greece 0-0 Zagreb FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 30/04/1997 QR (GS) Greece - Croatia 0-1 Salonika Šuker 74 10/11/1996 QR (GS) Croatia - Greece 1-1 Zagreb Šuker 44; Nikolaidis 9 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Total Croatia 2 0 2 0 2 1 0 1 - - - - 6 1 3 2 6 8 Greece 2 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 - - - - 6 2 3 1 8 6 2 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Squad list Croatia Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Danijel Subašić 27/10/1984 33 Monaco - 8 0 0 0 - Lovre Kalinić 03/04/1990 27 Gent - 2 0 0 0 Dinamo - Dominik Livaković 09/01/1995 22 - 0 0 0 0 Zagreb Defenders - Ivan Strinić 17/07/1987 30 Sampdoria - 1 0 0 0 - Dejan Lovren 05/07/1989 28 Liverpool - 4 0 0 0 - Josip Pivarić 30/01/1989 28 Dynamo Kyiv * 9 0 0 0 - Domagoj Vida 29/04/1989 28 Dynamo Kyiv * 10 1 0 0 - Marin Leovac 07/08/1988 29 PAOK - 0 0 0 0 - Šime Vrsaljko 10/01/1992 25 Atlético * 8 0 0 0 - Matej Mitrović 10/11/1993 23 Beşiktaş - 5 1 0 0 - Zoran Nižić 11/10/1989 28 Hajduk Split - 0 0 0 0 Midfielders - Luka Modrić 09/09/1985 32 Real Madrid - 8 0 0 0 - Ivan Rakitić 10/03/1988 29 Barcelona - 6 1 0 0 - Ivan Perišić 02/02/1989 28 Internazionale * 9 1 0 0 - Marcelo Brozović 16/11/1992 24 Internazionale * 9 2 0 0 Spartak - Mario Pašalić 09/02/1995 22 - 2 0 0 0 Moskva - Filip Bradarić 11/01/1992 25 Rijeka - 0 0 0 0 - Nikola Vlašić 04/10/1997 20 Everton - 0 0 0 0 - Marko Rog 19/07/1995 22 Napoli * 5 0 0 0 Forwards - Nikola Kalinić 05/01/1988 29 Milan * 7 2 0 0 - Mario Mandžukić 21/05/1986 31 Juventus - 10 5 0 0 - Andrej Kramarić 19/06/1991 26 Hoffenheim - 9 2 0 0 - Ante Rebić 21/09/1993 24 Frankfurt - 0 0 0 0 Coach - Zlatko Dalic 26/10/1966 51 - 1 0 0 0 3 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Greece Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Orestis Karnezis 11/07/1985 32 Watford - 9 0 0 0 - Stefanos Kapino 18/03/1994 23 Olympiacos * 1 0 0 0 - Giannis Anestis 09/03/1991 26 AEK - 0 0 0 0 Defenders - Vasilis Torosidis 10/06/1985 32 Bologna * 8 3 0 0 - Sokratis Papastathopoulos 09/06/1988 29 Dortmund - 9 0 0 0 - Giorgos Tzavellas 26/11/1987 29 Alanyaspor * 7 1 0 0 - Giannis Maniatis 12/10/1986 31 Alanyaspor - 7 0 0 0 - Kyriakos Papadopoulos 23/02/1992 25 Hamburg - 5 0 0 0 - Charalambos Lykogiannis 22/10/1993 24 Sturm - 1 0 0 0 - Kostas Stafylidis 02/12/1993 23 Augsburg * 9 1 0 0 - Panagiotis Retsos 09/08/1998 19 Leverkusen * 2 0 0 0 - Marios Oikonomou 06/10/1992 25 SPAL * 1 0 0 0 Midfielders - Alexandros Tziolis 13/02/1985 32 Al-Fayha FC - 8 1 0 0 - Lazaros Christodoulopoulos 19/12/1986 30 AEK - 1 0 0 0 - Andreas Samaris 13/06/1989 28 Benfica - 5 0 0 0 - Panagiotis Tachtsidis 15/02/1991 26 Olympiacos - 3 0 0 0 - Yannis Gianniotas 29/04/1993 24 Valladolid - 3 1 0 0 - Kostas Fortounis 16/10/1992 25 Olympiacos - 9 1 0 0 - Dimitris Kourbelis 02/11/1993 24 Panathinaikos - 1 0 0 0 - Zeca 29/08/1988 29 København - 6 1 0 0 Forwards - Kostas Mitroglou 12/03/1988 29 Marseille * 8 6 0 0 - Dimitris Diamantakos 05/03/1993 24 Bochum - 1 0 0 0 - Tasos Bakasetas 28/06/1993 24 AEK - 6 0 0 0 Coach - Michael Skibbe 04/08/1965 52 - 10 0 0 0 4 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Head coach Zlatko Dalić Date of birth: 26 October 1966 Nationality: Croatian Playing career: HNK Hajduk Split (twice), HNK Cibalia, FK Velež, NK Varteks (twice) Coaching career: NK Varteks, HNK Rijeka, FK Dinamo Tirana, NK Slaven Belupo (twice), al-Faisaly, al-Ain, Croatia • A midfielder, he spent the best years of his playing career at Varteks, scoring 13 goals in 108 matches from 1992-96. • Played for Varteks in two spells, and after hanging up his boots in 2000, worked simultaneously as the club's assistant coach and sporting director. Took sole command on the field for the first time in 2005. • Dalić more recently found success in the United Arab Emirates with al-Hilal and al-Ain; in 2016, he led al-Ain to the AFC Champions League final, where they lost to South Korea's Jeonbuk FC over two legs. • Assistant coach of Croatia under-21s from 2006-11, he returned to the national-team set-up as boss of the senior side on 7 October 2017, stepping in following the departure of Ante Čačić. Michael Skibbe Date of birth: 4 August 1965 Nationality: German Playing career: FC Schalke 04 Coaching career: Borussia Dortmund, Germany (assistant), Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Galatasaray AŞ, Eintracht Frankfurt, Eskişehirspor (twice), Hertha BSC Berlin, Kardemir Karabükspor, Grasshopper Club, Greece • Michael Skibbe started out as a midfielder at home-town club Schalke; however, the former youth international made just 15 first-team appearances before a series of cruciate injuries forced him to abandon his playing career in his early 20s. • Impressing as a youth coach at Schalke and Dortmund, Skibbe became the youngest boss in Bundesliga history when he was given the senior job at Dortmund aged 32 in July 1998. • Worked in tandem with Rudi Völler during the latter's time as Germany coach, reaching the 2002 FIFA World Cup final but the pair resigning after the national team's early exit from UEFA EURO 2004. Skibbe returned to club football, coaching Leverkusen from 2005–08. • First ventured abroad to coach Galatasaray from 2008–09. Went back to Turkey three more times, twice leading Eskişehirspor and briefly taking charge of Karabükspor. Had a longer stint in Switzerland with Grasshoppers. • Hired as Greece coach in late October 2015, tasked with directing their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying attempt after failure to reach UEFA EURO 2016. 5 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Match officials Referee Gianluca Rocchi (ITA) Assistant referees Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA) , Mauro Tonolini (ITA) Fourth official Luca Banti (ITA) UEFA Delegate Nils Fisketjonn (NOR) UEFA Referee observer Alain Hamer (LUX) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA matches Gianluca Rocchi 25/08/1973 5 71 FIFA Wold Cup matches involving teams from the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 12/11/2016 WC QR Croatia Iceland 2-0 Zagreb Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 26/05/2008 U19 ELITE Netherlands Greece 1-2 Kastoria 28/08/2008 UEL 2QR HNK Hajduk Split RC Deportivo La Coruña 0-2 Split 17/12/2009 UEL GS SL Benfica AEK Athens FC 2-1 Lisbon 18/03/2010 UEL R16 R. Standard de Liège Panathinaikos FC 1-0 Liege 24/11/2010 UCL GS Panathinaikos FC FC Barcelona 0-3 Athens 25/02/2014 UCL R16 Olympiacos FC Manchester United FC 2-0 Piraeus 25/08/2015 UCL PO GNK Dinamo Zagreb KF Skënderbeu 4-1 Zagreb 12/11/2016 WC QR Croatia Iceland 2-0 Zagreb 6 Croatia - Greece Thursday 9 November 2017 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Competition facts The Week of Football concept enables fans around the world to enjoy the very best action from the European Qualifiers – which will determine UEFA's representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup comprises nine groups of six teams, with matches played on a home-and- away basis. Qualifying takes place under the 'Week of Football' concept, introduced ahead of the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign, in which games are spread out from Thursday to Tuesday, shining the spotlight on more teams on the road to the finals in Russia. Moreover, thanks to the Week of Football, at least 43% of matches will be played on weekends, giving fans a better chance to follow the action on television, in the stadiums and on UEFA.com.