Dalic set to coach Croatia at 2018 World Cup

Zagreb, Nov 14 (IANS) Zlatko Dalic will continue coaching the Croatian football team after reaching agreement with Croatian Football Federation (CFF) President Davor Suker during a meeting here on Tuesday.

Dalic took over the national team after dismissal of former coach Ante Cacic a month ago when Croatia were held to a draw against Finland and endangered their chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 51-year-old coach didn't have more than two days to make changes and lift up the spirit of the players before a decisive match against Ukraine in Kiev. He did a perfect job as Croatia won 2-0 behind two goals of Andrej Kramaric on October 9. This was enough for Croatian team to earn a spot in the play-off against Greece.

With the convincing display and 4-1 victory at home and than holding Greece to a scoreless draw in a return leg, Zlatko Dalic led Croatia to its fifth participation at the World Cup.

"Zlatko Dalic absolutely justified our confidence in him in the matches against Ukraine and Greece. He showed us that he deserved to manage Croatian national team. It was very easy to reach the agreement with him which proves that we have a common goal and that is the success of the Croatian national team," Suker said in the official media release.

"I am proud of what we have done in the last three games because reaching the World Cup was very important for the Croatian football in general. I can promise that I will continue to give my best to make the team play at the highest possible level according to the quality of the players that we have," Zlatko Dalic said.

Dalic will officially sign the contract when the Executive Committee of CFF verifies the agreement at its session next week. The financial and other details of the contract haven't been officially disclosed.