President Milanović Receives Players and Coaching Staff of Croatia’s Bronze-Medal-Winning Futsal National Team

“Congratulations on your great success — and I am sure there will be more to come! We will follow your competitions, results, victories and defeats, and support you even when you are not winning,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said today to the players of the Croatia futsal national team, members of the coaching staff, and a delegation from the Croatian Football Federation at a reception held to mark the team’s bronze medal at the European Championship in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.

“I followed the closing stages of the tournament — the semi-final against Spain and the dramatic final against France. These are football powerhouses, and simply being among them speaks volumes about the quality and significance of this competition,” President Milanović said, referring to the recently concluded European Futsal Championship.

President Milanović also highlighted the long tradition and popularity of futsal, or five-a-side football, in Croatia. “The word futsal did not exist before — it was simply called mali nogomet (small football) — but that name never fully caught on because the adjective mali, a diminutive, seemed to diminish the value of football itself. But futsal is, in fact, football in every sense, except for the dimensions and a few minor details,” he added.

Futsal has been the most watched indoor sport in Croatia for several seasons, and this medal is the first senior-level medal in the history of Croatian futsal. The national team’s previous best result was fourth place at the 2012 European Championship, held in Zagreb and Split.

In his address, Croatia captain Franco Jelovčić expressed hope that this generation would continue to achieve strong results and win more medals, while head coach Marinko Mavrović thanked the coaching staff, players and the Croatian Football Federation for the success achieved. He also gave special thanks to the fans “who filled the arena and gave us tremendous support.” “We are happy that we made them proud, and I hope we will continue to do so,” the coach added.

Croatian Football Federation President Marijan Kustić said that this first medal reflects long-term, consistent and high-quality work, as well as significantly increased investment in futsal players. “This medal is another incentive for further investment, because we are achieving historic success,” Kustić emphasized.

Alongside captain Franco Jelovčić, the reception at the Office of the President was attended by Croatian futsal national team players Ante Piplica, Nikola Gudasić, Duje Kustura, Niko Vukmir, Marko Kuraja, Kristian Čekol, Antonio Sekulić, Jakov Hrstić, Josip Jurlina, David Mataja, Vitor Hugo de Lima da Silva and Nikola Čizmić.

Representing the Croatian futsal national team’s coaching and support staff were HNS futsal national teams coordinator Boris Durlen, head coach Marinko Mavrović, assistant coach Kujtim Morina, HNS futsal team manager Hrvoje Hrkač, and staff members Duško Martinac, Mario Modrušan, Kristian Šoštar, Martin Nonković, Matija Lovreković, Antonio Čajo, Dario Žgrablić, Marko Cvijanović, Romeo Čizmešija, Marin Marušić, Mario Horvat and Ivo Zoković.

Also present with Croatian Football Federation President Marijan Kustić were Deputy Secretary General Iva Olivari, Vice President Ile Topuzović, and Croatia national football team technical director Stipe Pletikosa.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas