The Croatia boss has named a 28 man panel, and includes some players who are returning from injury including Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nico Krancjar. Bilic also used the press conference to confirm that he would be stepping down as international manager after the Euro 2012 finals. “I will end my reign after the Euros. I will still follow the Croatia side, but this is my last job. I thank you all for your confidence. Whoever comes to the take over the team, I wish him all the happiness of the world. I can proudly say that he will find a team that has been continuously among the top ten in the world for the last five years and has so much quality to stay there a lot longer.”

Bilic has his sights set high, outlining his goal for the tournament: “We are better now than in 2008. We are better, but our goal is the same. Then we went to win the Euros, and now we have the same goal.”

Bilic does not feel his departure after the tournament will have an impact on squad morale, as they are a close group and will be spurred on by the fans: “I do not believe that this will affect the mood among the players, we will have a good atmosphere because we have gotten good results. This will not affect our second attempt at the Euros. We have a good team, just look at our results. But 20% of the list, maybe more than 30 percent of players, haven’t played enough with their teams. This was a major problem in qualifying, and remains a problem for the championship, but it is not major. We have time to prepare. We will be ready for Ireland.”

The 44 time Croatian international also ran through the health and fitness issues of his players: ”Pletikosa is ok. Subašić plays well in Monaco, Kelava is okay, Blazevic tpp. Corluka came back and played the last four games for Bayer. Lovren should be back a week before the Euros, but I’ll wait for him, and Kranjcar should be fit by the opening game. That is why I have named a list many players. We will not rush through it, we’ll see what happens at any given moment, but it is a matter of health. Look at the example of where I was before the World Cup in France, I was the worst [fitness wise] of them all, the boss took me and it wasn’t a mistake. Joe is healthy, Sifo healthy, Vida, Strinić, Pranjic, Rakitic all are helathy. Kranjcar is recovering very well, and has time, and we are optimistic as he is recovering faster than average, and I told him I was going to wait until the last minute. Iličević has less of a problem with his abductor muscle, but he is back in training. Perisic, Mandzukic, Olic, Jelavic, Da Silva and Kalinic are healthy.”

Croatia open their Euro 2012 campaign against Ireland, and Bilic believes he knows exactly what to expect from Giovanni Trapattoni’s men. “Trapattoni is one of the few who gave a list of 23 players, and has 5-6 in reserve, and these are all familiar names,” Bilic said. “He has kept faith in those who brought success in qualifying for the Euro. We have thoroughly analyzed them, they are hard, strong, without one particular dangerman, but can be dangerous. Their organisation is good, but it is not impossible to get a 1-on-1 situation with the goalkeeper. You need to be patient, but it is a huge opportunity, we believe we can start with three points, despite the great respect we have for them.”

Preliminary Croatia Euro 2012 squad:
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Rostov), Danijel Subašić (Monaco), Ivan Kelava (Dinamo Zagreb), Goran Blažević (Hajduk Split)
Defenders: Jurica Buljat (Maccaibi Haifa), Domagoj Vida (Dinamo Zagreb), Vedran Ćorluka (Bayer Leverkusen), Josip Šimunić (Dinamo Zagreb), Dejan Lovren (Lyon), Sime Vrsaljko (Dinamo Zagreb), Gordon Schildenfeld (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ivan Strinić (Dnipro), Danijel Pranjić (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: Dario Srna (Shakhtar), Tomislav Dujmović (Zaragoza), Ognjen Vukojević (Dinamo Kiev), Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla), Luka Modrić (Tottenham), Ivan Perišić (Dortmund), Niko Kranjčar (Tottenham), Milan Badelj (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivo Iličević (Hamburg)
Forwards: Ivica Olić (Bayern Munich), Nikica Jelavić (Everton), Mario Mandžukić (Wolfsburg), Eduardo (Shakhtar), Nikola Kalinić (Dnipro)

If they are cocky, can you blame them? They played us off the pitch the last time. I doubt that they will take us for granted however, the friendly was a nothing match. To judge any team by a friendly performance is a dangerous approach. These are a class outfit either way.