The Croatia squad left for Portugal today bearing religious good luck charms to help their Euro 2004 campaign. A local radio station from Croat-populated parts of neighbouring Bosnia gave each player a cross, a rosary and a medallion of the Virgin Mary.
A statue of the Virgin Mary, decorated with the symbols of Euro 2004 and the Croatian Football Association, will travel with the team to Fatima, a pilgrimage site in Portugal worshipped by millions of Roman Catholics worldwide. Croatia, the former Yugoslav republic which gained independence in 1991, is staunchly Roman Catholic and fanatical about soccer.
Croatia, who finished third at the 1998 World Cup, begin their Euro 2004 Group B campaign against Switzerland on Sunday before facing European champions France and England.
The Croatia squad for Euro 2004:
Goalkeepers: 12 Tomislav Butina (FC Bruges/BEL), 23 Joseph
Didulica (Austria Vienna/AUT), 1 Stipe Pletikosa (Shakhtar
Donetsk/UKR)
Defenders: 21 Robert Kovac (Bayern Munich/GER), 14 Mato
Neretljak (Hajduk Split), 13 Dario Simic (Inter Milan/ITA), 3 Josip
Simunic (Hertha Berlin/GER), 2 Mario Tokic (Graz AK/AUT), 4 Stjepan
Tomas (Fenerbahce Istanbul/TUR), 6 Boris Zivkovic (VfB
Stuttgart/GER)
Midfielders: 16 Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), 22 Nenad
Bjelica (Kaiserslautern/GER), 10 Niko Kovac (Hertha Berlin/GER), 15
Jerko Leko (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), 19 Ivica Mornar (Portsmouth/ENG), 7
Milan Rapaic (Ancona/ITA), 20 Giovanni Rosso (Maccabi Haifa/ISR), 8
Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), 5 Igor Tudor (Juventus/ITA)
Strikers: 17 Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen/GER), 18 Ivica Olic
(CSKA/RUS), 9 Dado Prso (Monaco/FRA), 11 Tomo Sokota (Benfica/POR)
Coach: Otto Baric
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
