Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric said he was pleasantly surprised by Qatar’s weather conditions and relished the prospect of playing at the World Cup in winter as players arrive for the tournament at their peak.
Croatia plays its debut in Group F against Morocco at the Al Bayt stadium, on Wednesday (23), at 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT). Kickoff will be in scorching sun and heat, but that won’t be a problem with air conditioning keeping the arena cool.
“The conditions here have been better than I expected. We have a little wind. And, considering the air conditioning in the stadiums, it will even cool down during the games”, said Kramaric this Monday (21).
“Regarding the tournament schedule, a winter World Cup is great actually, we’re not tired and it’s not the end of the season. So I think we’re going to see a burst of energy from a physical point of view during this World Cup, which I think will be intense!”
His teammate Borna Sosa also thinks the mid-season World Cup is ideal for players, except for those with injuries who haven’t had enough time to recover.
“For most players it’s better to play now,” said the Stuttgart full-back. “The only downside I see is that minor injuries won’t give you time to recover for the World Cup in time.”
Sosa is playing in his first World Cup, but last year he nearly featured for Germany. However, he was deemed ineligible and was forced to apologize.
“For me, my emotions for Croatia have always been very high, ever since I played for the under-17 teams, the World Cup and the Euro,” said Sosa.
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