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There is some truth to the "this team is on a downtrend (due to age)" quote as Croatia was the 22nd oldest team out of 32 at the World Cup. I haven't checked whether some changes have already been made, but their average age is relatively high and new players will indeed have to be integrated soon. Not every player is as crazy as Modric and can keep that level even at the age of 37.
Average age can be quite misleading. Because you can have half a dozen 18 and 19 year old players in the bench and that will give an impression that the team is very young. There is no doubt that Croatia during Qatar 2022 had one of the most aged squads for any team. But to their advantage, they have a number of promising younger players emerging, who can replace these senior players. The situation with Croatia is different from what we have with Spain or Portugal, where the younger players are struggling to perform consistently.
I agree with you.
I suggest that we discuss the claim that the Croatian national team is old on the basis of concrete arguments and facts, not opinions. Let's take a look at all the main players of the Croatian national team who are expected to play in the Nations League and EURO qualifiers and check their age.
Livakovic, goalkeeper, 28 years old
Juranovic, defender, 27 years old
Gvardiol, defender, 21 years old
Sosa, defender, 25 years old
Stanisic, defender, 22 years old
Sutalo, defender, 23 years old
Modric, midfielder, 37 years old
Kovacic, midfielder, 28 years old
Brozovic, midfielder, 28 years old
Pasalic, midfielder, 28 years old
Majer, midfielder, 25 years old
Vlasic, midfielder, 25 years old
Perisic, striker, 34 years old
Kramaric, striker, 31 years old
These are the 14 main players of the Croatian national team that coach Dalic will use in the EURO qualifiers and in the League of Nations (it is possible that Modrić will retire after the League of Nations).
How many old players do you actually see here? Two or possibly three, and all the rest are young players who can play for the Croatian national football team for a very long time, the next 4 or even 8 years.
I think the time has come to stop repeating the false claims that the Croatian national football team is a very old team and that it is in decline. On the contrary, we have never had a team with more young, talented and quality footballers than now.