Modrićs, beer, selectors and much more!

Football fever begins

It has long been said that all roads lead to Rome. This June and July, we would say that all roads lead to Germany - the host of the 17th European Football Championship. After the last championship of the Old Continent being held in pandemic conditions, there is no doubt that this one will attract remarkably high number of football fans. Croatian residents love to visit the host country, which is confirmed by the fact that in 2023 there were 16 290 domestic tourists on private trips with overnight stays in Germany, organised by Croatian travel agencies. Many of those who come to visit Germany will certainly taste some of their famous beers there, and this beverage will also be consumed at home while watching matches of the Croatian national team, so let's mention that in 2023 we imported as much as 14.3 million litres of beer from Germany.

Although it will also be interesting to watch the opening game of EURO, we are sure that all Croatian football fans are eagerly awaiting a game with our first opponent on the field - Spain. They overwhelmingly prevail in number, taking into account that, according to the Eurostat data for 2023, Spain has a population of 48.1 million. Still, what can their football players do in 90 minutes of a game? We hope that pelota will repeatedly end up in the Spanish goal and we can only say: Vamos, Croacia!

The next opponent of the Croatian national team will be Albania. Whether nails or snacks will then be nibbled, we are not sure, but in cafes and homes all over Croatia snacks will certainly not be lacking, since in 2023 we imported 5 612.8 tonnes of peanuts, 8 215.8 tonnes of sunflower seeds and 900.0 tonnes of fried almonds and pistachios. Let us also mention that, according to the 2021 Census, there were 13 817 Albanians in Croatia.

The group standings and advancing to the next round of the competition will very likely be decided by the match against Italy. In Croatian town squares you may then hear an isolated invocation: vittoria!, or the demand for calcio de rigore, because according to the 2021 Census, the number of people whose mother tongue is Italian was 12 890. All the same, we want the ball to stay away from the Croatian goal, and our victory can be celebrated with a rich plate of pasta, the meal that Croats love very much, which is confirmed by the fact that in 2022 we ate up an average of 6.5 kg of pasta per household member.

We also know that there are 3.9 million football selectors in Croatia, so we ask you - whom would select to your initial eleven? Our proposal, accompanied by a bit of statistics, is below.



Finally, we wish the Croatian national football team a lot of luck and success, to all fans to be as less jittery and to have as many moments of pride and celebration as possible. To all readers of these lines we suggest: Follow us on social networks! 

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