ZAGREB, May 14 -- There were no surprises on the list of 32 names that Croatian national head coach Zlatko Dalic announced on Monday in the official press release by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS-CFF).

These players will have a chance to make it to the final 23-man squad that will take part in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia this summer.

Led by 32-year-old captain of the national team and Real Madrid star midfielder Luka Modric, Dalic's list includes all the other experienced international players like Lokomotiv Moscow defender Vedran Corluka, Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic

and Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic.

"This list includes most of the players that carried the load in the qualifying matches and that deserve most of the credit for the success of our national team. There are some new names as well and there are some players that were very close to making the list that will be on our radar for the future," Dalic said in a statement.

For most of the players the club season came to an end during the weekend but some of them still have some big matches ahead. Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic will try to win the UEFA Champions League title for the third year in a row with Real Madrid, while Dejan Lovren will try to stop them from doing that and help bring the trophy to Liverpool.

"I am very happy that a number of our players were fighting for club trophies at the end of this season and came out on top. We are proud that at least one of the Croatian players will win the UEFA Champions League trophy for the sixth year in a row. This shows the high quality that we have in our national team and gives us a reason to be very optimistic about our chances at the World Cup," the Croatian head coach said.

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