Werder Bremen’s Croatian international Jurica Vranjes returned from the trip with his national team today. Vranjes wasn’t selected to play as Croatia beat Macedonia 2:1 at the weekend and the midfielder was somewhat disappointed at the decision to leave him out of the side by coach Slaven Bilic: “That hurts. The trainer had told me that he had watched me play and was satisfied with my performances. I don’t understand why I didn’t get to play”, explained Vranjes and continued: “I’m playing for the league title with Werder. We are in the UEFA Cup quarter finals and I’ve played quite often recently. Normanlly that should be enough.”
Green-Whites coach Thomas Schaaf was also a little baffled by the fact that Vranjes didn’t play: “Juri recommended himself for the national team and made the journey with the hope of playing. There was no need for him to go there just to fill the squad. If it’s to continue that way then it’s time to consider if it is worth his while.”
Croatia, just like Germany, had only one European qualifier and, contraray to Germany, decided against filling in the midweek option with a friendly game. The next international date for Jurica Vranjes is not until 02.06.2007 when Croatia play Estonia. “If I’m part of the 18 man squad then I’ll make the trip, otherwise I won’t travel”, concluded Vranjes.