Our Youth Teams in Action Away at Solin

The HNL youth competitions continued across all age categories, with our teams travelling to Solin. The U19s defeated their hosts 3-2 in their Matchday 7 fixture. The goals were scored by David Kalem in the 14th minute, Juraj Balić in the 35th and Luka Šarić in the 71st. Osijek fielded: Adžić, Sabo, Janjić, Tadić (Šarić 62’), Kalem, Čočaj (Ljubojević 62’), Balić (Lučić 78’), Tomašević (Vinogradac 56’), Košir (Ižaković 78’), Turić and Gagulić (Vinković 62’).

The U17s were beaten 3-1 by the hosts. Luka Kolar scored for the White and Blues in first-half stoppage time. The team featured: Tolić, Crnković, Cipar, Domazet (Đukić 64’), Lipovac, Krasnić (Barišić 78’), Stojanović (Kujavec 70’), Maltar (Sansao 78’), Odobašić (Ravlić 70’) and Kolar.

The U15s defeated Solin 1-0, with Maksym Basov scoring the winning goal in the 44th minute. The team featured: Mokrović, Međugorac, Boduljak, Arlović (Perić 87’), Jurčević (Major 46’), Vukić, Đaković (Paradžik 88’), Masnić(Momčilović 57’), Vladika, Basov (Kocijan 78’) and Tot (Žigić 78’).

In Matchday 4 of the U17 II National League pilot project, Osijek recorded an emphatic 8-0 victory, also against Solin. Niko Kovačić scored in the 7th, 31st and 69th minutes, Rafael Peršić found the net in the 44th, David Uhlik in the 59th, before Marko Tomić completed a hat-trick with goals in the 74th, 79th and 82nd minutes. The team featured: Čekeliš(Mazalović 71’), Kovačević (Šimić 57’), Dančević (Jurković 71’), Šarčević (Majić 63’), Bračun (Tadić 57’), Moržan, Bubalo (Mrkonjić 63’), Peršić, Tomić, Kovačić and Uhlik (Vrkić 71’).

We would once again emphasise that our Youth Academy is primarily focused on the development of each individual player and their technical, tactical, physical and mental progress. Our goal is for every child to gain football knowledge through training and matches, build confidence and develop a love for the game. For that reason, match results at this stage of their development are not our primary focus. It is far more important to us that our young players improve, learn from their mistakes, try new things on the pitch and enjoy the process than to focus solely on wins and defeats.