“Temur Ketsbaia managed to form a good team. We came here to take three points and we do not hide it. But perhaps, one point will satisfy us” – stated head coach of Croatian national football team Slaven Bilic.

Bilic looked very diplomatic at the press conference and he did not say – “We will win for sure!”, “We have better team” and so on. Foreign media often wrote such things before the arrival of Croatian team in Tbilisi.

- What do you expect from this match and how do you estimate Georgian team?

- Thank you for coming to the press conference. We expect a good team. Both teams have not lost match for a long time. Like Croatia, Georgia is on the top of the schedule and as I know the stadium will be crowded.

- You will not have two leading forwards – Eduardo and Ivica Olic. How does it effect on the potential of the team?

- We knew that Olic would not be able to participate in this match. Eduardo got injury several days ago and it is a pity that he will not play. Besides all this, we are ready to win.

- If the match ends up draw, will you be dissatisfied?

- We came here for 3 points but perhaps, the match will be held so that I will be satisfied with one point.

- Which team is your main opponent in the group?

- When the ballot was held in Warsaw, almost everyone said that Croatia, Greece and Israel would fight for going through the next round but I said that Georgia and Latvia were strong opponents. I was not mistaken.

- After Euro-2008, staff of Croatian team has not changed a lot. How do you compare the previous and current teams?

- Both teams are the same. Rating proves that. We are in top 10.

- You played at English Premier League and can you remember matches held against Temur Ketsbaia?

- I do not remember them well. When Ketsbaia transferred to “Newcastle”, I got injury. I have played against “Newcastle” of Alan Shearer and David Ginola.

Bilic stated at the press conference that their training would be open. According to the preliminary information, only 15 minutes were to be open but Bilic did not “hide” the training.

Ilia Nanobashvili