Today, on May 18 in Rijeka, Croatia, the Ukraine national team will play a friendly match against the local club of the same name (kick-off at 7 PM). We present our opponent.

«Rijeka» (Croatia)

General Information

The club was founded in 1904. League: Croatian First League. Stadium: «Rujevica» (8,279 spectators). Champion of Croatia (2016/2017), six-time winner of the Croatian Cup (2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2013/2014, 2016/2017, 2018/2019, 2019/2020), winner of the Croatian Super Cup (2014), two-time winner of the Yugoslav Cup (1977/1978, 1978/1979). 105th place in UEFA ranking (April 2022). Nicknames: white, «Fans».

Squad

Goalkeepers: Nedeljko Labrovic, Martin Zlomislic, Andrej Prskalo, Antonio Frigan.

Defenders: Darko Velkovski (North Macedonia), Andrija Vukcevic (Montenegro), Sava-Arangell Cestich (Serbia), Andres Solano (Colombia), Hrvoje Smolic, Ante Kresevic, Duje Djumovic.

Midfielders: Adam Gnezda-Cerin (Slovenia), Linton Selahi (Albania), Issa Abbas, Prince Ampem (both — Ghana), Ivan Leppinic, Domagoj Pavicic, Adrian Liber, Mario Stanic, Mate Vuk, Denis Bushny, Robert Muric.

Forwards: Jorge Obregon (Colombia), Haris Vuckic (Slovenia), Josip Drmic (Switzerland).

The average age of «Rijeka» players is 24.6 years old. Four foreign players represent North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia in their national teams. Goalkeeper Nedeljko Labrovic has been called up to the Croatian national team.

Head Coach

45-year-old Croatian coach Goran Tomich is currently in charge of «Rijeka», having replaced Slovenian Simon Rozman on March 1, 2021.

Before becoming the head coach of the whites, the experienced coach worked for Croatian clubs «Sibenik», «Istra 1961» and «Lokomotiv», as well as in four Chinese teams. He was named the best coach of the Chinese First League in 2014 when he coached «Beijing Enterprises». This season, under his leadership, Rijeka reached the final of the Croatian Cup, where they will face «Hajduk» on May 26.

Under Tomich's guidance, «Rijeka» has played 61 matches. They won in 36, drew nine and lost 16. The coach prefers a 4-2-3-1 tactical formation.

Leader

This season, the undisputed leader of «Rijeka» is Swiss forward Josip Drmic. He joined the white team on loan from English Norwich City in February 2021. The 29-year-old striker previously played for Swiss «Zurich», German teams «Nuremberg», «Bayern Munich» and «Borussia Mönchengladbach», as well as on loan at «Hamburg».

In his national team career, Drmic has played 35 matches for Switzerland, scoring 10 goals. With Rijeka, the forward has participated in 46 games and scored 27 goals across all competitions.

This season, he has scored 21 goals in the Croatian league, placing him second in the top scorer race. The authoritative Transfermarkt website values him at €3 million.