Israel will conclude the first group stage of the European qualifiers tomorrow (Monday, 9:00 p.m.) when it takes on Croatia in Osijek. Israel suffered a loss to Germany in its previous game of the current window which was a home game that took place in Riga, Latvia due to the security situation. Despite the defeat, head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi can take encouragement from the team’s comeback and fighting spirit, as Israel came close to pulling off a victory in the closing minutes after having been down by more than 20-points during the course of the game.

Lior Carreira, who did not play in the previous game, will be available for this matchup. Yam Madar is expected to join the team in the coming hours after having been in Israel to finalize his deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv and will serve as captain after Tomer Ginat was released from the squad due to an injury.

Monday’s game against Croatia will be Israel’s final contest of the first group stage as they hold as 2-3 record. Israel has already secured its place in the second group stage, which will begin at the end of August (August 27 and 30) and the record from the first stage will carry over. Israel’s group, from which Croatia and Germany have also advanced, will cross over with the group consisting of Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia and Austria.

Croatia has been impressive throughout all five of its qualifying games. Last Friday, the Croatians crushed Cyprus 123-50, recording the largest victory of the European World Cup Qualifiers. Croatia’s roster features Ivica Zubac (29, 2.13 m), who averaged 14.1 points and 10.6 rebounds in the world’s top league last season. Mario Hezonja, who recorded a triple-double in the win over Cyprus, is also on the roster while Dario Šarić and Jaleen Smith, who will play for Hapoel Jerusalem next season, are also part of head coach Velimir Perasović’s squad.

In the previous meeting between the teams, Croatia won 85-71 behind 23 points from Michael Ružić and 19 from Mario Hezonja. Israel’s last victory over Croatia came at EuroBasket 2007.

Israel’s roster: Yam Madar, Eitan Burg, Yair Kravitz, Khadeen Carrington, Guy Palatin, Adam Ariel, Lior Carrera, Netanel Artzi, Yotam Hanochi, Ilay Dolinski and Benayahu Srur.

Croatia’s roster: Antonio Jordano, Jaleen Smith, Krešimir Radovčić, Dominik Mavra, Antonio Sikirić, Mario Hezonja, Roko Badžim, Luka Božić, David Škara, Dario Šarić, Dranko Branković and Ivica Zubac.

Israel’s assistant coach Yoav Shamir spoke ahead of the upcoming matchup, “We’ve completed all of our preparations for the game against Croatia. It’s the second game of the window and a very, very challenging one from a basketball standpoint. We know we’re facing a very talented team, very physical, with great size. We’re trying to take the positives from the game against Germany, especially the fourth quarter, when we didn’t break, kept fighting, and raised our level of aggression. We’re fully aware of the differences between the teams, but we’ll do everything we can to win.”

Shamir continued, “Croatia is trying to return to the forefront with outstanding players. Of course, there’s Zubac, who came from the NBA, along with Hezonja and Šarić. They’re a very good team and we had a tough time against them in the previous window, mainly because of their physicality. We’ll have to make adjustments. First and foremost, we need to match their physicality, try to get easy points, especially the way we did in the fourth quarter against Germany. Most importantly, we need to play our game, stay focused, avoid forcing quick shots, and play with discipline.”

Lior Carreira also shared his thoughts, “We’ve wrapped up our final practice ahead of tomorrow’s game against Croatia. We’ll need to emphasize our physicality, aggression and rebounding. Obviously, Croatia has several players we’ll need to pay close attention to, but our focus is on ourselves as a team. We’re coming in as the underdogs and we’ll have to play accordingly. Personally, I’m always ready to step onto the court and give everything I have for the national team.”