The 'lost' generation of Croatia finds itself in Chemnitz

CHEMNITZ (FIBA U20 European Championship 2018) – Written off by many as a lost generation due to past short-comings, the 1998-born crop of Croatian players have been on a mission to redeem themselves at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2018.

Not many had Hrvatska going far in Chemnitz after a non-descript showing at the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2014 and a disastrous FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 campaign that ended in relegation to Division B.

But the Damir Rajkovic-coached ugly ducklings have blossomed into medal contenders in their last FIBA tournament, defeating the likes of France, Spain, Ukraine, Great Britain and Italy on their way to the Semi-Finals.

Kresimir Ljubicic sharing his joy with teammate Toni Perkovic after knocking out Italy in the Quarter-Finals

"We were relegated two years ago and our expectation, our main goal, was to prove that we are worthy and to show that we are not a useless or lost generation compared to others Croatian generations," the team's center Kresimir Ljubicic told FIBA.basketball. "We want to leave a good impression and now that we've made it this far, why not [finish] with a medal?”

Ljubicic and seven other 1998-born players started the redemption process by bringing Croatia back to Division A with a second-place finish at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017, Division B while playing a year up last year.

Fast forward to the tournament in Chemntiz and the same core of players are now on the verge of bringing Croatia their first medal at a U20 level, quite remarkable knowing the wealth of talent that has come through the ranks of the national teams.

Croatia are one of two undefeated teams in the FIBA U20 European Championship heading into the Semi-Finals

The closest Croatia have come to the podium in this age category was a fourth-place finish in 2010 with a team featuring the likes of Mario Delas, Leon Radosevic, Darko Planinic and Tomislav Zubcic.

"Our success here means something. Croatian basketball has always been among the stronger [schools] in Europe. We're here to confirm that status and we're trying to do this in the best possible way," explained Ljubicic.

Ljubicic isn't the only one who has medals on his mind on the team. "We always believed. Nobody else did, but we did," echoed point guard Mate Kalajzic, who has been running the show for Croatia alongside team captain Karlo Uljarevic.

Point guard Mate Kalajzic has set the tone for Croatia with some hard-nosed defense

Matched up with the tournament hosts Germany in the Semi-Finals, Croatia need to win at least one of their two remaining games to bring the fairy tale journey to a happy ending.

"It would be great to win a medal. It would be a good step for our career and a big motivation for the next season," Kalajzic said after knocking out FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 runners-up Italy in the Quarter-Finals.

Having got so far, there is no looking back for Croatia. After all they have been through, it would be symbolic if the ugly ducklings, who everyone had written off, were the ones to bring home the medals nobody else could.

FIBA