Canberra Croatia last weekend became the second Croatian community backed club to advance through to the national stage of the Australia Cup. They joined Sydney United in the Round of 32 phase.
The current leaders of the NPL ACT competition, Canberra overcame a stubborn Queanbeyan City last Saturday at McKellar Park. They won 2-1 after extra time.
The hero of the day was Max Green who scored a brace. His goals sent Canberra Croatia to the national Round of 32 of the Australia Cup for the third time.
The Deakin Stadium based club twice appeared in the Round of 32 stage in 2018 and 2023. On both occasions, the Croatian club from Canberra was eliminated in the first round.
The Canberrans will be hoping to go at least one better this year. However, a great deal depends on which opponent they draw on June 25.
Dandy fails to make it a ‘Croatian trio’
Unfortunately, on Tuesday night, Victorian side Dandenong City was unable to make it a trio of Croatian clubs to progress to the national phase of this year’s Australia Cup. Playing at home at the Frank Holohan Reserve, Hajduk eventually went down to Greek giants South Melbourne. They lost on penalties after scores were tied 1-1 following extra time.
Two other clubs, the Gold Coast Knights and Adelaide Croatia Raiders, will instead try to earn a spot on the national stage in crucial Cup qualifiers next week.
The Knights are away to the Rochedale Rovers next Tuesday (June 17). The game at the Rovers’ Underwood Park will determine which of the two clubs will qualify for the Final 32.
Should the Knights qualify for the final stage, it will be the fourth time the Croatian community club has managed to do so. They have been doing this since the Cup’s inception in 2014.
In South Australia, a day later, the Adelaide Croatia Raiders will clash with archrivals FK Beograd. The match will take place at the neutral ServiceFM Stadium in the semi-final of the South Australian qualifiers.
They will need to bounce back quickly. This is necessary after going down 0-3 to Beograd in NPL South Australia league action at the Adelaide Croatian Sports Centre on Monday.
Should the Raiders defeat the Serbian backed club, the Adelaide Croatian club will have secured its first-ever appearance in the national Round of 32 phase.
