Peru's national soccer team will next year play its first friendly matches against Croatia and Iceland prior to the 2018 World Cup.
In this sense, Peru will first face the
Croatian team, which is placed in FIFA 2018 World Cup's
Group D, along with Argentina, Iceland, and Nigeria.
The Croatian squad relies on Juventus forward Mario Mandzukic as top athlete, who scored two goals in the 2014 World Cup. Its second-most-important player is Luka Modric, one of Spanish club Real Madrid's masterminds.
Other outstanding Croatian athletes are Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic.
The team is under the leadership of coach Zlatko Dalic, who assumed duties on October 7, thus replacing Ante Cacic.
With the help of the new coach, Croatia claimed a 2-0 victory over Ukraine as visitors in its last European Qualifiers match, which allowed the team to grab the second position in Group I.
Likewise, the Croatian side thrashed Greece by scoring a 4-1 win in the playoffs' first leg but ended with a scoreless draw in the final game.
It must be noted Croatia holds 17th position in the FIFA ranking with 1018 points.
Iceland
Iceland merely hosts 331,000 people, and its national team will join soccer's most-important world event for the first time in history.
The squad's main player is Gylfi Sigurdsson, who defends British club Everton.
Although the team does not rely on many professional players, it managed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after a 2-0 Qualifiers victory over Kosovo.
The "Vikings" ended first in
Group I with 22 points, leaving the Croatians (who had defeated them in the playoffs for the 2014 World Cup) in second place and sending them to playoffs.
The squad currently holds the 22nd position in FIFA's ranking.
The games
The friendlies will take place in the United States. Peru will face Croatia on March 23 in Miami, whereas the game against Iceland is slated for March 27 in New York.
(END) JSO/FGM/MVB