The Croatian national football team is worth much more than the Canadian national team, reports Sport Klub. Transfermarkt states that the value of the players of the Croatian national team is around 377 million euros, and that of Canada is 187.3 million euros.

Joško Gvardiol, who plays for RB Leipzig, was linked with numerous European giants this summer, and is currently the most expensive Croatian player and is valued at 60 million euros. Whilst the second most expensive Croatia player is the Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic at an estimated 40 million euros. There is also Marcelo Brozović, who is worth 35 million euros, while Mario Pašalić has a price of 25 million euros. The star Real Madrid midfield player and captain of the Croatian national team, Luka Modrić, is valued at 10 million euros.

The most expensive Canadian player is Alphonso Davies, who plays for German giants Bayern Munich and has an estimated value of 70 million euros. Then there is Jonathan David from Lille who is valued at 45 million and Tajon Buchanan from Club Brugge who is worth around 12 million euros.

The most expensive player at this year’s World Cup in Qatar in the French player Kylian Mbappe, with an estimated value of 160 million euros.

The first Advent candle in Dubrovnik was lit last night by the mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, in front of the Rector’s palace in the heart of the Old City. The lighting of the first Advent candle, the candle of hope, also marked the official opening of the ninth Dubrovnik Winter Festival.

"Two years of challenges are behind us. Today we lit the candle of hope and I truly believe that our fellow citizens and guests will enjoy this Advent festival. We have one of the best quality festivals in Croatia, with a music program in which everyone will find something for themselves. I believe that guests from the region will flock to our city, and Dubrovnik will be a good host, as always,'' said Mayor Franković after he lit the first candle.

The lighting of the candle was followed by the lighting of the holiday lights on Stradun, which officially marked the beginning of the ninth Dubrovnik Winter Festival. Along with carols from the Dubrovnik Children's Choir, the vocal group FA Linđo, the Dubrovnik Brass band with majorettes, as well as a special guest, Santa Claus from Lapland.

The highlight of the festival will be the spectacular New Year's Eve with Ante Gelo and his band and one of the biggest musical stars of the Croatian pop scene, Petar Grašo, who will welcome in the New Year along with a magnificent fireworks display.

The coach of the Croatian national football team, Zlatko Dalić, said at the last press conference before the match against Canada on Sunday that his team deserve respect, adding that he was disappointed with the early timing of the first match.

"The Croatian national team deserves respect and admiration. We deserved it with our games and behaviour. We have won two medals in 30 years, which was achieved only by Germany and France. The Croatian national team must have respect, I didn't want to comment on that, but playing at 1 in the afternoon is not respect. Neither Brazil, nor France, nor England, nor Spain played in that term. I don't want to pay attention to comments, we will always show respect for everyone, and let's expect such respect for us as well," said Dalić.

He added that he is expecting a tough match against Canada, and was impressed how Canada played in their opening match against Belgium when they lost narrowly 1 – 0.

"We moved the training sessions to the evening session, we have a very important and difficult match ahead of us. The player's recovery is important. The timing of the match disturbed us a lot and changed our plans, the whole biorhythm. I expect a really tough match. We have to be more aggressive. They played well against Belgium but lost. They are full of confidence."

And concluded that “Against Canada, I expect a more compact Croatia, we must not rush, do something that will lead us in the wrong direction. We have to play smarter, with a lot more forward play.”

According to the English portal Enjoy Travel, Croatia is the eighth best country to retire to. Among the fifty different countries that were surveyed in the article Croatia came in at a respectable eighth, reports N1.

The destinations were chosen on the basis of several criteria, and Croatia earned its place due to the low cost of living, good quality of life and the ease of obtaining a residence permit for staying in our country.

When choosing the ten best countries to retire in, the following criteria were considered: quality of life, cost of living, cost of rent, cost in restaurants, average annual temperatures, health care, hospitality, language barriers and ease of obtaining a visa or residence permit.

The list of the best countries for retirement is headed by neighbouring Slovenia, while in 50th place is Luxembourg, which is said to be one of the most expensive countries to live in Europe.
The rest of the countries in the top ten were Slovenia, followed by Portugal, while Estonia is in third place. Spain is in fourth place, Paraguay is fifth, the Czech Republic is sixth, and Hungary is one place in front of Croatia. Mexico is in ninth place, and Uruguay is in tenth place.

"Croatia is not only popular among 20-year-olds. Thousands of retirees come here every year to live well. Housing costs are low, the quality of life is high, and the residency application process is simple for most nationalities. The beaches are world-class, it has a rich history and culture, plenty of Mediterranean sun and excellent restaurants", it was stated in the description of our country on the Enjoy Travel portal.

For the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA has additionally increased the prize money compared to Russia, and all together they will distribute a dizzying 425 million euros!

Placement in the group stage alone brings with it a pay day of 8.7 million euros for each national team, while placing in the round of 16 brings a whopping 12.5 million euros.

A cash prize of almost 16.5 million euros is guaranteed for reaching the quarterfinals, while the fourth-placed national team will receive as much as 24 million euros from FIFA.

The third placed team at the World Cup in Qatar will receive 26 million euros, the world runner-up 26 million, while the world champion will earn a massive 40 million euros!

The Croatian Tourist Board is conducting promotional campaigns on the most important markets, the aim of which is to position Croatia as a high-quality and attractive destination with a rich content, as an ideal destination for tourist trips in the off-season. These are the campaigns "Croatia, Full of Islands to Discover" for the promotion of nautical and "Peace of Mind", which aims to present Croatia through a luxury offer focused on wellness and spa, relaxation and culture, a variety of offers that can inspire guests to come to Croatia in order to find their peace and satisfaction.

"Our country is very well recognized as a quality nautical destination, and this product attracts guests to our country throughout the year. When we add to that our rich offer of cultural tourism, gastronomy, wellness and a large number of events, we arrive at those parts of our overall offer that make Croatia an ideal destination for travel in the pre and post-season. Currently, more than 20 thousand guests are on holiday in our country, and most of them are staying in destinations such as Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Opatija and Poreč. Through these campaigns, as well as those we are preparing for the Advent period, we want to attract an even greater number of guests in order to further confirm and strengthen the already excellent results of tourist traffic achieved during this year", said Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian Tourist Board.

The nautical campaign will be carried out on the markets of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Great Britain and the USA until the end of December through online and print advertising, as well as through activities on social networks. The "Peace of mind" campaign is based on numerous studies, according to which consumers and travel enthusiasts are increasingly focusing on quality and sustainable vacations, that is, on finding inner peace. It is a global campaign which is carried out on social networks and which includes the 12 most important markets for Croatian tourism.

Also, both campaigns aim to attract tourists with higher spending power, but also highlight those products and segments of the offer that can be the bearers of promoting Croatia as a quality year-round destination.

Almost 104 million overnight stays have been made in Croatia so far this year. Compared to last year, this represents a growth of 24 percent, i.e. 96 percent of the results from the record year 2019. At the same time, more than 3.6 million overnight stays were realized in the nautical charter, which compared to last year represents a growth of 17 percent, i.e. a growth of 2 percent compared to the record year 2019.

The Transfusion Medicine Department of the Dubrovnik General Hospital received a donation from Mr. Josip Jelčić, a psychologist from Austria, reports the Dubrovnik General Hospital.

Mr. Jelčić donated to the Department of Transfusion Medicine three electric chairs for transfusion and six folding chairs for field blood collection, worth almost 20 thousand euros. The donation was received by Dolores Martinović, MD. transfusion medicine specialist.

A total of 10.73 billion Euro was available to the Republic of Croatia from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for the period 2014-2020, the ministry announced.

By November 17, 2022, projects worth 13.75 billion Euro had been contracted, or 128.11 percent of the allocated funds.

In total, 8.51 billion Euro, or 79.26 percent of the allocated funds, were paid out, and 6.92 billion Euro, or 64.52 percent of the allocated funds, were certified.

In the period from 2013 to November 17, 2022, the difference between funds paid from the budget of the European Union to the budget of the Republic of Croatia and funds paid from the budget of the Republic of Croatia to the budget of the European Union amounts to HRK 56.90 billion in favour of the budget of the Republic of Croatia.