Daniela Rogulj

Dani Olmo has never hidden how much his time in Croatia meant to him, and now another detail has come to light, showing how attached he remains to the country where he took his first big steps in football.

Croatia hosted England at Rujevica in Rijeka in the third round of Nations League A, Group 3. Both sides went into the match with three points, each having beaten the Czech Republic and lost to Spain. After a win over the Czechs in Prague and a defeat to Spain in Seville, Croatia welcomed England for a 6 pm kickoff, but the evening turned into one of the darkest in the national team's history.

Croatia close out a bruising run of four Nations League matches in 11 days on Tuesday night, when world champions Spain visit Poljud for a 20:45 kick-off. Head coach Slaven Bilić and captain Luka Modrić faced the media in Split on Monday.

A far hungrier Croatia than the one that lost to England took the lead against world champions Spain at a full Poljud and had the better of the first half, but went down to ten men late on and lost 2-1 to an 89th-minute Mikel Merino winner.

Hajduk beat Dinamo 2-1 in the first derby of the season at a rain-soaked Poljud on Saturday, with a spectacular Bamba strike settling a match that ran 14 minutes into stoppage time and saw Dinamo hit the post at the death.

Hajduk opened their Conference League group stage with a 2-1 win over Ajax at Poljud on Thursday, as goals from Bamba and Šotiček saw off the four-time European champions in a match halted for 12 minutes by Torcida's flares.

Dinamo beat Anderlecht 1-0 in the second round of the Europa League, with Dion Drena Beljo scoring the only goal from the penalty spot in the 96th minute. It was Dinamo's first goal in this season's Europa League, after a goalless draw with Israel's Hapoel in the opening round.

Dinamo suffered their first European defeat of the season on Thursday night, losing 4-2 at Maksimir to NEC Nijmegen in the third round of the Europa League league phase. Dion Drena Beljo scored twice for the home side, but NEC captain Tjaronn Chery struck two of his own, with Clement Bischoff and Bryan Linssen also on target.

Hajduk made it two wins from two in the Conference League league phase on Thursday night, beating Thun 1-0 in Switzerland. Dalisson scored the only goal in the 17th minute. Gonzalo Garcia's side dominated the first half but had to withstand heavy pressure after the break, in a match that featured remarkable misses at both ends.

Croatia head coach Slaven Bilić has named a 32-man preliminary squad for November's Nations League matches against England and the Czech Republic, as announced by