Poznan, Poland – Croatia replaced injured Ivo Ilicevic with Sime Vrsaljko on Thursday, as manager Slaven Bilic was forced to make another change to his Euro 2012 roster.
Croatia previously lost veteran forward Ivica Olic to injury, and midfielder Ilicevic has now been ruled out due to a ruptured calf muscle.
"I am sorry about Ilicevic," Bilic said. "We have lost another important player who is different to most of our team."
The 20-year-old Vrsaljko, a defender, was called into the squad with the event set to open Friday, and Croatia to open against Ireland on Sunday.
"I received a call at lunchtime and am very happy," Vrsaljko said. "I didn't expect to be at EURO 2012 and was already starting to prepare for the new season with Dinamo Zagreb."
Bilic still has concerns over veteran defender Vedran Corluka, who limped out of training Thursday with a muscle strain, but believes he will be fit for the tournament.
"It should be OK, he just felt something in his muscle. Based on the prognosis it shouldn't be anything serious," Bilic said.
