Coach Cvitanović and players have announced the UYL

Dinamo's U-19 team will open the UEFA Youth league first round in the match against Arsenal on Wednesday, September 16th. The match will take place at Hitrec-Kacian pitch and kick-off time is 16:00.

Head coach Mario Cvitanović, the ambassador and former player Branko Strupar and players Nikola Moro and Bojan Knežević have announced the UYL at the press conference. 

- This is our debut in the UEFA Youth league and it is a great honor for players, coaching staff and for the whole club. We want to present ourselves in the best possible way, not just to highlight the club but also to highlight the Croatian football in general. I hope my players will show their quality and good performance. We didn't have much time for training session together, but I believe we will achieve our goals - said coach Cvitanović and explained his expectations: - Players have shown enthusiasm and because of that we are not afraid of anybody. We respect all clubs, but we are aware of our quality. 

- We don't know a lot about our opponents and we don't know which are their strengths. We've played against Olympiacos on Mladen Ramljak tournament already, but we don't know which players they have registered for this competition. We will have time to analyze everything after the first round and after that - we will know what to expect from which team.

Dinamo's former striker Branko Strupar gladly became club's ambassador for this competition: - I am honored to be the ambassador for this great competition. This is an honor for the club and especially for young players. This is some kind of the exam for the first team. We all know Youth league matches won't be the same as domestic championship matches and I hope they will present their quality. 

All home matches will be played at Hitrec-Kacian pitch and ticket price for a single match will be 50 kuna. Also, Dinamo's season ticket will be valid for Youth league matches. 

- Players deserve a support and I believe they will do their best on the pitch in order to thank the fans - said coach Cvitanović and gave the word to Bojan Knežević: - We all know the value of this competition and it is a great honor for all of us. I can't tell anything about the result, but we will do our best. We would like to invite fans to come and be our 12th player.

Nikola Moro commented the last time Dinamo faced Arsenal, during the Nike Premier Cup in Manchester: - We've played 0:0 with Arsenal on that competition and we won after the penalty shootouts. On the other side, that was a few years ago and I am sure they are better team now, probably with new quality players. They are one of the best teams in the world, but we are not afraid and we want to prove our quality.

What about young players from the first team who can play for U-19 team in the Youth league? - We have players who can play for the first team, for Dinamo B team and for U-19 team. That is our treasure, but also a big problem for us. The team didn't have training sessions together and it won't be easy. Benković and Ćorić are players from the first team who can play for U-19 team, while Sosa is also in this category, but he is currently injured - finished coach Cvitanović.