CRO - Bogdanovic looks to put Croatia back in Olympic spotlight

ALYTUS (EuroBasket 2011) - Croatia has always been known as a great country for basketball and has produced many great talents during the years, but what seems like a never-ending medal draught has been plaguing the country for 16 years.

The only successful spell that the Croats have enjoyed came in the early nineties, when Croatia stepped on the podium in four major tournaments in a row, with the last one being in the European Championship in 1995.

The legendary generation of Drazen Petrovic, Dino Radja and Toni Kukoc had lifted Croatian basketball into heights that no one could repeat since, but rising star Bojan Bogdanovic feels that it's time to bring Croatia back into the spotlight.

The 22-year-old swingman confirmed his name as one of the top European prospects after an earth-shattering season with Cibona Zagreb, after which Bogdanovic attracted the interest of many top European clubs, but ended up choosing the Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce Istanbul.

Bogdanovic wants to carry the personal success to the national team and bring back Croatia to its glory days of the early nineties, which the player names the golden-age of Croatian basketball.

The young talent feels that the silver medals that Croatia won in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona has been by far the most important and impressive Croatian victory ever.

"I didn't watch the games at that time, as I was only about three years old, but I have watched those games plenty of times and remember that Croatian team with Drazen Petrovic," the player talked about his favourite Olympic moment.

Croatia played in two more Olympic Games after achieving silver in Barcelona, but hasn't had the same success. Bogdanovic thinks that this Croatian team is well capable of qualifying for the London Olympics.

"I'm confident in this Croatian team. In the past we had lost a lot of big games, but I think it will be different this year. We want to be in London next year and I think we can definitely do that," Bogdanovic expressed his confidence in the team, adding that the key to achieving this goal is playing as a team and to keep improving every single day.

FIBA