Listen to the full interview via the podcast
Scratch below the surface and you will note that the current Croatia World Cup team is relying on a bit of Irish expertise.
Barry Hamilton of leading performance monitoring and analysis company STATSports Technologies is in Brazil at the moment to help Croatia with their preparations.
The partnership began when the former Louth U21 player joined the team for a pre-tournament training camp.
"I did basic reports, monitored training twice a day, everyday and I get on really well with the players, management and staff," said Hamilton of the team which is up against Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon in Group A.
Using a GPS system, Hamilton gets information on individual player performance relayed to him during training sessions, which he in turns reports and discusses with the coaching staff.
Hamilton also recounted the "incredible" atmosphere at the opening game against Brazil and detailed the conditions in Sao Paulo and Manaus where Croatia have been playing so far, branding the weather in the latter as "awful".
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
