On Sunday, September 27th, the first of what we believe will be several trophies this season arrived at Maksimir Stadium. Dinamo's veterans team, VNK Dinamo Zagreb – Ribnjak, won the 26th National Veterans Championship, whose final tournament was held from Friday to Sunday in Osijek, organized by the City of Osijek and the Croatian Football Federation.

The success is even greater when we know that this is the first, historic title for Dinamo's veterans at the national championship in history.

The Blues reached the title with five victories, including one after a penalty shootout, and one draw, with an overall goal difference of 16:7. Particularly exciting was the final against the veterans of NK Dilj, which the Purgers overcame through better penalty execution after a 2:2 draw in regular time.

Marin Leovac was named the best player of the tournament, while Ivan Krstanović took the title of top scorer with eight goals scored. Dalibor Brkić from Dilj was named the best goalkeeper, mainly thanks to numerous saves in the final match against Dinamo. 45 veteran teams from across the country participated in the final tournament.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate the hosts on the excellent organization of the final tournament. We really had excellent conditions at the Opus Arena. I'm pleased that my previous team, Poliklinika Ribnjak, also last season's champion, merged with Dinamo and that we already won, or rather, defended the title at the first national championship under the new name, Dinamo – Ribnjak. The core of the team consisted of players who also played in the regular part of the championship, and several former Dinamo players joined us. We want to gather as many players as possible who love football and still have the desire to play on the big pitch, and we're especially happy that we compete under the most beloved name. We function well together, and alongside results, socializing is most important to us", said the captain and team leader, Jerko Leko, who also serves as coach of Dinamo B.

"This was quite a demanding tournament because we played six matches in three days. Squad depth and quality were extremely important for us to go all the way. We could have decided the final before penalties, but in the end we deservedly won the title. Some players couldn't be with us due to commitments because it's not easy to set aside time for such a tournament, so this success means a lot. We continue with veterans football, and in winter we have futsal ahead of us. This is a nice beginning of our joint story", believes Leko.

In the first round, the Blues were denied victory literally in the last second of the match against Moslavina from Kutina. Pero Pejić and Ivan Tomečak overturned Moslavina's early lead, after which Dinamo missed several opportunities to confirm victory. The Kutina team punished this with a goal in the final moments for a final 2:2.

In the second round, Krstanović joined the Blues, who demolished Halubjan with a hat-trick for a 3:1 victory and first place in the group. In the round of 16, the Purgers overcame Zagorec from Krapina 3:0. With goals from Krstanović, Tomislav Ivičić and Tomislav Havojić, the question of the winner was decided already in the first half.

In an interesting quarter-final match, Dinamo overcame Omiš 3:1 with goals from Jerko Leko, Krstanović and Dario Skoko. In the semi-final, VHNK Dubrovnik fell by the same result. Krstanović scored two goals, while the third came after an attempt by Antonio Maričević, with help from a Dubrovnik player who was ultimately credited with an own goal.

In Sunday's final, the Purgers faced Dilj, whose ranks included several players who are still active in senior football. Josip Tadić put the Blues in the lead with his official debut goal for VNK Dinamo, but Dilj quickly turned the result around with goals from Ladan Komljenović and Tomislav Pavličić. Five minutes later, Krstanović scored his eighth goal of the tournament for what proved to be the final 2:2.

The champion was thus decided by penalties, and Dinamo reached victory only in the sixth series of the shootout. Filip Lončarić made a brilliant save from Danijel Kuzmić's shot, after which Tadić was precise from the penalty spot and brought the Purgers their first trophy of the season, and seventh in 2026, if we count the trophies of the juniors, cadets and pioneers.

Dinamo's veterans then arrived in Zagreb with the trophy, where they played an exhibition match against the All Star team of the GOAT league and presented the won trophy to the Zagreb public.

Let us remind you that Dinamo's veterans team currently holds second place in the ongoing championship with two games in hand at the time of writing this text, and you can follow all home matches of VNK Dinamo Zagreb – Ribnjak on the Dinamo+ app.

The following players appeared for Dinamo at the final tournament: Filip Lončarić, Ivan Tomečak, Tomislav Havojić, Domagoj Abramović, Hrvoje Štrok, Josip Tadić, Dario Skoko, Jerko Leko, Marin Leovac, Boris Kutleša, Ivan Krstanović, Pero Pejić, Goran Grba, Zoran Kutleša, Siniša Ferenček, Tomislav Ivičić, Tomislav Šantalab, Antonio Maričević, Mario Lučić, Željko Obrovac, Hrvoje Matus and Držislav Krasić.

The team was led by Darko Janjećić Žica and Jurica Šimir, who also had the role of player-coach. The staff also included doctor, prim. dr. med. spec. Milan Milošević and team manager Ana Matijaš.