Croatia are 180 minutes away from the World Cup in Russia next summer; with only Greece in their path.
And after reading Croatian fan comments for the past 12 hours on CroatianSports and Facebook, we have to get a few things straight- this Greek team is not the Greece of old. This is not the same team that won Euro 2004 with bunker tactics; conceding not one goal in the knockout rounds on their way to the championship. This Greek team are not the same guys that shutout Croatia in Euro 2012 qualifying- 6 YEARS AGO! Greece has been on a huge decline. So let’s take a look at the numbers:
Greece FIFA ranking: 47th
Sure, the FIFA rankings aren’t a perfect science; we can all agree on that, but they are a decent indication (within 10 spots) of how a team is doing. Greece is currently ranked 47th. That is absolutely nothing to brag about.
So how did Greece get to 47?
One Of The Worst Qualifying Campaigns In The History Of Qualifying
We’re not talking about this current 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. Obviously, Greece can still qualify. However, let’s go back to their Euro 2016 campaign.
Greece were favorites to win a group comprised of Northern Ireland, Romania, Hungary, Finland and Faroe Islands. In 10 matches, they won only one match: 4-3 at home versus Hungary while dropping six games and conceding 14 goals.
Even more interesting, they only earned one point against Finland in two matches and lost to Faroe Islands TWICE! THE FAROE ISLANDS!
The Faroe Islands are in the same category as Malta, Andorra and San Marino. It is never good for business to lose to any of these teams.
During the current qualifying campaign, Greece got back to business beating teams they should beat. Greece drew Bosnia twice and drew Estonia 0-0 at home. Outside of the eight goals they scored against Gibraltar, Greece only scored nine goals against the rest of the group in eight matches. They had the same issues Croatia had this campaign- goals. If Croatia can score a goal or two in Zagreb during the first leg, all will look good for the Vatreni.
The Greek team is currently composed of players who play in Greece. Striker Kostas Mitroglou plays for Marseille and has scored 16 career goals in 56 appearances for Greece while defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been a seasoned veteran with Borussia Dortmund for the past four seasons.
Croatia has too much firepower for this Greek squad with the World Cup on the line. Expect another 3-0 aggregate line when all is said and done.
Greece 2 Croatia 0
The last time Croatia danced with Greece was 2011. Croatia only needed a draw to win the group, however, Greece bunkered for 70 minutes and scored twice in the last 20 minutes of the match through free kicks to send Croatian fans home quietly that day.
So remember Croatia fans, this is not your father’s Greek team. They may bunker but they don’t have the same defensive fortitude they had in the 2000’s. And Greece is having even more trouble than Croatia at the moment in the final third.
So expect good things in November.
[…] we learned this group of Greek players are not the Greece of old. Not by a long […]
http://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/bayern-munich-name-jupp-heynckes-as-carlo-ancelotti-s-successor-till-end-of-the-season-461163.jsp
Heynckes is only coaching until they find a replacement.
It wouldnt be good to sack Dalic after he performed well but perhaps he could be assistant if Ancelloti is drafted in?
@Zee
Not Heynckes, he retired from the Bayern post, but now the 72yr old is back to replace Ancelotti, he’s replacing Ancelotti because Ancelotti got the ass.
@ Traditional Croat – has Dalić agreed to coach in the WC if we qualify ? I believe he has although I could be wrong. I’ve been a little out of the loop. Ya if he helps us get through it wouldn’t be good if we just dumped him. This is where the line, “Nothing personal just business comes into play.” Sorry guys sports are a business these days unfortunately. Plus who knows how much Ancelotti even cares (could be a payday and that’s it) and also you made good points about him being fired and being a club coach although how often are you going to find a coach that leaves a post on his own rather than being fired? More often than not a coach becomes available after being fired or stepping down rather than someone who wins and leaves on a high note.
Hard to see any national team saying No to Ancelotti if they can come to an agreement on money, regardless of him being a club coach he still has crazy experience. Although the worry (yes I worry I’m Croatian) is expiremeting now with a foreign coach with this caliber of team.
We can’t have it all though. Either we’re happy with a good foreign coach (should we qualify and negotiate a price) or we do the same and stick to Croatian coaches.
I am aware of my contradictions and potential hypocrisy depending on how you look at the post. Just trying to look at things from any and all angles.
Well as they say coaches are hired to be fired. You
If we had Ancellotti, he would pull a Klinnsman and bring in every Brazilian that ever stepped foot in Croatia. Foreign coaches have less pride in using local products or local DNA. We would truly be the European Brazilians.
So many Ukrainians were irate that Shevchenko brought in & started a guy who moved to the Ukraine when he was 25! News outlets were saying it brought locker room strife, & some blamed the loss on Marlos. I can see that.
“But I’m interested to see if we found a diamond in the rough with Dalić.”
Agreed, if Dalic can get us to Russia then I’d be happy to stick with him, if not, then we go for the next Croatian in line to lead us towards the Euros.
Wouldn’t look good to use Dalic the Croat to get us to Russia and then get rid of him for an Italian who only knows how to coach big clubs with big players, and, he got the ass from Bayern, we should have a strict no losers policy, which would rule out Ancelotti. I mean, if he was coming in on high then maybe, but, the guy got the ass from Bayern, Bayern.
@ Maminjo – nice post, good points. Agreed on Tudor and Petković. Thoughts on Prosinecki, and Bilic for the second time had they been available and wanted the spot ? How do you think they would do for us as coaches at this moment ?
Best “cheap” Croatian coach for our National team would probably be Tudor.
Dude kicked out Wesley Sneijder from Galatasaray and his team is already 8 points clear of both Bešiktaš and Fenerbače. But no way he leaves his current situation for us right now.
Best “no so cheap” Croatian coach for us is obviously Switzerland’s Vladimir Petković. 27 points with that shit Swiss roster is very impressive.
But I’m interested to see if we found a diamond in the rough with Dalić.
Vlasic starts for Everton
Rijeka
Agreed. We need to qualify first before anything.
Man. I’d start a go fundme for Ancelotti if money was the issue.
I think the consensus here is that we’d be miles ahead with a foreign coach that can’t be touched by local corruption
It will be a moot point if we stumble fumble bumble against Greece. First things first.
@idemo – ya very true. Good point.
Also, I’d personally like Ancelotti however I don’t think he’s coached a national team before.
Each national team is different with how accepting they are of foreign coaches. Greece won Euro 04 with a German coach. They had an ugly to watch system but they knew their role and they employed that bunker/defence/counter/set piece soccer. They were super efficient with maximizing the limited tools they had. Then Greece with Ranieri (albeit a much worse team, not that the 04 team had stars or players playing in big clubs) completely shit the bed. As bad as they were, according to the Greek news, the players hated Ranieri and his approach and he lost the dressing room very quickly. The players were trying to get rid of him.
Dick Advocaat with Serbia as well flopped.
I like Ancelotti and would rather have him than any other foreign coach and maybe even Cro coach for that matter (can’t think of any established Cro coaches available at the moment).
Do you guys think Cro would do better or worse with a foreign coach? Any counties in particular Croatia would do better/worse with?
Zvone boban might be the key. He very well connected in italy. Believe he still lives there.I
WILL BE ASSISTANT
IVICA OLIC CALLED UP TO NATIONAL TEAM
@croatianPerson85
maybe one from Croatia is a little better? http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/nogomet/reprezentacija/predsjednik-hns-a-demantirao-pricu-o-carlu-ancelottiju-davor-suker-porucio-razocaran-sam-to-su-sve-dezinformacije-nas-izbornik-je-zlatko-dalic/6664386/
while jutarnji can be bs these outside ones are biting at anything for a story.
his stock is already cream of the crop. most champions leagues by a manager.
Guys it’s 100 percent true they are looking at Ancelotti should we qualify. Just google Ancelotti and Croatia and you’ll see numerous articles. The hurdles apparently are (and in no particular order of importance) 1) we need to first qualify before anything 2) money 3) Cro savez control depending on how much you believe it.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/19/croatia-keen-make-carlo-ancelotti-manager-world-cup-campaign-should-they-qualify
Ancelotti is a great cup coach.
Ancelotti may be a long shot, but if he were able to make a deep run in WC’18 that would certainly help his stock and add a nice feather to his cap. He probably looks at our squad and thinks he can get a lot more out of it (underachievers). Obviously not as smart as “the Truth” though.
He’s not doing anything else in the next 8 months, so why not?
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/nogomet/reprezentacija/predsjednik-hns-a-demantirao-pricu-o-carlu-ancelottiju-davor-suker-porucio-razocaran-sam-to-su-sve-dezinformacije-nas-izbornik-je-zlatko-dalic/6664386/
Now a bunch of media outlets in various countries are reporting ancelloti rumours. Don’t know see what transpires.
My guy in the savez says the Ancelotti rumors are true.
He was also correct about them sacking Cacic about 12 hours before it happened. So I believe it.
real Madrid are top 1 team irrespective of results. back to back CL and holders of arguably the best league.
real can finish 16 in la liga this year and if they 3peat they will go down as the greatest club ever.
Is Juventus a top 5 team?
Based on last years results, definitely… Champions League runner up and they went through Barca over 2 legs to get there winning 3-0 on aggregate. Serie A and Italian Cup Champions.
This year, one could argue either way. If you say ‘no’ based on results so far, then it’s hard to argue Bayern or Real Madrid would be top 5 through the first couple months of the season, so name 5 others that are better…
Ancelloti will most likely manage Juventes. Lets be real and cut the shit.
@Mr Black- Donis is fast as hell. He plays opposite of Brekalo, and makes Brekalo look slow.
Huge break for us.
super denied it already
People, please take the time to spell player names correctly. I’m not going to single out anyone but it happens way too much on this site. As fans, you should (at the very least) know how to spell a players name if you’re going to talk about him.
Ancelotti for a World Cup run.
Yes please !!!
He doesn’t need a ton of money for 7 months of work.
He knows Modrić.
He can get to know young talent for future club transfers.
Siminic for coach -no doubt about it- he’d tear a whole in any guy not towing the country line- true country patriot with a heart of a lion- one of the greatest fouls in the history of soccer against Serbia- and his attitude subsequent to the foul makes him a legend- he basically said- “who’s going to do anything about it”- guess, what -nobody did anything and he walked off proud as can be.
We’ll never let a foreigner coach – and we should but it won’t happen -HNS needs to keep their control and opening up to a foreign coach would be counter to that- Siminic all the way.
@ anonymous
I am the biggest domoljub on the site. Oh wait, let me explain. A domoljub is like a patriot
I heard about the ancelotti rumours. I asked one of my contacts in the hns about it and it’s as i expected and what one would guess. This is not happening. Price too high. And not enough control of ancelotti
Removing anonymous posts? What about all the crap and trolling posts? The Truth Troll, Ziva, whatever the current Serb troll is, Turkey, or ANY of the general anti Croat stuff that is outside the arena of legitimate criticism and discussion. It only “anonymous” that you want moderated?! I’ll start taking the time to log in when this website starts giving enough crap to not be croatian trolls.com. too much to ask for when the guy running the place is a borderline troll himself, spreading conspiracy theories and calling for Croatia to walk off the field
Rumors in Cro Are That HNS have had spoke with Ancelotti about possibly taking over in Russia should the boys qualify
Great LAknat named the following squad for the playoff matches against the Greek team.
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco/FRA), Lovre Kalinic (K.A.A Gent/BEL), Dominik Livakovic (Zagreb)
Defenders: Dejan Lovren (Liverpool/ENG), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), Ivan Strinic (Sampdoria/ITA), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Vedran Corluka( Lokomotiv Moskow/RUS), Matej Mitrovic (Besiktas/TUR), Duje Caleta-Car (Salzburg/AUT)
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid/ESP), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona/ESP), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan/ITA), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina/ITA), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan/ITA), Mario Pasalic (Spartak Moscow/RUS), Marko Rog (Napoli/ITA),
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus/ITA), Nikola Kalinic (AC Milan/ITA), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim/GER), Nikola Vlasic (Everton/ENG), Ante Rebic (Frankfurt/GER)
Notes: Considering these men could be such a hindrance -> Perisic & Subasic for us to get a positive result, then the lines up should be …
……………………..Lovre Kalinic…………………….
……..D Vida…………Corluka…………Lovren………
….Rakitic……….…Milan Badelj………….Vrsaljko….
…………Ante Rabic…Modric…Mandzukic………….
…………………….…Kramaric………………………..
Mandžukić needs to be served whipped in crosses high in the air.
I also like route 1 long balls up top in the air to him that he can direct with his head to supportive runs around him.
When he tires immediately sub him off and let fresh legs attack a weary defense.
He will set the tone for the 180++ minutes.
As always we need speed and width down the flanks to open up the middle for him to get iinto isolated one on one match ups.
Agreed with POG
Mr black most informative guy on here no doubt
Thanks
Good news on those injuries
U would think maybe a shoulder injury might be pushed to play
And wasn’t the defense man a maybe?
Agreed take what we can get
Let’s hope our boys stay healthy
Long time away still
You stay quiet like a little bitch until something fits your narrative, what kind of “quality soccer talk” is that. you were no where to be found when Mario had something like 1 in 7. Kept your Pussy tight then
Very nice Mr. Black!
Always informative.
Dude @bz I swear you create fake issues in your head and then make passive aggressive remarks
Go on a tantrum bro, stop being so pissed off, get it out, it helps.
You take any critiscm from singular events and just extend it. Irregardless of improvement. A critique or praise holds true (if true) irregardkess of improvement /falll.
I’m embarrassed you have anything negative to say about santini pk, I’m embarrassed we lost to turkey on pk, I’m embarrassed we don’t have a pk taker, I’m embarrassed Mario can’t hit that pk, so yeah ima give a kid praise if that’s giddy I’m the giddiest
If you’re embarrassed, don’t waste your time here, your too good man, your opinion holds much more weight, goal.com is always looking for writers, maybr proof read holigas work?
Rejects lol man, fuck off, your here just as these “rejects” are
Stalvno bukvalno mislis. Krivo mi je, majke mi.
good news, happy to hear anything that increases our cahnces, gonna be a tough tie against the greeks
Real Madrid splashes cash? Pleeeeeeease. Ceballos Theo?
Luka looking like the biggest steal ever when u adjust for inflation. Money made left and right
Isco release clause like a billion please sit down
Some good news about the game against Greece:
Greek attacking midfielder Donis (Stuttgart) will miss both games against Croatia due a shoulder injury. We’re very lucky: he was selected to the German Bundesliga Team of the week for matchday 8.
Captain and leader of the Greek defense Manolas (AS Roma) is in serious doubt to make it for the games against Croatia.
@DannyJ-on a site full of Mandzo haters, you were only one to point out Mandzo’s clutch goal.
I swear these rejects get all giddy about a Santini pk, a Halilovic assist…but Mandzo goes out and scores a goal in his last four CL appearances (which is kinda a bigger deal than Ron Burgundy)…crickets from the gallery.
Embarassed that I even discuss quality soccer with some of these chumps.
@Truth – holy f!#k beans nice response Truth as much as 99% of your posts piss me write the f$%k off.
I agree Modric is on his own level in the Cro national team. I can also see where Maminjo is coming from with the Mandza point. Another question(s) for you Truth and everyone else, taking into consideration both your and Maminjo’s post is which European national teams have players playing in bigger clubs than Cro? Which European teams have better players than Cro based on your definitions/examples of good and great? Completely different questions here. Is Juventus an Elite club, top 5? Does that make or not make Mandza elite or is he an average player playing on a good team?
You can be an awesome player on a good team or a good player on an awesome team. Just trying to see what you think about how our NT players rank as individual players and their clubs.
@The Truth
Outside of Messi and Ronaldo tell me who you think is good.
Maybe some underrated choices too?
How about a starting 11?
@Iggy
Mine hasn’t proven anything yet.
Like a true superstar lol….messi still trying to figure it out huh…
My cock is above average
Anyone who captains Sevilla to win Europa and regularly starts for Barcelona is not slightly above average.
You say Mandzo is unable to start on elite euro teams, yet he starts for Juventus.
Pretty much all the guys you listed as average, play first team football on Champions League teams or top teams in the Liga Petica. That makes them above average.
Croatianperson
My rankings of cro soccer players is pretty simple
Elite with a caveat:. Can definitely start on a top 4 euro nation
Modric. But can’t carry a team by himself like a true superstar. Needs other great players to maximize his ability
Above average:. Likely to start on top 4 euro team
Perisic. Maybe the only guy who can bend a defense on Croatia
Slightly above average:
Rakitic
Kramaric
Average: unable to start on elite euro teams. But starters on average teams
Mandzo
Vida
Lovren
Bozo vic
Vrsaljko
Subasic
Corluka
Badelj
Kovacic
Haven’t proved anything and probably not good enough yet
Pjaca
Rog
Jedvaj
Halilovic
Vlasic
@ Truth – Which Croatian players do actually think are good and really good however you define that ?
@The Truth
Hoops is for black Americans that can jump out of arenas.
It’s not a Croatian thing, it’s a white thing.
I haven’t claimed a Hrvat is great at basketball since Toni Kukoc.
@The truth – I don’t think maminjo claimed they are smart, he just said they are smarter than you… Pretty sure you proved his point.
@Anonymous – use a name, it’s so easy a goat lover could do it.
@Ante – what happened to removing anonymous posts? It may have been said a couple years ago but some of these are getting out of control.
On a hoops note, i will share my no holds analysis at some point
But just to give a brief assessment
Croatians have proved they are not really capable of playing in the nba.
Saric has been semi serviceable. Zubac showed promise
Bogdanovic for all his offensive gifts is so weak on defense and rebounding that he rates as one of the league’s worst players by advanced metrics
Bender is lost. If he can learn to shoot he could be good but if he can’t shoot.
Hezonja will likely be out of the league soon
Zizic lacks the length and athleticism.
Rudez. No point in discussing
@ maminjo
There is no proof Everton, inter, madrid etc are smart. Everton has sucked for years. Inter even worse and has made moves as dumb as signing Marcelo bozovic. Madrid just splashes money like other big clubs. As does Barcelona. Their stamp of approval doesn’t mean the player is actually good. Danilo anyone?. Halilovic anyone?
wow you’re right
article:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/sick-brits-travelling-serbia-sex-11360625
The capital Belgrade is said to be a hotspot for ‘zoophiles’ who enjoy sex with animals such as goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, cats, geese and cows
lel
Dario Saric meh game didn’t start
There is an article in the mirror UK today…Serbia is the bestiality capital of Europe…sick brits going there to bang animals…lol
“Kudos to Kovač for improving at Frankfurt but he learned on our HNS dime.”
I don’t believe Kovac learned anything on the HNS dime, what happened was that he found out that his philosophy was more suited to club football and not to a NT team filled with lightweight players with big egos that were averse to working hard, which is the backbone of the Kovac philosophy.
Kovac was looking good when we were 4w 2d, then the egos started to complain about Kovac’s training methods, with the lightweight Modric being the most vocal.
I actually wouldn’t mind seeing him coach the NT again one day when our old timers are all gone. I’d love to see our NT play with that Kovac spirit, how good would it have been to have a player of Kovac’s ilk against Portugal? We really do lack in the toughness department.
Didn’t holland miss euros? Or was it the World Cup before
Shit guys we still making things happen
We have s great shot at this
As always soul champ maminjo zee and others always positive
Ziva istina/truth yes sometimes u do speak the truth but man your like a broken record
Maybe it’s blind optimism but I do have faith in the new skipper. He sounds like he wants this and speaks well enough from what I’ve seen
He is what we have and we have to put our support behind
Mandzukic playing hard today and big header for the winner
We have the tools everyone just has to sacrifice and do their thing. This team on our day can beat anyone in world right now u can’t deny it
Jebeš Svijetsko koje Bosne nema.
Holland missing out is abso terrific tbh. It feels good down me pants when they miss out 😀
But yeah i REALLY wanted USA to make playoffs Versus AUS to get into the WC – that would’ve been a blast!
I doubt it.
I wouldn’t want them to eliminate Italy. This World Cup has already lost Chile, USA and the Netherlands.
It’s always good to see the big name teams in it (unless we’re the ones who eliminate them, like we did to England for the Euros).
Do you guys reckon Sweden can knock Italy out?
Odds to qualify (pinnaclesports.com) … Croatia the biggest favourite:
Croatia -308 Greece +265
Italy -274 Sweden +237
Denmark -137 Ireland +122
Switzerland -250 Northern Ireland +218
@ Maminjo
TOO much COMMON sense that is in short supply on this site!
@ Svima
We have had the MOST inexperienced managers of any top 20 team in the world.
Kudos to Kovač for improving at Frankfurt but he learned on our HNS dime.
Štimac ?
Čačić ?
Šuker / Mamić Balkan BS has been a cancer.
Yet our talent transcends all this.
Dalić has an opportunity to launch his career into the stratosphere. All he needs to do is put the horses in the courses.
If we can’t beat Greece in two legged playoff I don’t want to be at the World Cup anyway.
@Anonymous
I’m not the Anonymous that wrote those racist comments, I just wanted to clear that up, that idiot embarrasses all us other Anonymous’s
Ok Truth.
So Juventus, Everton, Real Madrid, Inter Milan are all idiots, and you’re a genius.
Ok. Got it.
Maybe blessing in disguise:
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/10/18/brendan-rodgers-comments-on-jozo-simunovic-situation/
Also, feel like Karlo Bartolec should get a look. Looks dangerous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zotpUdxQFac
Serbia is a haven for bestiality lol…
Serbs are dog fuckers….lol (literally) Google Serbia today. That’s why the Greeks love them so much… sodomy in any form…lol
@anonymous
“Blacks live in countries with the world’s most productive farmland.”
You’re a fucking idiot.
Please fuck off and die.
@ maminjo
These aren’t averages for the whole team. They are average age based on who is playing which has relevance
As to your claim we always have some new youngster come in and be the next big thing, I’ve never heard anything so far from the truth
All i see is hyped youth falling from grace. Let’s go down the list
Radosevic
Haliloshit
Mateo krotch does itch still can’t hold down a starting spot
Marko pee ass a: willv likely never be able to even return to his substandard form
Ante rebitch:. Banished
Nikola kalanic:. Banished till he returned as an older man
Marcelo bozo vic:. Terrible
The list goes on and on. I can’t think of anyone we’ve introduced that has made much difference
It’s the same over and over. Modric, rakitic, mandzukic, perisic until they get older and older
@ Maminjo
You may be making way to much sense for this site ?
Your last point is spot on !
We need to honor our identity and create our own style.
We used to be called the “Brazilians” of Europe.
First half against Brazil 2006 we played them off the ptich.
Announcer “if Croatia were wearing yellow you’d think they were Brazil ?”
I pray Dalić trusts his gut and calls up all the young legs and brings us back to a tactical alignment that honors the Soul of the Vatreni.
Actually feel we have the most depth in decades within HNS.
Greece is an ideal challenge for us as we will need to be at our best for 180+ minutes. No one on the squad views Greece as a push over.
Rakitic at the base of the midfield is his best position for us. He has range passing and can bang in a goal or two from deep. No one on Greece needs to be feared, Mitroglou moj KURAC !
Modrić up top can unlock any defense.
Just need wings providing width all game long.
@soul how do I rationalize that with the turkey game? They didn’t shut down Aganist us
Blacks live in countries with half the world’s natural resources and the world’s most productive farm land and can’t even feed themselves. Don’t worry about them or any other brown people, it’s the TRAITORS you see even on this site calling other White people “racists” while talking shit about other White people.
Calculating the average age of a National Team is pointless, and a stupid metric to use
There are new players added and existing players dropped from National Team squads every few years.
As an example, did anyone really think that Nikola Vlasic would make our NT squad at the beginning of this qualifying campaign?
Earlier in the year, he was just another forgotten Hajduk prospect. Now, he starts for Everton and is pretty much guaranteed to be called up (and probably become a key player for us on the wing too). Don’t be surprised if Fran Tudor does the same thing over the next year or so.
Another example is Marko Pjaca and how he broke into our team during Euro2016 qualifying. Dude was a nobody at the beginning of qualifying, then when he was called up everyone starting claiming it as a big Mamic-influenced scam…next minute you know, he’s our best player off the bench at the Euros and is a 23 Million Euro man for Juventus.
I also recall Brozovic coming off the bench against Brazil at 2014 World Cup and people thinking ‘who’s this bozo?’, and now he’s a key player for Inter Milan and pretty much our only midfielder who can score outside the box.
This happens pretty much every year with our National Team. We always seem to add a key young player who becomes a regular for our National team within a couple years. Fact of the matter is, nobody cares how old Duje Cop is, or how old our third choice goalkeeper is. None of that impacts our team…so why include this in any calculation or metric?
Rakitic and Badelj are in their late 20s, but I’ll bet you that nobody will even care about them in 2-3 years time when players like Brozovic, Pasalic, Rog, Kovacic, or some other random youngster continues to develop and pushes them out. Same goes for Mandzo, who is already being pushed out by Kramaric. Many pundits already consider Lovre Kalinic a better option than Danijel Subasic, and Corluka has easily been replaced by Vida as our key Centerback.
The only key loss would be Modric, who is 32, but he’s an Andrea Pirlo/Pavel Nedved caliber player who could easily play to 36 and still have a major impact. Modric at age 32 is like any other player at age 27.
This team is fine. We have a conveyer belt of talent that brings us a key player every year or two, which sustains our National Team. Talent is not the problem. We need to implement a system that compliments our talent that we adhere to (similar to the Italians and Greeks). That’s our problem.
Dalic kind of fixed this by freeing up Modric and using a creative striker in Kramaric (and it paid instant dividends). Hopefully he’s onto something and continues to do what he’s doing.
The enemy leverages the international, fighting with a local mentally will not win. We need every member we can get. Your skin is your uniform in this war.
@ the other Anonymous above, our greatest enemy right now is White TRAITORS, but I get your point: when the united Turk tribes of the Ottoman empire became a real threat to Whites, Whites put aside their differences and defended their own kind. That is what is happening now and the establishment that created the threat has no where to go.
When I went to the old LIC in Astoria it didn’t matter if you were Croatian, Greek, or Italian. We all had one enemy the blacks and Puerto Ricans.
And I know you toadies with your goldfish minds think this anti-white bullshit will last forever just as people thought Muhammad was “crazy”, “communism is the future”, “Spain will always be Muslim”, “bleeding is the best cure”, and on and on and on. Meanwhile, members of the establishment are retreating into giving each other medals, interviewing each other, assuring each other they are right while avoiding White GENOCIDE like a vampire avoids a cross.
Just before the Barcelona game, uefa forces the players to hold up anti-white political messages disguised as human decency; this is akin to blasphemy. The message was “diversity” and “accessibility” in soccer, which we all know means more non-whites & whites transferring the wealth and resources we created to non-whites.
You NEVER see these messages in soccer games in non-white countries. This is infinitely worse than blacks kneeling during the national anthem. And the same people who say “politics and sport” don’t mix are the ones promulgating these anti-white social messages; TWO FACED ANTI-WHITE FAGGOTS. I can’t watch this crap.
@ Idemo
Opportunity is here to bust the bunker.
This will lay the foundation of becoming world beaters as most teams can’t play with us straight up.
And those that do usually lose.
@ the truth
I am not ready to write off Halilovic – Rebic and definitely believe in Pjaca – Kovacic – Rog.
Kramaric and Perišić will still be in there prime.
Young studs will have take advantage of the opportunity.
U21 – team has plenty of talent.
Moro, Brekalo, Vlašić, Balic, Coric etc … are all the goods.
U17 was a disaster but there were a few studs in that crew as well.
We are just going to need a real manager to develop these kids at the same time being competitive with the “veterans.”
This World Cup is the crucial bridge for the younger players.
Plus the old guard needs to represent and make a run!
I’d call us World Champs before I’d say we’re bunker busters
@ anonymous
I agree this team is slightly old and euro 2016 was there best shot but they are not prohibitively old. The starting 10 (no goalie) have an average age of 28.4
The past world cup winner average age is as follows: 26.4, 27.3, 29.6, 26.6, 28.3
So it’s a bit concerning that a year from now average age will be 29.4….28.9 if you sub badelj for kovacic
Practically worrisome is the upcoming talent in that age sweet spot looks extremely weak, which means Croatia will likely go on a prolonged downturn after this cycle
As often pointed out …that on paper…Croatia is obviously the better team.
Everything always depends on which Croatian team decides to show up on game day.
How are we already predicting the scores of our world cup group stage matches? We havent made it to the WC nor do we know who we would be playing if we did….we need to relax a bit
We should not overestimate anyone. In the last two months we tied Finland at home, looked very bad against Kosovo and got beat in Turkey.
Greece won’t be easy.
We tend to live in the past as well…we tend to stand on the shoulders of our ’98 generation.
Don’t get me wrong – I think we win and advance.
But to me it just feels like this was a team that was in it’s prime 2-4 years ago at the Euros and last WC. And we screwed the pooch on both of those occasions.
I think we make the WC but we go out in the group stage with a 2-0 win in the first game, a 1-1 tie in the second game, and a 1-0 loss in the last game – knowing that all we would need is a tie against a team we should be able to beat.
In other words, as my Tata would say: “Same shet, different dey”
Bunker breakers :
Mandžukić – aerial threat – Bayern Munich.
Modrić – deployed exclusively in the attack, Tottenham Spurs.
Perišić – please pretend we are Inter Milan.
Rakitic – CDM like you are captain of Sevilla.
Kramaric – crafty runs and timely finishing.
Strinic – Sampdoria revelation at LB, over lapping runs and crosses.
Vrsaljko – please come back into fom in the next 3 weeks.
Kalinic – Second wave of leading the line.
Rog – run Greeks over and through the middle.
Rebić – when your number is called run them ragged on the flanks.
Vlašić – this is your coming out party.
Tudor – be ready.
What we need is to not be the Croatia of before Dalić.
We need to break the bunker hex on our footballing nation.
What better way to do it against one of our south east neighbors from the Balkans.
And yes modern day Greece is as Balkan as it gets.
I want to see incisive dynamic players in the attacking third.
Gunna be wearing the checkers all over Astoria (Athens, Greece) when these games are going on.
For us Hrvati in Australia I prey to god we beat these fuckin pricks!!! We have had to put up with their bullshit for years.
lol i liek the way you put THE FAROE ISLANDS – TWICE !! in all caps ROFL
yeah that is embarassing. It won’t be an easy win i dont think but i would say we’re favourites for sure and believe we can do this.
probably gonna miss the first one starting a new job that week. sick to my stomach
I was expecting my boy Ante Kvartuc to write about how Cro should just walk off the field again
@Brkic
I would assume if Vlasic starts, he would play at RW where we keep trying to slot Brozovic.
However, I wouldn’t sit Kramaric (who played there last game).
Only option would be to take a chance and bench Badelj, with the assumption that the Greeks will be parking the bus all game in ZG, and there would be no need for Badelj.
Safest bet is to keep him on the bench and make this move later in the game if we need to score.
Croatia vs Greece, who wins? In my opinion, Croatia SHOULD win easily. The result however will have nothing to do with Greece, Croatia win or self destruct, the Greek team is irrelevant, they’ll just be there watching like the fans.
100% confident this tie could go either way!
I agree with some of the calls to give Strinic a call up. I’m a firm believer in watching a player’s club form. Going into the Euros, Strinic had been glued to the bench in Napoli all season and played something like 180 minutes over a 9-month stretch. He was an experienced player, but totally out of game shape/form. So far this season he is getting lots of minutes and has been playing very well for Sampdoria, so he could help us.
I’ll be watching Vrsalko very closely over the next few matches. He showed some signs of life against Ukraine, but his form has been poor after coming off an injury from last season. He missed the last game for Atl Madrid with a thigh injury, but could be back any day.
As for players like Pjaca, Jedvaj and Corluka, we’re not going to get any help from them against Greece, so best to choose from the pool of players that have been able to put in some decent minutes for their clubs this season.
I like Vlasic’s motor and he’s been one of the few bright spots for Everton this season. Only issue is, who gives way in the midfield? More likely, he could come on as a sub after 60 minutes for one of the more experienced midfielders as a tactical change or hopefully to rest one of the vets because the game is in hand.
Mi Hrvati!!
We gonna be ok.