Results for Dec. 13-15, 2013
GNK DINAMO ZAGREB 3 – 1 NK ZADAR
Dinamo and Zadar played their final league match of 2013 on Sunday in Zagreb. The year ended well for Dinamo who will finish 2013 in first place in the Prva Liga after defeating Zadar 3-1.
The young and talented Alen Halilović had marquee performance, setting up all three of Dinamo’s goals.
Halilović brought the ball into Zadar territory, with the help of captain Jerk Leko, and sent in a ball that was met and finished by El Arabi Hilal Soudani, who scored his ninth goal of the season in the 31st minute.
Again, Halilović and Leko started an attack that lead to a Dinamo goal.
Duje Čop doubled Dinamo’s lead in the 41st minute with a goal of his own after some help from the 17-year-old Halilović.
Čop would go on to score a third goal in the 63rd minute after receiving a ball from Marcelo Brozović, but it was Halilović who was pulling the strings behind the play. Dinamo would go to lead 3-0, but before they knew it, Zadar began an attack that would lead to a goal.
Josip Bilavera put a shot on target after beating defender, Ruben Lima. Dinamo goalkeeper, Grzegorz Sandomierski, made a solid save, but the rebound was won by Josip Tadić, who scored an easy uncontested goal.
Dinamo would finish the match and earn three points to end the first half of a very successful season so far. The Modri will play the second leg of the Croatian Cup against Hajduk Split at Poljud on Wednesday before going on a nearly two-month long break that will end on Feb. 5, 2014 when they play a make-up game against NK Istra 1961 in Pula.
HNK HAJDUK SPLIT 2 – 2 HNK RIJEKA
Christmas came early for Hajduk Split today, as they were gifted a point from Rijeka after being down two goals for most of the game’s 90 minutes.
Leag leader in goals, Leon Benko scored after only eight minutes of play for Rijeka. Like a fine wine, Benko seems to be improving as he matures. The striker turned 30 on Nov. 11, but shows no signs of slowing down in the Prva Liga, scoring his 14th goal today.
Does 14 goals in half a season warrant a call-up to play for his country? Benko only played in his fifth match this year, entering the match against Iceland in the final minutes of the game, but with Mario Mandžukić facing possible suspension for the Vatreni’s next match, Benko may be available to lend a hand.
Rijeka’s other rising star, Andrej Kramarić doubled his team’s lead in the 41st minute.
Kramarić brought the ball from the midfield line all alone, and took a shot from 25 yards out. The shot was low and hard, and skipped on the ground before it reached the goal.
Lovre Kalinić was unable to reach the low shot, and was beat.
Goran Mujanović had a beautiful opportunity handed to him to make the match 3-0, and put it out of reach of Hajduk.
Kalinić misplayed a ball in the box, and missed when trying to kick it. Mujanović was first to the loose ball and had the chance to easily put it in the empty net, but missed, and missed and the match remained 2-0. Mujanović’s miss would prove costly, as Hajduk did not give up.
Marko Bencun was taken down in the box in the 75th minute, and Hajduk was awarded a penalty kick, which was converted by Filip Bradarić.
With this glimmer of hope, Hajduk continued to pressure the Rijeka back line. It soon payed off when Mate Malaš was called for a handball in the box, and Hajduk was awarded another penalty shot and again, converted it to tie the match at two, this time by Mario Maloča.
Mate Malaš was sent off with his second yellow of the day and forced Rijeka to finish the match with 10 men.
Hajduk should be pleased with the point Rijeka so merrily gave them for Christmas, but with the two teams closest behind Dinamo, they are only hurting themselves by not gaining all three points.
With every draw, Dinamo inches further and further ahead. Would it have been better for the league if one team took all three points? Probably, but it now seems Dinamo has their ninth consecutive championship wrapped up at the midway point of the season.
Hajduk has finished their league games for 2013, but will welcome Dinamo to Poljud on Wednesday for the second leg of the Croatian Cup. Rijeka will play a make up match against NK Lokomotiva on Thursday, but will be on winter break after that until their next match which is against Dinamo at Kantrida on Feb. 7, 2014.
NK SLAVEN BELUPO 1 – 1 NK HRVATSKI DRAGOVOLJAC
Slaven Belupo still have only one defeat under the reign of Mladen Frančić, but are struggling to find a win, which is something they have not had since October.
The match was plagued by difficult weather, including fog so thick, they were forced to use the winter ball, which it painted bright orange be more visible.
The temperature also dropped low enough to freeze the turf in Koprivnica, wreaking havoc on players who began to slip and slide.
But that did not deter the players from playing a to a tough 1-1 draw.
Slaven struck first with their goal in coming early in the second half.
Petar Filipović thread a pass to Mario Gregurina who took a close-range shot on goalkeeper, Ivan Čović, who slammed the door on the midfielder’s attempt at beating him five-hole, but the rebound went directly to Petar Brlek who easily tapped in the shot in the 47th minute.
The Volunteer’s Mario Rašić scored the tying goal in the 71st minute. Rašić took on two Slaven defenders before putting a stunner in the upper corner of the net.
The Pharmacist’s ageless wonder, Davor Vugrenec entered the match in the 74th minute, but the results remained the same, and the teams split the points.
NK OSIJEK 1 – 1 NK LOKOMOTIVA
Osijek and Lokomotiva played to a 1-1 stalemate on Saturday but the draw came tough for the away team and were satisfied with the point.
Petar Mišić scored first in the match with a volley from a tough angle. The impressive goal put the Lokosi in the lead, but Osijek was playing in front of their very loyal fans, and did not want to disappoint.
Osijek applied constant pressure on Lokomotiva in search for the tying goal. They came close on several occasions before finally succeeding in the 61st minute when Nikola Mandić headed home a cross.
Osijek nearly took the lead only two minutes later, but Josip Barišić missed the net and sent the ball just over the crossbar.
The two teams had little between them for the remainder of the game, and remained tied at one at the match’s end.
NK ISTRA 1961 2 – 0 RNK SPLIT
Istra and Split played to an exciting 2-0 where Igor Pamić’s side took all three points to end their 2013.
The Istra win ended Split’s eight-game unbeaten streak that started in early October against Hajduk at Poljud. The last team to beat them before that? Istra 1961, the same club to end their unbeaten run.
Split was reduced to ten men in the 21st minute when Tomislav Dumojvić was sent off after stiff-arming Istra’s Jo Alvarez.
Slavko Blagojević scored the first goal for Istra in the 78th minute. Blagojević received a pass from left of the box and struck it low and hard from about 25 yards away. The ball took a slight deflection before finding the back of the net.
Tomislav Glumac thought he had tied up the game with his 89th minute goal, but the judges ruled that it deflected into the net off his hand and disallowed the goal. Split players and coaching staff vehemently disagreed, and the coaching staff of Split were forced to watch the end of the match from the stands.
Petar Franjić solidified the victory with a goal in the 90th minute and earned all three points.
2, 1971, and who is at the southern most part of their body to attract preys.
Knowing something about bass fishing is Florida.
so going forward, any chatter about Suspension Joe’s NT career? 10 games from now, we’ll be talking 2015, no?
I guess a testmonial and then call it a career?
Suspension is one thing, and was expected, but not letting him in the stadiums to watch his country and his team play in the world cup is just insulting.
everyone knew he’d get suspended, the question was how many games. In hindsight, this just may work out ok for everyone but Joe, the team has to focus on what they have with regards to personnel. think about it, what if Joe got 2 or 3 games…what would Kovac do? Bring Joe because of his fantastic history and possibly leave someone at home, tinker with the defense once to 2 or 3 game ban is done (I’m assuming we advance), be undecisive and create some unnecessary uncertainty amongst the starters? Unfortunately for Joe, this is tragic for him but for the rest of the team, they have to go forward…and at least Kovac now knows Simunic’s fate…he cant bring him!
Del Canio gets a slap on the wrist for measuring the zito.
Serbs get off basically with a slap on the wrist for burning Croatian flags, writing Vukovar in cirilica and throwing up 3 fingers.
Croatian fans have to take down Zapamtite Vukovar and Joe gets 10 games for screaming Za Dom?!
Very, very, very fair verdict…….my balls.
If you dont lean left, this is what you get. Thats basically the jist. You think FIFA cares about our history? They have an agenda, it doesnt really include Croatia or any balkan nation for that matter. Anyway, I could care less about the rest. This is a travesty..but the number is arbitrary. His NT career is over and would be regardless of the number unless it was less than 3 (never was gonna happen) Thank You Joe for the many years. ZA DOM!
A show of hands – or keyboard touches. Did anyone honestly believe he wasn’t going to get suspended?
A travesty, an embarrassment, and a disgrace by FIFA. Joe should write Hrvatska in cirilica and throw up three fingers and he would’ve gotten off with a fine. I kad mu je tesko Joe pjeva sve jace ZA DOM!
Udbasi
Forget getting him tickets to the game, he’s not even allowed in the stadium. I just read that. Damn, now that is cold blooded.
a lot of good points here from many, I do agree Simunic should have known better and his chant was controversial, he must have known that….but I never would have guessed this in a million years.
On another note, I will say this! Now that I think about this I’m actually ok with it, Simunic wont play for the NT again (his age) so in some strange way I’d rather have seen him get this than see Mandzukic get 3 games! I know the 2 incidents are not related but you just never know what people are thinking, they could have lashed out at us minnows, after all Croatia is a small Nation and most likely mean nothing to FIFA!
Joe has invested his money wisely in Australia. He doesn’t need the money. I know you are most likely joking. Give the money to an orphanage.
Before we start blaming the serb lobby (although it is a favorite hobby of mine). They have no lobby within FIFA/UEFA. They have been fined and suspended as well. Heck, wasn’t it partizan that was thrown out of the Champions League qualifiers for throwing flares during their games with Zrinjski Mostar a few years ago.
That money that was raised……..it now should be used to purchase a flight from ZG to Rio for Joe and then to buy him tickets to the three group games.
Before we start blaming lobbies and influentual people, how about throwing some blame at the person who deserves it most……Simunic himself.
The dude lives in Cro. He knows saying Za Dom would have consequences. Just like I know there are consequences with my clients if I yell out “MLK was a coon” during a meeting that inlcudes a black dude in it.
Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote their would be consequences for his action…….well, here you go. Now, none of us thought he would get 10 games, but he did. Honestly, 10 games, 5 games or 4 games. Anything more than 3 was going to mean he had no chance at the WC. Kovac wasn’t going to include him on the roster if he had 3 games. Possibility if he got one or two games.
Moral of the story in all of this…………..yell out Za Dom Spremni in a fortified basement.
I knew it was going to be bad. I knew in all likelihood that tot would have meant that he would miss the World Cup. I have to be honest, I never thought it would be 10 games! Aside for the suspensions in the Serie A for match fixing, I cannot recall a heavier punishment in the last decade. As I made mention to a few times, I cannot recall who it was, Hajduk/Dinamo that got the absurd suspension last campaign for wearing Goalie gloves with the wrong sponsership on them. I recall laughing with a Croatian guy I work with at how FIFA/UEFA have us under a microscope. But 10 games is definitely them making another statement.
In all likelihood they knew he was on the verge of retiring and they just tacked on a few more games to send a message.
@Slavonac
Croatia has a very strong lobby coming against them from the Serbs who have unofficially recruited the odd Jewish writer or organization by falsely claiming to be joint victims with them and portraying all things Croatia as being Nazi.
There are no lobbies against Italy and Spain that compare to this.
@Slavonac…..I agree with you, but what Simunic did was on the big stage. This was not some league match, this took place during a FIFA match. This was big. right or wrong, FIFA doesn’t want this shit on its doorstep.
My guy at the savez kept telling me he was going to get hit with at least 5, with the emphasis on “at least”. I told him that he was paranoid and it would be closer to 3. I guess I should have trusted him.
Thanks!
Mandžukiću samo jedna utakmica kazne zbog crvenog kartona
Napadač Hrvatske Mario Mandžukić dobio je minimalnu kaznu Fife od jedne utakmice suspenzije zbog crvenog kartona na uzvratnoj dokvalifikacijskoj utakmici protiv Islanda. Mandžo će tako propustiti samo prvu utakmicu Svjetskog prvenstva protiv domaćina Brazila.
http://www.24sata.hr/nogomet/teska-kazna-fife-simunic-je-dobio-10-utakmica-suspenzije-345533
mandzo got 1 game
@lika Joey
Nothing yet.
The only good news so far is that it seems like they’re treating it as separate cases and not lumping the two together.
Mandžo should be getting a single game ban. I’d be stunned if it was something stupid like a group stage ban. Obvious spillover from the Šimunić case if that were to happen.
there are cases of racism all over Europe, you’d be hard pressed to see anybody else get a fine like this one, I’m kinda shocked but have to say we haven’t been given much info on the details of the decision, we only know the general and political response to this.
a couple of months back I read on soccernet how Italian clubs in Northern Italy have all of a sudden rediscovered their fascist roots, the writer said it just reappeared almost as a coincidence when Berlusconi had become more powerful. There are fans that sing fascist songs and also fans that are extremely racist to the point where many black players don’t want to play in certain stadiums. Spain is no better, we know England has always had issues, Nazism in Ukraine…
how does Croatia steal the spotlight when so many other countries fly under the radar? it happens everywhere, why is Simunic portrayed as some evil person when all he really did was sing what most of us do?
Mandza one game
What did Mandzo get?
I have nothing against ‘Za Dom Spremni’. As I have said, I live a “Za Dom, Spremni” life.
but, Simunic was an idiot for saying it. He knew there was going to be backlash. He was selfish and thinking of himself and not the team.
Guys, should we raise money to pay for Simunic’s flights and game tickets to Brazil.
He’d better appeal this.
But it’s a losing cause. FIFA is adamant about showing they are serious about their anti-racism campaign and this is just too easy to exploit, especially one that is tied to “nazism”.
Ugh, what a joke. As if Šimunić was really promoting racism for his homeland chant, lol. Never mind all the players who actually make direct racial comments toward other players or to the public.
And banned from the stadiums plus 30,000 swiss francs.
That is FIFA definitely making a statement. You can’t win the public relations war against Croatia.
Šimunić may as well retire.
on Simunic:
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/news/newsid=2246473/index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_media_statements
10 matches for Šimunić!
Good old sources, those are the best.
Btw, too much jock sniffing talk. To each his own, who fackkin’ cares if people wear jersey’s.
More than half the male population has some sort of jersey with a nameplate on the back they chuck on when going to a sporting event.
Anyhow, I know it’s been discussed recently but is it realistic that this Sertic character plays for Cro? If he wasn’t interested to begin with should we welcome him with open arms now?
More top secret news from Ziva’s “guys at the savez” aka figments of his imagination lol
The best part is two guys working working at the same savez give two differing accounts of what will happen.
Tooooooo majstore. Samo gluposti izmisljaj.
Let’s see. I’d say,
C.
E.
B.
A.
D.
Yes, I do believe some on this site will talk more about you jock sniffing over the Simunic Suspension.
Now I assume Halilovic would like to get out of his contract in the summer, but does Dinamo want that? Wouldn’t they want him to play as often as possible to get him better and up his worth if they want to sell him? Starting him only 6 or seven league games this year isn’t going to get him a lot of attention. It almost seems like they’re hiding him, which of course, would probably make him want to leave even more.
Triva questions time………..
What would cause more posts on this website:
A. Simunic’s pending suspension
B. Mandzukic goal from outside the box
C. A Rakitic header
D. jadan i mali hajduk winning the league
E. photos of Ziva Istina wearing a jersey with another man’s name on the back
Just read that ticket sales are slow for the Cameroon and Mexico games in the Croatian sections.
I doubt the game against Cameroon is even close to a sell out. But, the mexicans are going to outnumber the croatian fans by a large amount for the third game.
Warning to all: if you plan to sit low and near the field, bring an umbrella with you so you can cover yourself when the mexicans throw bags of urine at you. I plan to bring Mama Istina’s umbrella for that game.
true……
I’m also wondering about his contract status. The two guys who I rely upon for info back in Cro (they happen to work for the savez) both have differing accounts. One says he can get out of his contract in the summer and that is why he thinks Halilovic will be sold over the winter break. The other insists he wont be leaving.
Last week he had a goal and an assist. TWO weeks ago, he was a mental midget. But I see what Mr. Black is saying. He’s finally stringing consecutive games together where he is in the starting line up and performing well. Too early to tell, but hopefully this is the beginning of him becoming what we all expected him to be. It’s a shame the winter break is starting just when he may be finding some sort of good form. Hope he keeps it up in 2014.
stepping up???????? it was one game. last week he was being a mental midget.
Great to see Halilovic is stepping up. He’s getting older and stronger. Maybe he’ll be good enough when the World Cup starts.
Videos are back!!!!