ROBERT GREEN HIT BY ENGLAND’S GOALIE CURSE
England has been notorious for having a ‘goalie curse’ hang over their heads for decades- letting the simplest shots cross the line due to complete mental blunders. Croatia experienced this first hand in 2006 when Neville’s back pass hit a divot in the grass at Maksimir and hopped over the swinging leg of Paul Robinson to give Croatia a 2-0 win.
Robert Green kept the tradition going Saturday as he gifted the Americans a point in a 1-1 draw against England. There’s not much more to say here. It was a simple shot right to the keeper. Why does this keep happening to English keepers?
KUZMANOVIĆ HANDS GHANA 3 POINTS
Zdravko Kuzmanović took a page right out of Stjepan Tomas’ 2006 book for Serbia as he unnecessarily played the ball with his hand in the box to gift Ghana a penalty kick in the 84′ of a scoreless match. Gyan converted to give Ghana the win and put Serbia in shambles. The Serbs still have to play powerhouse Germany and Australia. Will Serbia repeat their horrendous showing at Germany 2006 this year as well? C’est la vie.
THE SLOVENIANS ARE TRYING TO BE CUTE WITH US…
…BUT CROATIA HAS SUPPORT FROM THE AFRICANS.
The above picture was taken during pre-game warmups of the Slovenia-Algeria match. A proud African blowing his vuvuzela and sporting the Croatian checkers. Robert, Ziva. Find this guy! See what his story is.
@Boris,
I agree with you that Slovenia has made many "dick moves" against Croatia since independence.
I just think its funny how both governments encourage this hatred between the two. In the end, it all comes down to money and power. Croatia has been the "soccer power" of the balkans since independence. We have been sticking it to Slovenia the past 16 years now, and finally Slovenia can talk a little shit…
What if Slovenia beats England?…
I still think England will top the group and USA will finish second… Lets hope that Slovenia don't get a result against England…
@JackAlexis,
Good comment.
"EU membership will be bad for Croatia, but may help a select few who want to / can work in the Euro zone."
That is your answer to #1… so like in the NFL, "penalties offset"…
you are down to 5..
#2, "Slovens are arrogant"…. Isn't most of Europe? anyone with money and/or power.. French, Brits, Italians…. list goes on and on…
down to 4…
#4.. "Too many handballs including Serbia and Algeria. PROFESSIONALS DO NOT DO THIS!"
another one today… Vidic.. shit happens..
down to 3….
"5. Nike is good because
a. THEY SPONSOR CROATIA"
shit = shit…. no matter if its Croatian shit or Serbian shit…
nike = shit… no matter if their shit is made from recycled plastic bottles, or man made materials from Malaysia..
#6 …. Ivica will be reporting from NY for Tottenham-RedBull game..
conclusion…..
"have a take and don't suck" ~Jim Rome..
You dont qualify for a $5 shirt… not yet..
Good comment, you need a few more to qualify… prva generacija members have been checking in for over a year. Looking forward to your next comment.
@Ziva Istina,
How much are tickets going for? Are scalpers accepting Euros, Dollars?… how is the exchange rate USD/SAfrican "dinar" haha? Are you living like a king, or living off of bread and water?
@Denis…..I was going to the WC regardless if Cro made it or not. I would have followed Cro if they made, but now I am going to all the US first round matches and catching any other games that are near. tickets from scalpers are easily available for almost any game.
I honestly did not think it would be this cold at night. Have to wear layers for the night games.
1. Slovenes are blocking EU ascension over BS.
2. Slovenes are arrogant.
3. EU membership will be bad for Croatia, but may help a select few who want to / can work in the Euro zone.
3. The U.S. will have a harder time advancing to the next round than the American pundits suggest.
4. Too many handballs including Serbia and Algeria. PROFESSIONALS DO NOT DO THIS! WTF!
5. Nike is good because
a. THEY SPONSOR CROATIA
b. They make their jerseys out of recycled plastic bottles
6. Will CSR be at the Tottenham vs. Redbull game this summer?
7. Does this post qualify me for a $5 Crottenham T-shirt?
forlan looks a little like michael bolton though.
@ denis
i dont want cro to join the EU either. i was just trying to illustrate that it was a dick move for slovenia to try to block croatia's accession, among other dick moves they've made against croatia since 1991.
re: WC
i have to say i'm pretty impressed with diego forlan. he's the best striker of the tournament so far in my opinion. he gets open, great work rate, and has the vision and passing skill as good as any midfielder. did someone mention that his name came up in transfer rumors to Spurs? i think forlan and defoe would make a great strike team in the EPL, with luka feeding them from the midfield all day.
Honestly, the Slovenes are so irrelevent that I could care less what they say…even in their one traditional area of skill- skiing- they can't outperform us lately.
It says everything that they can even find the time to think about Croatia while in SA.
I don't think joining the EU is a good idea either, but it would be cool to be apart of the Schengen Zone. You could travel everywhere with very little hastle.
@Boris,
"they have tried to extort concessions from croatia by constantly trying to block cro's entry in the EU."
This is a blessing in disguise my friend. I dont want Croatia in the EU.
@Ziva Istina,
Thanks for the update from SA. I didn't expect any Hrvati to make the trip.
Question for you, did you plan this trip before Croatia was knocked out, or were you confirmed if Croatia qualified or not?
@Jordan,
"who you callin kid!? I'm 26 ;)"
I threw that in there to see if there would be a reaction. haha.. There are quite a few of you from NYC on this blog. Ante and I will keep you posted on the New York trip. Looking forward to meeting all of you New Yorkers.
Vicelich played out of position at centre mid but played very well. He shut down most Slovak attacks and spread the ball well when needed. Substituted late on. All in all good game. 7/10.
@ Denis
who you callin kid!? I'm 26 😉 just kidding bro…Definitely let me know when your crew comes up to NYC, it would be a pleasure to meet up wioth you guys
srbe na vrbe!
slusajte dino dvornika. pozdrav veliki afrikancima!! hehe.
My two cents….
@Denis…the Brits took the 1-1 tie against the US like they do with everything else, they drank themselves into the night.
The atmosphere is festive down here, but far from Germany 06. Its chilly at night and the sun goes down early.
I have not seen any other hrvati down here. There might be others, but since we are not in the tourney there is no way to know because no checkered shirts are walking around.
As for Slovenia…..I am of the opinion, "F^ck them."
i saw that the kiwis stole a point in injury time against slovakia. anyone see the game? how did vicelich play?
i don't see any fixing involved in the us/england game. they showed it in super slow mo about 100 times, and it seems plain to see that green had bad form, didn't get behind the ball, and flubbed it. it happens. that's soccer.
the serbia handball…who knows? i'm sure the serb mafia knows how to get to serb NT players if they wanted to.
F slovenia. they started trading with serboslavia as soon as their 10-day "war" was over in '91. and they are being bitches about the gulf of piran and other border issues. they have tried to extort concessions from croatia by constantly trying to block cro's entry in the EU. F slovenia.
USA – 2
SLO – 0
USA! USA! USA!
King Bronk,Your in another world brother,what damnn trips are u goin on,get over it man,not every match is fixed,to name all those matches,Japan,Slovenia,Holland,Serbia & make comments about how they look fixed, you gotta be on somtin,Crack,PCP,LSD,ICE,what ya smokin ?..
Man I can assure you none of those matches were fixed,its the 2010 world cup,not Serie A in 2006..
On the Slovenia situation,I agree theres allways going to be BEEF,some people say its got to do with religion & race,it might have in some situations,but Beef will find a way no matter what,Surenos V Nortenos,Theres allways going to be Wars & rivalries..
@Jordan,
I like your attitude kid. I don't mean to jump on the Jordan Armada bandwaggon, but I agree with everything you said in your last comment. I'm pretty sure that Croatia still has an unbeaten record against Slovenia. They have excelled in basketball in recent years.
Are you currently in NYC? We will be in NY for the Croatia- Latvia and Croatia-Greece matches as well as the first few rounds of US open if you dig tennis. You should join us.
@King Bronk,
I agree with you on #1… Tv ratings are huge.. big countries always advance in the world cup.. you will never see Slovenia with the population of New Jersey advance to the final.
" I am just saying it looks "fishy.""
true. However, if you sit and analyse every game looks "fishy"… Look at the Japan goal… look at Slovenia goal…. look at Holland both goals…
I disagree on Italy-Paraguay…
Justo Villar sucks! bottom line. He plays for a second division spanish team… enough said… looked like a vedran Runje punch out.. He is limited by his height.
I'm not a star wars fan… but nice quote.. haha
Denis..Reasons for Fixes
1)TV ratings and TV audiences:
Bigger market countries go further + more people watching= More Money (higher advertising revenue)
That's how FIFA makes money on the WC=TV Advertising Dollars
2)Gambling crime syndicate: Enough said here..self explanatory.
Great to hear that you got those books. When you read them you will understand exactly how this whole racket works and how wide spread it is. It will shock you.
Also, a comment for the peanut gallery, every game that I list as "suspicious" I am not saying that its fixed. I am just saying it looks "fishy."
Here was another game I saw today that looked "fishy."
1 Italy vs. 1 Paraguay…Paraguay goalie all of a sudden forgets how to play a basic corner kick and lets the ball fly over his head for an easy tap in goal by Rossi saving Italy from an early defeat.
Is it just me or are there a lot of amateurish mistakes happening in this WC? Ask yourself this; would you as an amateur make these mistakes? If the answer is no, then why are pros making all these errors all at once in this tournament? As Yoda said to Luke Skywalker: "Your feelings Luke you must search and the truth you will know!"
@ Denis
Point taken. I'm Istrian and that border dispute does hit closer to home for me, but still…it's a f*ucking joke and you are right about the points you made. But, I wouldn't consider myself a traditional Croat, in the sense that I was raised to hate Serbs, Bosnians, Slovenians, etc. Croats are in no way better than any of those groups. I've dated Bosnian and Serbian women. My family has Slovenian and Serbian friends. I'm never one to toot the 'Croatian horn' and boast about how we are the greatest ethnicity known to man. Granted, I'm extremely proud of my heritage, I just don't feel that I cross that line between being proud and being a super nationalist.
That being said, when it comes to football, Slovenia can't shine our shoes in football. And the dudes in the picture only reaffirm my belief in how most Slovenes think they're so great. Shit, if we somehow made it to the WC, I wouldn't be worried about taking jabs at our neighbors. I'd be sweating over 'I hope we can beat team X next game' or 'I wonder if we can match up against team X in the semifinals'.
@King Bronk,
Do you really think the US-England match was fixed? I dont think so. You have a valid argument for the Serbian handball. However, I just dont see why the Serbians would lose to Ghana.
We received your write up. Ante and I will post soon. Also, I purchased both your books that you've been "marketing" on this site the last few weeks or so and they arrived today.
@Ziva Istina
Thanks for the update out of South Africa… Have you run into any Croatians down there? How are the Brits taking the draw?
@Jordan,
I think the entire Slovenia-Croatia feud is ridiculous. All this over some border dispute that no one cares about. Isnt it funny how all of a sudden Croatians hate Slovenia more than Serbia?
Croatians have been clowning Slovenians for years… The ozujsko commercial? the size of Slovenia? list goes on and on..
Have you ever crossed into the Slovenian border coming from Croatia? Slovenians stop every Croatian license plate and strip search every other car. Croatians do the same in return.
I remember in summer of '08, on the Croatian "navijacki bus" heading to Klagenfurt for a Euro game.. The slovenians made everyone get out of the bus and check in with border officials, while they checked our bus and cargo and questioned each and every one of us. Rediculous!
However, I have spoken to some Slovenians and they had the same experience coming to Croatia.
Both sides are in the wrong if you ask me. No matter how many countries you make out of the Balkans, people in that region will find a way to hate each other. In Dalmatia, islanders hate people from other islands… North vs. south.. Nothing has changed in hundreds of years.
To say "slovenians are just some cocky motherf*ckers" I disagree.. Look at Croatians… we're not much different.
Slovenians are just some cocky motherf*ckers huh?! haha I hate making stereotypical comments, but I'd say 80% of the Slovenes I've come across think their shit don't stink haha. And now these clowns wanna give a 'shout out' to Zagreb?! haha Their football pedigree is no where near ours.
Congrats – Slovenia. you've qualified for a couple of WC's and a EURO. You haven't made any noise in any 3 of the tournaments. You have no world class players on your team at the WC (although I do like Samir Handanovič, I'm an Udinese fan), you're captain is without a club and your most famous player ever, Zlatko Zahovič, was a humongous prick during his playing days. So lets concentrate on making it out of the group stages before giving a shout out to Zagreb…dummies.
Greetings from Johannesburg……Watching the Japan – Cameroon game at a cafe.
Interesting comments on match fixing….the only one I will accept as possibly being fixed is the Serb game.
The goalie blunders happen all the time. Spin on the ball and the keepers fail to get infront of it. African teams have always had bad keepers and we all know about the troubles Engalnd. Remember Seaman in 02 against Brazil. Take away what Greece did in Euro 04 and they they always make mistakes. Using the S. Africa-Mexico match and saying that goal should have been allowed makes me think you don't know much about soccer. You lose credibility in your agrument when you state that was a goal.
As for Kuzmanovic, I'll play along and say it was fixed. So, what can you do? If a single player takes money to fix a game, what can you do?
I say its a player not being able to react in a pressure situation and not having the experience of playing in tight pressure-packed situations. Players do dumb things when the pressure is on (see Zidane in 06).
As for being down here, some quick observations….great sense of pride with the S. Africans, especially the country's balck population. The blacks are the ones who follow and love soccer. The white population is into the World Cup, but they are more of a rubgy crowd. Different level of pride and support.
USA-Eng was a fun atmosphere. Brits outnumbered us by 3-1 or 4-1.
Yes, Jedinak indeed played at Varteks.
As for Australia – Viduka's absence has left a huge whole with his replacements being so so strikers. He was always derided for not scoring enough goals but people never realised that his ability to hold up the ball and to creat scoring opportunities was invaluable. The coach is also hopeless and needs to go & will go.
i'm not going to enter into the whole betting scandal to the extent Bronx is. For a start half of the mistakes are related to this football and no your Baba would not have done better, that's why there not a professional player. The ball is making fools of the players as its got no weight on it. They can't control it. Especially if you try to shoot long distance or play a long pass – forget it..
However Kuzmanovic is a different issue and so is Tomas and Simunic. I have never ever seen Tomas, Simunic, Kuzmanovic do this at club level. Why suddenly do the hands go up in the key games. With Tomas he did it twice. But actually he was a very good defender. Prob better than any we have in the centre of our current defence now, but how do you trust a guy after that. This Serbia one was ridiculous, Boateng wasn't even challenging him. Kuzmanovic is a disgrace and deserves the Stjepan Tomas treatment for that. I didn't even think Serbia were in trouble until that happened.
The only side that has impressed me so far is Germany. A lot of teams will all have to play better second match. Australia won't qualify. When i saw Mile Jedinak going out there i thought i remember him. Wasn't he at Varteks. I think Australia needs a new generation.
lol the X Files comment is halarious. However, if matches could be fixed then why can't they be fixed now? Look at the amount of money that is being thrown around today. It dwarfs anything back in the 60's or 70's. One player sells for 100 million Euro. If Serie A championships can be fixed for years and this was the best soccer league in the world at the time, why is the WC so untouchable?
Does anyone really think that that Serbia game didn't look fishy? Does anyone really believe S Korea made the semis in 2002 WC with any "help?"
Look at that hand ball by the Serb player and tell me that, that wasn't very suspicious. Ask yourself have you ever done that playing soccer at the amature level? My guess is the answer is no. Then why would a pro do that at the WC? On a final note just because im paranoid doesn't mean matches aren't being fixed:)
Ive watched Every game so far,Was happy to see Dempsey equalise,just cant stand England going far,They talked so much crap after the 2thrashings they gave us in the WC Q's,So its only natural to want them to fail, I was wearing my 94 USA Adidas shirt through the streets yesterday,the 1 with the Stars,I did feel a little sorry for Robert Green,but have no pitty for the rest of the England squad..
Awsome to see the African Rockin the Cro Shirt, Allways a good thing to see Cro shirts in the stadium even when Hrvatska is not competing..Slovenians U best realise that us Croatians are worldwide..
King,
Anything is possible but in the World Cup thus far, no way.
What you're saying about the 68 and 74 World Cups is nothing new because at that time throwing money around to win championships at every level was commonplace. Just take a look at Dinamo's 1967 Cup Winners Cup qualifications result.
Don't be so paranoid. Even the people from the X-Files are telling you to relax it a little bit.
Im not saying every game is fixed. And im not saying every game I listed was fixed…I just said it looked suspicious. As for world cup games not being fixed ever..you're livng under a rock if you think that.. read The Fix by Declan Hill and see for yourself that it is indeed more widespread than you think. You have a former FIFA president who admits that the 68 and 74 WC were indeed fixed. So is it possible that it has happened and does happen?
It's obvious the answer is yes!
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2008/06/26/753029/1966–1974-world-cups-were-fixed-former-fifa-president
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,575586,00.html
King you just dont give up do you. i just dont believe that the world cup in particular is fixed and the fact that u think every game is effected is ridiculous. heres my input for all of ur games that u noted.
1 Usa vs. 1 England-shit happens and i dont think green could have faked a fumble that well
1 Slovenia vs. 0 Algeria- cant comment didnt see it
0 Greece vs. 2 South Korea- so wait ur saying players cant make mistakes anymore because automatically it will be judged as a fixing conspiracy?
0 Serbia vs. Ghana 1- i can tell you that is just desperation of the defender and the spur of the moment put together
1 Mexico vs. 1 S Africa- it was offside. when theres a corner kick, if the opposition player has a shot at goal he needs to be behind 2 players not 1. know the rules buddy.
dont you understand mate these results and events is the beauty of the world cup and that is why it is so unique amongst all sports. i can understand ur concerns in the HNL, because fixing is clearly evident there but not in the world cup.
I sent the article let me know what you think.
Ante Denis can either of you send me your email address so i can send you my article.
Do you guys still think Stjepan Tomas wasnt bought after watching that Serbia game? It was like deja vu all over again:)
@ Bronk,
Send it to CroatianSoccerReport@gmail.com
Mistakes or Fixes? You decide.
Here is the evidence.
1 Usa vs. 1 England- English goaltender plays a simple shot like a live hand grenade 1-1 draw. watch the video on the site.
1 Slovenia vs. 0 Algeria- Algerian sub gets a yellow in a few minutes of play…then plays a handball to get a red….Algerian Goaltender for good measure lets a roller in that my Baba could have stopped.
0 Greece vs. 2 South Korea- Greek central defender on the second goal fumbled the ball right to the South Korean striker who ran in and scored the second goal.
0 Serbia vs. Ghana 1
Serbian defender with no one near him stretches out his hand to knock the ball down giving Ghana a PK and the win. If you watch the game closely in the final minutes the Serbian defender literally lets the Ghana striker collect the ball and run by him. He hit the post with that shot.
1 Mexico vs. 1 S Africa
A seemingly onside goal is disallowed by the officials…somehow the linesman saw an offside on a corner kick.
By the way I have my article for the Croatian match fixing scandal…where do I send it?
What the F is going on with Balkan teams and these ridiculous hand balls. I'm seriously concerned now, that another player has thrown a match away. This was out of nowhere.
Nobody has ever seen Kuzmanovic do anything like this and then suddenly at a world cup. after all the scandal lately this type of thing does not sit comfortably with me. I mean how is it just a coincidence. Its not normal
Diggin those checkers