Ante Budimir finished out the season with his 17th La Liga goal Saturday in a 1-1 draw against Villarreal. It was Budimir’s first start for Osasuna since April 15th as he nursed a rib fracture more nearly a month. He now owns the record for most goals in a single for Osasuna this century.
17 La Liga goals and two assists in 33 matches played. Not too shabby for a 32 year-old hitting his prime in 2024. So the question for Euro 2024 is:
Budimir or Petković as the #9 for Euro 2024?
Kovacic took acting lessons from 2018 Antione Griezmann . Best Actor Award. today Like to see us win straight up
Dinamo Zagreb has won the league and cup and no article!! Yet within hours of anything to do with hajduk or ex hajduk players you will see an article.
This site has lost all credibility pro hajduk anti dinamo and hns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4260gy51o8
Traži i ćeš naći.
Did anyone realize that Luka and Petar are cousins ?
x.com/HNS_CFF/status/1795182654851100947
Should we read anything into the
“Hoće li uskoro dvojica rođaka zajedno zaigrati za Vatrene?”
Stipe Biuk (born Decemeber 26, 2002) will be playing in La Liga next season with newly promoted Valladolid. Let’s hope he will do well, and give our repka another option for the winger position…
Good to see he’s out of the bush league.
Maybe he can salvage his career now.
That’s great to hear I have big hopes for stipe also
Let’s hope he made a couple of bucks in mls and can now focus on his career and playing in a real league and develop into a great player
Gvardiol Erlic Sutalo Stanisic
We’ll have a great defensive back line, all 4 provide great defensive awareness
Error prone too for most part
Stanisic is a better offensive player then defensive. He was primarily playing wing back for Leverkusen.
Sutalo did not adapt well in Ajax. Started playing better in the second half. Unless he is paired with Gvardiol as his CB partner he will be a risky start. Not sure Dalic has confidence in him right now and rightly so.
Erlic is 26yrs old and only has 8 Caps.
Dalic will be forced to start Vida for his experience.
Doubt Dalic called up Pongracic and DCC, after 2 yrs, randomly
He obv wasn’t confident in the CBs he had going into Germany
Won’t be shocked if Pongracic gets playing time
My has Musa’s stock fallen – not even on the standby list. Are there attitude issues that I don’t know about? He was excellent as a super sub for Benfica, and since then he doesn’t seem to have received any interest from even second tier European clubs. What gives?
I had big hopes for Musa also?
11 games 5 goals for MLS team….
Let’s hope he can light it up in mls and get some attention for a transfer to a more competitive league and become a star. I haven given up on him yet I hope Croatia NT hasn’t either.
I still feel he hasn’t had his fair chance
I’m hoping WC 2026 is his time.
His MLS team paid Benfica $13 million (which is no joke) and they probably gave him a great contract.
He chose money and he probably knew it would hurt his chances at ever playing for the National Team or a top European club.
$13 million is no joke for MLS, but peanuts for a striker entering his prime. Remember, this was the best value that Benfica could find for him, and their record for evaluating talent speaks for itself. I haven’t written him off, but it is not a good sign if he stays longer than it takes for the paint to dry in his apartment.
How many players playing in MLS have been called up by any country to play at the Euros ?
Looking at the main countries – don’t see even one name from MLS
That’s ur answer
Here’s the MLS call up list for March int’l break
Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Israel, Hungary, Slovenia
Thos are the only teams with MLS players
Emil Forsberg and Xherdan Shaqiri just cashing in at tail end of their careers – the rest are young players who not good enough to play in Europe
***.mlssoccer.com/news/march-2024-international-window-which-mls-players-were-called-up
Good news
Pedro Porto didn’t make Spain squad (29 players; Italy 30 players)
@ RB we face geriatric Navas and Carvajal
@ LB we face Grimaldo and Cucurella (who’s been terrible for Chelsea – so they must have no other/better options)
Hence, we will need to look to exploit the wings with SPEED – paging our fastest wingers available (looking at u Marco Pasalic)
Stanisic RB almost guaranteed to start now vs. Spain as Grimaldo LB likely to get nod (will be nice seeing team-mates facing each other up and down same wing)
There is no way we should be calling any other team geriatric.
Can’t believe I’m saying this
But should we have re-called Duje Cop up as an extra striker ?
He scored [6] goals in the last 3 games (the first “own-goal” y’day was caused by his pressing of the keeper that led to the fumble and the 2nd was a beautiful free kick)
All [6] of the goals are real “poacher” goals – with excellent positioning / awareness in and around the box (one of them was a penalty – where he cheekily struck it right down the middle)
He has more goals this season than Bruno (those are the stats) on a worst team (and higher % of overall goals of his team total goals)
Maybe he’s just another “late bloomer” ?
Definitely had a great end to the season and a good season in general, year after year proving himself to be a really consistent striker in the HNL even on weak/midtable teams. Not sure if it’s enough to warrant a Euro callup though.
It would be interesting to see Dalic call up Mierez after the Euros; he’s made it pretty clear he’s open to play for Croatia and he finished this season with 19 goals and 7 assists. He’s not better than any of our other choices at the moment, but he’s still young and will probably be looking to move to a bigger club this summer.
@Jo
Mierez is 27, he ain’t young at all
What I meant by ‘he’s still young’ is that he’s not considered too old to potentially play a few tournaments for us (if he’s good enough).
Čop has always been a good striker. He is a master of positioning himself to score, and he is a skilled shooter. However, there must be a reason why he went from playing in La Liga back to the HNL and even the Slovenian league, and that reason is probably his own choice because he was definitely La Liga caliber a few years back. Čop is now 34 years old. There is no reason he should be called ahead of Matanović, Ljubičić, Musa, or even Dion Drena Beljo since all of them are young and bring more speed and physicality to the game. Beljo was also a standout in HNL last season, and the main reason he plays so few minutes at Augsburg is that they have two more experienced strikers who performed well this season.
Igor and Marin called up to U21
Musa – no other top European team has even one MLS player
Beljo – when Bruno was injured in November – he was called up in an emergency (but didn’t see the field) – he scored two goals in September for his club (and hasn’t scored one goal since then in 23 appearances) – he’s not the solution
Not saying Cop is a greatest striker – just pointing out he seems to be on fire recently – and should be on standby list
How many “anonymous” posters are there? Because only a few weeks ago, an “anonymous” was saying we were doomed by having too many old guys and not enough super young guys… And now an “anonymous” is saying the young guys are no good and that we should be calling up semi-retired dudes who wouldn’t be able to keep up with Spain’s “geriatric”back line of Champions League players… This is too confusing.
Indications are that King Luka will remain at Real Madrid next season. Wow that would be 13 years at Real… and would he even stop there…
Luka coming off the bench is a massive bonus for Croatia. He faces the best young players in the world in training and by appearing as a substitute should still be fit and fresh enough to play major minutes in a tournament setting. Dare we say Luka may be available for WC 2026?
27 man squad listed below… if there would be any room for one more I believe it should be Marin Ljubicic as I believe he is the only true striker on Dalic reserve list. Beljo who I had big hopes for has played little this season in Augsburg and is more a CF anyways.
—————————Petković—————————
——-Ivanusec——————-—-Kramarić———
————————-—Modric——————————
—————Kovacic——-—Brozovic—————
Gvardiol———————————-——Stanišić—
————-—Pograncic——-Sutalo——————
————————-Livakovic—————————
———————-—–Budimir——————————
———–Pjaca——(L.Sucic)-—-Pasalic(s)——
—————————Baturina—————————
——————Majer———–Sucic ———————
-Perišić—————————————Juranovic
(Sosa)——-—Erlic-()Vida ——————
———————-——Ivusec——————————
————————-(Labrovic)—————————
I believe we will play a 4-3-3 variant
(4-2-3-1)(4-5-1)
If Vlasic is out I believe Duje Caletta Car would be first choice by Dalic as he has previous experience with the team and is in decent form as well because Gvardiol will now take LB position we will need possibly more depth at CB position. Wild card call I think may go to Peter Sucic from Dinamo Zagreb as he would be the ideal replacement sub for Brozovic.
Keeping this in mind against Spain we might see Budimir start as he plays in La Liga and may suit the occasion better then say Petković which I think is in great form and to me a great asset to this team as he links well with mid to attack but lacks speed which might be vital against Spain( I believe either or will get time in the final 20-30 minutes in games) As for the Pasalic(s) looks like both Mario and Marko are in good form and provide different attacking options on the right side(size presence prowess vs. speed robustness).
On the left side of Attack I believe it will be Ivanusec starting but Pjaca may get some time as well especially if we were to qualify with one game remaining.. Sosa may be used in this role as well to solidify the game if we want a more defensive prone player who can provide good link up on corners set plays(remember he assisted Budimir in game winning goal for qualification)
Unfortunately I would love to see Perišić as our Left attacker and we still may but I doubt it and I believe he will be sub for Gvardiol in last 20 minutes of games if necessary… he will be a great sub for that position as whoever is on field on left side he will be able to provide link up play and attack as well when necessary as he has played this position well already before..
In terms of RB position Stanišić is in better form but Juranovic is a player who can provide more speed in the right but lacks more in defensive duties… again good options there for Dalic..
Based on form I believe Pograncic will be the LCB. Sutalo will have to earn his spot for the RCB position over Erlic/Vida and or DCC
I think the player selection is good and Dalic will figure it out
Bog I Hrvati.. The final dance of this era is upon us may be it a great one.. we need to show more in these Euro tournaments.. Euro 96/2008/2016 were by far our best results.. would be nice to make another semifinal here and break that tradition of poor Euro results..may I say we have been unlucky in these tourneys so far… may we get some luck on our side this time we will have to see..
Yea, this is probably going to be the full selection.
Adding Petar Sucic makes a lot of sense. No one else should come as a surprise.
I agree that Sosa is not going to start, and Dalic will probably opt for both Gvardiol and even Perisic over him.
But I would be surprised to see a brand new CB pairing of Pongracic/Sutalo as starters. I would think Dalic would play it safe and put a more familiar duo like Erlic/Sutalo or (gulp) maybe even Vida back there.
Yeh I think your probably right on that one probably will be Erlic with Sutalo at back.. I was just thinking.. Pograncic to me seems quicker and more comfortable moving the ball then Erlic does.. although Erlic is a big dude who can hold his own in the box. Playing likes of Spain J would play defenders who are more comfortable moving the ball and to me it’s Pograncic and Sutalo.. even DCC makes me shit my pants at times in the past… true Pograncic hasn’t had to many important games with the team to really tell he is better just my gut I guess
Pongracic is probably better.
He’s faster and has better passing, but he had a pretty down period over the previous two years…so Erlic established himself more with us over that time period.
Both Pongracic and Erlic have played a lot of minutes at Serie A this season, so they both should be in form…but I don’t think Dalic will opt for Pongracic just because of seniority or whatever.
I remember that thrilling u17 Croatian World Cup team a couple years ago that went to the semis. Brekalo was on it
Awesome team. I don’t think a single player is currently on the nt. Maybe sosa
This year’s team is just awful and poorly coached. Lucky to draw against both Denmark and Wales. We scored on a corner kick. Gave up numerous blunders against both teams. Our future is not coming from this team. Maybe the good ones haven’t blossomed yet.
U17 Croatia vs. Wales
Durdov !!!
If qualify – Croatia would face either Czech or Serbia in the QF
That’s all nice and dandy, but these junior competitions mean nothing.
I see so many teams like Nigeria, Ghana and Ukraine winning these junior World Cup tournaments, but their senior teams are just so mediocre.
The only benefit I see from these junior football tournaments is getting the U21s into the Summer Olympics, so you can get your country another Olympic medal…but even at 2024 Paris Olympics this year, you’ve got bum footballing nations like Israel and Ukraine representing Europe in it, ha ha.
But, I don’t think anyone takes these U17 and U20 World Cup tournaments too seriously.
I disagree with you Maminjo, these youth tournaments are very important for the development of our junior players and all the top countries in Europe take them very seriously. Unfortunately, in Croatia we do not, and our clubs often do not release their players to represent Croatia at youth tournaments.
This current U17 squad is poor, and it has to be said that we were lucky not to lose all three matches as Austria, Denmark and even Wales had more presentable chances in front of goal than we did. We usually have good creative midfielders however this U17 team did not have one and that was the main reason for us missing out on the QF spot.
As far as African teams winning youth World Cups, it is a well-known fact that they cheat i.e. falsify birth certificates and use overaged players in their teams hence you have grown up men playing against kids. FIFA has heavily sanctioned some of the countries for this in particular Ghana.
If they were very important for the development of our youth players, then we wouldn’t be one of the top-6 most successful World Cup participants over these past 26 years.
Croatia (and possibly many others) not being able to roll out their strongest lineups due to club commitments is further proof of the competition meaning nothing.
It’s not a reflection of the true strength of footballing nations, and a few extra tournament games are not going to make a significant impact in a players’ development path.
We’re late bloomers anyway. Nations who rely on physical strength, stamina, and speed will probably do well, and Croats are more focused on creativity and skill, which has a long shelf life and gets better with age and experience.
For those unsure which size / type of jersey to buy
You can always DIY one
***.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhzwsw-F_xM
Ante Crnac scored yesterday and rounded off his first season in the Polish league with 8 goals in 26 appearances. Dude seems to be enjoying his time in Poland, getting lots of playing time and finding the back of the net especially in the spring part of the season. Rakow will have a new coach at the helm next season so let’s hope Crnac will remain their first choice CF. If he keeps doing well, who knows maybe in 1 or 2 years he will transfer to a bigger league.
youtube.com/watch?v=buG7JLsTpz8&t=59s
(Crnac putting Rakow 1-0 up)