Croatia

HRVATSKA Starting XI: Subašić - Vrsaljko, Vida, Mitrović, Pivarić - Rakitić, Modrić - Brozović, Kramarić, Perišić - Mandžukić Forget about winning the group, Croatia will need a draw or better against Ukraine on Monday to simply qualify for the playoff round in November. A loss in Kiev will see the Vatreni miss the World Cup outright. Croatia have finally … [Read more...] about Black Friday: Croatia Draw Finland 1-1

Okay. So here we go. Croatia have two games to either qualify automatically for the 2018 World Cup in Russia or to force a November playoff by finishing second in the group. There's also the possibility they completely sh*t the bed and finish third or worse to miss out on all of the above. For sake of argument, let's just talk about the Finland game on … [Read more...] about Operation: October – Pick Your XI

This is it boys and girls. The week that will determine everything. The cardiac Croatians have left their Russian World Cup hopes until the end. CroatianSports will be reporting on both the Finland and Ukraine matches throughout the week, but this is what you need to know: 1) The match against Finland on Friday was originally planned to be be … [Read more...] about Road To Russia: The Final Countdown

From bad to worse. With an essential "must win" game against Finland in Osijek on October 6th and potential group decider versus Ukraine in Kiev three days later, Croatia will be without one (maybe even two) of its starters for these key World Cup qualifiers. Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovačić is likely out 6-8 weeks with a partial abductor tear he … [Read more...] about Kovačić Out, Subašić Questionable For October Qualifiers

Every qualifying campaign, Croatia has their hiccup performance. It's like clockwork. Croatia is not Germany. Or Spain. Or England: perennial teams that cruise through qualifying without the blink of an eye. For Euro 2016 qualifying, Croatia drew Azerbaijan and lost to Norway in the same weekend. In World Cup 2014 qualifying, Croatia lost to Scotland … [Read more...] about The Blame Game

Croatia Starting XI vs. Turkey: Subašić; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Pivarić - Modrić, Badelj; Brozović, Kovačić, Perišić - Nikola Kalinić. We can blame the missed penalty call for Croatia in the first half or Subašić for not punching that ball away, but that Croatia team that has way too much potential but forgets how to play ball is back. Perišić is blasting balls from … [Read more...] about Croatia Lose In Turkey After Subašić Gaffe

That could have been a disaster folks! Imagine if Croatia didn't grab all three points against Kosovo at home. After Saturday night's match was suspended in the 20th minute due to pouring rain and a water logged pitch at Maksimir, to everyone's surprise waking up Sunday morning in North America, the game was back on Sunday afternoon in Zagreb; 2:30PM (local … [Read more...] about Croatia Escape Watergate Weekend With Win

Croatia and Kosovo played for 20 minutes on a water logged pitch in Zagreb before captain Luka Modrić came over to the referee to complain about the conditions. The ball would not move. Players were sliding all over the place. It only created a dangerous playing situation. I'm surprised they even started this match how bad it was. More on when this game will be … [Read more...] about Croatia, Kosovo Suspended Due To Flooded Pitch

So Croatia's #1 public enemy was shot in the leg Tuesday outside of Tomislavgrad, Herzegovina in an apparent assassination attempt. At least that's what reports out of Croatia are saying.  Zdravko Mamić was attending mass and visiting the gravesite of his late father on the anniversary of his death when two masked men approached the Mamić entourage, ultimately shooting him in … [Read more...] about Croatia Public Enemy #1: Alive $ Well