Luka Modrić doesn’t score many goals for Real Madrid, but when he does, they are stunning. Tuesday night in Cyprus, Modrić opened up the scoring in the 23rd minute with a 24-yard volley to beat the keeper on a bounce. Real Madrid ultimately won 6-0 and have booked their spot in the Champions League knockout round next spring but are likely to finish second in the group behind Tottenham.
Modrić sends a screamer from outside the box
Goalie Danijel Subašić and Monaco conceded four goals at home to RB Leipzig in a 4-1 loss which will end their European season. Last year’s French champions have only earned two points in five matches thus far in the tournament and are guaranteed to finish last in group behind Besiktas, Porto and RB Leipzig.
Defender Dejan Lovren and Liverpool blew a 3-0 halftime lead against Sevilla Tuesday in a match that ended 3-3. A victory would have seen Liverpool book their spot in the knockout round but now they will need at least a draw at home on the final match day against Spartak Moscow in order to get the job done. None of the goals were directly Lovren’s fault.
Mario Mandžukić and Ivan Rakitić face off against each other Wednesday night as Barcelona travel to Torino to take on Juventus. Barca currently hold a 3-point lead on the Italian champions with two matches remaining in group stage.
Elvis you getting on my nerves. When Eduardo scored did you cheer or boo? Because he Brazilian?
@bobby V, I’ve been back to, to velika gospa a couple years ago & u right it is a good site to see the HR flags hanging & let’s hope it remains that way, east Pilsen was once like that to, but demographics changed & it’s going thru a change once again, yuppies are continuously moving in
U was a Two Six ? I known a few two sixers , they continuously going at it with the saints & La Raza, I knew a few hrvati who got caught up in the Chicago gang life, 1 was a leader of 1 of the chapters in canaryville , chi town always been about gangs , shit even mayor Daley was a Bridgeport gang member, the hamburg’s Irish section, our very own bilandic was from the croat section of hamburg’s, Bridgeport was all about preserving the neighborhood in those days
When I was young, I lived in Hyde Park, in the University Apartments on 55th Street before moving to Bridgeport.
Went to St.Thomas the Apostle. Washington Park was up the street.
They were two very large buildings – Track and Field star Jesse’s Owen’s daughter lived in the apartment right above ours, ex-NBA player Walt Bellamy as well as the political activist/comedian Dick Gregory were also in our building.
Bridgeport for 12 years, then moved to 62nd Moody near Midway airport.
My father was a board member for the RWB Adria soccer club on 99th and Commercial.along with Luka Misetic’s (laywer for General Gotovina) father for many years.
Went back for Velika Gospa a few years ago – nice to see the Croatian/Italian flags still hanging from the homes in that hood.
Remember playing outside as a kid and hearing the fireworks going off at Comiskey Park – people always yelling out the window to let us know who hit the home run.
Looks like you know the area, but, I don’t know what you got excited about there. People do move – we were poor and always looking for better opportunity.
Two-Six Stone Love.
@ Marine Boy Suler played for Slovenija lol.
@Bobby v
One thing for sure, there is alot of gangs in the city, Bridgeport is mainly Kings on 33rd & Morgan & them SDz on 32nd & lituanica
@Bobby V
U say u were from the Southside, & went to St Jerome’s on Princeton, u lived in Bridgeport ? Bro ain’t many blacks in Bridgeport, wtf u talking bout, it’s mainly hrvati, Italians, Mexicans & asians, what school u went to ? Tilden ? I had fam on 27th n shields , but spent most my days in Pilsen, when u said class full of blacks I thought u talking bout being far down in South deering , ain’t many blacks in Bridgeport , Pilsen , back of the yards, Brighton park, armour square or lil village
Fuck you no such thing as a black Croatian you cunt.
Toljan is one. Correct.
Toljan is one too, isnt he?
If one parent is black and the other is croatian..then yes you can be a black croatian dumb arse
There is no such thing as a black Croatian.
Calling people self hating Hrvati because they don’t like a video is stupid.
Soul Champ also said that “we” called Miss Croatia black, I can say I never called the girl black, if Soul Champ called her black he is a racist!
@Kolovrat – yes, every Sunday. My parents were married there. Lived on 31st and Wells, only a couple of blocks away for many years. The home of the Chicago White Sox was also right down my street.
For someone who’s never been to the selo and probably not even Croatia or can’t even speak Croatian there’s a lot of talking down on “Balkan Hrvati” “and self hating hrvati”
But I digress
What’s that saying; If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all.
Pretty sure these boards would be dead if people followed that rule.
matic > modric
Why yall hatin
@Soul Champ
Who is this Serb calling himself “orthodox,” a friend of yours?
@Serb- Hit the road imbecile! Why do you dumb Serbs feel the need to attach yourselves to Croatians-simpletons!
@Razbijač are you kidding? Modrič better than Šuker! He couldn’t carry Šukers’ bag! Plus the fact that one’s a midfielder and the other a striker-I think Šuler could adapt better to midfield or defensive mid than Modrič could to being a striker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdr7u6IP6sg
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also known as the Orthodox Church, or officially as the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian Church, with over 250 million members
I like punk and I like sham with a little Skrewdriver.
@Soul Champ-c’mon man. This is not about racism. I don’t give a crap about any contest containing “Ms” in it’s title. I find them assinine. However, apparently her lack of connection to the country she represents is unprecedented. For that, I feel horrible for the young women of Croatia that truly represent the homeland.
Litmus test-She really should be trying to represent the USA, but there are way prettier mixes here. Bottomline: Croatia women should not be shunned in favor of America’s 2nd tier rejects.
ZDS
Had to go watch Iggy’s contraversial video. Not gonna lie- music was “douchey”, as in, a bit “douche, douche, douche” sounding. Other than that & his blatant disregard for copyrighted material, the video was ok.
@ Self hating Hrvati
Iggy makes a video of Croatia rode to Russia and you hump him like a squirrel in heat over it?
This girl’s mother is Croatian and we say she is black ?
I hope she wins the whole thing and brings positive press to Croatia.
Note to Balkan Hrvati :
Look at the behavior of prvavoslav neighbors to the east and DO NOT act the same !
Then maybe the soul of Croatia will fill your heart.
Also may want to leave the selo from time to time as there is big world out here.
@Bobby V
Did you ever go St Jerome Croatian church?
Forgot to add -born on the South Side of Chicago. My first grade class back in 1967, only 3 whites in my class, rest were Black.
They sent me home from school on my first day of Kindergarten – didn’t know enough English. The Black guys wanted to be my friends but couldn’t understand Croatian – haha.
haha, for the record, Bobby V is into older alternative music – Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, Killing Joke, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Death in June, etc.
…even was getting into some song my boys were playing in the car the other night – “Mask Off” by Future? Pretty hip for a stari, eh?
@The truth
Good comment for the most part!
Serbs are schismatics though, not Christian. If you want to tell me why you consider them Christian, I’m all ears? Please don’t let it be, because that’s what they say they are Lol!
@Iggy
Video shit. Don’t listen to anyone that says it was good, they’re lying!
Bobby V is an older gentleman and I doubt he would like your stupid music, it is more than likely that he enjoyed the recap of all the goals, not the whole package.
You can count on me for honest feedback.
Oh, and you’re a Jewburger.
Yeah we do need to see the full jersey with socks and both sides.. i really do hope the black rumour is true, but it needs like a little red/white check trim somewhere imho.. u know like the 2008-2012 type away kits still had checkers, it should be like that but black
@ Bobby V – Thanks bro, appreciate it ! 😀
On the miss universe thing, It says she was born in Germany to an afro-american guy and her mum is croat as well as spending “part of her youth” in croatia, but she’s half croat really. That’s good enough for me. Although obv her name is not exactly croat, lol.. Shanaelle Petty, very traditional croatian name there, lol
But yeah i wouldn’t worry, every other year we have picked (i assume) full hrvati so let them have this year
besides if the prize is to go to a comp and be groped by and/or perved on by Trump, would you really want to win?
Croats are superior to serbs before and forever. Why else do we have the coast and they have a river full of sewage to drink from upstream western Europeans. Even their names are bastardized to “fit in” with the real and strong south Slavs. The fact they lost Kosovo shows how stupid and weak they are. Too busy bashing other Christians…idiots.
It’s moreso embarrassing that Miss Croatia is someone who is not born or never lived in Croatia.
I’m sure she’s a nice girl, but we have so many pretty and intelligent women in Croatia to choose from. It’s odd that we would bring in someone who is born and raised in North Carolina and doesn’t even speak the Croatian language. Her only connection is her mom being from Cro.
She was absolutely chosen because she is half black and I assume that would make her stand out? Maybe they want to play the race card to win this competition? I dunno.
If she was born or raised there, then fine. But she can’t even say “Croatia” properly (yikes).
Oh well. It’s just a stupid Miss Universe competition anyway lol.
Still waiting for the first white Miss Nigeria. How about a black Miss China? How would that go over?
First she is not hot but promoted just because she us half black. What about our girls ? Can they not be Miss Universe Croatia in their own fucken country. We have to import blacks?
For the Miss Croatia competition itself, were Sammir and Dontaye Draper and Crnkovic the judges?
I don’t know dude she looks pretty friggin hot to me.
Here’s your miss Croatia Universe. Shame on all of us.
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/23513-miss-universe-croatia-in-las-vegas-preparing-for-grand-final
Apparently it’s a very dark blue that’s almost black and blue checkered scheme. Socks from the photo look neon orange but the pic circulating is grainy. They’re probably between red or orange neon if the picture turns out to be legit and the colour has to be bright considering the jersey is that dark. It would be hard to imagine us deviating that much from the colours we use. Are some nerds actually complaining about the dark jersey and Ustasa etc on other sites? I heard that from someone but I wasn’t sure how true it was.
Do you guys think the pics are bs or legit?
I like the shirt! What about the proposed black one, what’s going on with that one, will the Serbs, Jews/Pharisees be upset if we wore one? It is there call after all, I hope they let us wear ’em.
@Iggy
Do feel your video deserves more likes? 72 likes = 72 people heeded your call for them to like it!
I’m not trying to be an asshole, I genuinely don’t believe it’s a good video, could you do better? I’ll see when I watch your next video, but I wont be holding my breath.
4,928 people didn’t like your video, let’s look at it that way and try to make some improvements, first thing, about the music, that’s got to go.
I like the giant checkers too, but it’s hard to tell without seeing how the numbers look on the back.
The numbers requiring a solid colored background always limits our kits (since we can never go full checkered on the back.
I assume the backs of these kits will be solid red or solid white, which should look fine.
I love the leaked black away kits (with the dark blue checkers and neon socks) but I have a feeling that those aren’t real. I would LOVE to see us play in those black away kits.
Nice video Iggy, as usual. Keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time to make them.
I like the big bold checkers tho tbh, i think it looks better than the diamonds we’ve had for a couple of years!
So we went from tiny diamonds to HUGE checkers? lol
Anyway, TC, i knew u would be happy! Here are the requested details, copied direct:
Croatia – Road to Russia 2018 World Cup – All Goals
views: 5K
comments: 10
likes: 72
dislikes: 6
6 Serbs = 6 dislikes
https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/11/21/photo-croatias-world-cup-kit-revealed-and-its-another-cracker
Iggy you stupid Jewburger and communist Yugo cunt, how many likes you dopey bastard?
Do you know how many times I’ve clicked on a video and thought it was shit? Everytime I’ve watched one of yours, and many other times besides.
It’s about the likes you stupid Jewburger, so again I ask, how many likes Jewburger? You’re a Jewburger.
5000 views in 1 week for my Hrvatska road to russia vid! pretty good going, where is TraditionalCunt to say well done!?
😉
@swooper
I wrote u a pretty detailed reply of why I don’t think Rakitic is a good holding mid for us
Hope it’s stuck in moderation or something
If u think only the fundamentals are are involved in being number 6 i don’t have much to say to you
Mario is a forward and the fundamentals of a forward are being able to score oooope he’s not scoring
All midfielders should be able to perform the football fundamentals of running, chasing, defending, tackling and attacking when the opportunity presents itself. If you can not do all those things as a midfielder you would not be playing in my team.
Mandzukic is a defensive player and he is striker for crying out loud.
@Idemo
Against Greece we played our usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Rakitic and Brozovic being the 2, of course there wasn’t much need for them to be defensive because we dominated, but if Dalic asked them to be more defensive oriented in future games I would think they should be able to carry out his instructions without any difficulty. Just my opinion.
Why do you believe that Rakitic couldn’t make the adjustment to be more defensive oriented?
@fhgdhfe and @vfghjk are two racist losers angry at us because we’re not talking race with them, two very sad and confused little boys that seem to be anti-white also, as we can see by their disappointment that we weren’t killed. Two faced faggotry at play.
Don’t need one then .I’m new just saying some un nerving posts might need a second look if it is reported..go from there..that’s all.
Moderator? There is no moderator here. That’s been the problem for years
Moderator should report this borderline death threats and hostile racism about blacks and croatians..from fgh no doubt hostile unstable serb ..Internet protocol address should be sought by authorities giving them his posts.. to see if this individual is capable of something heinous..Just a heads up to us cros ..pure loser out there..Mr.fhgdhfe needs help bashing on a soccer forum.
too bad ratko mladic and his people didnt kill all you american croatian soccer niggers and you cro scat eating serb nigger bitches, then dump you all in a mcdinalds alley garbage bin where you belong suckinf each others yankee nigger soccerballs.
@swooper
Just because he IS OUR CDM doesn’t mean we have to play with a CDM a la Greece. He is our only CDM. No one can play that role, they can be put in that space but they do not provide what he provides, hence he is our CDM
Only other person that can do that job is Modric which is a complete waste
When Rakitic is in that space he is deep lying, not defense oriented.
Mandzo comes off the bench if you ask me. I hope Krama is firing on all cylinders and the entire nation backs the coaches decisions.
Mandzo might be an asset as a starter depending on the type of game we need to play. tougher defensively, he could prove to be a good option.
@Idemo
When people were ripping on Rakitic I took their comments with a grain of salt, they were obviously made because of their passion for the NT, I wouldn’t be holding that against anyone.
Badelj is a cdm is the way I’d put it, saying “Our CDM” seems to suggest that you believe he is guaranteed to start if fit and available, you don’t believe that do you?
Did we play Greece without any cdm?
Beauty slavonac
But how do we play him in Russia?
I know depends on the opponent but where do u see his future for us?
Portugal won their first game out right in the semis vs wales for petes sake
They tied all 3 group games against Austria Hungary and Iceland.
I still think we play them with better subs never mind officiating and we take them in a best of 7
But we are here now we made the World Cup We can beat any team there years past we would say well if we keep it close against Brazil we be ok but now we know that we can take them
The newer guys like kramaric and I hope pjaca and rebic I feel are not afraid and won’t respect the other team just like sanches did to us.
I’ll shut up now. I will support us win or loss as long as the boys leave it out on the field that’s all we can truly ask for cause if they do that we have enough talent to make it very deep plain and simple
Look at how they treat this guy in Juventus!
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/torino-slavi-mandzukica-pogledajte-koreografiju-navijaca-u-cast-hrvatskog-napadaca/1009241.aspx
Iggy just saw your post I agree
Underachieving
Maybe we had some luck in 98 but we sure haven’t had much in recent tourneys
We obviously have to make our own fortune and take it out of the refs hands but we all know full well least 3 games in 08 14 and 16 a proper call or two would have changed it
The Greeks went after modric and it was called and they suffered. All they had to do was watch the Portugal game to know it was effective. Difference was we got some proper officiating.
The fix is in…where u at with those videos again!
Maybe we get a bit of a down slope but I’m thinking there are nuff good kids coming up looking up to these guys who are hungry
Obviously we produce enough above average talent genetically
We will always have a competitive team
Even early 2000s when we were I suppose at our lowest from the war time we weren’t too shabby at all
I’m pretty sure there was sort of a baby boom after the war which we are now starting to see it take place with the new generation
ya maybe we get our hopes up on some guys and they don’t all pan out but thinking back how many of our quality players did what brekalo did at 19 in Germany??
I truly think we have more of a ceiling
I don’t think we overshoot We are doing what we do like any team does we go through ups and downs. We are not Germany. But we don’t want to be them. We are Croatia we punch above are weight and we love it No one says I hope we get Croatia in our group
I’ll stop ranting but look at modric Everyone knew he was talented and quality as he was in dinamo. But one can argue now by the way he is leading. He is the most complete midfielder in the world
He is a player you can build around. I believe that to be the true truth without wearing homer glasses
I think we’ve underachieved, if anything
we should have been getting out of group most tourneys which we have failed to do
so your 240 minutes of goallessness was spread across 8 years and 2 tourneys? LOL
well, we havent scored in our last 120 minutes competitively right now actually so i guess we should sack everyone and give up hey ? 😉
too bad ratko mladic didnt kill all you croatian faggots fuckos and your cro-faggot serb nigger bitches,
Overacheive means to outperform your expected average over the long run
Croatia should not be making every big tournament(euros no longer count after expansion)… So they have overacheived in only missing one
Going forward, it is likely that Croatia will still make the euros because there are more teams but will make less world cups. Croatia has already had to jump through hoops each time to qualify for these and that span of luck simply won’t continue. In addition, there is a good chance Croatia will become more like a third place team in each group than a second place team
Truth they said your mama gave a so so in bed…but man did she prove them wrong.
@truth, why “overachieve”, whatever you can acheive is what you can achieve. why “overachieve”. look at holland small country, 3 world cup finals appearance, look iceland, look at greece euro champs, denmark euro champs. we are what we are and we have the talent to win the WC or euro’s, there is no reason why not. you have to dream big and aim for the stars. there is no reason why not. emancipate yourself from mental midgetry
Get out of here truth troll. I’m sure you have better things to do; like your 4th garade school work, playing X-box (simulations), or lamenting the fate of your ujko Mladic
The bottom line is Croatia has, never been the best team in a tournament and the odds are stacked against them ever being this in the future
What we hope for when we watch Croatia go to a tournament is for them to be an above average side that has luck fall their way like it did for the 98 team
Then we can all enjoy the ride. But most, especially the diaspora, will take that lucky streak and assume that that level of achievement should be the standard for Croatian soccer
Croatias goal should be to make major tournaments. They have overacheived in this regard and we should consider ourselves lucky for it. Anything else is a bonus.
http://www.espnfc.us/blog/the-toe-poke/65/post/3279825/buffon-and-rakitic-warm-embrace-following-italys-world-cup-nightmare
I’d trade Rakitic for Buffon in a heartbeat!
Once again. Irrespective of what you think. Badelj is our cdm, you can’t grt around that statement with any comparison anything, many players are better than Badelj.
Badelj is Our CDM.
I hate using the word homer I really do. But you rip on Rakitic for 9 games talk about how he’s only interested in Barca, after the turkey game some of you call for him to to even be recalled
Now he’s alpha and omega
I repeat Badelj is our CDM. Rakitic is no CDM either. Please understand those two things. This is not a comparison of those two.
2016 we were best team. When our stars get stomped, & the refs forget that they have yellow & reds?…time we all start quoting our long lost friend King Bronk (“The fix is in.”)
I bet a few of our guys still have Dirty Sanches’ cleat marks imprinted on their feet.
2016 beats 2008.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42080090
Ok guys peace. How about…we could have been the best team with just a little bit more purpose and belief in both 2008 and 2016. But we came up just short of that and on top of that were unlucky….? I’d go with that
You forgot the 90 scoreless minutes when we played Scotland back in 2002 qualifying.
Oh, and the 45 scoreless minutes in the first half of the Ukraine game as well.
In terms of 240 scoreless minutes, i reference the 120 minutes vs Turkey pre klasnic goal and the 120 minutes vs Portugal….a, game that might’ve set soccer back twenty years
As a stats/model driven guy, i am all behind the idea that these tournament results in small sample can be very random so it’s quite possible for a team to be the best, get unlucky, and not win
But! It would be a true outlier if the best team was unable to score for 120 minutes without even a shot on goal a la Portugal game
@ Dalić Lama
Once again your holiness is most wise.
Rakitic is at his best for us as our CDM. We lucked out that Badelj was unavailable.
@ Amerikanci
This thanksgiving I am thankful for being prva generacija and for Luka Modrić being the BEST midfielder in the World !
Luka “BEST” Modrić .
All those years non believers just needed to replace the “u” in bust with the “e” in BEST.
shut up @thetruth
be quiet @elvis
As voting in Sanders a communist Jew would have been better?
I am new to this place, but Badelj is our cdm? It is obvious Rakitic did more in his 2 games at CDM, than Badelj gas EVER done.
Yeah i was confused by that 240 minutes too, i was thinking WTF is he talking about? There was prolly some 240 minutes we didnt score in some qualy campaign 15 years ago or something and he’s just applying it to every comment ever about the Vatreni now. He’ll dig deep to find dirt just for the honour of being a negative nancy, this cunt
MAGA – Morons Are Governing America or, my favorite, More Are Getting Arrested
I know(nothing)… The truth is hard(to come up with)…. Sometimes it hurts(to be Serbian)…. But i must bear the kriz(until I can slide it out of my ass)
Ah, fuck, now we have to wait until he Googles info on both tournaments
Don’t make fun of Trump U, I went there. MA in pussy grabbing 04, summa cum laude.
MAGA.
Truth –
In 2008, Croatia scored in each game it played.
In 2016, it only failed to score against Portugal in a 120 minute game.
What is this 240 minutes you are talking about? Are you one of these shitty accountants that you just mentioned?
You must have sat behind Eric Trump in math class at Trump University.
Investments moj kurac!
I would rather face Euro teams than American ones. We’re used to them and there would be no surprises. It seems like the little latinos will run us out of gas like Mexico did last time around. African and Asian teams are most likely no threat.
You guys are right….i am in the wrong
Manijmo is correct in saying Croatia was the best team in both 08 and 16 and just got unlucky
It was silly of me to state that the best teams in tournaments usually do not play 240 minutes without scoring a goal. One of those games against Portugal without even a shot
I know… The truth is hard…. Sometimes it hurts…. But i must bear the kriz
Another truth i heard is that accountants tend to be people who couldn’t get jobs at investment banks
@soul
I’m talking about nothing but today, please don’t read too far into it, to me Luka is the best midfielder in the world
But I repeat.
He was good today, but it was Apoel.
Luka Modric now has the most Champions League Appearances of any HRVAT!
Dontchya guys think it’s safe to say, at Club Level, Modric was a better player than Suker???
@ Idemo
Badelj is our CDM, a lotta folks seem to forget that! Plus he’s on the last year of his contract, and looks like he might be snapped up by one of the big boys (Athletico, Inter, etc.). Perhaps a move to a bigger club will give him more credit amongst the fanboys.
Croatia WC 2018.
All we gotta do is draw a European side in Pot 1, and it will virtually insure we won’t play a European side in Pot 3 and 4. No offense to other nations in those pots, but I would rather avoid the Euro teams in Pots 3 and 4 as I feel they are more organized and competitive.
We get a Euro team in Pot 1, we might even have a shot at topping the group. I definitely know we are better than Poland, Portugal and Russia.
Anyway if we can getta little bitta lady luck on our side, heck a run just might happen, it’s about freakin’ time if ya ask me! We’ve been waiting 20 years for something like this to happen!
@Evo Uje, haha, Truth gets trolled!
@ Soul champ, Modric more important on the field, Ronaldo more important off the field…marketing, ticket sales, etc.
Notice that the two world stars in this sport are complete assholes?
If you think about it, who are some of the likeable players on other clubs? FIFA has never addressed this issue – most are jerks. They all seem pissed off most of the time.
Only guy that seems cool is Perisic
@soul champ. I do think modric is more important for Madrid . Just my opinion.
@ Idemo
I call BS on the Apoel reference.
He has had big time performances against the biggest clubs for all the marbles.
@ Svima
Is Godric more important than Ronaldo for Real Modrić ?
lol evo uje. go luka. just like his strike against turkey
He was great, but it was apoel
Luka Modric – 9: Speaking of maestros. Luka Godric. This little Croatian wizard is sublime, a joy to watch. One day, we will all tell our kids that we had the pleasure to watch him and his Madrid side. Luka is an engine of this team and he can only score golazos.
Best way to deal with him is to skip over his comments. He adds nothing but negativity. His name is above the post, so when you see The truth, move along. There are enough insightful posters on this forum. Problem is that others respond, and quote him, so it’s difficult so sift through the nonsense.
Truth comes to a Croatian Sports website where there are, you know, Croatians who love sports and gets upset when some “homerism” leaks through.
Really?
Can you imagine if this guy addressing our troops before Oluja?
Badelj is our CDM
@The Goof, i mean Truth-
Kramaric started with Mandzukic when push came to shove vs Ukraine.
I wouldn’t classify Brozo’s performance & positioning vs the Greeks in game 1, as defensive midfield. In game 2, I would classify all players as defensive.
How were the 2008 and 2016 not contender teams?
Croatia was the talk of the tournament in both years.
Unfortunately, being a contender doesn’t mean you are automatically guaranteed to win the tournament.
Belgium have been contenders in these past two tournaments, and they lost in the quarterfinals in both. They lost a tight one to Argentina in 2014, and choked against Wales in 2016 (happens to the best of teams).
I think in 2008, the two best teams were Spain and Croatia for sure. Croatia dominated Turkey in that semifinal, and were incredibly unlucky as a result of that hail mary goal by Turkey. Penalty shootout is always a coin toss.
In 2016, I’d say that France, Germany and Croatia were the best teams. Portugal was okay, but they played a strategy, and it worked (just barely) with a lot of luck on their side. They round out the top-5 (with Belgium being ahead of them) but had everything bounce their way in that tournament.
They deserve it though. They have been regulars in the knockout phases at the Euros for 30 years, and were unlucky not to win Euro 2012 (I had them and Spain on par with each other as the two best teams). They were also very close in that 2006 World Cup too.
Croatia will get both lucky and unlucky in these tournaments. They just need to ensure they consistently qualify and get out of those group stages. Anything can happen at that point.
Modric with a nice volley for a goal.
@ lika Joey
I agree. Those homer comments made by people above me were goof posts!
Goof posting above!
Wow, i just can’t believe he homerism sometimes
Best team in 08 AND 16?!
Does the best team in a tournament play 240 scoreless minutes?
Bozovic answer at dm?! You don’t want to rely on this guy. He runs buy not with toughness and not for defense
Kramaric playing?!. Not so much….. When push comes to shove you’ll see mandzukic still be first in the pecking order
Pasalic started
Yea, finishing second and taking out a solid Ukraine team with a road victory, then getting revenge in a blowout fashion against the treacherous Greeks was amazing.
We have a new coach
Our players have confidence and momentum
We removed some weak links from the first team (Pivarić)
We added some strong ones too (Kramarić, Brozović as DM)
Our fans seem to have hope and unity (no incidents?)
We just need to resolve the issue we have in defence with Lovren and Strinić. Hopefully Ćorluka comes back fully fit and gives us options. Pjaca would be a great boost too, but he looks like he’s back already.
Of course we also need luck, so we don’t cross over with a difficult opponent again in the Round of 16.
Every tournament champion had easy Round of 16 or quarterfinals opponents. We need the same.
Bobby V, I agree…but I hope our luck takes a change for the better.
And so it begins. Seven months of hoping none of our players get injured.
I’ve got a great feeling about this tournament. In my heart and mind, I truly believe Croatia was the best team at both the 2008 and 2016 European tournaments.
A last second goal from the Turks and Perisic hitting the post before Portugal scores the winner. Both denying a place in the semi-finals against teams we would have been favored to beat.
This time, the third time, we will have the only thing that was missing – luck.
Whoever that Finnish player was that scored against us in Zagreb – thanks. Anyone that runs into him should buy him a beer. Without him, Cacic remains and we are out.
Word in Croatia is that the players see Dalic as a slight move away from Mamic. It’s a shame that players will perform for only certain coaches, but, that’s the way it is.
Getting into pot 2 was absolutely huge.
Finally convinced most of you about Mandzukic. Everyone should now know when and how he should be used.
Playing in Russia will be difficult for the non-European teams. Mark my words, they will, as a group, under perform. We will see four European teams in the semi-finals.
…and if midfielders win championships, Croatia has an excellent chance