Sure it was a disappointing game for Croatian fans to watch; but we must remember that Croatia got the all-important “1 point” they were looking for to remain in World Cup 2010 contention. Obviously, the full three points would have put Croatia back into the qualifying driver’s seat for a berth, but the draw will do for now. Things would not have looked good should the Vatreni have lost in Ukraine, which is why Croatia decided to play conservative and control tempo of the game instead of pushing forward on a full-pledged attack.
Croatia absolutely dominated the second half after the first 45 was mediocre with few scoring chances for both teams. Croatia’s attack picked up right after the break; but still couldn’t find the back of the net. Although Olić didn’t play as well as he needed to as he botched a couple solid opportunities, he had the two best scoring chances for Croatia. Both coming off his head, Olić struck one off the crossbar after a nicely placed corner and the other right past the post. Both had the Ukrainian goalie completely beat but were inches away from being goals as the Ukrainians pulled out a 0-0 draw at home.
Later in the 2nd half, Modrić almost put Croatia on the board taking a beautiful cross-field pass and heading it just on target, only to be saved at the last possible second by the keeper. It was a nice save and the Ukrainian goalie deserves a pat on the back for single-handedly saving his nation’s World Cup hopes and dreams.
Mandžukić came on late for Rakitić which gave Croatia a little bit more fire power with a 4-4-2 formation. He absolutely stunk it up in the last 10 minutes as he had some good chances for passes in front of the goal but chose to shoot wildly instead. Boy!…how we miss Eduardo!
Between Croatia not being able to finish for one goal and playing super right-wing conservative almost the entire game (I think I saw Križanac and Pletikosa complete the most passes in the match), Ukraine not getting one shot on frame, and our next 2 games against Andorra- I think Croatia will be just fine, especially with help on the way.
What did you take away from the game???
Ever since the Turkey game I just dont think we are the same team. Hopefully Olic can grab a couple of goals against Andorra just to raise morale for himself.
April next year is our next qualifier after Andorra so Kranjcar should be back setting up some plays for us and Eduardo will be back eventually. A win against Ukraine in Zagreb is exactly what the teams needs.
id have to say before the game id settle for a draw, but after watching the game i feel like we lost two points, ukraine had nothing and bilic just lets petric sit on the bench. what the hell is he thinking, does he know he has three subs,in the 60 something minute petric should of gone in, olic sucks, and was doing nothing as usual, wtgo bilic
Gents,
Lets remember that there were 2 teams playing yesterday. From what I saw Ukraine played not to lose, and therefore stuffed a lot of players in front of the 16 yard box. This made attack difficult. I thought that we played an excellent game, and dominated in all facets. Our "rock solid" defense returned in a very hostile environment.
We should have had a goal or two, but by now we know that Olic is not Dudu, when it comes to finishing. But then again Olic is a big part of the "frenetic" style that we can play. This style puts much pressure on the opponent, and allows us to dictate the tempo. This is especially important on the road.
Our lineup was very solid, and Vukojevic, & Leko in midfield was a great call by Bilic. Krizanac is very good, and an upgrade from Robbie who I really like. The last step is to get Niko out of there, which is a foregone conclusion.
This team will be very tough next year once the transition is complete, and we get our full compliment of players back.
we should have atleast played petric…he would have burried those headers that olic f*** up
i think we are in deep sh** we need to win every fu*** game so we can be able to qualify…..ughhh bilic u better have a trick up your sleeve
We could have won but I’m not disappointed with the result. Now our main mission will be to go back to Zagreb and beat Ukraine.
I was suprised not to see Petric come on and Olic was horrible. He should have scored on that header when he hit the crossbar. Modric and Rakitic played much better and Krizanac looks more confident than Kovac in defence.
We can’t rush Eduardo back but lets hope he recovers quickly and comes back strong because I think our attack is a problem.
To be honest I didn’t really think this match showed me anything from Croatia, besides their defensive capabilities. Ukraine had absolutely no decent shots on net. Olic disappointed me again where he could of won it for us he missed those opportunities, hes a hard worker, but without a complementary player by his side he seems to make big mistakes.