Croatia take first place in their Olympic qualifier group stage after beating a Luka Dončić-led Slovenia team 108-92 and narrowly losing to New Zealand 90-86. Despite losing on Wednesday to New Zealand after a convincing win against Slovenia, Croatia have established themselves as a contender for qualification. Croatia has been lead by their NBA big man duo of Ivica Zubac and Dario Šarić, who have averaged 22 points per game. Croatia also has former NBA player Mario Hezonja and former D1 Guard from New Hampshire, Jaleen Smith as key players in this tournament. Besides Wednesday’s loss to New Zealand, Croatia are entering the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifiers on a hot streak, having only lost one game in their last 16. The loss came from an already qualified France. Croatia’s top seed will give them a chance to clash with the Dominican Republic this Saturday in Piraeus. Two more wins this week and Croatian basketball will qualify for the Paris Olympics later this July.
In order to punch their ticket to the Olympics, Croatia’s first match against the Dominican Republic should be the more easier draw of the two. The Dominican Republic limped through their group stage matches without key player and NBA All-Star, Karl Anthony-Towns. With KAT not playing in the qualifiers for the Dominicans, they have had big problems playing against the bigger teams, losing by 27 points to Greece in the group stage. Should Croatia advance after Saturday, they will play on Sunday against the winner of Slovenia and Greece. The Greeks, who are the host of this region’s qualifiers and lead by NBA super star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, seem to be the favorites and the most likely match up for Croatia to meet in the final. While this pathway may not be easy, Croatia did win convincingly over Slovenia, a team who was expected to top the group stage round with ease according to some pundits. With two games standing between Croatia and their first Olympic birth since 2016, can the Kockasti dig in and fight their way back to the biggest spotlight of international basketball?
DannyJ and Maminjo,
Don’t sleep on Anto Matković from Osijek, was a bit of a revelation this season. I personally like his game. He’s a very direct winger(something we don’t have) and he shows great pace and strength albeit against HNL opposition. He’s 18 so if he makes a big splash in the domestic league or
Makes a move he could
Quickly come on the radar.
https://youtu.be/QhObcMpOozo?si=JLSq-nL-HRO_zNMB
Looks good.
I always thought he was a center forward. Looks like he’s got winger skills too.
Didn’t realize he was born in 2006.
For some reason, I always thought he was older. He had an amazing second half of the season.
The matches that I have watched Matkovic play for Osijek and Cro U19 he is not a winger but more of a central forward. Promising player, however we’ll see how he develops. Did not show much for our U19’s often coming off the bench. Got a chance with Osijek in the last 6 matches or so and did well. He needs to stay in HNL for a few more years and I would like to see how he goes for our U21side. We’ll see if Olic will call him up in September for EURO qualifiers ? I would say that Matanovic, Simic, Frigan, Ivanovic and Ljubicic are all ahead of him in the pecking order.
Still trying to figure out how many different people Franjo Ivanovic’s agents paid off for him to constantly be mentioned as a future national team player
Yes, I agree. I guess that is the job for the player managers/agents, they promote their players through the media. I don’t take much notice of what’s written in the press about young players anymore and prefer to make a judgment myself by watching them play, however I must say when the initial press reports came out about Ivanovic and how good he was I thought great, until I saw him play and concluded that he was nothing special.
Did watch him the other day for Rijeka in a preseason friendly and he scored a couple of goals.
I always forget about Frigan. He was off my radar. Hopefully he gets back on THE radar.
I just read through the new format for Champions League, Europa, etc. I was confused with all the changes, but they explain it pretty clearly here: https://www.uefa.com/newformatexplainer/
The good news is Dinamo starts their qualifiers in the final playoff round. They just need to win in the two legs to get to the CL group stage.
Saw online sutalo maybe to bayer Leverkusen??
hopefully
I saw livakovic was on the worse team of tourney
Was he that bad??
That’s really unfair. OK, he could have saved the first Albania goal if he had been more aggressive, and you could argue that that cost Croatia the tournament, but he also made a few world-class saves that few other keepers (if any) would have made. Even the first Albania goal was a case of bad luck because the ball sliced off the attacker’s head instead of taking a typical trajectory. He certainly can’t have been worse than Scotland’s keeper who allowed five goals to Germany…
Musa with another goal.
Could he transfer back to Europe before fall?
Is that allowed from mls?
I agree below
Petar sucic
Zvoranek
Marco Pasalic
Baturina
Sucic
Luka vuskovic
Matanovic
Maybe Musa
I don’t know any other wingers maybe in HNL that could come out potentially??
Simic, ljubicic for more striker options? Dion breljo maybe???
Maybe cro u14 and Markus or whoever did before can cook us up a new list of potential kids???
Let’s face it will be hard to get a nico Williams in the 17 year old
We are too white but if we can get a close to Perisic on wings and we can produce a powerful striker and we know midfield can always Be strong
I would add Matkovic, kacavenda and stojkovic.
Bruno durdov
Amazing defensive effort by Olmo yesterday, from a forward of all people. Unbelievable. Saved the game
Argentina again showing how overrated they are (the France of South America). Colombia outplaying them by a wide margin. Colombia didn’t even qualify for the last World Cup and Argentina was of course gifted the World Cup by FIFA.
Columbia should have won that game.
I feel bad for them. This win would have been huge for them.
Spain: Volim piti, volim piti.
World cup time at this point. Who are your players not called yet to make an impact in 2026? I’ll start, I think (hope) Luka V starts in a centerback pairing with Sutalo
Luka Sucic, Petar Sucic, Martin Baturina, Lovro Zvonarek, and Luka Vuskovic are looking pretty good so far.
Guys like Matanovic, Ljubicic, and Soticek are wildcards too. Depends on how their new clubs will treat them.
I’d throw Vidovic somewhere between those two groups as well… huge year for him to prove himself, doubt Bayern keep him around but maybe a mid tier German/spanish/ Italian team takes him on loan this year?
He is in a weird spot, I’m sure he wants to train all offseason with Bayern in the hopes of impressing them, but for this year to be successfull an early loan is probably more beneficial
Funny
Lamine trying to run ahead of his team-mates to collect the first medal
Carvajal and Nacho yell at him to get back “Kid get behind us in line !”
Priceless
Once again, the only team that can beat Croatia is the champion.
Croatia is the king maker team.
Any team that eliminates us in the knockout rounds, wins the tournament.
Whenever we get knocked in the first round, it’s usually with the team that wins the tournament as well.
2024: Dani Olmovic goal-line clearance to deny England
2018: Vrsaljko goal-line clearance to deny England
Anonymous did preview for you all that Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal are the best wingers in the world – Nico Williams was by far MOTM today, not even close (beyond his excellent offensive – his work rate drove him to important defensive contributions)
Was priceless when both Nico and Lamine player together on RW (occurred 5 minutes near end of H1 and a few times in 2nd half) – think they were trying to draw England / create overload on that side – to open space for Dani Olmovic in the centre
They might be eventually, Vini is still very much clear of both. Before Nico’s goal today I wouldve compared him more to Leao
Spain for sure the best team this go around
I still say we didn’t actually play them bad
I’d love another crack at them
Agreed, this Spain team is the first worthy winner of a Euro or WC since Germany in 2014. Portugal, France, Italy and Argentina all won with a mix of luck, refs and FIFA/UEFA corruption.
Also I can’t believe how good olmo is. He is would have taken us to the promised land
Good for him
Also hoping for petar sucic to grow as potential DM for us!
This place is dead
Sigh. We need some soccer happenings
Good stuff on the new lovro
He looks like quality
Hoping for a strong season in Germany for him
If him and sucic can get really going with kova being solid for two more tourney runs it would be a good midfield mix I reckon
Zvonorek assist this morning
https://x.com/SebMinga/status/1812065007552622709
As previewed, this is the benefit of Sturm Graz transfer – he will have played 6-7 pre-seasons before Bayern play their first
Dalic are u keeping track ?
P Sucic-Lovro-Baturina-L Sucic starting midfield WC 2026
@A Tin U
croatiansports.com/rakitic-to-leave-saudi-league-for-hajduk/#comments/509767
Hey buddy, kudos to you! It’s marvelous that you and some others here follow our boys playing in these harder-to-follow leagues.
Yep I’m looking forward to what Sucic can do given a full season of good health. God bless and keep him— was amazed by how he came back so strongly for RBS last season, and then his performance in the Euros simply topped it off.
Maybe he should go to the Bundesliga as I believe he’ll acclimatize quickest to Germany as compared to elsewhere.
@Maminjo
croatiansports.com/rakitic-to-leave-saudi-league-for-hajduk/#comments/509765
Well… this is kinda random ha ha, but just to lend a smidgin of weight to your argument that Sucic was our best creator in the Euros… remember that shot by Kovacic in the last seconds of the Albania game? The provider was none other than Sucic.
Yea we need to start him asap.
It would be very disappointing if in our next Nations League game (which I believe is coming up in about a couple of months) we STILL see the MBK trio starting with Sucic either coming off the bench or slotted out of position somewhere.
That’s the thing that worries me most with Dalic. Will he, as you said, try to make his veterans happy and eventually get burned for it, or will he properly rejigger the team for 2026? Will he continue to use midfielders on the wings? That’s why I was telling MART I’m pretty anxious about the upcoming NL games. Sep 5 vs Portugal in Lisbon and Sep 8 vs Poland in Osijek. Squad to be announced on Aug 19 as reported by SN.
@Croatiansports Admin: Mayday mayday! My comments to A Tin U and Maminjo are awaiting moderation…
@ A Tin U
https://croatiansports.com/rakitic-to-leave-saudi-league-for-hajduk/#comments/509767
Hey buddy, kudos to you! It’s marvelous that you and some others here follow our boys playing in these harder-to-follow leagues.
Yep I’m looking forward to what Sucic can do given a full season of good health. God bless and keep him— was amazed by how he came back so strongly for RBS last season, and then his performance in the Euros simply topped it off.
Maybe he should go to the Bundesliga as I believe he’ll acclimatize quickest to Germany as compared to elsewhere.
@Maminjo
https://croatiansports.com/rakitic-to-leave-saudi-league-for-hajduk/#comments/509765
Well… this is kinda random ha ha, but just to lend a smidgin of weight to your argument that Sucic was our best creator in the Euros… remember that shot by Kovacic in the last seconds of the Albania game? The provider was none other than Sucic.
@MART
https://croatiansports.com/rakitic-to-leave-saudi-league-for-hajduk/#comments/509763
MART thank you 🙂 I’ve thought about it for some time, maybe FIFA rankings will give us a slightly better chance of being seeded in Pot 1? Regardless, if we finish bottom in our NL group of Portugal, Scotland and Poland, then I guess we have no business being in Pot 1. Btw I’m anxious about how we will perform in the September fixtures… don’t want us to get off to a bad start in what is likely to be a new, transitional period.
Just now on ESPN, shot of Luka Modric watching the Alcarez-Medvedev match.
Musa is lighting up MLS
I wonder if he comes back to Europe
If he continues I still feel he hasn’t been given enough time with the repka
Tho he did look pretty unimpressive in limited action for us
But still the guy has shown he can put the ball in the net and that’s what we need
Let’s see how he goes
We can’t give up on a Croat
He’s not a spring chicken but getting into the age of Croatian quality at 26
Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I’m still hopeful
Sorry lighting up may be too string of a word but he’s definitely finding form
He almost scored for us in one of his first caps.
I’m sure if he did, then he’d have stayed on the team and who knows what happens next. It’s little things like this that can change everything.
It’s nice to see him scoring…but still has a long way to go.
A washed up Christian Benteke has more goals in Musa (in less games played).
When you look at the MLS Leading Scorers list…it’s a pretty sorry sight.
A Colombian guy (who doesn’t even get callups for Colombia) is the league leading scorer and Benteke is second behind him.
Musa can’t be behind garbage like this to ever be considered an option for us.
If he can get into the top-3 in the league (and I expect that he probably will) then he’ll probably end up back on a European club and could be a good depth player for us in the future.
Lets check in on him on him 5 more games. I will argue he will be top 3 in the league by the end of the season. He had a slow start getting adapted but finding form now. Goal scoring is about confidence. A season or maybe even two in Dallas is good for him. Croatian strikers like Prso or Jelavic or even Budimir find their form closer to 30.
You know watching tennis
It’s like to get to that top level and stay there as much as we can hate on djokovic
It’s amazing one can stay at that level day in and day out for years
Unfortunately vekic lost at the end in three sets in the tie break
She had her chances, had some struggles but really worked hard
Was a great match
Even tho I don’t watch much, it was entertaining
Šteta
I’m a tennis fan and I couldn’t watch because I figured she would lose. No way she should have lost this match. She had many more chances to break than Poalini but she makes too many mistakes. And she isn’t mentally tough to win a major. Just add it to the heartbreak this summer, soccer team, Olympic basketball.
Ok, relax with the whole “she isn’t mentally tough to win a major” thing.
She just lost in the semis in a sudden death tie breaker on the third set.
It was pretty much a coin toss whether Vekic or a top-seeded Paolini would be going to the Finals.
The feed I watched had the Italian at 75 percent chance at winning
She’s on fire just getting to the French finals not long ago
Vekic had her moments for breaks for sure
There was one where she didn’t challenge she was up 0-30 and if she did it may have changed that game
Anyways
It was close
She battled and won some great match points
So good for her
Always unfortunate but it’s life
I hope she can keep the ball rolling
Apparently she had contemplated retirement not long ago with injuries
So ya good for her
Still makes lot more money then all of us
Except for the truth, he’s probably yacht hopping on the” more “right now
She was injured guys. She was icing her right arm in the match. Having come off a knee surgery, and then to have that kind of injury is difficult. Plus, she only lost by two points to someone who is much younger and full of energy. It’s easy to be depressed when there is a loss but to be honest Paolini barely won.
You have to take all these things into consideration here. I think Vekic can come off of this tournament with a positive she was exceptional!
Much younger? They are both 28.
Well done to Donna for reaching the SF at Wimbledon, however she really stuffed up big time. She should have won the match having so many break point opportunities in the match. I watch a lot of tennis on SK channels where all matches of our players are covered LIVE. This is not the first time that she has stuffed up in her career, I have seen her lose countless matches over the years where she literally falls apart and loses to opponents who are basically on their knees and waiting for the knockout punch which never arrives.
Donna’s biggest problem is her mobility and her inability to win pressure points. Mentally she is not tough enough and more often than not on crucial points she crumbles under pressure and makes silly unforced errors. That is why her best ranking is 19 in the world. She has won 4 tournaments ( WTA 250) and sadly we have to be realistic and say that she will never win a Grand Slam.
Completely agree with your assessment of her. I had the match on at work but didn’t really watch as I knew she would lose. Coric is another disappointment and when is Prizmic going to step up to the next level? I don’t see Cilic ever returning to the tour.
If you “knew” she was going to lose a match that went right down to the wire and could have easily gone either way, I really hope you put $1,000,000 on it.
Yeah, it could have gone either way but unfortunately it’s never gone her way during clutch matches or points. Those moments in time during a match or tournament aren’t simply down to luck. They’re down to mental toughness and being able to execute. That’s what separates champions from the rest. Unfortunately I don’t have $1000000 and the betting odds were against Donna. So yeah, I “knew” she would lose just like I know you don’t play tennis smart ass.
I do play tennis actually. Thanks for drawing conclusions. Internet is full of “told you so” people like yourself. Did Paolini choke today then? Vekic could just as easily have won that match as lost. She also hit some great clutch shots. Lost on you though, I guess, cuz it’s after the fact.
You know what the internet is full of gbvh? “Clever” guys like you who read internet comments and feel the need to make a smart remark concerning the word choice someone makes in making a point. Did I know the future and that Donna would lose? But I gotta watch which words I use around gvbh because he feels people are being too hard on her and he thinks she was simply unlucky in the Paolini match. Do you play competetive tennis? Any competitive sports? I doubt it but if you do you seem pretty dumb. Yes, Donna put herself in a position to win that match. She could have won. She actually won more points than Paolini during the match. But as anyone who actually competes can tell you, part of being able to win is having the self confidence and a cool head on the big points. Donna only won 4 of 15 break points. What does that tell you “clever guy”? That she was unlucky? So please, save your smart ass gotcha comments for people you know and can tell you to your face where to shove them.
And Alcarez converted 5 of 14 break points and beat Djokovic in straight sets, 3-0.
But keep drawing conclusions…..
You’re right, both Donna and Alcarez dominated most stats in their matches. And yet Donna lost. I guess she was just unlucky. The only conclusion I’m drawing is how poor your understanding of competitive sports is. But keep arm-chair analyzing and feeling good about your smug comments.
Watching the vekic match
Had a one or two break points the first game
Served well the second
1-1
I think she looks good so far
The Italian is quicker for sure but vekic got the big hits it seems
As per usual the English commentator obvious bias for the Italian
As per usual, F the English
Olmo for a brace
Call it a day
Kurac is coming home
What happened to Pong going to Bologna to replace Calafiori ?
x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1811367131268718917
Now he’s going to Rennes (#10th in crappy French league – outside PSG and maybe Monaco – the rest of the teams are on-level if not worst than HNL)
I guess he never wants to play for a National Team team
Can’t blame Lecce though – they bought him for 1.6m 12 months ago – now getting 15m for him – great biz for them
While Ajax trying to off-load Sutalo for a loss – paying 20m 12 months ago – willing to accept 15m now (keep in mind he’s 2.5 yrs younger than Pong – meaning like-for-like / adjusting for age – he is worth less than Pong)
The “market” of course agrees with Anonymous’ accurate assessment that Pong was a much better defender than Sutalo during the Euros
Rennes is better than Lecce who are always fighting for survival in Seria A.
He will probably get a much higher salary at Rennes so why not. If he plays regularly, I think that Pongracic will cement his spot as one of our CB’s in the national team. He has improved a lot playing in Italy.
Dalic needs to choose the other CB and stick to the chosen two and stop experimenting and changing. I have written on here before I would not play Gvardiol as a CB until he starts playing that position at his club.
So, the two CB’s should come from Pong, Sutalo, Erlic or DCC.
It’s a good move. Rennes may have been 10th last season, but they were one of the very top teams when Majer was there, and they can get the level back this year. Pongračić has a lot of talent, and he can take a big step forward if he’s on a team that is seriously competing. DCC has had a rollercoaster career, but he’s become a mainstay of top French teams and should be considered as a replacement for Vida.
How much do some of these players have choices on where they go?
Obviously the big boys say where they want to go
But a guy like pong, does he get much of a choice??
You can throw shade at Sutalo all you want, but he has a lot of suitors.
Ajax was in complete disarray and had no business buying him in the first place. Now teams are jumping at the chance to get him for “only” 15-20 million Euro.
Other teams can recognize the talent level there. Many probably agree that he needs to be placed in a good situation to thrive.
“Market” always right
Pong value up +10x in LTM
vs.
Sutalo value down 25% in LTM
I just want this euro to be over
Let Spain win it and forget this England nonsense
It is gross.
Wow, did that Referee call some questionable fouls in favour for England….Also strange how the extra time added on was only 2 minutes after England had scored.
Apparently the ref in charge for the Netherlands vs England game had a prior match fixing scandal
Two Euro semifinals in a row England get gift penalties. Love how Harry Kane blows the chance, and the ref bails him out. No chance in hell Croatia would get a call like that. Zero.
Croatia only does well in non-aligned countries like Russia and Qatar.
We should make a deep run in the Saudi Arabia World Cup.
28min, wasn’t that also a penalty shot by Englands standards when the Dutch player was taken down after the miss likened to Harry Potters miss.
As anonymous stated, the fix is in.
Randomly saw the “goals” England scored in Their World Cup win in 1966
Geez
I would give that star back if I was them
Guys we have nothing to be ashamed of
It was a lot of misfortune and maybe not the best formation
Luka still gonna play
September is coming
There will be a couple guys to emerge
Lots of good stuff to be taken
Like was said ironically pongarcic may have been forgotten and now who knows may be the guy we had hoped sutalo to be for instance
lol – over-turned so England get a penalty
Pack ur bags Dutch – the “fix” is in
P.S. Spurs were offered Xavi Simmons last yr – but “passed”….
Rice and Bellingham are SO over-rated and pumped up by UK media as “darlings”
Anonymous refers to their play over the entire tournament
Bad luck we faced Spain first
Things could have been different if we just had a different order e.g. Italy, Albania, Spain
After the first goal against us – we played the rest of the tournament on the back foot
Sadly – Spurs we’re trying to sign Olmo and Nico Williams 6 months ago – they have good taste – but now they won’t be able to afford either
“Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face” Mike Tyson.
Dalic and team went into game 1 with a plan (that was wrong) based off a friendly game vs Portugal that meant absolutely nothing.
Gvardiol needed to be in the center. This left back pipe dream eroded our center core and spain nailed us for it. 3 goals. 3 punches and then Dalic and the boys had their testicles tighten. Their testicular fortitude was again tested late in the Albania and Italy games and again their brains fogged. C’est la vie!!!
More respect for Luka:
“Real Madrid confirm Fede Valverde to become new number 8 after Toni Kroos.
Kylian Mbappé to wear number 9, as expected.
Mbappé never requested number 10 out of respect for Luka Modrić.”
Kind of funny (delusional) for Pjaca to ask Hoxha for #20
I mean – who does he think he is ?
Didn’t even say a minute at the Euros
Didn’t watch the whole match but I caught the end
Not sure if Spain was dominant or France was lame cause they couldn’t get much going at the end needing a goal
I still actually feel we played Spain fine
We had those dumb break downs and maybe gvardi needed to be in the middle
But I’m not even mad at that game like I was against Albania and Italy late breakdowns
Yes, we actually played well against Spain. We just didn’t finish our chances, and they finish all of theirs. After that game, i knew that Spain would go all the way. Spain play a possession game like ours, but they also have very fast wingers, and lots of skilled attacking players. Today they outplayed France, and came back strong after being down by a goal. Dinamovac Dani Olmo was fantastic again… he’s ready for a big money move this summer. I’m pretty sure that Dinamo will make some good money on his next transfer.
Imagine if we just played our wingers, and started Budimir up top for 90 minutes as a Morata-type target man.
We probably would be meeting Spain from the other side of the bracket. 😉
I think that was the most frustrating
Budimir was effective and most in form striker we have
And the fact we have a Marco pasalic who has speed and power not even for a half is I don’t know
Like I realize he is not nico Williams or that 17 year old but darn it dude seems tenacious like rebic without the bad attitude
The leaving Orsic at home is whatever( he hasn’t played)
But a reasonably in form orsic, a potential wildcard like pasalic and budimir
Even I would have liked to see sosa at some point at least a try or two with a cross
Jebi ga
I realize it’s hard to do it all in a tournament
But I do think with that bracket
We had a potential semi final….
Considering how many chances Croatia created in the Spain game, we should have won. Poor defensive organization on three plays was the difference. Then the whole team got too defensive against Albania, which could otherwise have been a lopsided rout. And the Italy game was just plain unfair. So it’s no wonder Dalić and Kustić are looking ahead to Nations League. A clean slate is needed.
I agree. Budimir is actually a more effective striker than Morata these days. Juranović or Marco Pasalić are not Yamal, but they’re good players. Marko Pjaca and Luka Ivanušec aren’t fast like Nico Williams, but they are very skilled and excellent finishers… I just hope Dalić is seeing all this and knows he has to change things. Pongračić showed his brilliance on the ball against Italy. Sučić already belongs. Kramarić still has his game. Budimir gets better every month. Livaković is now a top keeper. Kovačić has developed some personality on the field. Now it just needs to be put in the right arrangement, and Croatia will be at the top again.
Would love to have seen Marco P, L. Sucic, M. Orsic, A. Budimir , as a unit playing their natural positions together. We will never know.
Unfortunately, Sucic continued health is a future concern.
“Winger” doesn’t exist in Dalic vocabulary….
Just pick 10 #10s and fill all ur positions with them – what ever u have left over put in Gvardiol
Shame we never could persuade Dinamo Dani Olmo to play national Croatian soccer. Amazing player.
I was just thinking
Could he change his last name and swap over
He really is a performer
Never mind just cause he is good. He really respects Croatia and for me that’s important
Maybe we still have a chance ?
If he “transitions” we still have a chance he plays for our Women’s team
Would be funny to have lawyers argue that he wasn’t “cap-tied” as new gender resets the allegiance
Daniela olmic on our woman’s team= World Cup champions
Before we get a men’s World Cup
Heard it here first
Wowee… Donna doing us proud! Soccer team losing, basketball team losing, not a lot of joy for us lately but maybe she’s gonna provide it.
Also lol maminjo liked your comment satirically about how croats are calm and not at all drunks lmao
“Jebem ti mater kineski!!!”
(Lulu Sun’s childhood in a nutshell)
She’s like what are you saying daddy?
“Pitaj tvoji jebeni kineski mater”
What’s the scandal with Vekic banging one of the players and all that?
Can you explain it to us not very hardcore tennis fans
Did I just hear the tennis commentator say that Sun says she gets her calmness from her Croatian dad?
I’ve yet to meet one who oozes calm lol.
And she gets her drunken animated aggression from her Chinese side
Chinese obviously from my mum’s side is very disciplined, hard-working,” Sun said. “From my dad’s side, Croatian, he’s from the seaside, so very laid back and calm. I guess that’s a good combo. “Also, I think from my mum’s side I get that I guess feistiness and competitiveness.
Screw this girl for dropping her dads Croatian name
And ya definitely no competitiveness from her fathers genes
I’m sure per capita we have made plenty of darn high tennis players
Go to China, not welcome on the coast;)
She’s only allowed on the Pelješac Bridge
She needs to go watch goran videos to see calm lol
Stipe Biuk has made a move back to Europe into La Liga for Real Valladolid.
Happy and impressed he managed to get a move back into a European League and I also hope he hits the ground running so he can claim Ivan Perisic’s position in the National team.
https://x.com/realvalladolid/status/1810290294123868669
Hopefully he gets better, and he’s in a good situation.
But he’s probably behind Sotiček and some of these other young wingers right now.
Two years can pass pretty quickly and Hajduk and Dinamo have some good teenage wingers. Biuk needs to make up for lost time.
Yikes look like it went from bad to worse for the basketball team with Saric getting choked out after the game by some Greek bouncer… not a good look
https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/08/nba-players-ivica-zubac-dario-saric-nightclub-brawl-fight-greece-croatia-basketballl-team/
I have no confidence we would’ve won any other hoops qualifying group like maminjo says
even this performance was typical croatia. They caught a slovenia team sleeping with doncic beat up and out of form
they lost to new zealand
the squeaked by a dominican republic team with no size and no kat
and then were never really close to greece
In the Puerto Rico touranment they would be underdogs to Lithuania and Puerto Rico and possibly italy.
Oh the irony if
Petar Sucic gets bought this summer to newly promoted Como by Fabregas (and not Martin Baturina and Luka Sucic)
x.com/TheCroatianLad/status/1810263549488386102
Srna said today that they wanted to bring Martin Baturina to Shaktar in December – I hope he doesn’t go there – and get a deal to a better league
What’s so ironic about it?
Petar Sučić is a very underrated player, and several of us have called him out as being National Team potential (which was then realized when he was put on the standby list).
His price is still potentially low, since he wasn’t a hyped prospect in his youth, so I’m sure Como is trying to score themselves a good player by getting in there early.
Baturina, on the other hand, was always going to be priced in the Gvardiol and Olmo range.
15-20 million Euro, plus a sizable chunk from the next contract…AND it has to be a team that Barurina feels will allow him to progress.
The irony is he hasn’t been capped yet for Croatia (I was also one calling for his including as DM “back-up”, def over Moro (lol) or Jakic, if nothing else so we cap-tie him vs. Bosnia)
Has an un-capped Croatian player ever transferred for [10+] m before ?
The double irony is Luka Sucic (and Baturina) appearing for an “under-performing” Croatia during the Euros seems to be working against them this transfer market – radio-silence on both names – while it appears to be a blessing in disguise that Petar Sucic was not associated with Croatia during these past Euros
Just look at Sutalo – he played every minute for Croatia – and based on that Ajax has now seen enough and trying to off-load him ASAP – if he/Croatia “excelled” at the Euros, this surely wouldn’t be the case (compare/contrast – now Man City ready to meet Dani Olmo’s release clause – surely bc of his strong performance w/ Spain (similar to Gvardiol at the 2022 WC))
The triple irony is Sucic going to a Serie A is a better move (IMO) than Baturina going to Shakhtar (Srna trying to help spark a bidding war for Baturina by now mentioning Shakhtar wanted to buy him in December) – yes, I know Shakhtar plays in the CL (Group stages only last 7 yrs) but who knows when they’ll ever actually play home games in Donesk again – and “culturally” easier to play in Italy than in Ukraine
If the only move Baturina can get is for a nomadic club – than we need to be honest with ourselves where he stands (as of now – he still has time to develop) – while the other 35 teams that will also play CL this year (up 4 vs. 32 last yr) have no interest in him
Hopefully this all changes soonish for both of them (Luka Sucic and Baturina) – but if how this story ends is Shakthar plays Dinamo end of this month in Zagreb friendly and Baturina gets bought the next day by Shakhtar – will be disappointing (after hearing all the hype around him)
P.S. just imagine Baturina had a chance to get on a field with Rodri DM and Lamal and Nico Williams as winger outlets, lol – and Dani Olmo had to play with our non-wing wingers and the Broz we saw vs. Spain – Baturina would look “world class” no doubt and be going to Man City, while Dani Olmo would look anonymous and be going to some club in Siberia – so much “luck” involved (in which players you happen to have/get around you)
Good point
I watched an interview with Srna yesterday…he said that they tried to get Baturina, but after meeting with him and his parents, they declined the offer because of the war. Srna brought in a Croatian coaching team. They have a hard time getting any European players to sign…i’m surprised that they still have a pretty competitive team all things considered.
Did Shaktar ever really have any non-Croatian Europeans playing for them ?
E.g. the 2010-2011 squad that made CL QF vs. Barca – the team was Ukrainians, a bunch of Brazilians, two Croatians, and 1 Romanian (Rat) and 1 Armenian (Mkhitaryan)
Not sure they’ve been known historically as being a destination for “Europeans” per se (the squad today still Ukrainians, a bunch of Brazilians, and a few Georgian)
That’s kind of why I don’t want to see Baturina go there – it’s not like its a destination club for the best in England, Germany, Italy, France or Dutch
I don’t think you know what “irony” means…
I don’t think you actually believe that Petar Sucic not being on the National Team this summer actually benefited him, ha ha.
So, Como would not be offering 10 million for him if he was ‘associated’ with this poor performing team at the Euros? Ha Ha
Como is getting ahead of the curve because they know that Petar is on the standby list and is a young player. They know that if they can manage to complete this transfer, it’s only a matter of time until they have a “Croatian International” in their ranks, and this would be huge for their club.
Re: the Luka Sucic and Martin Baturina transfers…there are obviously other factors.
Expectations from the players themselves are higher and teams would have to agree to the players’ terms (for example, nether player would ever consider playing for a team like Como).
Luka Sucic just came off a bad knee injury and hasn’t extended his contract. Salzburg could have easily received 20 million+ before all that, but now (even though he played well this tournament) they could potentially lose him for nothing (and teams know this). They’re probably trying to extend his contract, if anything.
Baturina barely played this tournament, so he got no exposure.
Dinamo are also very notorious for mopping the floors with teams when it comes to negotiations.
Red Bull Leipzig tried to get out of paying for the “25% future transfer payment” for Dinamo when he moved to Man City. Leipzig even called Dinamo to try and negotiate out of it, lol. They’re probably going to try and do the same thing with Dani Olmo’s upcoming transfer too.
I’ve never heard of a club team in Europe add clauses like this, and Dinamo is laughing now, making probably something like 40 million Euro in the past year for doing absolutely nothing.
I’m sure that if they are selling Baturina this summer, it will probably be a drawn out process (likely with a similar future clause) and won’t be completed prior to the end of August.
Also, things might get interesting if Rakitic (and others) join Hajduk. Dinamo might not be so quick to sell off their top players after that, and might delay the selloff.
I meant to say…Red Bull Leipzig tried to get out of paying for the “25% future transfer payment” for Gvardiol (when he moved to Man City)
You meant “RasenBallsport Leipzig” of course ????
Oh they’re still doing that? lol
The assumption is RB stands for Red Bull, but officially they can’t be named after their sponsor in the bundesliga, so they got around the rules by making up a word which roughly translates to “lawnball sports”. This is one reason why the rest of the league hates this club….I think its a genius move.
Has an un-capped Croatian player ever transferred for [10+] m before ?
Nope
Sutalo being dumped by Ajax
What other reason (new info) other than Euros….
Petar Sucic – latest “rumours” are for 15m (first offer was 10m)
Not sure what u mean re: sell-on clauses ? U mean Dinamo (Mamic) was the first to introduce them ? They are actually very common (sometimes the sell-on clause follows the player i.e. not just for 1st transfer thereafter, but for 2nd deal, etc)
Here’s a list of some of the “biggest” ones
***.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13192661/The-biggest-sell-clauses-football-history.html
Timely e.g. Mason Greenwood Man U –> Marseille includes a 40-50% sell-on clause (makes Mamic’s % deals look like peanuts, lol)
Actually quite common in biz – as e.g. look at Portnoy buying back Barstool from Penn (after he sold it to them for $550m) – they sold it back to him for a $1 (Penn has right to receive 50% of the gross proceeds received by Portnoy in any subsequent sale or other monetization event of Barstool)…
is a good job for dalic the womens team
Nice to see two American diaspora get called up to the Croatian Women’s National Team upcoming Euro qualifiers vs. Wales (12th) and Ukraine (16th) – Victoria Safradin (Virginia) and Andrea Iljkic (LSU)
In particular Safradin – who participated got called up to the USA U19 training camp in April 2024 – but now decided to accept the call up to the Senior Croatia team (as the 4th goal-keeper)
Hopefully we cap here in one of the two games – so we cap-tie her
Just put a wig on Brozovic and send him to the women’s team
lol
It’s 2024 – just a matter of time till we see a football – not good enough to play on a Men’s National Team – do a “hop, skip & jump” and petition to play for a Women’s National Team – a la swimming, etc
Copa America format MUCH better with 90 minutes – no extra time – straight penalties
Nobody has time to watch an extra 30 minutes of extra-time
I have time.
Still shorter than a drawn-out regular-season NFL/MLB/NHL game where it’s never-ending commercials, or most (men’s grand slam) tennis matches. At least baseball is acknowledging and trying things like pitch clock etc.
….And NBA with 47 stoppages in the last two minutes.
I have time.
At least bring back Golden Goal rule
Not sure there is much added revenue from adds from having the long drawn extra-time – there is 5 minutes b/w 90 minutes and extra-time (and than another 1 b/w 1st and 2nd extra-time halves) – neither of which typically show any commercials
Now, compare/contrast how much commercials typical to 60 min of television – i.e. the networks are losing $$$ by showing the extra-time (as they are pre-empting regularly scheduled programs – where they could be showing adds)
It wasn’t about potential added revenue, just saying even with extra time, soccer matches are done before most games in these other sports are. I don’t think a fan “doesn’t have time” to watch extra time.
Not sure soccer cares. If they did they wouldn’t have so many Champions League games starting at the exact same time, for example. The NFL would salivate at the thought of spreading out those games.
I know this is a sleeper but Donna Vekic is just quietly progressing through Wimbledon…. World nbr #1 is out and you would have to think she is a small chance now.. just keep your eyes on that one
And she plays a qualifier next to make the semis. And in the semis, she wouldn’t have to face Gauff, who lost today. There is an opportunity, she just has to serve well and take advantage of this chance.
The father of this qualifier Sun from NZ is Croatian. Vekic has a chance but needs to serve well like she has been doing so far in the tournament.
And Pera (“Croatian American”) didn’t do too bad, lost Saturday to the annoying Ostapenko.
Why did this Lulu Sun chick erase her Croatian last name?
Not sure ? maybe divorce ?
Radovcic is her birth name. I assume Sun is her mom’s name (since she’s half Chinese).
Maybe got into a fight with her tata, or thought that ‘Sun’ rolls off the tongue better for her career.
Man you all have to give your head a shake about the National team. Yeah blame Dalic all you want but these players were horrible. They didn’t deserve to get out of the group stages and if they did the Swiss were gonna run over them. Our top players. Looking at you modric gvardiol , kramaric and the list goes on simply underperformed. It was just miserable to watch this level of play. Players had to step up. 2018 and 2022 is gone.
So I’ll start by admitting that I don’t watch much basketball, but what let us down today was defence. Greece just seemed to have much more energy. They wanted it more.
I don’t know how well the American usually performs for us, but today he looked like he was at a scrimmage. Surely we’ve got players that could replace him?
Greece is probably the best team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament by a wide margin, so there’s no shame in this loss.
Just a shame that we were grouped in a pot with both Slovenia and Greece in it. If we were in any other pot, we’d be going through.
Croatia played well, but Greece started hitting some threes at a very high rate and that’s just FIBA basketball for you.
Both teams were sloppy in the 4th quarter, but Croatia went on a cold shooting streak at the worst possible time and couldn’t cut the lead.
I also don’t see the point of calling up these US reject players. He was probably our worst player out there, and if you’re going to sell out and naturalize a player then you may as well naturalize an NBA player (like the Bahamas did with Eric Gordon).
Why don’t we try to offer Lebron citizenship ? Or whoever else made the NBA all-star team this year….
A couple notes for both soccer and basketball
In terms of soccer, as I’ve expressed repeatedly, this sites expectations for dominance and constant deep runs is silly
Football is an ugly game and we see no big team making dominant glorious runs. Teams just sliding by
Croatia just needs to be good enough to get to knockouts and pray for luck like in 18 and 22
They were good enough this tournament but no luck. although the defense needs to be solidified
Hoops
If only we could transplant saric brain into hezonja’s body. Painful watching that guy
Zubac is a legitimate force and looks like a guy that eats basketballs
I don’t get much joy from watching the hoops. Soccer has spoiled me. I know that even if this team sneaks through, there just isn’t much meat on the bone that they can compete with the big teams
Right now was when we were supposed to be coming into our era of dominance with all stars hezonja and bender and nba starters zubac, saric, and bogdanovic….oops…although i did predict this sad state many years ago
Wrong (as usual) on both counts.
In terms of football…
Luck is obviously a big factor, but midfield dominance is still king.
Things can get ugly (especially with this new Euro expanded format) but in the end, the team with the best midfielders win.
France is struggling due to their weakened midfield. Mbappe said it himself.
Everybody loves Austria and their coach now, but I knew it was only a matter of time until some random team bounced them. They probably miss the 2026 World Cup too (just like the last one).
Odds are, Spain win this thing and most people know that.
Croatia failed because of coaching. This result was Dalic’s fault because he wanted to ride or die with all of his ‘senators’ starting every game, and made it too easy for others to defend us (by packing the middle).
Otherwise, we make (yet another) deep run and some luck will decide whether we medal or not.
In terms of basketball…
You say there is not much “meat on the bone that can compete with the big teams”?
This team is already competing with the big teams. They eliminated Turkey (in Istanbul) and Slovenia (with Doncic). These two opponents regularly do well in basketball.
Also, there are only 12 teams that qualify for the Olympics…which includes a few ‘filler’ teams from other continents like Sudan, Japan, etc. So, there’s really only 9-10 decent teams in this thing.
Argentina, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy are already eliminated. A few more of Spain, Bahamas, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and Latvia will be eliminated today as well.
Qualifying for the Olympics is pretty much a pass into the quarterfinals (where anything can happen).
If you don’t recall…we topped our group at the 2016 Olympics and narrowly lost by one basket to Serbia (who got the silver medal that year).
I’m sure if Bojan Bogdanovic wasn’t injured right now, we’d probably be in the same boat as 2016 where we would be among the best in the tournament and in the quarterfinals (where anything can happen).
Funny thing is, as bad as our basketball has been…it’s really just been the lack of availability of our NBA players (due to injury or conflicts with NBA scheduling) that prevented us from probably making three Olympic quarterfinals in a row.
Midfield def important – but today’s “modern” game requires wingers for a proper offensive (Spain being the best e.g. of this)
If Spain just bossed midfield – w/out Lamal and Nico – they wouldn’t have nearly be as effective (the fact they have them on the wings stretches out the opponent to start w/ – which leaves more space for their midfielders to operate in)
There was comment by even Gattuso y’day (in context of Srna trying to help him land some Brazilian winger) that you can’t play football w/out proper wingers today
Maybe our beloved Srna can speak to Dalic and re-iterate the same ?
I think the frustration is that we dont feel this team did themselves justice. We have the lineup and potential to do well and it just didnt materialise. Gaping holes in defence obv cost us this tourney but it feels like a missed opportunity yet again, similar to 2016 etc. We would’ve have Swiss and Eng. Even not at our best chances of beating both of them are not that bad.
Watching this Euro tournament, I see that Croatia is still fundamentally a top team. Some of the players were somehow not in it mentally this tournament, but if the team had all been ready to compete the way Kovačić, Budimir and Kramarić were, Croatia would have been tearing it up. I see Croatia remaining a top team with the following changes: replace Vida with Kristijan Jakić, replace Broz with Petar Sučić, replace Perišić with Marin Ljubičić, replace Petković with Matanović or Beljo. The players are more skilled than on probably any team except Spain. It’s just up to them to bring their best onto the field.
I agree.
I mean…if Dalić simply just played Budimir as our starting striker (instead of trying to experiment with Krama up top), we probably end up in the quarters.
Also, we kept subbing off our best midfielder (Kovačić) and refused to sub out our worst one (Brozović).
His subs were too offensively oriented, where he was trying to chase additional goals instead of preserving the lead (both in the Albania and Italy games). He got greedy there, and made the wrong calls that burned him both games.
Not saying that he should bunker down, but he went with guys who aren’t known for their defending and we should have tried to continue to dominate possession in the end there. Hard to do that when you sub off Kovačić, Sučić and Modrić and throw in guys like Sosa and Juranović.
Also, I think Dalić is reacting to the criticism too much. Whining to the media about how they’re attacking him. I think he deliberately started and played Broz the full 90 minutes against Italy to show everyone that he is the coach and his decisions are the right ones. If Broz had a good game, he would have been chirping at the media all day after that. Instead, Broz had a bad one, and we were eliminated.
The team just needs to use the right players (which were available). A new coach would have been better, but hopefully Dalić can leave his ego at the door and react positively to the criticism and make the necessary changes (and hopefully start giving game time to the other young guys, as well as continue to start Sučić).
Agreed, stubborn Dalic purposefully played brozo the full game against italy to prove a point, everybody knew it was obviously the wrong decision
I agree with most of your analysis. I don’t think Brozović had a terrible game against Italy (in fact, he was excellent for most of the game and saved Stanišić and the team on more than one occasion), but he did have a terrible end to the game after he got too tired. Dalić did manage the subs poorly. However, his assessment of his team is on the right track: they need to be more aggressive about attacking the goal. Not a single one of the starting players in the lineup can claim defending to be his primary strength, and the only bench player who can is Erlić… So the team needs to learn to attack incessantly. It just shouldn’t be an experiment left for the ends of matches the way it always is with this dynasty. I’m hoping that with Gvardiol, Pongračić, Šutalo, Stanišić as the regular backline (or even Sosa and Juranović) and with Kovačić, Sučić, Baturina, Kramarić, Big Pašalić in the midfield mix, we’ll see more forward movement of the ball and less of the lateral passing that defined the team that relied on Lovren, Vida, Brozović, young Kova, and sometimes even Barišić for bringing the ball up the field. While that group had its strengths and accomplished a lot (maybe even changed the way these bigger names are approaching the game), the next generation of Croatian defenders has more speed and foot skills and less physical presence, so the strategy has to change. If the team can add some kind of combination of speed and size at the winger/striker positions, the next cycle of HNS football will be exciting and likely defined by high-scoring games rather than stingy draws and narrow victories.
After watching the last England game in its entirety – and seeing how Kane performed – with all the “high caliber” offensive around him – I think I was too critical of Budimir
He would have benefited from having proper wingers beside him (as opposed to two “attacking mids” playing on the wing)
It’s not that hard – Dalic looks at HNL – and picks the best LW and RW available and integrates them today – preference goes to youth vs. old guys like Pjaca – if Marco is best available RW
I hope when Dalic says he needs to refresh our strategy to reflect the “modern” game (to paraphrase – whatever he actually said) – he has in his mind we need to add wingers to the front 3
Dalic wont change anything so no use doing scouting report on young players Im shocked Gvardiol got called up 2020 2021 euro.
Lets go wc 2026 qualifyers Livi Juranovic Pongracic Sutalo Gvardiol MBK Pasalic Krama Perisic idemo penzija 2026 wc
Both Luka Vuskovic (30 min) and Lovro Zvonarek played in their clubs’ first pre-season friendlies today
x.com/attacthespace/status/1809604404321951789
https://x.com/pierrellis/status/1809578749312012605
@anonymous
Uruguay rules! Sit down and shut up
Arent we due some good fortune? Maybe we’ll beat Greece tomorrow, we are due
The final four of the euros I will call the colonizer cup.
So true – makes all of Croatia soccer achievements last few years so much more special than any of these countries
I never care once we are out, i barely watch it, looking to September matches now. Be interesting to see lineup v Portugal.
I think were desperate at this point, but would probably make a good article here soon. We can strategize and guess all we want, but I think we know a lot of it will come down to form. Im somewhat confident saying Sucic is included in that. Budimir probably starts at striker
And another own Goal for Holland
I don’t want to hear how we are so bad and can’t score.
We had a few bad minutes but not as bad as some have said
Some mental gaps
And probably some tactical mistakes
But we all know we could easily be here right now…
And it’s not going by wishful thinking
Zubac is playing some good basketball. Big guy had another nice night putting up 25 against the DR.
We’ll need the entire team to do well if we’re going to beat Greece tomorrow.
Greece has been on fire and are playing at home. Giannis is well rested too.
Greece are heavy favorites…but the same thing happened to Turkey last year when we beat them in Istanbul to get here, so we’ll see what happens.
We’ll need a minor miracle to win as I expect the officiating to favour the home team as well.
Yes, absolutely
I can’t remember a worse Euro or WC. And not just because Croatia crashed out. The top teams are unwatchable. Portugal didn’t score for 6 hours, and was PKs from the semis. France has a penalty and two own goals, and they’re in the semis. England has been trash, same thing. Spain and Germany have been good, with flashes of crap too. Not many great goals, and not a single free kick goal, which is crazy.
France is in the semis without scoring a single regulation goal.
There were a lot if haters here talking about how we struggled to score at the last World Cup.
Meanwhile we had something’s like 5 regulation goals by the time we were in the semis, lol.
In 2018, we scored 14 goals! That’s like 20 games for France.
I agree been alive since 1988 remeber wc 1994 to now my older friends tell me italy 1990 was terrbile and euro 1992 was bad in modern football terms.
Dalicic ubi se im still pissed could have had a run if we had a coach.
I can go back to WC 1974 and yes Italy 1990 was a bad WC and this EURO is one of the worst that I have seen in the last 40 years or so.
And then Bojan Bogdanović doesn’t want to play for Croatia again. Hopefully he isn’t welcomed in Croatia anymore.
What? Why??
England squeeks through in pk
I don’t want to hear none of this Croatia only wins in pk crap
All these games going to extra time
Didn’t he just simply retire from the National team?
He’s like 35 years old.
Fucking hell Mario Hezonja, what a bust of a player. Was playing in the NBA now in Barcelona. He had everything in front of him.
He’s actually carved himself a nice career.
You’re a fool. First. Hezonja plays in Madrid not Barcelonam. Second. Bogdanovic did retire but he announced he’d return to help Cro for the Olympic qualifiers. Now if you followed any basketball you’d know bogdanovic suffered a big injury with the Knicks and had an operation.
@mishko
Roko simic two first half goals today (then line changed subbed out with whole starting lineup)
Good to see him scoring goals right off the bat
We have a lot of decent young striker prospects (Matanovic, Simic, Ljubicic, Matkovic, Crnac, Beljo). One of them will pan out for us.
While on the subject, we also have some good offensive-oriented midfielders and winger prospects too in Marin Soticek, Sucic, Zvonarek, Stojkovic, and I guess Biuk too (now that Real Valladolid officially bought him from LAFC).
It will be very interesting to follow all these prospects right now as they are all at interesting points in their careers.
– Sucic coming off a great Euro and only having one year left of his Red Bull deal (pretty much forcing a transfer)…
– Zvonarek starting a new loan with Sturm Graz likely playing first team football in Champions League…
– Stojkovic coming back from a serious knee injury for Dinamo…
Matanovic going back to Eintracht Frankfurt after an excellent showing on loan at Karlsruher…
– Roko Simic and Beljo coming off bad years in a potential do or die season for the both of them…
– Soticek and Ljubicic getting sudden exposure and are in a lot of transfer rumors…
– Biuk back in Europe with newly-promoted Real Valladolid who were willing to drop money to keep him…
Soticek was actually statistically a lot better than Marco Pasalic in the HNL last year too. Unfortunately, Dalic won’t call him up for another half-decade, but still it’s nice to see him develop and take that next step.
Sickening that they let Jaleen Smith play. I will not cheer for the team.
When did “FIBA” change to the rules to allow these “naturalized” players to join the roster ?
How does it work – do the National Teams pay a fee/salary for these players to join (otherwise why are they playing – to try to get a move to the NBA) ?
Are there any restrictions (e.g. could a National Team sign an NBA star that for whatever couldn’t play for/didn’t make their own National team) ?
I don’t recall our 1992 Olympics Silver team (Petrovic (R.I.P.), Kukoc, Radja, etc) nor 1994 World Cup Bronze team (Kukoc, Radja, etc) rosters – playing in the midst of the war (who can forget) – including such players…
Never heard of J.S. before so googled and this is the first thing I found…
***.youtube.com/watch?v=BBiJTn1UJNA
FIBA and Olympic basketball has diminished a lot over the years.
Teams have been allowed to add this ‘designated’ player to their rosters for years now, and lots of NBA players have chosen to bail on their National Teams to take the summers off. It also doesn’t help that some qualifiers occur during the NBA season as well.
The fact that Dennis Schroeder (of all people) was the star of the 2023 Basketball World Cup and led Germany (of all teams) to a gold medal says it all.
I’m worried about the same things happening with FIFA and UEFA, but adding so many teams to the Euros and World Cup.
However, FIFA and UEFA are pretty strict with capping players (so that’s good) and I cannot imagine a player bailing on their National Team to take the Summer off.
World Basketball has fallen off though. I don’t see it as anything more than waterpolo and handball now (whereas in the past, it was right there under World and Euro football).
How did they even choose this guy for the team? He plays for Partizan of all teams and has never even played in Croatia.
If your going to naturalize a foreign born player at least get someone good, not some seemingly random guy.
It’s the case with every National Team.
There’s always some obscure player from the States on every team.
Slovenia’s starting center is some big black dude named Josh Nebo, and I don’t think he’s ever actually been to Slovenia.
Hopefully they pull it off.
Greece at home with Giannis…or Slovenia with the NBA’s true MVP in Luka.
Glad we only have to play one of them.
Hopefully no ‘star calls’ in FIBA like they do in the NBA, but home court will probably have an effect.
We should be okay against Dominican…but it sucks that the Final is the next day. Was hoping for a day’s rest in between.
Good news so far. I’ve been so immensely sad about our basketball fortunes but when your such a small country lacking population which also suffers from basketball ball league full of corruption it doesn’t help.
Hopefully we have resurgence and once the HNS has recovered from transitioning from vets to youth, maybe we can have consistent 1 and 2 knockout punch.
Croatia Dream Team and World Cup Champions 2026, one can only hope.