Full time: France full back 2 goals to level the tie on aggregate. Croatia could not withstand the pressure for an entire match. Dalić really took off Modrić and Kova for Jakić and Moro with 10 minutes left??? Talk about mailing it in.
Halftime: 0-0 in Paris. A near perfect defensive half from the Croatians. We knew France would be on the front foot and it showed with their 66% ball possession and nine shots (1 on goal). Livaković with a HUGE save to keep France scoreless. Kovačić and Gvardiol with two smart yellow card tackles to break up any French break aways.
This Croatian defense has now kept France scoreless three halves in a row. Impressive! France will surely open up coming out of halftime which will make them vulnerable to the counter. It’s not over yet but what a great week for Croatian football up to this point. They are 45 minute away from the Nations League semifinal (probably vs. Spain) in June.
Croatia take a 2-0 (aggregate lead) into their 2nd leg quarterfinal against France in Paris on Sunday evening. A win, draw, or 1-goal loss will see the Vatreni book their spot in the Nations League semifinals this June against the winner of the Spain/Netherlands tie. They have all the momentum and confidence to make this happen.
Croatia’s Starting XI vs. France:
I know Dalic has the resume with croatia but in big games he chokes and has no tactics just like his mentor blazevic. RIP.
But i dont know what he thinks going forward he just got asked about vuskovic his answer was we have him on radar but we are stacked at the back line.
He was saying majer sucic l were injured and they can help alot.
The probelm with dalic is modric perisic kramaric have to start but they are old for one game at 90 and off bench another game no problem.
So this was a knock out game every knockout game except Argentina And Final 2018 Dalic has gone to extra time and it kills the players.
This qualifications especially vs the minons will come good for younger players if no injuries happen
Got to start looking at inform players
left back why not give bradaric a look again
Midfield moro shoukd have been given more chances to play since broz left or jakic that is his natural position or Robert ljubicic hell even josip misic if in form for dinamo.
Marco pasalic who cares if hes in mls if he is in form call him same for pjaca fruk even god Halilović why not
Strikers matanovic Beljo ivanovic ljubicic Crnac
Something i dont know what to say
Bring back Rebic and Broz aswell and badelj hahah
Who from Budimir, Modric, Perisic, Kramaric will sill be around for World Cup 2026?
Is Croatia planning on fielding the oldest team in World Cup history?
We gotta get Livaja and Rakitic back into the squad too
Release the KRPAN !
We could have squeezed that game out with a better coach Croatia needs fresh ideas and approach Dalic has had his time.
It’s easy to see our guys we’re just happy to be up by 2 and had no intention of doing anything offensively. Where does that come from? Why does that happen? Another goal at about 80 minutes in the game. Why does that happen? Look to source and you’ll see just a consistent failure to manage the team properly. Follow the evidence. Make the change and it’s come an epidemic. I don’t see anything good for 2026 with this team not because of the players but leadership does matter .
absolutely correct
Well the good news is, it doesn’t seem like the HNS is offering Dalic and extension (despite all the apparent news of Qatar offering him billions, ha ha). So, it’s looking like they want to see results before making a long term decision.
Our play at Euro2024 would normally get a coach fired, but because Dalic achieved three medals in the past, he was given the benefit of the doubt (plus we still owed him two years on that contract).
Our play in Nations League has been very very bad, and despite the good showing in Split against France, we just seem to be entirely reliant on Krama, Perisic and Modric in our gameplan. Dalic is going to ride or die with them despite the criticism from fans and media.
However, the silver lining now is that maybe Dalic will feel the pressure to change things up, as he no longer has a contract after 2026.
He may begin to call up players like Luka Vuskovic (instead of deferring to Ivica Olic on these decisions). His job is on the line, so he may start to call up the more talented youth instead of casually giving them away to others.
He’s got nothing to lose here.
Call up guys like Vuskovic, Stojkovic, heck, even Marco Pasalic and start giving them minutes in these games against Montenegro and Gibraltar.
Try some different formations. Start a trio of the Sucic cousins and Baturina in the midfied, with some speedy wingers.
He will always have Krama/Modric/Perisic available for him when the tournament begins…but these youngsters may give us that speed and width that we’ve been missing (and we have an easily qualifying campaign to test it all out).
Worst case scenario would be us showing up to the Gibraltar game in June with Krama/Perisic as our wing combo, and Modric powering through the full 90 minutes, ha ha.
That’s when you know we’re cooked for 2026 World Cup.
Perhaps Maminjo is onto something re: Dalic calling up Luka Stojkovic ? 😎🤷
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Tottenham are keen on signing Luka Stojkovic from Dinamo Zagreb this summer. The 21 year old has featured 17 times this season, registering seven goal contributions in the league—four goals and three assists. 🇭🇷💎
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x.com/Bergvallisking/status/1904207388481081853
I’ve only been saying it since he’s been very good this past month or two, and he’s really doing well at RW (despite naturally being a CAM).
He was supposedly a big prospect for us (before he knee injury last year) so it’s not like he’s some under the radar talent. He’s a great prospect, who just happened to get sidetracked in his career (but now is playing great in a position of need).
Glad to see that there are rumors circulating around him, as it might expedite a callup.
One weakness of our coaching staff is that they only seem to call up players once foreign teams start to notice them.
It’s like we don’t have the ability to assess the talent we have in front of us until someone else wants to buy them, ha ha.
Perhaps Maminjo is onto something re: Dalic calling up Luka Stojkovic ? 😎
#####
Tottenham are keen on signing Luka Stojkovic from Dinamo Zagreb this summer. The 21 year old has featured 17 times this season, registering seven goal contributions in the league—four goals and three assists. 🇭🇷💎
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https://x.com/Bergvallisking/status/1904207388481081853
Some of our fans were arrested for a supposed salute, get ready for some heavy fines impossible point deduction
Some the comments here…..
Nasa Momcad played great!!! They fought over every loose ball — even when the situation seemed hopeless at 0-2. They showed true fighting spirit. Something that characterizes us Croats. Despite the odds being against them, they could have won on penalties. The team lacked attacking talent and prowess, true, but considering who they were playing and the margin by which they lost we shouldn’t be too disappointed. This was a great experience for the younger players and should help them grow for the future.
I don’t want blame the loss on Livakovic because he had some very good saves, but what was he doing on the first goal. He is not good playing long passes and he lost so much poession because he can not pass the ball. There were a number of times yesterday where France put on small pressure and he panics and kicks out of bounds or to a French player. His saves will make the highlights, but his mistakes also allowed those goals.
His weaknesses are dealing with high balls (from crosses and free kicks), but he’s absolutely elite when it comes to his reflexes on the line.
I really wish he would practice his goal kicks and clearances though. I figure that could improve in that area pretty easily, and it would secure him a contract in a top league.
only issue i have with Dalic right now is him not working in enough young guys over the years …maybe we would have a bit more depth.
Well said agreed
He did well to include Petar Sucic and Igor Matanovic fairly quickly.
But he took a very long time to give chances to guys like Marco Pasalic, Baturina and Luka Sucic,…and still hasn’t given Luka Vuskovic a shot yet.
…and to be honest, Petar Sucic probably on gets integrated this quickly due to Broz leaving. Also, Dalic has twice tried to get Livaja back into the squad so that’s probably the only reason he tested out Matanovic (and more recently) Ivanovic, because we’re starved for a true striker outside Budimir.
Its time too rebuild 2026 is a long way from now and aswell short.
Our D is set for future add vuskovic prpic smolcic galesic maybe erlic wakes up.
Our midfield what was our strength needs to go through growing pains we cant play the way we did with modric kova broz rakitic badelj era
Gotta find a formation and system to play.
Sucic P and sucic L majer vlasic baturina moro maybe ivanusec wakes up Got to believe in hnl players and they need to make better transfers
Stojkovic Durdov Fruk Kacavenda Beljo Matanovic Frigan Ivanovic Jankovic zvonarek crnac
I just cant stand Dalics put the krunica in the pocket hope for magic tactics i feel he had his run with his boys its time to call it a day and start fresh
It was great to see our your guys out there competing against the West African all stars in Paris.
We actually got a ton of experience for those boys heading into WCQ.
I love and respect the veteran core and am so inspired by their level of play for Croatia.
Need to get the younger legs in place for WCQ campaign.
It seems we could have made all those shifts when we were tied 0-0 at half.
Dalic and company need to be just a little bit ahead of the curve.
I feel great, UNL has been the biggest blessing for Croatia. No more at Estonia where our young blows out there knees and doesn’t get better.
Jakic and Moro were competing against the West African diaspora all star crew and having no problem.
Group L, alongside the Czech Republic, Montenegro, the Faroe Islands, and Gibraltar.
Everyone here said Moro is a bench warmer but even he came close to France’s goal in one opportunity.
I think it’s great that some of these young players had an opportunity.despite the loss. This needs to continue, Dalic playing the youth.
I thought Moro was very poised, and maybe one of our better players. I have not seen him play much…but he was solid coming off the bench.
He did well, but he’s also not playing regular football at Bologna (so it’s understandable if he doesn’t get called up for us, as we have plenty of guys who are more in form).
But it’s also a testament to show how giving a younger guy a chance, isn’t a death sentence.
I thought Jakic and Moro played very well, considering the impossible situation they were thrown into.
I see this game as the end of an era. The players who put Croatia into the top level of competitiveness are no longer fast enough or durable to play 90 minutes, let alone 120. Dalić had to sub out Modrić and Kovačić because they got too tired. That fatigue led to the Dembélé goal. Kramarić played an excellent match with his defense and possession (no turnovers I think), but he couldn’t counterattack against France because he is not fast. Modrić looked tired from the start after an excellent 90 minutes in the home match. It’s significant that Croatia started getting closer to France’s goal after Jakić and Moro were subbed on even though they are both defensive midfielders. The reason is purely speed. The substitutions all added speed. Being in the easiest qualifying group is the perfect chance to now move away from relying on Modrić, Perišić and Kramarić because there is finally no trophy immediately on the line, and no top competitions to strategize against. Croatia’s players will be good enough no matter who plays in the qualifiers. The three veterans did a great job in the first leg, but the team needs to be reshaped around the obvious fact that speed and physical endurance is an important part of the modern game. That and Livaković, as great as he is at stopping shots, needs to improve his goal kicks.
I know Livaković is a good reactionary goalkeeper, but he also cost Croatia about 15 possessions with immediate turnovers on clearance attempts – including balls straight out of bounds… that’s a huge issue in tight games, especially in a bunker game
Digging further in to it, per sofa score he completed 19 of 46 passes and he attempted 32 long balls of which only 5 were completed… out of the 8 European goal keepers playing today he had far and away the worst passing numbers- other than Baumann who had a bad game (19/32) nobody came close to his ineffectiveness
We all know that is a fault of his. He is a great shot stopper but he does not help with possession ever.
We need to give him credit where credit is due though, he definitely kept us in that game for both legs.
Gvardiol got extremely tired, why wouldn’t we move him to cb and sub on Sosa at lb. DCC I felt was causing us unnecessary fouls.
DCC was not the greatest in either leg of the games, he was okay in the first.
I would like to see Luka Vučković personally. He is probably gonna start for Tottenham this year.
Yes indeed to both. Juranovic was the one substitution there I was begging for, he is fast and provides depth on the wing ( given he is a traditional wingback). Plus Stanišić was tired as hell at a certain point. There are so many questions about Dalic’s strategy here.
This isn’t rocket science.
France is just much better than Croatia. In a 2 game series, France likely wins 9 of 10.
They had all start after all star come into the game and our penalty line was butt-urine-a, pasalic, izvanoic (as in his kick landed izvan the field), moro , and jakic
The bunker was the right strategy. It came close to working but as i mentioned after last game, it is concerning that Croatia can’t maintain possession anymore. Luka sucic wouldn’t have done anything for that
Croatia as usual has zero counter threat out of the bunker because they are so slow. They would get it into space and France would just catch up with them and take it back.
Oh well. It was fun. The players played hard and now we have an easier qualifying group
France missed one of there penalties too bud. And Livakovic came close to saving two of them, they just shot them too well.
And butt-urine Pašalić, as you call him, scored a nice penalty so I don’t know what your issue with him is.
Jakić, and Moro also scored their penalties, by the way.
Moro’s PK was sick!
I didn’t mind Jakic’s either.
France missed two PKs.
(I think The truth2 is attempting to be super duper hilarious by calling Baturina … butt-urine-a.)
On top of my comment. Anyone else notice that ourselves, Poland, Serbia, Czech and Hungary use their own players? Netherlands, Spain and Germany are hardly recognizable. Those four teams have also won the World Cup without importing. It seems like all of Europe is just having at it for taking in talent elsewhere. Euros is always going to be those four teams it seems.
Of course, it is pathetic. France has like what 3 actual French players? Even UK has more of their own countrymen. It’s only going to get worse as time goes on too
France had three French players?
No way. I don’t believe it.
Dear brother
The biggest mistake we ever did was entering that damn European Union. I spent four weeks home. It was unrecognizable. Don’t know anyone anymore. There was so many foreigners and strangers, and they were all entitled . the day that those people put the dress on is the day we will no longer be Vaterni
Where is home? Zagreb?
Zagreb definitely has a lot of foreign workers now.
The rest of the country is okay…unless you are visiting in high season, then of course it will be filled with tourists.
What an absolute shameful performance that was. The first game we played with such poise and determination. That was another let down in the books. So sick and tired losing and going to penalties to lose again. That’s two straight penalty kicks we’ve lost. The luck will eventually run out and can rely on going to full distance to always win. France deserved it and was pressuring the whole game. Did we even register a shot on net? This is a time to reset the team. I’m fed up with preferential treatment towards our former players as being placed as coaches. Dalić also needs to go. He is old and tactics are abusing our older players. Ok big deal we see Perisic score a beauty of a goal. Stop repeating the same mistakes. Introduce the youth immediately. Does anyone recall what happened at the World Cup in 2014? We had players like Kovacic, Vrsaljko, Perisic, and Brozovic play and take over and look at how well they all turned out. We did indeed didn’t preform the best that year but from 2014 post Brazil until 2018 we were on top beating Spain, England, Argentina etc. For the love of God just play all the youth during qualifying. We have a easy path with only Czech as threat. I’m expecting no losses and maybe a draw. Time to try our offence and new approaches. We certainly had no offence in that second game today. Goodbye Perisic, Kramaric, etc. Livakovic deserves more love and should be on a way better club. Again our goalkeepers keeping us in the game. Typical..let’s see how we do this year to prepare for next year. Just scrap this team and move forward from the old golden generation. Spain and France have and we hang on to our past. Wasting talent as we speak.
Despite losing this aggregate series…
It was nice to see Gvardiol finally play well for us again in this two game matchup. It seemed like forever since he’s had a great game for us.
It was also nice to see Josip Sutalo take another step forward.
He’s know to take a lot of risks and make a lot of mistakes, but I felt like he had a pretty flawless defensive campaign these two games.
We really should try to call up Vuskovic and try out this massive, and skilled backline.
Agree both Sutalo and Gvardiol played well in both matches especially Sutalo.
Croatia are too old to play games in 4 days against a team the calibre of France.
Its OK to play bunker when you have A 2-0 lead….but not when you have 4 players that qualify to receive their pension.
If it wasn’t for Livakovič we lose both of these games easy.
Dalic will ride or die with the veteran players. That’s just the way it is.
France 16 corners- Croatia 0
I think it is 3 days, but yes you are right France made 5 changes to their starting 11 and we made only 1. We simply do not have the depth and rightly or wrongly that is why Dalic sticks with the veterans.
Thanks to fan and poster “Croat” for providing a link to the match. I was able to watch starting from the 2nd half.
I am dissapointed that no one off the bench had a positive impact. Baturina looked petrified in this match.
Yes, we missed someone like Luka Sučić today.
I just hate when they play like shit.
No hustle from players and ref is a supporter of France
I had to goto work and missed the shootout.. who scored and missed for us?
From memory – Buturina went first and goalkeeper saves, Moro scores, Ivanovic shoots high over the crossbar, Pasalic scores, Jakic scores, DCC scores and unfortunately Stanisic missed the seventh spot kick or should I say the goalkeeper saved it.
I’ve said many times the goal is always to buil for the next tournament. We are currently not doing this by playing to many of our old core guys. Marco pasalic is scoring goals and nice goals and he isn’t even called ? I don’t care if it’s MLS he could have helped today.
It’s time to build for 2026 start of qualifying no old players should be starting except budimir. We’re not gonna win the next World Cup either with all the old guys or with the new guys. At least the young guys will gain experience and build for the next few tournaments.
Modric and gang had a lot of flops before 2018 it’s time to hang them up and let the new guys truly take over.
I was watching the Spain/Netherlands match the other night. The commentators spoke about a Spanish sub coming on who had Netherlands nationality, but also Spanish nationality (I don’t remember the specifics), and that player chose Spain.
I can’t even begin to imagine an opportunity like that for Croatia. Having a player with that level making a choice of which top tier nation to go with.
France has had that luxury too. They get to chose from so much.
Not Croatia. After reading these comments, I should be very thankful for how the team does. Reaching the quarters is something to be thankful for taking into account a nation of less than 4 million with nothing to pick and choose from.
We have a few junior players who are opting for us over Germany.
We’ve had several dump Austria for us (and Austria aren’t terrible).
We will potentially have Belinho opting to pick us over Brazil, and I believe there are a couple of Argentine Juniors who are likely to stick with Argentina (but who knows, may play for us instead).
Thank you for your comment. I guess what I was trying to say is Croatia just doesn’t have the scope of volume that these other nations do. And after your comment and others, I need to be thankful that we can at least qualify and maybe sometimes go a little deeper in a tournament.
We REALLY needed Luka Sucic this game. Our key players did not have a great game, and we didn’t have enough talent on the bench to replace them. Luka Sucic would have at least created a chance or two for us.
The starting lineup was decent, but the subs as usual were bad (especially the Moro/Jakic subs for Modric/Kova).
I actually though Moro and Jakic played well…but you seriously cannot sub out both Modric and Kovacic with the game tied up late, and expect anything but a loss. The talent gap is too big.
Modric didn’t have a good game. Way too many lost balls (one leading to a goal). Perisic was okay, but not as good as the first leg.
Simply put…we did not have the depth to replace guys like Modric, Perisic and Kovacic, because we keep wasting spots on our squad for guys like Moro and Jakic.
This just shows how important it is to give a lot of these U21 guys a chance.
When Gvardiol was subbed out, I was just imagining how great it would be to sub in a player like Luka Vuskovic.
When Perisic was subbed out, I dreamt about a hungry in-form right winger (like Luka Stojkovic) getting his shot in the game.
We really, really need to trust some of our young talent and give them callups.
Hopefully Dalic learned from this and calls up some more U21 talent for the World Cup qualifiers. Hopefully he integrated the Sucic cousins into the starting eleven, and starts bringing guys like Krama/Modric/Perisic off the bench in some games.
Breaking: Maminjo loves Luka Sucic of Real Sociedad.
Doesn’t everyone here?
Tepid.
Admit it. He would have unloaded one on Maignon from long range the first chance he got.
We needed someone to do that this game (instead of constantly backpassing it).
I forget the game, but I think it was the first start for Sucic and they clocked his strike at 85 mph. He missed the goal, and it was quite a few feet outside the box. But still. He threw heavy artillery into that strike and it made the play-by-play people make a mention. Maybe it was Nation’s League final? I’m not in the mood to check my work. Sucic got subbed off like at minute 69 or so.
We need someone dropping shells that speed just for the simple sake of making the goalkeeper think.
I was able to see the highlights, it was said that Hrvatska was parking the bus. Why does this happen in nogomet? Why does Croatia have this mentality and not go for the kill. Is this coaching and the aggressor on the other side. Luka has been great but gave away possession that led to the goal in the 80th minute. Dobar turnir, ali moramo promijeniti mentalitet i strategiju.
And Caleta-Car gave away a cheap free kick that led to the first goal. Many (the defensive elite might say “most”) soccer goals come off (real or imagined) “mistakes” from the opposition.
Team was tired for sure in the 2nd half and in extra time. But look at the positives. Livakovic played well and kept them in it. He should have saved for sure at least one PK. Time to focus on WC 2026
Dalic needs to go . The team is more talented than people think . We have talented players . We can compete but we will never win a major championship . We came close . We failed and regress because of bad management
There’s alot to be critical of after today’s game, but hats off to France they were the better team over the two games. We can still be proud for taking it to one of the best teams on the world. Time to brush it off and move on… Focus on the future.
France weren’t better in the first game. They were better in second game and PKs.
They were better yesterday. Thursday we were the better team . I honestly don’t know if we can be better
I never said we were a minnow, I said we looked like a minnow this match. France obviously stepped up the intensity following the first leg, and in front of the home crowd. I would have liked to have seen a better reaction to France’s intensity, but hopefully this will have been a good experience for the younger players. Maybe it will be like the penalty shootout loss to Turkey in Euro 2008. Remember that both Modric and Rakitic missed from the penalty spot in 2008, but maybe that experience helped in the 2018 WC. In 2018, Rakitic was especially clutch in the both shootouts.
As expected the team totally collapses after taking out budimir. If ur gonna take him out you gotta replace him with someone who can challenge 50/50 balls (beljo, musa, petko, etc). After that substitution France just parked their CBs at the halfway line again, 21 players all cramped on one half, got absolutely chocked out with zero outlet. Ivanovic was absolute assss, was getting manhandled. Beljo>Ivanovic. 2nd cap for ivanovic and he already played about 90 mins total including taking a pk, the disrespect to budimir is unreal. There were times budimir was positioned in the box but instead of attempting a cross to him we passed it all the way back to livakovic, only for him to kick the ball out of bounds ffs.
All the subs played poor, no chemistry.
Krama still playing winger WTFFF?! Baturina looked like a wimp out there.
Over the past few years Dalic has forced vlasic in the lineup, but now when hes in the best form of his career at his club he doesn’t play him. lol
Liva and the back four are solid
Proud!
France is probably the best team in the world right now (a team packed with stars) and they were pissed after the game in Split.
I knew they would dominate.
But I liked the fighting spirit of this team. Petar Sucic and Baturina will have brilliant careers, we will have a future.
I can’t blame Dalic. We simple don’t have players with the speed of Dembele. Mbappe, Oliseh and others.
The French line up was physically stronger than us. They manhandled us. I was shocked that we held them off for as long as we did . Speed was really was not factor here. We were bullied the entire game. Each time we had possession we had no idea what to do with . Yeah we have a future . We will always be in the mix. Just not successful
Me too! I was kinda laughing with my Dad watching the game and like how are we even hanging on lmao.. We actually took them to penalties.. somehow, lol..
P. Sucic plays with heart, brains and desire. He should be the next leader of this team hands down.
Not really upset, it’s Nation League, nobody cares. Now they have qualifying matches in June instead of a semi and possibly a final of a mini tournament that means pretty much nothing. Rather watch Croatia vs the Czechs in June than Nations League games. Qualifying for the World Cup is more important. And for those calling us minnows, they were protecting a 2-0 lead against one of the best teams in the world in their packed stadium. And they can’t just take players from other continents like pretty much every other team that are in the Nations League playoffs. I am pretty content with a country of 4 million plus and what they accomplish. Call me silly.
your a bit silly
Minnow w a big curac. 🙂
Most of these comments are insanely stupid. Dalić out? We looked like “minnows”? We lost 2-0 to the best team in the world. Wasn’t the strongest game, but it happens. A lot of inexperience out there today, things will only get better.
Jo you are spot ON, lots of silly comments on here from people that obviously don’t know much about football. We were just outclassed by a better team, one of the best in the world, and no matter who the coach, it would not have changed things. Dalic did not choose to play ultra defensive, credit goes to France for not allowing us to play any other way.
We did extremely well to beat them in Split.
We have an aging squad, lacking pace and some young inexperienced players coming on and people on here are talking about us being contenders for the WC and in which Pot we are going to be for the WC draw?
Absolutely stupid comments, we first have to qualify which will not be easy.
The players didn’t have anything to do with it . Regardless of who he put in there, the results would have been the same . That French squad was not the same squad that played in Split.
I think little girls are posting on the site.
It feels like Baturina and Ivanovic feel too much pressure and it keeps them from playing at their best. I wouldn’t scrap them yet – on the contrary, they need to get experience. I just don’t feel like Dalic is doing it the right way. He should get in new players during less important matches first, and then work them up to more important matches like today’s.
(I do however believe that both Sucic cousins don’t have this problem and are able to overcome the mental pressure and play above the stress).
Also was looking back at the stats and I think it’s good to be reminded that since Mandzukic no one other than Matanovic shot at the goal as much as he did when he had the occasion. I was kind of writing him off because in my head he should just really change club to get the play time he deserves and to really make it into the national team – I hope he does and that he can come back play for us because it actually worked with him. Just needs to get better with finishing
We could really see that our attack was too old today to play like the previous match. Stop with the beating around the bush and get in players like Vuskovic right away. Continue playing Ivanovic even if he disappointed because otherwise we’re just continuing the same cycle of not giving chances to those who worked their way up there
it was crucial for Livakovic to get at least one save
Using an overused sports line: If you would have told me we’d get to PKs against France over two legs I’d have taken it.
Kramaric and Modric much maligned here for their PKs … neither shoots one today ….. and we miss three of seven.
Not sure if you heard that sports line from Nova TV commentator ? because he said it during the extra time. And it’s true most of us would have taken it.
I had some English commentator (Bein Sports 2 on IPTV?) so no, but my dad watched on Nova TV.
We have to stop playing on penalties that is what lost us this game.
clueless dalić
How is it possible to go from looking like a dominant team in Europe and a contender for next World Cup, to looking like a minnow in just one match?
Players should be demanding coaching change. There was zero strategy that was obvious- this is the time to hire a real manager- we would have had one World Cup victory and one nations league with a proper strategist
That’s for the HNS to do, but it’s run like a shit show so it ain’t gonna happen. As for the fans, we need to push for it but the majority won’t only based off past merits under this coaching.
Dalic needs to be changed
If he’s going, so should the rest of that coaching staff
Hats off to the boys for getting us to spot kicks, tremendous effort however we have to be realistic and say that the better team has made it to the SF. No shame being eliminated by a very strong French side.
Livakovic kept us in the match with some great saves and was a bit unlucky with the first two spot kicks.
Next match WC qualifier on 6 June away to Gibraltar followed by a home match on 9 June against Czechia.
He almost saved the first two penalties. He had a piece of it. He did the best he could and played a great game. I am not upset that we lost the nations league, I am upset that we lost to the French because the french have taken so much away from us and have always gotten the best of us
Game went pretty much as I thought it would…except, didn’t think zero shots on goal and zero corners – that is pathetic. Was always going to be a struggle because the older guys can’t go the full plus extra- and then a disadvantage if lucky enough to go to pens. Still, almost pulled it out so they should not hang heads vs France
To add, an old team has big disadvantage with 2 legs and short turnaround (with extra time looming)- fortunately, there should be none of that in qualifying right?
Wonder if France was good or if we made them look good by defending and letting them attack all game?
Livakovic saved us multiple times and almost blocked the penalty from mppabe and someone else. Did you notice how all the French players were shooting on his right side for the penalty?
Ivanovic was disappointing.
Livakovic is definitely man of the match there. He kept us in the game in both legs.
Ivanovic is a fraud. Next time call up Vuskovic
Vusković is not a forward he is a defender. That would have helped the backline but not offense. To be honest he looks like a better prospect that both Duje and Pongracic.
What we need is another true winger so we can stop playing players out of position, and stop solely depending on Perišić for the tempo in attack he cannot do it alone. After that first match France swarmed him and snuffed him out every time almost.x
I don’t see very much in Jakić, but to be fair that was tough game for him to start in. That is the thing with Dalic as coach, we just don’t know if these players are good because of the lack of strategy and plan B in these games. The lack of strategy and forethought in how he plays players specifically.
He plays a line and it works, then when it doesn’t, nada. We need to see if Matanović or Musa can develop. Ljubičić may be another option, whom quite frankly I have no idea why Dalic refuses to call the kid up. He has had way more goals than Ivanovic and Austrian Bundesliga may not be top flight but it’s still worth something.
To be fair Budimir was invisible in this game to, and it’s not the fault of the players up front, they had zero service because Kramarić is not a winger. Krama should have been playing where Baturina is but we have nobody else.
Despite his issues in development, I still really liked what I saw from Matanović last time around he was aggressive and good on his feet. Budimir does not seem to have that so touch on the ball.
To be fair Budimir did fantastic in that first match and the second game was not his fault at all.
To correct Krama should have been playing where P Sucic was. Is what I meant but even in the first match.
Mate what are you smoking? Duje was a stud in both legs and is miles ahead of Pog. If Dalic played Caleta in the Euros we would have made the knockouts.
Damn Livakovic had his hand on 2 of them – could have been hero
Livakovic was a hero my friend. That game was not lost by him.
100% – but it’s a bit empty in a loss unfortunately- would have been one for the ages if he grabbed a victory in this one that was so one-sided for France
Whenever a player stares at the ref before a penalty shot like he is asking for mercy, it never goes in, a lesson for Baturina.
We are up against the second best team in the world, a country 20 times larger than ours.
Going to kicks.
How about some positive vibes guys?
Another great save by Livakovic
Livakovic saves a 1 on 1 with Mppabe
Who would even take the penalties?
A nail biter for sure!
Fire Dalic- prayer is not a strategy- he came into this game with zero plan
Agreed. It seems too often they’re playing to not lose. Rarely goes well.
After setting fire to my jersey collection, I’ll be looking to be Malta or San Marino supporter. This team just crumples and falls down when it matters.
Two great saves by Livakovic and one goal save by Gvardiol
Our players need to go to the gym and put on some muscle
I can’t believe it, but it looks like baturina is already gassed. What a pathetic asshole
I now know what it’s like to be a fan of Faroe Islands. This has been painful to watch. I miss Brozovic tonight and the midfield we used to have.
Let’s be honest guys the French are just too good. I don’t think we have had one shot on target ? Not sure how we are going to score ? we lack pace all over the field. It will be a miracle if we can make to penalties.
3 of 4 NL QFs going to extra time
Only Germany beating Italy 5-4 aggregate is resolved
Just need one moment from one of the young guys or fringe players
Did anyone not see this coming- mental midget Dalic has zero clue how to coach
Jakic gets a yellow for what it seems to be his first foul comitted?
Modrić has been giving up way too many balls all game.
This last giveaway cost us.
Dalić subbing out Kova and Modrić for Jakić and Moro is a headscratcher.
Not sure what the plan is with that.
Modric did have a poor game today.
Playing with a defensive mid in Sucic along with Modric and Kovacic tells us the game plan was to defend. Awful strategy by Dalic. Playing not to win will always bite you in the ass.
This is a game where we needed a Pasalic or a Ljubicic. Players with some attack and pace.
Ivanovic and Baturina were invisible.
Our back line didn’t play all that bad today….we had zero attack which was so hard to watch.
Kovacic off for Jakic after they scored?
He looks upset for coming off
Modric coming off for Moro?
Subs should have came before the goal….
Penalty miss from Kramaic would have helped with the xtra goal.
France scores a second.
I think Modric might have given away the pass.
Also Ivanovnic and Baurtina have no physical advantage over the French defenders they keep bouncing off them
France seeems to be getting all the fouls and we keep getting cards
Every foul we get called for is an automatic yellow.
France scores from free kick
Caleta car gives away free kick
Nova is showing the game
Really rough first half. France is putting on the pressure and we haven’t had much possession.
I have to say Kovačić is doing really well. The problem I think is that we don’t have Luka Sučić. He really needs to be up front. I think he would make a difference.
Stanišić had an unfortunate yellow it was a late timed challenge.
Hopefully Croatia can manage to score one, we could have really used that penalty from Krama in the first game.
LINK FOR GAME
https://soccer-100.com/event/uefa-nations/croatia-vs-france-live-soccer-stats/723710
Scoreless so far thanks to that great save by Livakovic around the 40th minute mark. We will need some fresh legs in the second half as I don’t think that Modric can last much longer.
Go to viasports intrernation youtube channel. Its fully working on there
Why is there no feed, in this day and age with the tech this is ridiculous
https://vipleague.im/
This works you need like 40 clicks of ads to get it to work tho
Can’t find a feed. How does it look so far??
I’m usually the Dalić critic, and I’m a Baturina fan…
But am I the only one here who isn’t so concerned about Petar Sučić starting?
If he’s 100% in form, he’ll be great for us.
Personally, I wish Baturina was a starter.
Dalić is really scaring me with the move of starting P.Sucic for Baturina. To me it shows he plans on playing very cautious and defensive. Aggregate might be 2-2 by the end of the 1st half. Never easy.
It could also give Modric a more offensive role, saving his legs.
5 changes for France
Olise
Kone
Barcola
Upamacano
Hernandez
All coming in
Livako needs another MOTM performance.
DCC is the weak link. He has only played 45min of club football since Jan 30 but according to Dalic he is a starter for the National team.
If Mbape scores early we will probably be done. We are too old to play 2 games in 4 days.
Petar Sucic ❤️❤️❤️
Croatia will be cautious, counter attack will be key for Croatia
any links for the match?
I think sucic will come in or pasalic for this one and we will park the bus
Will Modric have a 90 min in him is question
I can’t remember two national team games being played in 4 days. Not great for Croatia
2022 2023 nations league 4 games in 9 days were played
Completely see the team bunker down because of Dalic- dumb move that can hurt us bad-
This is going to be a battle today
France will be hungry and know they missed/mis-hit too many chances last time
No amount of goals makes Croatia safe
90 minutes of concentration is needed (and possibly 120 minutes)
France can score 3 goals in 5 minutes if Croatia loses focus
Don’t forget 2014 WC where France ended up in the play-offs
France went to Ukraine and lost 2-0
It was over right ?
Nope
France beat Ukraine 3-0 in Paris and went to Brazil
***.france24.com/en/20131119-france-qualify-fifa-world-cup-beat-ukraine
Not sure I’ve read anyone hear talking like it’s over, but OK.
The team needs to put offensive pressure on France. Conceding a third goal would make it very difficult for France to come back. Croatia needs to come out on the front foot and score first.
If Budimir plays like he did last game, then it would be huge for us.
Also, Petar Sučić looked decent out there.
It was a small sample, but if he’s in full form then we need to take advantage of this and get him out there as well (at least in the second half if not starting).
Three days rest for players is not enough, especially for players like Modric, Perisic, etc. The whole team ran hard last game. I know that France had the same rest, but their team is much younger. The old guard needs to be subbed out earlier in the game, regardless of the result, otherwise they risk injury.
Per SN expected lineup: Livaković – Stanišić, Šutalo, Ćaleta-Car, Gvardiol – Modrić, Kovačić – Perišić, Sučić, Kramarić – Budimir
Kick-off 3:45pm EDT (there is no such thing as EST during DST)
I’m seeing 3:45 p.m. (EST) kick-off, not 2:45 p.m.
Don’t think the clocks change an hour in Europe till next weekend.
🤡🤡🤡🚨🚨🚨
You can’t see EST when only EDT exists during DST
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I wonder if you bring in a Petar Sučić in for Baturina to play along side Kovačić and move Modrić to the 10.
We need defensive legs and aggression to start this match as France will come out intense and we need absorb the pressure, counter and then score one and let their crowd turn on the players.
Dalić has to be ready to sub at half time and early into the second half to keep our legs fresh.
Bringing on a Baturina in the second half to counter attack in the second half could nab us a second goal.
Good news is we have plenty of depth in Pasalic, Sosa, Jurinović.
Ivanović runs as well.
Livakovic will need to bring his confidence and make some big saves.
I have to disagree, as for me it would be ideal to score first to the ease the pressure, and then switch Sučić for Baturina around the 60th.