Positives: Baturina got the start. Both Matanović & Petar Sučić were capped by Croatia for the first time.
Negatives: Dalić basically employed a 5-5-0 formation. He needs to add speed on the flanks with natural wingers. That did not happen this game.
Why won’t he play Pjaca? Both wings are Croatia’s Achilles Heel and Dalić can’t/won’t address it.
Baturina was awful. But Im just chalking up to nerves for his first big start.
Jakic should never been in the starting 11, maybe even no on the bench. Just a useless player.
Pongracic is so up and down. Still would never start him unless 100% necessary.
Sosa is fine. I like Sosa but expect a bit more from him.
Love M Pasalic but only coming off the bench. Never as a starter unless its agains a weak opponent.
P Susic is already better than Brozovic ever was. A future star.
L Sucic has been my fav player for years now. He is the next big thing. He is the next Rakitic
Gvardiol is great but man… he needs to be better in defense.
Kova was great.
Kramaric was good.
Modric was Modric. He’s getting old.
Caleta Car was surprisingly awesome.
Matanovic got into great positions but has be be better. It was a good start but goals need to be produced … and fast.
Perisic looked awful.
Dalic needs to go.
On what was on display Portugal was the better team and created the better chances and deserved to win. Kovacic again our best player and has been for some time now.
DCC had a good match when he came on in the second half, and I thought that Matanovic with his physical presence showed promise for the future. With Poland beating Scotland 3 – 2 away we must win against Poland in Osijek in three day’s time to have a realistic chance of finishing top 2 in the group.
Watched our U21 beat the Faroes 2 – 1 in a very disappointing display. We struggled to break them down and did not create to many chances. The two goals that we scored came from the spot kicks. Faroes had a man red carded with 15 minutes to go but they still managed to score in stoppage time.
a game of two halves. 1st half our defenders let us down….both Pograncic and Sosa failed to complete their assignments and it caused a goal. in particular, Sosa had to block that crappy shot that went in…he was right there and should have done better. Pograncic always makes me nervous and he did it again today. 2nd half we were better overall and less insecurity defensively.
Jakic stepped in and did a decent job. its not easy to step in against a team with Leao coming down your side of the field…it would make anyone have nightmares just thinking about it.
I felt very bad for Baturina but I knew it could happen to him but hoped it didn’t. if you ask me, it didn’t help him that he wasn’t getting many touches on the ball. he’s the type of player that needs to be involved and in the case today….they often chose not to play through him and thats frustrating for a guy like him. he’s everything at Dinamo and he was really not used at all today. lots of negative comments about him but he didn’t get 10% of the passes he does at Dinamo.
I like M Pasalic and he has several free credits in my book but for the love of God, he’s just not effective as a starter for us.
Sosa was also just there…filling in a spot but not offering us much of what we’ve seen from him before.
Kovacic was simply awesome today…nothing more to say about it.
Petar Sucic is a name I’ve talked about here for the past year and I was so glad he got many of your attention…the kid is gonna be great!
Matanovic surprised me. I really enjoyed his presence on the field. he wants the ball and he wants to score…he’s a go getter and we need that. I’m hopeful we might have something in him
Not our best performance today not our worst. Probably ended up right where we belonged.
An FYI on baturina as I have watched many of his games. One bad game does not define you. This is a skilled young man who had an off game. It happens.
Kovacic was outstanding- best player on the pitch.
Yet Kvartuc wants him on the bench when Modric is on the field.
SMH
This isn’t basketball. What is needed from Modric on one part of the pitch is what Kovacic can add to when he gets the ball 20 yards away.
They do not clash. Yet under Coach Kvartuc, Kovacic would be a last minute sub.
SMH – again
Kvartuc shows he’s a pravi Amerikanac (football I mean soccer not being an indigenous sport of the USA) by calling for Dalic to bench Kova. Preposterous, ridiculous, just plain dumb. 😆
Sucic moves up in terms of importance. Really disappointed in Baturina , man disappointing . He may have shot his only shot. Not good enough and we have other guys pushing for spots. Wish he did better but that’s nogomet.
First goal is not Livakovic’s. The guy is shooting from 3 yards out, just because it goes through his legs doesn’t mean it’s his fault.
Pograncic caught ball watching again just like vs Spain for goal 2. Never liked him.
Also the first goal, I think Sosa could have done better closing the guy down, he did the same vs Neymar in the WC and Argentina in the Sam’s however ultimately I would put the blame on Pograncic did what Sutalo did vs Spain and tried to push forward playing the offside trap but the player was on.
Matanovic attacking the crosses are nice to see. First header would have been a nice goal.
We looked better than I expected. If that cross was on Kramaric’s right foot it’s at least on net if not a goal.
Both Sucic’s looked good.
Perisic adjusted his game for the better for the little he was on. Doesn’t really take guys on, does a simple move, moves the ball wide and crosses.
As much as I would love to see Pjaca and Pasalic on the wings, they are defensive liabilities and Portugal attacked down the wings.
Finally, I hate the short corners but I think Croatia knows they’re not the fastest team so they don’t want to risk the counter with the team caught up the field.
Would like to see more shots from outside the box.
Just go with the young guys and surround them with Kova, Modrić, Gvardiol, Livaković and Krama.
Plan for 2026.
100% , we wasted all of Euros when we could have done that. Dalic can’t really coach . He managed guys who can play and now that he has to actually teach, he’s lost.
dalic is letting the national side down he needs to be shunted out hell never resign.Hes making excuses all bad signs .
U ain’t lyin gazman
Did not watch the game but some great initial insight for this game from everyone, let’s face it, today and the next 18 months are an experiment for what the squad will be and look like for WC 2026, let’s see
So I “watched” most of it. Spent some time “multitasking” at work (I admittedly suck at it) but from what I could tell:
Livakovic should have had the first goal.
Baturina did not look too good.
Jakic played waaaaay too long.
Pasalic is best deployed from the bench.
L. Sucic is a stud. He just looks soooo dangerous. What an outside of the boot cross!
Matanovic looks like a classic striker. I’m hopeful.
P. Sucic looked good as well.
Sutalo looks to be regaining form, both for club and Country. Hopefully he’s figured out how to deal with his homesickness.
Kovacic is a beast. If only he could figure out when to shoot.
Some thoughts at Full-time
– how was that only 4 minutes of added time, lol should have been at least 7-8 with all the time wasting and substitutions
– Livakovic – best game I’ve seen him play – bounced back from 1st goal (that went thru his legs) – and was fantastic – not just stoping shots – but read of game – anticipation – movement, etc – if he played every game like he did today he could start as goalie for almost any team in the world (especially accounting for the shaky back 3 – Pong, Satulo, DCC not giving him much help today (but DCC seemed better than Pong today))
– Jakic – good solid performance – very utility-like – meaning decent in all aspects – nothing stood out as outstandingly positive but importantly nothing particularly negative – the vision on that beautiful cross to Pasalic in b/w 2 defenders was outstanding – was responsible defensively against strong opposition – grew into game the longer it went on – extra points since RB isn’t his natural position
PETAR SUCIC – WOW – he did more in the 13 minutes out there – than I’ve seen Baturina and Luka Sucic do in their 16 caps combined – Anonymous is not exaggerating – as soon as he stepped on the field he looked at home (like someone who has 50 caps under their belt and late 20s) – his movement / running outstanding – both getting back defensively all the way to his own box – and moving forward including smart pressing – his head was on a constant swivel in order to read the field / where the other players were – he was already calling for the ball to be passed to him a couple of times, taking control – after he passed the ball he made some nice forward runs (ready for 1-2 where the ball didn’t get back to him) – good passing / vision. Must have had 100% successful passes today (no errant passes). Based on this performance alone – I would say he has a higher potential/ceiling than either Baturina and Luka Sucic. Dalic must start Petar Sucic next game – he deserves it. Watch the game back from the time he steps on the field and just watch Petar Sucic only – Outstanding with a capital O. Was beautiful to see – made Anonymous very happy.
Matanovic – he did more in 29 minutes – than I’ve seen Budimir, Petkovic, Musa, Beljo do combined in their the last 15 matches – he was smart in his pressing – his movement in the box was very good (to get to free space) – especially where crosses were coming in to him – was excellent to make sure he was positioned to get a header onto goal. Was unlucky not to score – but very promising – egg on Anonymous’ face for saying he was only playing German division 2 last year (although it’s not really hard to do better than we’ve seen from Musa, Beljo). The only downsides I see is he is a bit “Peter Crouch” in his running (a little bit lanky and not so fast w/ pace) – but his technical ability / movement (esp. in the box) more than make up for it
Baturina – complete passenger today – looked completely lost – didn’t know where to run – where to be position himself – no real effort in pressing nor getting back defensively (especially where he was in la-la land waiting for a pass to come to him while backpedaling and Pedro Neto intercepted the ball – Gvardiol had to sprint back to get Neto – while Baturina just strolled back – bro: u lost the ball – u better move ur a*s to win it back)) – a few errant passes
Anonymous you kill me man. I love when you talk in third person thank you for all your service on here
The regulars played very well: Modrić, Kova, Krama, Gvardiol, Liva, Šutalo, Pašalić were all in form and effective throughout the game. Only thing we were missing was more finishing, but the overall play was good.
Players who made statements:
Positive:
Caleta-Car (impeccable and linked up well with Liva, Šutalo and Gvardiol in the back), Jakić (was solid throughout after the first conceded goal and played in some very dangerous balls), Petar Sučić, Luka Sučić, Sosa (probably the best LW or LWB option at the moment), Perišić (was very dangerous from the right side).
Negative: Pongračić (a skilled ballhandler but a terrible defender now in most games he plays for Croatia, and Dalić was right to replace him with Ćaleta-Car who is a more solid defender and can actually hold his own against top competition), Baturina (a very skilled individual player who simply was not linking up well with the team, the players who came on after him were more effective).
I’m not sure what to think of Matanović. He did a great job with his positioning and played a great ball on to Krama for one of those near-scoring opportunities (the one with the obvious handball that wasn’t called a penalty?), but he didn’t score in spite of great service. Budimir would likely have scored one of those, but Budimir will be 34 or 35 at the time of the next world cup…)
Overall, a good way to come back and respond to criticism and his own past incompetence from Dalić. He’s testing out all the relevant players and making changes in response to how they present themselves there. He clearly wanted to compete, but he did the right thing using this match first of all as an experiment. It’s more important to have things clear in world cup qualifying than in the first match of Nations League during a rebuild phase.
Called 2-1 Portugal- based on my betting history- Croatia ties in late to take $10.50 cents away from me- can’t make it as a big time gambler
The game was fine. It’s a glorified friendly. I see a lot of people want us to go to Portugal and beat Portugal 3-0. Overrall we played well, defense need to be shored up a little but we didnt have our 2 usually RBs. Going forward I think its obvious that Krama isnt a true forward. We created chances and the younger kids looked calm enough. Kova and Gvardiol looked solid. we’ll be okay and you drama queens need to stop it. I swear some of you think you know better than Dalic when most of you haven’t play competitively past like U17
Brilliant stuff. Finally I saw us play with rhythm, trust in each other, determination and so much skill. Yeah we lost but the way we played at the end there is what has been missing from our football. Verve! Well done boys. Carry on like that and the goals will come. both sucic brilliant and a very good debut for matanovic. Excellent
Was it just me or did we look more solid at the back with Duje Caleta-Car than in the first half with Marin Pongracic?
I missed the match after Matanovic came on – how did he do?
We’ve actually had quite a few quality chances but as usual we just cant finish
No one wants to shoot. It is so fucking frustrating!!! Want to walk it in constantly.
For entertainment purposes! —–>
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1822shw/luke_williams_the_notts_county_manager_explaining/?rdt=39638
Awesome thread. Some great insight and stats. Thank you.
Perisic and Petar Sucic???? What kind of subs are that
They were actually very effective subs. Croatia nearly tied it several times after they came on.
Yeah tbh Perisic did look much better today compared to the Euros
This ref is horrible
We should doing MEMES on X and everywhere for the Croatian short corners.
It is absurd they do this. I can understand changing it up as an element of surprise for some form of set play. Putting the corner consistently in such a dangerous will yield a goal at a much higher percentage then the short to be kind. The defensive team is laughing I am sure whenever we do this.
We all have that friend that is super smart but they end up for whatever reason doing that stupid dance move. First Visual Meme: Kind of like Elaine from Seinfeld who does that weird dance.
If Baturina wasn’t asleep and two steps behind (not the Def Leppard song) on the pass on the one short corner, it could have/should have resulted in a great cross opportunity. The one that went back to centre did result in a shot, if memory serves. I don’t necessarily disagree with you that they do too many though.
Would anyone be able to provide what happened on the OG? Was it a deflected strike? Bad ball handling? Unlucky bounce?
Sosa slid to catch up to the ball/put it towards the net and it bounced off defender and into the upper reaches of the net. Kramaric had fired it in front of the net after getting a pass from Modric (unless I’m misremembering).
Much appreciated. Thank you!
Yes, it was deflected from a Sosa shot/cross, not sure which one really.
Halftime, ajmo!
Baturina brutalina more like …. good Lord.
Luka Sucic should be starting in front of Baturina and Jakic.
Pongracic is awful. Baturina looks nervous.
Attacking well, but need to shoot more often.
Baturina looks complete lost out there
He has no clue where to run to
Completely positionally unaware – in the offensive end/box – he doesn’t even try to get in open space – his pressing his non-existent (while an almost 39 Modric has been a pressing machine running his butt off) – defensively he is also unaware – he should have seen Pedro Neto was going to intercept the pass (while he for some reason was backing up waiting for the pass to come to him) – than Gvardiol has to make a full-out sprint back to catch Neto (and Baturina just strolling back)
Dalic should pull Baturina at HT time – the effort is completely unacceptable (this is a continuation of what we observed during the Euros)
He basically looks like a passenger out there – just along for the ride – not dictating any aspect of the game – sad to see really
Good half by King Luka, Kovacic, Gvardiol and a few others
They are not playing bad. They are attacking well. Kova and Gvardiol playing good. Take off Pasalic and put in Budimir.
Back 3 is awful.
No forwards, no speed, no defence. Croatia better hope for an easy qualifying group for the World Cup. But they had an easy group for Euro qualifying and almost screwed that up. And this team for qualifying will be worse. And they have to win the group, not come second. Would really suck if they didn’t qualify for the first time in 16 years, especially when it’s in North America.
My fears exactly!
Pongracic sucks – can’t cover anyone. At fault for both goals.
Baturina looks bad too.
Not looking bad but nobody wants to shoot.
Gvardiol and Kovacic our best.
Please, no more short corners!
The last one was awesome. They kept passing it backwards until they were at midfield. Hilarious.
When was the last time we ever won with a 3-man backline….the 1990’s?
This match has the feeling of a 4-0 Portugal win. The win we had in the friendly was a sham. They’re coming out smoking as if they need 8 goals to advance to another round of a competition.
Portugal doesn’t score for the last 6 hours of the Euro, but it takes just 8 minutes to score on Croatia.
I also don’t understand why not start budimir. I advocated him before the last euro and he contributed to virtually every goal
https://goomhd.com/live/uefa-nations-league-croatia-vs-portugal_284.php
Nova TV link
Does anyone have a link to watch? It’s on Vix with paid account, but I’m looking free I can access from the US. Thanks if anyone out there has a link.
Sadly this will likely be a sad performance from Croatia
Those calling for the exit of broz may be looking themselves in the mirror
Why not start budimir with kramaric?
Because Pašalić was on the team first haha
Portugal 2 -Croatia 1. I think it’s an extension of transition years till we vet out the greats of past days and building of the next group of players. We lost a big chance at Euros to take that step. We’ll ride out the old guys and Dalic in the year to come and then we start fresh. I wish it wasn’t the case but early 2000’s people we’re asking “how can we replace Suker”? Little did we know we’d have the greatest Croatian soccer run in our short history as a independent country.
Any of yall have a streaming site or link pwease?
Betting line, (pinnacle.com):
Portugal -182
Draw +339
Croatia +509