HRVATSKA starting XI: Krešić, Vida, Lovren, Bubnjić, Srna, Ademi, Rakitić, Milić, Perišić, Kalinić, Eduardo.
It was a quiet and scoreless first half in South Korea Tuesday night as Croatia travelled halfway across the globe for this friendly. They would be without stars Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic and Vedran Corluka for this match, although captain Darijo Srna, Ivan Rakitic and Eduardo made the start. The Vatreni had two good looks on goal in the first half with Eduardo placing a nice ball to Nikola Kalinic just outside the box, but the Dnipro striker would bend the ball too high, sailing it just over the crossbar. He should have done better. LAte in the half, Ivan Perisic made a nice run down the right line and manged to get the ball to an open Ivan Rakitic, who rifled a one-timer right at the Korean goalie.
Croatian goalie Dario Kresic was very aggressive in the first half, coming out of the six-yard box to collect balls in the air and punching away Korea’s best chance. We very well may be looking at Stipe Pletikosa’s successor. From today’s first half, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be the next Croatia #1.
———————
Korea opened up the second half with an open header off a corner kick. It should have gone in with better placement, but just like the Serbia match, Croatia is allowing the opposition open looks right in front of the net. Ivan Perisic botched a 3v3 counterattack minutes later which should have been the game’s opening goal. But a goal finally came in the 65th minute for Croatia when Ivan Rakitic whipped in a free kick from dead center to have the ball headed into the center of the goal box by newly capped Croatian substitute Leon Benko. The ball was crisply hit down into the ground and Domagoj Vida headed home. It was Benko’s first assist for Croatia and Vida’s first goal.
Minutes later Croatia would add a second goal as Perisic and substitute Pivaric would play a beautiful 1-2 on the left sideline with Pivaric sending a cross into the box with Nikola Kalinic cooly heading home. Kalinic was then subbed out for Dinamo Zagreb whiz kid Alen Halilovic seconds after. The only thing this new look Croatia team had trouble with was Korea’s long balls. Korea nearly had 4-5 chances just playing long balls down the field as they were rarely flagged for offside. It finally worked with 30 seconds to go in the game as Igor Stimac subbed off goalie Dario Kresic for Istra’s Antonio Jezina. On the last kick off the game and within a minute of being subbed in, Jezina got scored on off a header from the middle of the box in his debut match for Croatia. It wasn’t his fault just a shame he couldn’t keep the shutout for Croatia in a reward substitution for traveling with the team all the way to South Korea.
If you were wondering if the HNS had money for a top tier coach after the Stimac shenanigans this past week, think again. The team is in South Korea for a friendly Tuesday (7AM ET kickoff) without star players Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic and Vedran Corluka. But to celebrate Luka’s birthday (28) on Monday September 9th, the team drew a picture of a cake (that a kindergartener would mock) and threw it up on the team’s website.
No cake and candles for your best player? They should have just asked the well-travelled team of CroatianSports.com for some help. There’s a great little bakery in the Daesin-dong neighborhood near Yonsei University in Downtown Seoul called La Bonne Tarte.
Hrvatska iznad sve ali zelim Sticu da izvadi glavu iz Mamiceve guzice i da igra rememebr we lost Jurcic and tudor as assistants and i dint like kruno but tudor seems like he know what hes doing. 2018 WC Kovac Braca Prso Rapaic coaches!
THE FIX IS IN!
INTERESTING VIDEO ON RIJEKA HAVING THE CROATIAN CHAMPIONSHIP STOLEN IN 99 BY CORRUPT OFFICIALS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Hryqgh0yM
To give my self a pat on the back, Stimac played a 3-5-2 against Korea. He might not be a great coach but considering he does that full time and I think about that shit recreationally, I think I get a bit of a nod
Correction: As he gets more bald, I could see him doing the good ole comb-over in the future.
As he gets more bald, I could doing the good ole comb-over in the future.
Maybe Rakitic is a Hulkamaniac?
Rakitic should be ashamed of his hair. Dude needs to go bald and accept his fate.
piece
don’t forget rakitic’s hair peace as consideration for brazil
the only guys on that list that will get a sniff of the world cup (if we make it) are Rebic, Radosevic and Halilovic.
the other guys have done nothing to even deserve consideration
Id like to see thes young player fight fora 2014 spot
Vrsaljko Jedvaj Brucic Gorupec Radosevic Brozovic Halilovic Pjaca Rebic.
Shit happens, no use looking in the rear view mirror.
Lots of examples of the years where teams have stumbled and then went on to have successful campaigns. The goal should be to get max points from the last two games, play well and then go into the playoff on a high.
@Dino
Nice line-up!
Would love to see Lovren, Vida, Halilovic, and Rebic as future regulars on the National team. Kovacic IS the future and maybe even the NOW! We need to lean on Mateo if we are going to qualify and scare some teams in 2014.
If we took Scotland seriously and lets say if 1-1 stood against serbs we would be 2 points back of Belgium and that game would have been like a tournament KO game but now its just a friendly if we get a draw id be happy but then we need the scotland win so we dont be second worse
@DA!
Regarding the Scotland game: Absolutely right about that shit line-up and us taking them lightly.
We get what we deserve.
I feel bad for the players and the fans but fuck the HNS!
My starting 11 when healthy and a good coach are
Pletikosa Srna Carli Joe Strinic(nemamo bolje)-Kovacic Modric Rakitic Perisic Rebic Mandzo.
NEVER FORGET 9/11
GOD BLESS AMERICA
@ Poglavnik yeah but i wrote wrong i wanted to say was if you are top team you find a way and If In the words of Ziva Strucnjak Igor beat Scotland Home then this draw in beograd would be fine the 1-1 to the serbs dont bother me its the 1-0 home loss to a reserve scot team all credit to them but come on. that was an awful lineup Pletikosa Srna Joe Sifo Strinic-Obrana wasnt the problem- Rakitic Dammir Kova Perisic this is a terrible mid field at the time no dm against a british team who play strong football No pace as Rakitic dammir,perisic who was not in form started and Kovacic had no one to play nogomet with in that midfield, up front Ola Mandzo Ola isnot for home games where we need to score and the other team bunkers. Manndzo just won a Cl and he had not service.
I thought this was the “group of death” when it came out. Balkan teams and British teams. Never easy for us.
That concacaaf is bs merge north and south america together.
Afrika is fine.
Asia is fine
Europe make a group of minos and make them play in playoffs. these small games are pointless.
We will need to qauilfy the hard way but imo the necessary way we get to see how Igor mafija Stmac deals with the pressure if we make it to Playoffs we could still finish worst second hope not but never know, it aint easy mr stimac being a commentator and srati bilicu what have you done your proud of finishing second in what would be and easy group to big teams for us is difficult, I also heard we played 3-5-2 v korea
Also Srna and his bs comments today some captain,
“- Ispunili smo cilj. Osvojili smo drugo mjesto u skupini. Htjeli smo prvo, ali Belgija je objektivno ovoga časa najjača, treba reći da je Srbija uzela nerealno malo bodova, a mi smo zasluženo drugi. Kod nas u Hrvatskoj četiri je milijuna izbornika, svatko ima svoje viđenje, a ja ću kazati da sam zadovoljan. Sjetite se, Vatreni su 1999. u skupini sa Srbijom osvojili dva boda u dvije utakmice i nisu se plasirali na Europsko prvenstvo, mi smo izborili četiri i idemo u dodatne kvalifikacije. Ta usporedba govori da smo napravili posao. Bit će teško, no učinit ćemo sve da odemo u Brazil, želimo i moramo na SP. U zaključku, u Beogradu smo odigrali dobro, u Koreji jako dobro. Vidjeli ste jučer puno mladih i motiviranih igrača u našoj ekipi. Imali su i domaćini šanse, međutim pobjeda je objektivna i zaslužena”
@Sude Mi
They’re called boot bags.
Pretty gay nonetheless, especially when it’s Louis Vuitton.
Would you expect any less from Cry-naldo?
Does someone have access to a download vs SOUTH KOREA? Or a youtube/dailymotion link?!?!
Full match please!!!!
xo
This pic makes me laugh! Check out the man-crush Rinaoldo and Bale have on each other, not to mention the goofy euro-fag hand bags they’re both sporting!
Hey superstars they’re called wallets – use them, purses are for chicks!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/index.html
Mexico/Panama is gonna be huge!
The Panamanians beat Mexico twice at the Gold Cup this year.
All the pressure’s on Mexico.
Some of you guys fall in love with a player, or have met him, or took a picture with him (and if so, shame on you), or its a fmaily member and right away you think he should get a shot with the repka.
Santini??
Livaja??
Sure, why not. While we are it, why not call up the backup GK at Cibalia. I think he deserves a chance as well.
can’t hold on*
@ olly
what has Ivan Santini done in his career since scoring 10 goals in the HNL as few years back!?? The guy can hold onto a starting role for a mid table Belgian team now not to mention he’s 24 already – don’t think he has that much of an upside left, in terms of career progression…
If I were him, I’d do my best in Belgium this year and try to market himself to whatever team looks like it might make a deep run in Europe next year out of the HNL, only serious pay check he’ll probably get…
Average Temp in auckland in November….
The month of November is characterized by gradually rising daily high temperatures, with daily highs around 19°C throughout the month, exceeding 23°C or dropping below 16°C only one day in ten.
Daily low temperatures are around 13°C, falling below 9°C or exceeding 16°C only one day in ten.
Assuming Mexico gets 4th place, they would have to play New Zealand in a home-and-home. Any idea what the weather would be down in Auckland or whatever city they would play the game in early November. November is spring time in the southern hemisphere, but are their cities in New Zealand that are cold at that time of year.
As they say, talent without heart and commitment doesn’t get it done….have never seen a Mexico team so devoid of passion, commitment.
Stunning.
@Sude mi…………..12 months ago Mexico was being hailed as a team to watch out for due to the success of their youth teams on the international level. We’ll see what happens with those kids down the road, but their current form is beyond explanation. On talent alone, they should be at the top of the group with the US.
hahah ziva u must love that ummm
does anyone remember in a worldcup a few years back i think it was slovakia that had a team that was half full of tattoo skinheads.. seriously looked like a pack of neo-nazis
u would have loved them, ziva! whole team of livajas
If you think we have it bad, how would you like to be Mexico?!?! Watched the game against the US last night, man has their soccer fallen off a cliff. I used to like watching them play, now they are horrendous!
@olly…….Livaja doesn’t deserve a call up. Based on what????? the amount of dirty dried ink o his arms. And Santini?????? huh???
As for jelavic…..this is what you get with Jelavic. he is not an international level type of player. He is totally dependent on the players around him.
we’ll beat belgium 1-0
that’s my pro tip
id like to think they will wake the heck up soon. ya we shouldn’t be thrashing teams, we aren’t that good, but how far away are we removed from euro where we put on a very respectable performance. if we played like we played then this wouldn’t even be a discussion of what 2nd place ranking we will be
ok in all probability the way they are playing a draw with belgium would be an upset
but if they so happen to lose that and to scotland again… im sorry we don’t deserve to go and i have super homer glasses on
I am as disappointed with Croatia’s performances this campaign as in the last qualification sessions. Stimac has a strong group of players and we’re not really seeing the best of certain players JELAVIC, MODRIC in particular can play so much better and its the managers job to get the best out of them. I think Olic should be left off the squad until we actually reach the World Cup. We are wearing this guy down playing him like every match.
I’d like to see Ante Rebic and Marko Livaja on the squad. Alen Halilovic should be dropped off the squad. He does not even get in the Dinamo line up yet. Plus we have enough playmakers and Niko Kranjcar to come back soon in place of Sammir hopefully. From a Dinamo perspective glad to see Sammir and Fatos Bequiraj back to their best.
I’d like to have seen Leon Benko start against South Korea instead of Eduardo and Ivan Santini also deserved a call as we should send out a message to players that are working hard.
You cannot get a correct gauge on anything yet. We got some people predicting outcomes and have no clue of the process in play. Then retracting them to save face. Don’t even bother typing until you get some facts straight and calculate properly.
The truth is we don’t know what can transpire because the games haven’t even been played out yet.
The only thing that is for certain is croatia will finish second, that don’t mean we will get a play-off round and it don’t mean
that we will be seeded if we do.
Alot can happen in 2 games.
it is SO unlikely we are the worst place 2nd team
not long ago we were saying we were a surety for the best
nothing to stress about guys, relax
the draw for the playoff will be stress time.. france and sweden
can be get france – i have no idea where they are ranked
anyone got a link to watch the game by the way?
congrats to croatia for the win today. half the team field with the b team, on the back of a long flight, hostile environment and post intensity of the serbia match. for showing up to play and pulling out a win should be commended and helpful in keeping our rankings high.
@MB13
“It’s virtually impossible that we are the worst 2nd place team. It’s the 2nd place team from Group E that will mostly likely miss out on playoffs.”
If we lose our next two games, Iceland will have more second place points than us from Group E.
The group that needs to be watched is Group B. Bulgaria has 7 second place points with two games remaining. They play Armenia next in Armenia and finish with the Czech Republic at home.
This is what we get for not taking care of Scotland in June.
@Ziva let me retract yet again today, we are NOT mathematically out of the woods as far as worst 2nd placed teams go. That Scotland result really hurt us, we need to make sure we don’t lose out!
Anybody see the photo of Beckham wearing the Za Hrvatski Vukovar Ne Cirlici shirt? I don’t know if the photo is doctored but it is AWESOME.
no worries. I didn’t notice it until the second replay.
@Ziva you were right about the 1st Bosna goal, I have no idea how I missed the guy at the near post except that maybe he was in all white and blended in with the post… lol!
portugal russia and greece montenegro….
even turkey and sweden would be tough
Knowing our luck we draw france in the playoff.
Any time you can sign a player on his last legs, you got to do it, right?
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=2170155.html
I’m picturing Strucnjak Stimac using the wifi on his plane right now going over the seeding calculations for second place and trying to figure out where we stand compared to other second place teams. Stimac is confused and turns to Sebric for help, but that does him nothing as Sebric is looking at the pens and soap he stole from the hotel. Strucnjak Stimac then turns and looks at Puppet Suker for help, but that does him nothing as Puppet Suker is counting the cash he made by having an impromptu autograph signing at the airport just before take off.
It’s virtually impossible that we are the worst 2nd place team. It’s the 2nd place team from Group E that will mostly likely miss out on playoffs.
Croatia is trending the wrong way though. Poor results by Croatia and other games not falling our way.
@Jure thanks I think you’re correct… that was a typo on my part!
@Ziva I don’t think it’s possible mathematically for us to be the worst 2nd place team
very true cousin bilo… what a mess this seems to be
FYI, Scotland also has played 2 games more than Wales, and one more than Macedonia. So we can’t really compare their standings accurately yet.
Can’t believe we lost to fucking Scotland. Really coming back to haunt us now.
what are the odds of us becoming the worst 2nd place team. Seems far fetched to me unless we lose our last two games.
Then again, thisnk about the shit show potential that would have witht he savez, the fans and media. It would be good entertainment.
“ok Wales is back to last and it knocks us down 3 pts when it comes to comparing 2nd place teams.”
It knocks us down 6 points as we lose the points on the two wins against Wales. We will have 11 second place points.
Going to the Brazil-Portugal match tonight at Gillette Stadium, about an hour and a half from my home. Neymar and Cristiano!
ok Wales is back to last and it knocks us down 3 pts when it comes to comparing 2nd place teams
yes I believe they will remain last if Macedonia can somehow draw level
shit we posted at the same time… what does it mean if scotland wins? can this in theory take us out of being seeded?
nepoznat, i was worried about wales getting last
so you did the math and scotland still last?
damn Scotland just went ahead 2-1 on a free kick… this is not the result we want at all!
@Ziva thanks I’ll watch it again later, I thought he moved up to about the 6 yard line by then
Macedonia tied it up which helps our 2nd place rankings, however Wales getting slaughtered 3-0 by Srbija. I think Wales wins on tiebreakers though which would keep Scotland as 6th place. We really want them to be 6th place so the loss to them doesn’t come into play for ranking 2nd place teams
The first goal was clean. There was a Slovakian defender on the near post.
I guess the only way to win my bet regarding Cro, BiH and the FIFA rankings is for BiH to qulaify for the WC and for us to miss out. At that point I think BiH would be able to make up the difference.
really Ziva? how was the first guy onside? I didn’t see anyone at the posts which is the only way he could’ve been onside
maybe I missed someone?
Both of BiH’s goals were clean. Their goal differential against Greece is huge. So, all they have to do now is beat lichtenstein at home and win at Lithuania and they are going to brazil.
Wouldn’t that be something if BiH amkes it and we don’t. If I was the half mujo Halilovic, I would fake an injury next month to avoid playing against Belgium and Scotland. that way, he could keep his options opened if he wants to play in the WC for BiH.
Scotland 1 – 0 Macedonia
Bosna scored a legit goal now too… 2-1
Bosna just scored what I think was an offside goal to tie it up
last i saw, bosnia was down one to slovakia
also greece tied with latvia… bosnia may get to second place…
i guess we would both be seeded, but wouldn’t it almost seem fitting that we would have to play another former jugo team in this campain to make worldcup
just saw the goal rebic scored against ukraine yesterday… quite nice. very nice pass from kovacic… i know its under 21 but rebic may very well become the real deal… he is scoring some not olic type goals regulary
I missed this match. How did we play?
Mandzu has some good skills outside of that i think.. good finisher
@ziva .. u cant put olic and mandzukic careers similar to kalinic, cmon that was a rough comparson
espcially compared to mandzu.. i would normally agree with u but come come on, u have at least admit he was clinical vs serbs
@Ziva ut-oh your Bosna is down a goal at HT in Slovakia (1-0)
@majstore, you’re white, you’re family is white, Croatians are white. Yet not only do you not fight the ongoing program of white genocide, you actively support it – you want to imprison anyone who fights against it. What kind person lets himself become that brainwashed? Stupidity or faggotry are the only answers.
If “RACE doesn’t matter”, then it doesn’t matter if there’s no more whites, or if the whole world becomes white, correct? “Anti-racists” are by definition pro-genocide. Good luck, you’re going to need it.
@majstore, what kind of life will white children have being a vanishing minority everywhere they live on the planet? What kind of psychopath “doesn’t care”. Why do yourself and your kind so much?
@majstore, you want to send me to prison b/c I believe white children have the right to their own homelands, b/c I’m against white children being a dwindling minority everywhere they live on the planet? Are you going to now claim you aren’t an anti-white?
@Armada87 good point about Greece, I think I put in the wrong score for today’s match when calculating their points with a win today. Originally I got something in the 900s that was like 100 or more points below our 1051. But doing it now and putting in a full result for Greece they would only be 30 or so behind us so to your point they could surpass us too (like Belgium has, and Uruguay/Brazil may)
@MB13 thanks for the correction and that’s good to know! I agree we are pretty much guaranteed to be seeded then
@Ziva re: Sweden, those are the teams as of now, but it could be:
Romania/Hungary/Turkey (somewhat wide open but if Turkey wins today (up 1-0) looks like it will come down to them and Hungary)
Sweden/Austria/Ireland (Ireland is a long shot but Austria has a shot)
Denmark/Bulgaria/Czech (somewhat wide open)
Montenegro/Ukraine/Poland (I think Ukraine will squeak past Montenegro on tiebreakers)
Switzerland/Norway/Albania/Iceland/Slovenia (wide open… Swiss should win the group though)
we may know more later on today after all the games are over
IMO haet should be sent to a North Korean prison camp.
@Ivica
Wrong. Kalinic scored. Rakitic didn’t. Period.
Crap goal yes but he scores. Rakitic right to the goalie.
Does anybody have a problem w/ Korea and every other Asian country being for Asian people? Of course you don’t. But if I say white children have a right to their own countries, you erase my comment, then claim you’re “not anti-white”, “not politically correct”, and “don’t support White GENOCIDE”. Yet you’re not against stopping FORCED integration along w/ a never ending massive influx of non-white immigrants into ALL and ONLY White countries???
You’re either really dumb or a flat out lier. Neither one is good.
Is it true that Croatians voted to join the E.U. so they could leave Croatia to find work in Germany?
If this is true, is this not the epitome of stupidity? Why would you want policies that entice Croatians to leave Croatia? How in God’s name does that help Croatia?
Wouldn’t policies that entice Croatians to stay in Croatia and entice Germans and other intelligent whites to immigrate to Croatia be infinitely less stupid?
How about making Croatia a Whites-Only country? The one place on earth where white people can escape multiCULTuralism that is being FORCED on them everywhere they exist on the planet?
Why would you erase this comment and why would anybody protest this idea unless you’re anti-white and want to keeping FORCING multiCULTuralism/white genocide down white children’s throats?
didnt croatia beat ukraine yesterday 2-0 in under 21 qualifying ?
In other news, surprise surprise Hajduk is now in bigger financial doo-doo…..maybe those US buyers don’t look so bad after all!
http://www.nogometni-magazin.com/newspro/coranto/viewnews.cgi?id=EFZllFkupyjAbavMcI&tmpl=coranto_hrv_news
You’ve never seen a guy score so many goals that were within a foot of the keeper despite there being a wide open net that he could’ve put it toward??????????
Have you not watched mandzukic or olic over there careers.
** please note I am not syaing kalinic is on par with those two. he is nowhere close to them **
@Ziva
Come on. Kalinić’s header was crap today, just like all of his goals. I’ve never seen a guy score so many goals that were within a foot of the keeper despite there being a wide open net that he could’ve put it toward.
Kalinić doesn’t aim when he puts an on target attempt. If that was him instead of Rakitić against Spain in Euro2012, he would’ve headed it just the same as Rakitić did.
@Ziva it’s true we played crap lately.. i dont consider the serb game “a match”.. that was something else.. i dun even know what u call that.. i told my dad (who didnt see the game).. we got 1-1 amazingly..
and i think that’s right
as for the earlier games.. yeah.. we were crap, it’s true
but hey, our b-team did ok in korea..
im not as negative as u guys.. personally i think we’ll go fine in the remaining games and prolly smash it in the playoff
i do agree, however, we wont make it out of the group in the world cup proper, i do agree with that..
for some reason our u17s and u21s are better than our senior team.. have they not learned to be wankers yet??
remember years back they were calling Ante Rukavina the ‘Croatian Henry’ haha that was my favorite player prediciton that went south…
@Tone…..that is another example and another lesson in never paying attention to what a coach says. They don’t always give honest answers, kalinic was finalizing a move to England. Of course Bilic would say something like that.
@Iggy…….we just watched our guys lose to Scotland and stuggle with Serbia. So, yes, the other teams would have a chance at beating us in the playoffs. I said we would be the favorites, but we are no lock for advancing.
remember when bilic said Kalinic was the future of croatian football? glad he was wrong on that one…
cmon.. that is way too negative
so you think anyone in the playoffs can beat us?
cmon
ive heard of being negative but that is being stupid
..
ive got more faith in our guys than u ziva.. i would def worry about sweden.. the others i think are clear wins to us tho.. wouldnt worry about draws to them at all
Anyone see Kalinic’s header……I bet Rakitic didn’t.
No, i meant the other three teams are capable of beating us, but we would be bookmaker favorites.
“I would only fear Sweden. The other three are capable of beating us, but we would be favorites. I would favor the Sweded against us.”
Agreed 100%.
Yeah Sweden could be an issue, they’re a good team
Ziva, did u mean the other three are “incapable” of beating us
woudl make more sense
i think we’d smash all of them buth.. yeh.. sweden would be hard..
assuming these were the four unseeded teams: Romania, Sweden, Bulgaria and Montenegro……
I would only fear Sweden. The other three are capable of beating us, but we would be favorites. I would favor the Sweded against us.
Guys – just to be clear, world ranking determine your seeding for the draw. It doesn’t matter if Croatia is 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th.
It matters that they are in the seeded pot and hopefully the unseeded pot is as weak as possible. In other words, it doesn’t matter if Croatia is the top seeded 2nd ranked nation as this does not mean you play the 8th ranked nation. You go into a pot and could play 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)#Second_round
@nepoznat – the top 8 2nd place teams actually are seeded based on FIFA rankings. If things don’t change too much, Croatia should be seeded in the draw.
The top 8 2nd place teams are determined based on your performance in your group. In other words, a nation can be the top ranked 2nd place team according to FIFA but be the 9th ranked 2nd place team (based on group performance) and be eliminated.
As it stands now, Croatia, Greece, Russia and France would be ranked and they would play Romania, Sweden, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Although a lot can change between now and October 15th. Unless disaster strikes, Croatia will be a ranked nation. The next best thing to wish for is that minnows start taking up 2nd place spots (ie. Austria overtaking Sweden; Armenia overtaking Bulgaria; Hungary overtake Romania; anybody from Group E be top 8 2nd place nation; Israel overtake Russia). The more of this that happens, the potentially easier Croatia’s path is to Brazil.
@ nepoznat
How are you so sure we’ll be the top ranked 2nd place team?
Hate to say it, cause I hate their NT, but Greece could easily leapfrog us as the best 2nd place team. There remaining fixtures, which they should take the full 9 points from, are:
Latvia (H)
Slovakia
Liechtenstein
The hardest test would be Slovakia, who they already beat in Bratislava.
Croatia have:
Belgium (H)
Scotland (A)
My hear tells me we’ll turn the corner somehow and beat Belgium, but logic tells me we’ll lose and if we continue our downward trajectory, a tie in Scotland wouldn’t be out the question.
It’s not an open and shut case as you make it seem…
lovely vid from here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MFE9Q4m83fM#t=106
No modric. Just goes to show how much rakitic matters and modric brings us down.
@Ziva also they lost to the USA, they’ve had a bad 30 days
hey ziva
didnt u also get your usa vs costa rica bet wrong cos of that lovely dive from some costa rican
http://static.businessinsider.com/image/522df033eab8eaee7722b6a4/image.jpg
Hey
i just wanted to check
does everyone rememeber this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY1KW7mozpU
Oh godddddd it feels good
@nepoznat…..yeah, looks like I got by BiH bet wrong. But, I still have until after the WC to see where the rankings are at that point. BiH screwed themselves up on Friday and now face a difficult game today.
and vid of goal 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQV8KaunyBo
i think we need to consider seedings for both ziva
tbh i still thoroughly expect us to qualify
i was asking about friendly point in seeings BECAUSE i want the points for euro..
i agree the WC thing, we can worry about that later
for now, whatever makes it easier just to get in is welcome
Armada: i dont think 10-15 is right.. i believe we do belong in the top 10… i really do want a coach that can show that demonstrably. Imagine if we had a guus hiddink or leo beenhaker or something how could we could be?? Just someone who knew how to use the intrinsic talent we have got..
@Ziva we will be the top ranked 2nd place team as far as FIFA rankings go, but that’s not the criteria for the playoff draw. The criteria there is the results (minus a team’s results against the 6th placed team in their group so that all team’s points are compared amount the top 5 teams in a group due to one group having only 5 teams and not 6). We are currently in first by 4 points but we have played 1 extra game so we will know more after the results of today’s game but we will still be on top by at least 1 point. From my calculations it is impossible for us to finish outside of the top four 2nd place teams unless Scotland becomes the 5th placed team in our group. This seems somewhat unlikely as they would need a result against Macedonia (in Skopje) or Croatia (in Glasgow) PLUS some help from one of Wales/Macedonia not getting any more points (even though they play each other).
Also, you should consider paying up on your BiH surpassing us in the FIFA rankings, it doesn’t look like they will be close unless we lose out as they will be like 120 – 250 points behind us after today’s match.
the only conern is where we rank amounf European teams when it comes time for the WC playoff draw.
somewhere betweeen 10-15 sounds right for me…
One last thing about FIFA points/rankings and today’s match… we actually LOST points with today’s win! We would’ve lost more with a draw or a lost, but we still dropped 15 points from 1066 to 1051. Also if Uruguay ties or beats Columbia in their qualifier they will also pass us (Belgium has passed us). Also Brazil will pass us if they beat Portugal, although Portugal will drop below us if that is the case. So we may be looking at being ranked 10th next month
@Iggy & @Bjorn Borg
Yes friendlies count for FIFA rankings. No goals scored do not come into the calculation other than for determining if the result was a loss/draw/win. Here is more info on how the rankings are calculated:
http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/procedureandschedule/menprocedure/index.html
The number of points that can be won in a match depends on the following factors:
• Was the match won or drawn? (M)
• How important was the match (ranging from a friendly match to a FIFA World Cup™ match)? (I)
• How strong was the opposing team in terms of ranking position and the confederation to which they belong? (T and C)
These factors are brought together in the following formula to ascertain the total number of points (P).
P = M x I x T x C
Petric to West Ham United:
http://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/svjetski_nogomet/mladen-petric-potpisao-za-west-ham-united—302298.html
vid of goal #1
for anyone who cares
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiMvq83SmVg
couldnt find 2nd one yet
@Iggy, friendlies do count. I even think they factor in road goals scored as part of FIFA’s stupid calculation system to determine the monthly rankings.
We got players in the pipeline but we don’t got coaches.
Vida and Kalinic scoring is funny. Good to see Benko rewarded with a callup, well deserved.
Kresic by all reports played well. Good to see we may have a legitimate option between the pipes.
Eurosport.com: West Ham snap up Petric
http://bit.ly/17nhE4e
hey guys
remember that time over 2 matches, on aggregate we beat some shitty wankfest of a cuntry called serbia 3-1..
man.. i remember those days like it was only yesterday
felt SO good down my pants !!!! lol
I’ve never seen an ending to a game like that – haha. Poor Jezina (Istra 1961)sprints from the bench to take his position in net, ref blows his whisyle to re-start, Koreans play the ball to the wing, a cross, a header, no chance for Jezina, and then the ref blows the whistle to end the game.
Not his fault, of course, but I’m sure the guys will be teasing him on the plane.
I thought we played week and only goals of late we score are olic like goals lmao but we got W that’s all that matters
friendlies do count in rankings dont they?
ie this will help us a bit so far as seedings go and all that.. i know it doesnt count as much as competitive games but it still does count ?
anyway.. good performance from the repka considering they were really shuffled away from beograd to this game and we were missing u21 players and it was a b lineup and all things considered, well done !
wow lol that sucks foir our keeper who just came on and then they scored a header
rofl
anyway still a good result away from home all things considered imo
Really liking how this has turned out, some great saves and shots from not where I would have thought!
Have a friend at the game sending me txt, there was a small faction of the Korean fans doing it and they were removed.
i thought asian teams had improved in the last 10 years
ie, in the past they were “bad emulations” of euro teams..
terrible at finishing, and weak in the air.. but it looks like it’s the same ol same ol
still, i suppose u are always gonna be weak in the air when your team is fall of short asians..
i wonder how many goals mandzu would have gotten here ?
air superiority definitely counts against asians
yeah they started the 2nd half better
it hasnt been a great match tbh
not one i’d download and put in my highlights reel
but i reckon, as i said above, given the conditions, tbh a 2-0 win away from home a couple of days after a massive game for us with half our team in a game no one cares about is pretty great
also what’s this burning our flag??? what??? koreans?????? whatttttt?????????????
Hvala Iggy, I’ll download the game later to watch what I missed. When I woke up it was the start of the 2nd half (51st minute) and it seemed Korea was having all of the chances. Although nice to see us punch it in twice now!
@Iggy – you a right, Kresic has been excellent
@Bizarroted can you blame them for burning our flag? we’ve whooped them 4-0 earlier this year and now 2-0 in their own house with 15 min left to play. I’d be bitter too
oh hey Ziva i have a Q for u
is it ok to buy a cro jersey with your own name on it, or does that make u a narcissistic livaja type ?
Great cross from Pivaric,to setup Kalinic for our second headed goal.
Koreans with the same problem they had 30 years ago – absolutely piss poor finishing.
side note – 2 of my most favorite looking flags in the World.
actually our goalie has played well the whole match.. he’s made some good saves when needed
These are not the goalscorers i expected.. lol
Halilovic on for the goalscorer
wow I woke up at the right time to see both goals and here comes Halilovic
wow…..even Kalinic is scoring Mandzukic style goals now.
holy shit
kalinic scored
rofl
its been a 50/50 game nepoznat..
both teams have had chances..
@Zach
i wasnt suggesting the fact we play shit makes us a top 10 team, but rather the fact that we rest all our good players for a game like this, and there is a subsequently poor performance, if u kwim ?
Reports of Croatian flag burning in Korean section 🙁
I woke up just in time to see the Vida goal! how have we been playing the rest of the game?
Finally took advantage of our height, great header from Benko to set up Vida off the set piece – Vida’s first goal for the Repka.
@Iggy
Playing bad does not prove we are a top ten team. period.
VIDA of all the players.. haha
GOOOOL
Gooooooooaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tbh i think the poor performance shows why we ARE top 10
we dont consider crap like this a serious game and hence pay it lip service
if we were 30th in the world we might care
we got bigger fish to fry my furry little furball
Croatia …same crap nt really don’t get how we’re in top 10..
Wow,, 2 great chances for the Koreans to start the second half
I think if Mandzo was playing we’d be winning by now
what he have missed that sitter dudu set up early in the game? doubt it
yeah i dunno how we didnt score.. it was basically a triple chance
Wow what a chance there!
it’s okay so far
0-0 31 mins in
not a great game and we’re not creating much but..
considering
a) the lineup
b) the time after serbia game and
c) the location
tbh if we don’t lose we’ll do okay
These Korean dogs making me upset.
Kalinic doing what he does and missing an open goal after a beautiful pass from dudu
why is he playing ? We already know what he can (or should i say cant) do
Iggy,
Yes. We beat South Korea in London back in February
fuck this is a good time for me.. asian timezone
anyone else at ALL Watching this game or just me?
9pm at night.. so good i can sit back and have some vodka and watch da game at night.. this never normally happens being in aus !
1 minute gone and we havent scored yet
GARBAGE !
didnt we beat these guys 4-0 in england not long ago or was that some other asian team ?
Stream is up:
http://firstrownow.eu/watch/206517/1/watch-south-korea-vs-croatia.html