Croatia Starting XI vs. Spain: Kalinić – Jedvaj, Vida, Lovren, Vrsaljko – Brozović, Modrić, Perišić, Rakitić – Rebić, Kramarić
The World Cup magic is back!!!
Tin Jedvaj scores twice, including the injury time winner, as Croatia defeat Spain 3-2 to keep their Nations League season alive! The Vatreni take on England at Wembley on Sunday in the group finale.
After a scoreless first half, the fireworks went off in the second half at Maksimir as Croatia and Spain bagged five goals in a 35-minute span – eventually ending with a Tin Jedvaj injury time winner – to put the Vatreni back in the thick of things in the UEFA Nations League.
The 22 year-old Bayer Leverkusen defender bagged his first Croatian senior goal in the 69th minute, heading home a perfect Luka Modrić cross, after being left wide open by the Spanish defense. Spain would equalize the match at 2-2 in the 78th minute off an extremely soft, and quite frankly atrocious hand ball call by Šime Vrsaljko.
But the Vatreni would press during the final 10 minutes with young guns Tin Jedvaj, Josip Brekalo and Nikola Vlašić all on the pitch. With the result, a Croatian win at Wembley on Sunday against the English would see them top the group and advance to the Nations League semifinals next June.
After a 6-0 loss to Spain in the group’s opening match, this victory is sure to erase those memories in the locker room.
Jedvaj the Hero. Who would have thought?
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Hercegovina bez nje nemas kurac.
Robi za nikoga
Za dom
=U=
^ ^
Agreed.
Don’t bet on us too often but those odds were too good to pass up.
Surprised the bookies are making us as huge outsiders.
We finally fielded an in-form team and beat the group leaders. The previous two games were out of form players with some significant experimental lineup change or two.
We’re still largely made up of the same players as the World Cup finalists. I understand England being favorites at home, but the likeliest outcome is still a draw (not a home win as heavy favorites), lol.
I got a nice little parlay going
Croatia to win 3.7/1
Northern Ireland at home against Austria to win 3/1
$10 bet pays $111.
Same old 4th grader Truth Troll. Some vague generalieties before the game that one could claim true post game no matter what happens, then proclaiming his “predictions” were correrect… throw in his standard childish name calling of our palyers. Come up with a new routine Troll
The Bookies dont give us a chance we are outsiders at $4 good odds.
An update to my previous post….
I went to DVR the match, and they’re showing the game being on ESPN News, not ESPN 2, which is where tvguide.com has it.
I’m going with the guess that it will actually be shown on ESPN News based on past experience.
Anon2, thanks for the post.
When I checked this morning on tvguide.com, they didn’t have them as showing the game.
Folks, enjoy the game.
I’m not even thinking about Euro seedings.
We win tomorrow, and we end up in the semis of this new tournament, likely facing Belgium in the final.
This is all we need to think about right now.
We win, and it comes down to Croatia, Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal for the Nations League.
Jedvaj needs to take care of business in his own backyard tomorrow before he thinks he’s going to repeat his offensive outburst anytime soon.
It’s always a huge bonus when a defender scores obviously, but a solid guy at the back who rarely gets beat will always get you further than a risk taker who pops in the odd goal.
I hope I’m wrong but I have a hunch Tin might go from hero to zero in 3 short days.
Croatia’s chance to be a top seed for the Euro draw in two weeks would be helped if Italy beat Portugal today. Then Portugal would have to at least tie Poland at home Tuesday to win the group. Poland needs a win in Portugal to have a chance to leap frog the England/Croatia loser and move into pot 1. Hopefully Croatia takes care of business tomorrow to make it a moot point.
crnkovic, You sound like a cnn watching NPC-PC-Libtard. Most likely raised in Canada or Auss. Anyone who doesn’t agree with the globalist borderless NWO you call racist, xenophobe etc. I want the best for all humanity. People of every race, color and religious belief. But I also want to safeguard my country, culture and people. Grow a pair and think for yourself.
Yeah Medo, same.
No Nations League games on Canadian TV at all.
Yet if they were still deemed ‘international friendlies’ there would probably be a pile of them on, as previous.
Guessing now that it’s NL, more money was wanted to show games and the channels didn’t bite. Just a guess.
In US is will be on ESPN2
I’m shocked as well it’s not being shown here in Canada.
Speaking of soccer on TV I was watching the ESPN soccer rundown yesterday with those 4 Englishmen and that beached whale Gabe Marotti.
On and on about the England win over the U.S.and not a sniff about our win over Spain it’s pathetic.
Yet that moron Steve nichol will blabber on about Lovren and his odd mistake for hours or last week it was Kovac,and his troubles at Bayern
Deep down I think it’s resentment and jealousy of the checkers and how a tiny country can beat them at a sport they profess to have called their own!
They have yet to produce a mid fielder with the class of Modric boban or Prosinecki in decades and that has been their downfall in all major tournaments.
Jordan Henderson wouldn’t Even make our squad!
Heheh a u-14 friendly would be on CBC
Yes, that’s why I’m surprised I don’t see it anywhere.
England could be playing a U14 team and someone would show it because of who they are.
Not on tv in canada which is surprising with all the England jock sniffing happening here.
Are there any good on-line pay sites? NowTV has it but only available inside uk
Does anyone know if the game vs England is being televised?
If not, any online streams anyone aware if?
Hvala and enjoy the game!
The Truth/Turkey
Did you predict that Croatia would be the best team in the World Cup?
Everone says we clearly deserved to win the tournament!
This is a sports site…perhaps we should chat about gardening and dog grooming as well as religion!
Our concern should always be our people first.
Croatia didn’t have colonies so we owe people nothing.
Africans and Muslims are curious about Croatia because she is a EU member and they might consider illegally
Migrating there. Most Croatians are middle and working class
Because we are proud people. We don’t seek welfare
We build and work. We have a beautiful country.
Let’s keep it that way!
I say the same thing to some black people, jewish people, muslims. anyone who tries to make themself feel better by drawing imaginary lines in the sand and saying this is my castle like 3 year old assholes. fucking grow up. do the math
you guys (a few only) need to ask yourself. who is your prophet? jesus or hitler? who is your God? The merciful creator of the universe or power? you cant have it both ways. you can’t be a good christian and a racist. you can’t conflate ethnicity, nationality and religion. that’s not moral posturing. It’s facts. Morality is not posturing. It’s morality. Was Jesus posturing? Sorry. not being big headed at all (god forgive me), just pointing out that delusional racists assholes are waaaaaaaaaay off track
but nice try
@filip. I’m a black muslim
Actually Jedvaj was composed on the ball and played himself out of Spain’s high pressure multiple times.
His final balls when he had the opportunity in the attacking third were not quite there.
But for a right footed player to perform that well against Spain was extraordinary.
Juxtapose his performance at LB as compared to the last 15 years and it is almost legendary.
LB as been our weak link and Jedvaj comes in shuts down his area and bangs in TWO goals for the go ahead win against Spain who just embarrassed us 6-0.
Jedvaj has been through adversity in his young career with the Roma too early move and injuries etc ..
The kid showed his talent and character and seized his opportunity.
@ Dalić
Now you got me curious as to who you are going to start this Sunday?
You know you need fresh legs against a hard running England at Wembley coming off a short turn around with just two days rest and travel.
Ready for Wembley first 11:
Kovačić
Badelj
Vlašić
Brekalo
That first half is going to played at an extreme high tempo.
Both teams playing to win as a draw doesn’t serve either side.
crnkovic, spare me your sjw moral posturing and virtue signing bs. most whites like yourself have no idea what its like living in a majority non-white culturally non-christian country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=bkBVy3MwzA4
90% of zambians supported Croatia. how does that fit into your reality model?
here’s how it really was: all normal people supported their own country. of those who did not have a clear bias due to being french, english or croatian..all the passionate good sensible people, regardless of the colour of their skin, supported croatia. meanwhile some seriously delusional motherrunners saw the whole thing in terms of the colour of the players skin rather than the jerseys they wear. most of those were toxically brainwashed yanks. and some attention seeker from Finland.
and chinese
all normal white people? so the english arent normal white people? nor are the french. but mexicans are? and argentinians and africans?
@ anonymous
I agree that it was a game by jedva igra
Although I’ll have to do a bit of closer assessment
Ultimately in assessing jedva going forward, we really shouldn’t consider these goals as they were mostly flukey and not something you’ll rely on
I think jedva on first impression was sold enough on d and better than pivaric, but struggled making an offensive impact down the left flank
All normal white people rooted for Croatia over England and France.
@The truth
“I also predicted pjaca may never be the same again.”
I predict he MAY be the same again, meaning he MAY be the same player he was before his injury, whereas you saying he MAY not be the same again are meaning to say that he will not reach the world class level you believe he MAY have been destined for.
Anyway, great game by jedva igra, you could never have predicted that.
Ja pusim kurac!
I will say though, i enjoyed watching this game. Whereas the first two were absolutely painful
@ anonymous
I predicted they would be embarrassed at the start and i sure would call 6-0 to Spain just that
I also predicted before this game that i thought they would give a good performance and were refocused
I also predicted pjaca may never be the same again
I can go on and on
@ Poglavnik
That’s the positive leadership we need on these threads.
I am curious to see if Kovačić has that extra motivation after witnessing Jedvaj, Brekalo and Vlašić in the mix?
He has been too cool for school.
Now you don’t bring it and there two to three dudes coming for your spot .. not that you really had one to begin with.
This is your match to shape your destiny.
“Good is the enemy of great!”
Be extraordinary.
@Maminjo-Honestly if we haven’t seen the last of Strinic & Pivaric, then I will lose all respect for Dalic. Jedvaj is our LB, best all around performance I have seen by a Croatian LB since Vrsaljko at Euro 2016. Ask MIA Asensio.
@the truth-Let’s all applaud you for saying Croatia would be embarrassed in the Nations League. Going into the last game with a chance to win the group, IN THE TOUGHEST group by far, is not embarassing.
i was going to go to wembley for the match. but the early kick off has killed that. my boy’s u13 team, which i coach, has a crunch match in the morning and we cant make it. he’s sad about that. we’ll be watching it in the pub…
@truth, haha, lmao with the vrsaljko comment…
Vlasic, Lovren, Kovacic with goals on Sunday.
Count on it!
Raketa***
@maminjo reketa is suspended due to his red the other day.
Hopefully Dalić isn’t thinking about ever going back to Pivarić or Strinić at LB.
Just stick with the youngsters. If they screw up, it’s a learning experience. No point in having to sit through mistakes made by 30 year olds.
I didn’t get to do a full analysis of the game but it seems like my predictions were mostly correct again
I predicted Croatia would rebound and put on a much stronger performance this time as their motivation and physical form returned
Will be back with some more analysis at some point. I know people are waiting on it
But for now, let’s all applaud vrsaljko for managing to commit two hand ball penalties within 10 seconds of each other and then act indignant that a penalty was called
@ C
Badelj is solid and great for squad depth but Brozovic has reinvented himself as the CDM for both Croatia and Inter.
That pass to spring Rebić was on point.
Rakitić is a tough loss. Having both him and Modrić in the midfield would have destroyed England.
Kovačić is great in his own half, but doesn’t have the offensive threat that Rakitić possesses.
Vlašić is the opposite, and if he plays, then it must be behind the strikers in the #10 role.
Either way, I think it’s pretty much a guarantee that we’ll play a trio of Modrić/Kovačić/Brozović in the central midfield with Vlašić coming off the bench.
The thing that sucks the most is that you KNOW that Rakitić will be playing in the next Barcelona game without issue.
Cigan-Badelj? Serious? Thise days are over, especially after it was proven Badelj was a link when we killed it without him at WC2018.
@Soul- I luv ya man, and I like Kova, but it just seems can’t go next level for us. Deer in headlight Eli Manning syndrome it seems, he needs to snap out of it.
@All- Sucks about Rakitic, but I think Dalic and some of us, saw how easily the game came to us when we played a 424 after the Rakitic -> Vlasic sub.
I am thinking if Dalic doesn’t start Vlasic at the 10, then it won’t be long b4 he subs Kova for Vlasic at the first sign of an anemic performance.
Still thankful the dopey ass Inter coach, didn’t play Vrsaljko all that much! Kept him healthy for Spain and England. Guy is World Class defensively.
i’d prefer a mid of modric kovacic and badelj
This is it for Kovačić.
It is time to step in for Rakitic and put in a Jedvaj type performance.
He is made for the England match.
Plus he has been in the EPL now for a few months.
Perišić has that spring in his step.
He knows when he lights up Wembley that his stock will soar.
Spain was a great tune up for us.
England is more direct but way more predictable than Spain.
We need to come out strong and have them chasing the ball.
This is it for Kovačić.
It is time to step in for Rakitic and put in a Jedvaj type performance.
He is made for England match.
Plus he has been in the EPL now for a few months.
Perišić has that spring in his step.
He knows when he lights up Wembley that his stock will soar.
Spain was a great tune up.
He’s not hurt. He’s being a pička.
Rakitic hurt , out for Sunday.
Yesterday’s win pretty much guarantees that we are seeded at the Euro qualifiers.
Iceland is dead last with zero points, so they will be unseeded.
IF we lose to England on Sunday, then the other unseeded team will be one of Croatia, Germany, Poland, or Netherlands.
The only scenario where we become the unseeded team is if the following happens:
– Croatia loses to England
– Poland wins against Portugal (in Portugal)
– Netherlands gets at least one point against France (in Amsterdam)
– Germany wins against Netherlands (in Germany)
This would give all four teams 4 total points, but with us having the worst goal differential.
This is the ONLY scenario where we drop to second last in League A, and ALL of the above things have to happen.
We have to score next game, so it will be entertaining to watch. Plus, our confidence must be high right now.
It would be great to see us make it through and show the world that Croatia, France and Belgium are the top three European teams (as the World Cup proved).
lovren
https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2018/11/16/5beeb47ce2704ecbbd8b45b8.html
all the highlights from youtube have been taken down, but here’s a good quality one:
https://www.goalsarena.org/en/video/european-cups/15-11-2018-croatia-3-2-spain-uefa-nations-league.html
England beat Croatia
1. England, 2. Spain, 3. Croatia
0-0 draw
1. Spain, 2. England, 3. Croatia
Score draw
1. Spain, 2. Croatia, 3. England
Croatia beat England
1. Croatia, 2. Spain, 3. England
I meant stay in League A
You sure about that?
And in any case, by “see us through” you mean “see Spain through” and see is stay in pool A.
0:0 and it goes to goal difference. But first its head to head so away goal draw would see us through
If we draw England 0:0, we’re out but if its a score draw like 1-1 or 2-2 we’ll be 2nd place
This is a better highlight of the game since the posted one is dead:
https://youtu.be/EMpsu7WJ4dk
Now if we draw to England were out because of that 6:0 loss to Spain so we need to defeat England goal difference always plays a part.
Oh yeah i forgot to mention that U21 game; i did see the scoreline in the corner of the stream i was watching of the senior team. Good result i think?? Sounds good anyway, especially since a few of them were in the senior team pwning spain
feels good down me panties when we beat spain 🙂
I think Kovacic was the only one on a yellow before the game. Probably a partial reason why he didn’t play.
Great goals from Jedvaj, but I still don’t think he has that much going forward when compared to Barisic. I can remember at least twice when he forced his dribble instead of being more composed with the ball. We attacked much better on the right side with Vrsaljko going forward.
U21 news, Nikola Moro started today when we drew France 2-2 in a friendly. Benkovic was an unused sub. Halilovic started and scored. No Coric, Balic, or Majer.
Is anyone on yellow cards and not available for England?
Great win!
Yeah the eng game is a horseshit time. I won’t be able to watch that one at all so you shitheads will have to fill in the details on this site afterwards 🙂
Thanks @goku!
@gbvh
Good lookin out.
BTW England vs Cro will be on at 9am ET on sunday, dafuk, damn brits and their early games
“I definitely think Jedvaj is the best option again Spain seeing as he started against them when we beat them in the Euros, but I think I prefer him at RB and Vrsaljko at LB” – Me on the last thread.
He did the job today. I’ve always liked Jedvaj, he does decently every time he plays in my opinion and he just decided to really show up in one of the biggest games. It’s about time one of the fringe players got a shot and actually made something out of it.
Brekalo looked great when he came on. Didn’t see much of Vlasic, probably would have scored if Kramaric passed him the ball. Rebic doesn’t seem to like being in 1v1 situations with the GK for the national team.
To all those saying take Rakitic out, I would not do that with England. England’s midfield is quite weak honestly. I think we really just need to prevent them catching us on the counter and with Rakitic and Modric we have 2 midfielders that give us the possession against a team like them. If we manage to get the first goal in that game, it is ours for the taking. England will be shaken up just like in the World Cup and maybe we can put more past them.
hey poglavnik
check out highlights etc. here:
https://www.fullmatchesandshows.com
Yea, I think Sosa would have started if it wasn’t for his injury.
He has been starting at his club and for our U21s. Poor timing I guess.
I’m happy for Jedvaj though. We’ve been a bit unfair to him since the kid is constantly being thrown into our lineup inconsistently, playing in a wide array of roles with completely different defensive pairings (yet never playing his RB position).
He’s fast, he’s young, he can play with both feet, and he is very strong technically. He is definitely a solid backup RB, but it’s good to see that he can play spot minutes for us at LB if needed.
I want us to stick with Lovren and Vida as our CB pairing for at least the next couple years, along with Vrsaljko at RB. Anyone we slot into the fullback position can expect to play with these three (instead of some revolving door of defenders that we used to constantly rotate in the past).
The only negative thing that I saw in this game was Lovren Kalinic.
After looking great against Iceland at the World Cup (and a few friendlies before that) he looks pretty shaky in goal. Is there some sort of goalkeeper curse on Croatia where the backup much always remain better than the starting keeper?
@Maminjo
Spot on with your post. Krama and Rebic are very different players but compliment each other. Rebic is so strong on the ball…I hope with a little more development he can improve technically and be a consistent finisher.
Brekalo is the goods. Will be our new Perisic once he retires from the national team and possibly sooner.
Although Jedvaj was great today I’d love to see Sosa play and add more depth with our backs. On injury to Vrsaljko and we are in trouble there. I really hope Pjaca can regain his pre injury form. Usually takes a couple years after a bad acl tear to see where you at. It’s still a little early to write him off.
I’ve yet to see Krovinovic play…maybe he adds more depth to our midfield.
@ Mr Black I’d agree and don’t think Kalinic is better than Livakovic…in watched them both play Livakovic seems to be much more athletic.
The future is looking bright….
Oh yea! If we make the final 4 i will definitely be there! Even tho i didn’t help out in the group stage!
If we beat England, then the final 4 at the UNL finals will look to be Cro, Portugal, Belgium, France. Would be nice to give France the cock
Felt like the world cup again. I loved how both teams really wanted the win even in stoppage time
Well said maminjo!
Sorry guys, I was Anon above with the quiz.
@Crnkovic-I don’t agree with you often, but I also thought Rakitic played very well (though not his best game.) On his wonderful run (best run of the game by either team) the announcer went overboard talking about him not dragging it back and laying it off. Ok, announcer, you try beating 4 defenders at full speed then pulling a full stop on your weak side with a World Class defender breathing down your throat…not going to happen.
@all-needing a victory, it was incredible to see Vlasic, Brekalo
instead of the likes of Bradaric, Pasalic etc
Finally the dopey side of Dalic didn’t creep in to take Perisic out at the end of the game. Ivan can play box to box, and still finish games. Well done
The biggest positive in this game was seeing how ready our youth is when it comes to performing in actual competitive matches.
Brekalo is amazing.
20 minutes of play and you can see the pure talent and composure in the opposing box. He could easily start with Perisic on the opposite wing.
Rebic and Kramaric are COMPLETE opposite players, lol. But both are good and bad in their own ways.
– Rebic can create so many chances, but cannot finish them.
Kramaric is the opposite.
– Kramaric is invisible all game, but once he makes an appearance with the ball in the opposing box, it’s pretty much a guaranteed goal.
– Rebic is VERY visible all game, with his constant pressing and the havoc that he creates (which leads to chances)…but when he gets the ball in the box, it’s a coin toss whether or not he makes the right play.
We need both of the different skillsets they provide though.
Mandzo was good for us at the World Cup, but I won’t miss him at all if guys like Perisic, Brekalo, Rebic and Kramaric (along with Vlasic) can develop chemistry together. Once they do that, we will have our offensive #9, #10 and the two wingers set for our Euro2020 run (sorry Marko Pjaca).
We saw some miscommunication (and selfishness) between them today, but it’s what I hope can be corrected as they continue to play together. After being chewed out by Perisic a couple more times, I think Kramaric will learn to pass the ball, lol. These guys just need to play together more.
Best news:
I think we’ve pretty much seen the end of the Livaja, Cop, and Santini experiment.
The ONLY wingers and forwards that should be playing for us on the National Team moving forward are Perisic, Brekalo, Kramaric, Vlasic, Rebic and Pjaca (as a sub until he can get back to form).
Any newcomers must only be high talent young guys that we haven’t tried yet (like Krovinovic or some of our U21 guys like Halilovic, Jakolis, Bockaj, or Moro) but only in a bench role.
No more of this B quality garbage Dalic was playing around with from teams that are not in the Liga Petice.
rakitic had his best ever game for the Repka i dont know which game some people watch. spain were amazing, their passing and movement and anticipation is ANOTHER LEVEL to anything ever seen before in international football. and we beat them!!!! awesome performance
This win felt good because the referee was a piece of shit who was letting Spain get away with terrible fouls to kill our flow.
I can’t believe he didn’t even card that harsh cleats-up foul in the first half. Not even a yellow. The non-calls reminded me of the Portugal Euro2016 game, and it killed our flow. We could have had plenty of dangerous chances outside the box, but got nothing.
I also hated the fact that he only decided to use his whistle to call that handball on Vrsaljko (on a play where the ball was never going to end up in the net).
If you’re not going to make calls, then don’t make them.
He swallows the whistle all game, but couldn’t wait to call that penalty. Terrible officiating, yet we pulled through with a big, big revenge win.
Funniest thing is that after those first two wins in September, Spain only needed a single point to clinch first place…and just lost both games, lol. That 6-0 victory pretty much means nothing.
Lovren was talking major SMACK after the game too, calling the Spanish team “pičkice” and specifically Ramos as well. He was obviously upset at the dirty play, and decided to gloat about it online (in typical Lovren fashion), lol.
Anyone have a better set of highlights?
They made me proud today.
The only weak link today was Rakitic. He is too slow to play with this team. Maybe Brekalo takes his place now… Jedvaj has a nifty outside-of-the-foot thing he does to simulate a left foot pass—he is a bit of a footballing genius really—and made a strong claim to the left back spot. Pivaric gave him a huge hug after the final whistle, maybe recognizing that his place is the starting 11 will go to a truly elite player.
Bash Kramaric all you want, but he scored a world-class goal and created a corner kick by turning it up to 11 on a play that the Spanish defense had theoretically shut down. Kramaric keeps his starting spot and continues to play big minutes. Same for all the players except Rakitic, who did little to make the team better on defense or offense.
Kramaric lack of pass was nowhere near as bad as Rakels one. With Krama defender kinda baulked going to Vlasic and I can see why he went himself. But the Raketa one was a 100 per cent goal with a simple cross to an unmarked guy. 1 million times worse.
Toooooooooooooooooo ..
Jedvaj holding it down at LB?
His poise was next level.
Dalić put the horses in the courses.
Sunday at Wembley for all the marbles.
Kovačić in for Rakitic.
Brekalo and Vlašić early in the second half.
Did I witness Kramaric really not lay that ball off to Vlašić?
Well done gentlemen!!!
Croatia is back.
Jedvaj was excellent. I know he’s right footed but he did great as LB. Two goals but what’s even more: he defended extremely well. Only when Suso (from Ac Milan) was subbed in, he struggled a bit.
Brekalo only played about 20 minutes but he sure impressed. Technically he already comes close to Modric and Rakitic. I think one day he’ll be our most important player. The 3-2, we have to thank Brekalo for this. How he managed to get past a Spanish player…
Vlasic did well too. Not as technically as Brekalo but as strong as Mandzukic.
Lovren, Vrsaljko, Brozovic, Rakitic, Modric, Rebic and Perisic were impressive too.
Kramaric not that much but when it comes to goals, he’s still our best man to score.
Vida gives all he’s got but he sometimes looks clumsy.
Lovre Kalinic did well sometimes. Still don’t know he’s better than Livakovic.
Entertaining game today and great result. Nice to have the World Cup hangover gone.
Good lineup and having Brekalo and Vlasic off the bench was a major improvement and provided some much needed quality from our fresh legs.
I wasn’t even that upset with Krama’s selfish play on that 3 vs 2 break we had in the second half. I would have killed for some selfish quality forward play a few years ago when Mandza wasn’t in form and we struggled to score.
Jedvaj had the game of his life – always great to have some defenders chip in and score.
This team has a serious shot at winning the next Euro if they stay healthy and in form. We have all the pieces now with these U21s added to the mix. U Boj!
I even felt some movement down my pants at times which is not something that has happened since July tbh!
Not sure how we will go away to eng but so many encouraging signs in this game. Pretty much went perfectly with the young guys getting actual game time and playing well
Haha wow I wasn’t able to watch the game and was just able to check the score on the site now. Reading that Jedvaj scored 2…. none of you would have even been able to make this stuff up lol
Crazy
@ anon
I’ll take a stab at your Quiz, the last Croatian LB to score in a tourney is….Robert Jarni
Last LB to score… Pranjić vs Norway in Euro 2016 Qualifier?
In an actual final tournament I assume Jarni
^^meant “jedvaj at RB as Maminjo…”
Jedvaj killed it at LB today. The goals weren’t even the thing I was most impressed with.
I was initially slightly surprised at Dalic playing him at LB and Vrsaljko at RB! I would have thought Vrsaljko at LB and Jedvaj at LB as Maminjo and I spoke about last month. But we now have our LB, as long as we have a healthy Vrsaljko.
His added height helped us on our biggest weakness (set pieces, if u are new to Croatian soccer).
Kalinic a bit shaky, but was in good positions.
Love having Vlasic and Brekalo off the bench.
Not going to criticize Rakitic or Kramaric regarding the missed passes, as I think we need to get more shots on goal (0 goals in our first 2goals was sad.)
Perisic killed it helping out Jedvaj. Great coaching by Dalic. We were playing a 6-3-1 at times just waiting for the counter, which with our immense talent & lack of a pressing Mandzukic, was the right strategy vs a talented Spanish side.
Love Vrsaljko, even with the questionable hand ball call, which we would not have received had the ball hit a Spanish defenders arm (King Bronk, the fix was in.)
Quiz:
Before today, last goal by an Croatian LB in a tournament?
@ Razbijač
Spot on.
The boys played with pride i thought. The initial Spain game was a fluke basically.
Dalic bringing on Vlasic and Brekalo was what I was hoping for. With guidance from the repka veterans, skies the limit for Brekalo.
Nobody knew who Jedvaj was before this
Brekalo should have started. Thank God someone listened to me at 15:31est. Lol
Rin Tin Tin!!
We’re back Baby!!!
Brekalo was just so dangerous when he came on, that’s the kinda options we need off the bench.
Yes, Brekalo will be a good player for Repka down the road. Nice to see Vlasic get subbed in.
Overall an amazing game, Spain played really good, but Croatia were just shade better in the end.
With this win, it feels like the Boys from the Summer are finally back!!! With all to still play for on this Sunday, this is what the Nations League is all about.
@JB
Yes, the calmness of Brekalo in the box was the catalyst for the goal. High hopes for the kid.
^
Yes
Was it brekalo who took initial shot?
Great game, Brekalo with a great poise on the winner by Jedvaj.
What a day for Jedvaj
GOALLLL
What a finish!!!!
Ya man krama needs a little Wayne Gretzky passing school
Kramaric is a hog, had he passed it would have been a goal.
BROZOVIC -> OUT
Jedvaj )(exchange)( Vrsaljko
we need a better goalkeeper kalinic is shaky
Nice good job. penalty wow.
Keep Jedvaj on the Right side…
I mean RIGHT side!
GOALLLLLL
God why didnt Rakitic cross that, was a sure 100% goal
Refresh it, click player 3 times, it works here, otherwise goto reddit soccer streams like the rest of us:
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccerstreams/
and find one that works for u
..Brekalo……..…..Kramaric……………Perisic…
…………..Vlasic….Modric.…A Rebic……..…..
…Vrsaljko…….Vida……Lovren…….T Jedvaj…
…………………Lovre Kalinic…………………..
We need to win, tie means we’re out
Not working iggy
I already posted a link
What happens with a tie?
Sigh…
Brozovic OUT please!
Link me biytches!!!
Jedvaj is a gun that can play anywhere in the backline!
Pretty good first half from our guys, dominating most of the game but no lead so far. Agree about the young guys should get some game time plz
These players on the Spanish team are quite handsome and cute.
Time for brekalo. Enough is enough.
Hoping Jedvaj at LB will be a long term fit..
Good start.
@IGGY
What is the link that you use for thr game .
Thanks in advance
Perisic hit the post already
anyway best stream i found is this so far:
https://www.neostreamz.com/game/croatia-vs-spain/
Pjaca not fully recovered but on his way.
He may come back a better player, kinda like Olić type process.
When you can’t rely on arthleticism you need tune in more to the rhythm of the game, something he lacked when he was his full explosive self.
Game is on ESPN+ (costs money), or you can stream it, i use http://sportstream.tv
@ lika .. Pee ass a back to normal is a long time off still. Might never occur. Everyone on this site bashed me when i said it long ago,, but as usual they eventually came to agree
I also predicted the demolition of Croatia against Spain first go around and people got mad. Sorry was just telling the truth
I have predicted Croatia will hopefully show much better this game as i think some motivation, physical form, and playing form have all finally started to recover. At the end of the day though, they are still playing a better Spanish team so the task will be tough
The key will likely be the work rate of perisic and rebic to track back and provide support to the outside defenders, particularly perisic on the left side after that disaster on that flank in the first outing
@ Zoric
Valid points.
But I like rugged explosive wingers to balance out our finesse creative magicians in the middle.
One could argue it what we have been missing the last 10 years.
What we need is for Vlašić to go buck wild and be that true #10.
Bog i Hrvati
I pray Pjaca can back to pre-injury form.
Anthony, great point bro!
@soulchamp they is no doubt they are high quality wingers but their strengths are not passing and keeping possession. They are both explosive wingers who can beat players by running past them. They prevent us from playing ‘beautiful football’ because they are both rugged type of players. There no finesse about them. Both Vlašić and Brekalo are naturally more skillful players. In the future I believe we will be able to play a other tempo possession game with their qualities on the ball.
Galavision
Is showing it live.
@ Ante
Great article.
I do feel both Perišić and Rebić have sufficient technical ability as attack wingers.
I actual feel Rebić directness would do great as our #10 as I have seen him play in that spot at times for Frankfurt.
@ Svima
Enjoy this match!!
I feel we are at full strength and will take the game to Spain.
Spain is weak and caught us napping last match.
Wembley .. EPIC .. the international press will be all over that one.
U boj ..
FROM NOW ON
We have no choice but go ahead!
Brekalo could be a good one with Perisic on the other side!
According to the effectiveness
here is the best with 90% full throttle
..Brekalo……..…..Kramaric……………Perisic…
…………..Vlasic….Modric.…A Rebic……..…..
…Vrsaljko…….Vida……Lovren…….T Jedvaj…
…………………Lovre Kalinic…………………..
with 2 typical passing players and one runner 70%
..Brekalo……..….Kramaric….……….Perisic…
………….Modric…A Rebic…Rakitic…………….
…Vrsaljko…….Vida….Lovren…….T Jedvaj…
…………………Lovre Kalinic…………………..
Anyone know how to watch here in the US?
I hope elmo is watching when we destroy his precious Spanish..
Not too bothered about the particular result but what i would like to see is some game time for those youngsters this time round. That’s arguably more important than the result, actually. But yeah obv be nice to win or draw or at least avoid a belting again!