Croatia 99% playoff bound

@Ziva
Maybe Split for the playoff game. I would like to see a game take place in Splt and a good way to end this campaign.

True, a game against Wales was played in Osijek. Time to give meaningful games against decent teams throughout Cro.

regarding Tuesday’s game……we should and probably will beat Scotland. Then the fun will begin, because the spin will start from Strucnjak Stimac and the saves that things are back on course……which we know is not true.

Bit confused on why u wouldnt want playoff at poljud ziva.. u said it would be bad because fans would turn against the team, stimac, hns et al, did I miss something ? Havent u spent all of recent times praying for just that?

Mirkec,

I agree but Boban will never join. Especially with this group of mafijasi. Suker was a mafijas even before his playing days. He was always with the “ZG underworld.”

@ Anonymous

The founders CSR created this website in the spirit of Croatian sports and to unite fans around the globe.

I’m not saying your beliefs are wrong. It’s just that the Anti-White or Pro-White philosophical debate doesn’t belong here.

“Stormfront” will not delete your comments. So you don’t have to invest time in writing something, and then having it deleted.

Again, you write well, and I’m sure there is a lot value you can add with your match analysis. We are more interested in hearing about that.

@Bobby V,

You make a good point. But it doesnt work out that way all of the time.

How about this for a stat, New Zealand was the only undefeated team in world cup 2010.

Mexico won only one game at home.

Netherlands drew with Estonia.

Europe isnt that easy. Conmebol is the hardest. Africa #2, and then I would put Europe at #3. Asia and concacaf are a joke.

The federation must feel the pressure to come up with some kind of positive results, whether its with our senior national team or the youths – that has to be the reason they released Kovacic, Halilovic and Vrsaljko.

One loss at home in a meaningful match in 18 years – now 2 in 4 months.

@ Denis

If we lose to Scotland and then draw twice in our playoff matches, advancing to the World Cup on away goals, that would mean 6 straight qualifying matches without a win – and yet we are in Brazil.

You could not do that in any other World Cup qualifying format around the World, because of the way teams are re-grouped in Africa and Asia – and certainly not in South America.

@anonymous,

getting a little touchy aren’t we. At least sign in with a name. You do know your football. Why not bring that to the table. We talked about the other stuff before. Its like talking to a child. time out for you anonymous. Come back in 10 minutes.

@ IvicA

I’m afraid even if our scenario comes to fruition (France win, and Sweden loss), if the Ukraine beat San Marino they will overtake France.

As Ukraine’s last two games were world cup qualifiers, which get weighted more. Where as France’s last game was a friendly which gets weighted less.

I have nothing against Zagreb, great city and I have family over there. I got family in Dalmatia too!

Strucnjak Stimac will send reerves vs Scotland lets go predict stimacs formationa will we see another 3-6-1 hahah

@ Ante B

Even though I’m a dalmo, my woman and I always make sure to hit up Zagreb every time we go.

She loves the malls and the food (mainly mlinci). I loved it for the parties back in the day, but now I like it for the food (the cusine is very different from the south) and hanging out on Tkalciceva, the Trg, and a few other nooks and crannys that make it great. ZG has better cevapi than ST too. Bosanci even say that it’s on par or better than what they have in Sarajevo. Must be cuz of that Sofra, I dunno.

Anyone bashing ZG doesn’t know what they are talking about. ST is awesome, but so is ZG. They are completely different, but equally good. I was attacked by BBB back in the day, but that still didn’t turn me off from the city.

@Croatia vs. Antwerp

That would be good news if France could be seeded. It would give Stimac yet another excuse for some more losses.

France beating Finland with Germany beating Sweden is a very possible result. Germany will probably beat Sweden just to make up for that 4-4 comeback Sweden had back in Berlin.

But what about Ukraine? They’ve been on a hot streak and are just behind France in the rankings. I guess beating Poland and Andorra won’t be giving them many points anyway.

Rankings update: France needs to beat Finland and Sweden has to lose to Germany, for France to overtake Sweden in the Fifa rankings. This results in France being a seeded team, and us avoiding them in the playoffs.

They could all sit out…

Only an “educated” person can be convinced that ‘War is Peace, Slavery is Freedom, and Ignorance is Strength.

@MatesicMethod, your family is just a “socio-cultural construct”.

Hot off the wire……Norwich City defender, Steven Whittaker suspended against Croatia….

I am hoping for the “3-0” result, only in our favor. Lets smash Scotland and go into the playoff with some confidence.

@Igor Rukavic,

“There was nothing Croatia could’ve done to prevent failing against Belgium.”

Are you serious? We lost 2-1 not 3-0. A fluke penalty and we draw. We were outplayed in brussels and we drew.

Belgium is better I agree. But Croatia and belgium are not miles apart. A little luck on our side, a full rockin Maksimir, perisic on the bench for olic/eduardo/vukojevic, and we come out of there with a draw.

I still believe that you should NEVER “not cheer for the repka.”

14 players, all Croatian, needed our support on friday. We failed to show up until Kranjcar scored the goal.

Do me a favor, watch this video up until the national anthems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFMljuQUsgk

Look at the fear in the faces of Italian players. They had no clue what they are getting themselves into. Look at our players how we fed off the energy.

People are like kids sometimes. Even at work, when someone tells you, “well done”, you feel good and feed off of that. You work better as a result.

Croatia needs us now when we are down.

@Vlad,

I get what you and others are trying to say. I just dont see fans not showing up as the solution to the problem. All of Croatia is corrupt from top to bottom. Maybe the european union can change some of this who knows. I was against us joining the Union, however, the union might actually bring some order. When I wrote “from the top” I meant the government Jadranka Kosor and all her friends to the “bottom” a waiter working for free for 1 month and then let go because “we dont need you anymore”. There is mafia at every level. Until this changes, the national team will be run by mafia. So much money in football.

@ Denis i get what youre trying to say with the fans, yes sure the players deserve a full house but this isnt a perfect world. Yes there is politics in all phases of life all around the world and their will always be in croatian sports. under markovic their was all kind of bullshit going on too but it was at a level people could tollerate, this curent regime have taken the sranje to another level which people cant take any more. Playing a player like sammir who wouldnt even make team canada starting 11 and played a brazalian who sucks at HOME was nothing but bullshit and a slap to all croats, basiclly the way i looked at it was f**k you to the public we can do whatever we want. The way stimac bullshits the media calling out players and the pure idiotcy of his tactics were a top 10 nation in the world of football dosent matter if the rankings are a joke thats what it says, but at the moment belize have more structure than we do. Mamic suker and stimac have turned our national team into a joke and i for one have no problem with th fans telling them how they feel and i think they should continue to do so.

My family’s from Splitsko-Dalmatinska, but I like Zagreb a lot. It’s a good place to visit. I can understand the hate between the two sides on a soccer level, but not as an actual people (and this coming from people who have barely spent time in either ST or ZG, if at all).

I was and am not trying to get a ZG vs ST on who has better fans. Both are amazing.

Halilovic will not play against Scotland. He has been sent to the under – 17 team.

I think it’s time we give Alen Halilovic a full game for Croatia he was once again wasting away on the bench. Either way we are losing so nothing to lose. Put him on the wing he’s fast and skillful, will provide good attack and energy. He looked alright in the friendly against Portugal.

Does having a 12th man an advantage in sports in general? Absolutely! A strong home crowd can motivate and give the home team a little extra motivation on the pitch. I’m just saying that even with a full stadium on Friday, I still seeing us losing that game. Fans can cheer and motivate and make it more difficult for opposing teams, but they can’t win games. If cro want to have a home crowd advantage they should be playing games in split! I was at the Serbia game in March in maksimir, atmosphere was really good, I just expected something even more greater. ZG fans are great fans but they don’t compare to splitcani

i wonder if they would select a different city for the playoffs……but, can you imagine how the players would shit their pants if they fall behind our are trailing in Poljud.

“Race” is a socio-cultural construct.

This site exists to unite “Croatians fans around the World!”

@ all the NEGATIVNA .

When we make our run in Brazil. Just remember you punked up during times of duress. Mommy’s belly is not the real world. SHIT happens in soccer and life. It is how you respond to it that defines your character.

Actually I feel we have made progress since 2010 when we came in third to a predictable Ukraine and an English side that this Belgium team would beat like a drum.

Yes an elite coach would take our talent to a world class level. Unfortunately we cannot afford that.

The boys will win in Glasgow as Zagreb was a shit crowd for them.

Split even Osijek for the playoffs.

Zagreb is a cynical city. Been there many times. It’s like Prague took a crap on it self and forgot to take a shower.

Can’t wait to have Rijeka host a match in its new stadion.

We will make the play-offs. There is every chance we will make Brazil. Now what would happen if we make the knockout stage and go on a run to the semi finals at least? Everyone will sing Stimac’s praises (just like they did when we took 10 points from our first 4 games (Ziva Istina included)) and all of this qualifying episode will be forgotten.

If you like/dislike Stimac from a personal perspective thats your business. If you think the federation is a mess then that is also your business. But I find it difficult to accuse Stimac of being a clueless idiot. Everyone cried GENIUS when he started Radosevic, the same was cried when he started Kovacic. If Kovacic plays in the play-offs, Vukojevic MUST start. Put Vukojevic behind Modric and Kovacic, have Strinic and Srna operating the wings, Rakitic in behind Mandzukic and Eduardo/Olic/Jelavic. I hope he continues this 3 at the back system, I think it’s effective and it’s up to the players to show intelligence and creativity on the pitch.

Someone posted this on Ante B’s facebook today. This is for those of you that think the 12th man doesnt matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFMljuQUsgk

Tell me that Belgium would have still won in this atmosphere. Lukaku would take the first flight back to Congo.

That is what I’m talking about. UNITED!!!!!

svi svi svi za Hrvatsku…. Zovi, samo zovi….. Our boys are calling us. We can take them to Brazil.

Define splican

@Steve and Horvat, it’s always a pichka ti materina, and a myku ti yebim and a good idi u curac, sorry about the spelling.

I once told a Russian when I shot him the face to pushi mi curac.

We are a great race, fun a shit and I’m really glad that the whole planet isn’t Croatian, because nothing would get done and if it did, it would happen after a 2 month argument
.

@The Golden Child you are right about Kalinic, but like all the guys upfront, then don’t shoot on goal. We gave the africans and muslims the two goals. At the end of the day it’s about upsetting the defense, and when you take shots on goal even if they’re not close it upsets them and then make mistakes.

I’d go on but remember this. It’s just a game.

´Prijatelji´

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9e-yvaVeHA

Best points so far:

Kurdish Kroat

Along with Vrsaljko, we continuously have a problem getting the ball into a dangerous spot. You would think these guys would be practicing getting balls whipped into the box since that’s our MAJOR STRENGTH. All either side really has to do is put it in the air with pace. I would say half of the balls they threw in were on the ground and easily defendable.

Also Kalinic didn’t play too terribly. I don’t ever think we play Mandzukic for 35 minutes, but we have to play with two forwards, and I like someone behind those two. Put Rakitic there and Modric as a false 9. Rakitic can move back when Modric makes his runs, but whatever the fuck Stimac has them doing now has been deplorable at times.

Also, I don’t know if you guys noticed but Kranjcar and Kalinic looked HUNGRY. They wanted to push play, and they were getting after it. Be it fresh legs or actually being excited to play for the repka, you need to take these guys into consideration as subs. That was the one thing that Stimac did that I could applaud. Niko was also the only one with brains enough to pepper the goal with that bouncing shot. It’s raining boys, the probability of the keeper mishandling the ball is much greater. Nobody seemed to be more aware of that than NIko.

On a side note. This is a reminder to the race baiters and those traitors that don’t see color. Genetically we are different, not perfect, but it’s who we are. We are few in numbers but we’re here, I’d like to keep it that way. We’ve always been a thorn to somebody side3 over the centuries, the Turks, Italians, the commies, the Amerikwans.

Keep your head up on fellas.

Malo nas je al nas ima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZZz5635bz4

http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/igor-stimac-siguran-na-kormilu-vatrenih–nitko-od-mene-nece-traziti-ostavku–/1132497/

Stimac, defiant as ever……….which the downfall even more enjoyable to watch when it happens.

Bobby V make Ziva the fucking coach,

Denis, you play Pranjic at a defensive left back like he’s played in the past and put in Klasnic up top. Fly in a couple of balls and have Ivan snaps the keepers neck.

While my tactics are possibly extreme. I think we need players that won’t be pushed around and yes Denis we got pushed around in the middle.

Grant you we’re in right now, BUT if we lose in Scotland we should NEVER field a team unless we have our shit together. Just showing up is bullshit.

BTW – Is there a way to find out who owns the contracts on the players? Does Mamic gain money by Perisic having a good day and he gets transferred?

I agree with whoever said it. Get a coach for the NT that’s not connected to the gypsy. Hell Mexico’s new coach is Croatian.
.

@Miro,

Then Lovren made the mistake. Lovren is a good player, but he is known to make boneheads plays, like Simunic in his early years.

@Bobby V,

You answered your own question. I agree.

“when your center back moves up for a corner or free kick, someone should take his place in the back. And if a counter takes place, a smart soccer player has to realize and know how to take a foul that result in – at worse – a yellow. We have some players on the repka who are dumb and have bad soccer IQ.”

true. But we dont know who set all this up. Did Stimac order Lovren to move up on that free kick. If so, who was covering him in case of a counter? Did Lovren just run up on his own.

I dont blame Carli on that play. Sometimes you go for the ball and if youre a split second short, the striker passes you by. Carli misjudged it but at the same time, couldnt keep up with Lukako in a foot race if he held back.

The only reason I’d like a foreign coach is that he wouldn’t give a flying fuck about what Mamic wanted him to do – then again, that’s why we won’t ever have one.

For the negative people criticizing us for being positive – don’t come back here after we qualify for the World Cup. You’ll make asses out of yourselves talking about anything concerning the World Cup and our chances.

Klasnicu je vrime proslo takoder pranjicu nemoj sto vise traziti hvala i bog. We dont have wingers and backs who send crosses into 16 Vrsaljko did a good job yesterday Strinic want bad only if he had a right foot to blast the ball. Stimac isnt a coach anyway he needed to find some talnet and test it in friendlies instead of worring what people whould say after a loss and since people hated Stimac from day 1 negative energy he fucked it all up. In the HNL Tomecak Kramaric Benko from rijeka and more should have been given looks at. Dinamo is a disaster Selling players all over buying foreigners and sending youth to Lokomotiva. hajduk have young players for future dont know right now. rest of Hnl also has nice players but we dont have a coacj to test them.Our under 21 coach the great niko kovac is going well with the youth players and i hope he develops them for International nogomet.

Some times coachs need to have guts remember Bilic at euro 2012 took Olic(didnt get called or injured) Kranjcar Simunic Eduardo all bench players took a chance with jelavic Perisic Sifo and it had its ups downs but in the end of day he tryed something new,Why does Rakitic have to be in first 11 or simunic corluka even modric and Mandzo says who? The cult of national team is diening and i thought that 2002-2004 was the dark period for national team but no they didnt embarsses themselves like this team today.

Once again, props to the ZG crowd public yesterday for no-showing. I was reading some of the Belgium news sites earlier today in the fortified basement and there were many articles questioning why the low turnout in ZG for a must win game. It appears the low attendance is a story…….well done. Now, other parts of Europe are beginning to know what a mess our federation is today.

so now I read that the solution is to bring back Klasnic and Pranjic………and what have they done in the last two years on the club scene???????

Friends, I know many of you are mad, ashamed, embarrassed, depressed…….well, don’t be. First, don’t let the emotions get to you. I keep telling you that. Because when you let the emotions get to you, we get crazy commentary…….crazy commentary like public funding for a new coach, crazy commentary like brining back washed up players like Klasnic and Pranjic. Do you see what I am trying to tell you guys…….separate the emotion and you will be able think clearly.

I’ve given you the easy solution, now lets all hope it happens. We need to lose and lose bad on Tuesday so that Strucnjak Stimac is fired. So, when you guys go to church tomorrow, say a little prayer for a blowout loss…..because the short term pain will eventually result in long term excitement and glory.

Remember, Ziva Istina is here for you. There is a solution for every bit of trouble.

Why is my previous comment being moderated?

@iggy no one is saying that we need to rotate the same coaches. We don’t need a foreign coach. Biggest difference between stimac and bilic is that the players had trust for bilic and bilic as corny as it sounds was their friend. The players die and fought for bilic. Stimac tries to be too much of an authority figure. The players don’t care to play for him, and with the fan support being how it is, I don’t blame them for playing how they are. We don’t need a foreign coach. We’re a small country and even making the World Cup is a huge success. Stimac needs to go but he won’t til after the World Cup. Don’t be a dumbass saying pointless stuff like jurcic, he’s obviously not a choice.

@Denis Svircic, fair comments.

What I admittedly do not understand is why didn’t he put in some more of the offensive minded players in the second half? Sure Olic and Eduardo may not be what they once were however for 30 or 40 minutes on the pitch they would have brought great experience and some offensive minded pressure.

@Jm,

Good post. Well said. The team needs our support.

@Ivica,

“Maybe I’m just an optimist…but the post game comments made by the players, along with the relatively decent play yesterday, makes me feel like they can turn the corner.”

I agree.

”
If Stimac plays this same lineup, but pulls Strinic back as a fourth defender. It would have made a remarkable difference. ”

I agree.

“As much as we’d all like Stimac replaced, it won’t happen without missing the World Cup and I don’t think even you would be willing to sacrifice a second World Cup in a row to replace him with another potential Stimac.”

Line of the year.

“This is our coach for the next three games at least. We have to cope with it and just hope that the players manage to work twice as hard and succeed, despite the poor coaching (just like we have done many times in the past).”

Nothing for me left to say.

“There is no way that we should be struggling to qualify for the World Cup ”

So many countries struggle to qualify for the world cup.

Uruguay. So much talent.

Portugal, couldnt beat israel at home with arguably the best player in the world. They are lucky to have an easy group.

Sweden needed a late goal from Zlatan

Im sure there are others. Senegal will be watching the World Cup on a 25 inch TV.

@Vlad,

Yes, the savez doesnt deserve the 12th man. But the players do.

@Anon,

“We are not a ten team.”

We new this going in to qualifying. But we are good enough to make the world cup.

@DarkoCanada,

I didnt think the defense was terrible. I thought Perisic was terrible, Kovacic got punked, and Rakitic looked fatigued which Stimac later confirmed that he was fatigued. Lovren-Corluka-Vida played good for only a three man backline.

Lovren screwed up on the second goal by pushing forward on the free kick and Belgium were off and running. Corluka went for the ball, but didnt take out the player like Simunic did against Serbia. Lukaku was off and running. One mistake from Corluka and one from Lovren, that was it.

Hell, maybe we can have a bake sale. As long as kranjcar doesn’t eat all of the baked goods.

Its my understanding that Real madrid and ManU are publicly funded enterprises – obtaining funds from their governments (taxes). This would not be much different, except it would be on a national level and through a third party. It could also be a self professed publicity stunt to garner the attention of the world media because it’s never been done before (of course finding a medium would be tough – i think kickstarter only funds ‘artists’ projects), but instead of fans just throwing insults at each other on forums and the like why not at least TRY to change something because with the way things are going the only time your kids will be seeing the repka is within the confines of the dilapidated ruins of the Maksimir stadium – playing in front of 800 fans.

@Iggy P
Suker had a bit of a falling out with Heynckes back in their Madrid days. Don’t think it would work.

This also leaves me confident for the game against Scotland. We dominated possession and got shots off. They got one lucky goal. As a betting man, I place my money on cro for a win on tuesday regardless of recent results

Kovacic, vrsaljko sent to under 21 team

– This really annoys me. The repka has very few games and has now lost two in a row. There needs to be chemistry built. And we need a win to get a positive feeling back. I don’t understand why you would send two potential starters down to play for the u-21 team.

FANS SHOULD GIVE SUPPORTS
– Disappointed in the fans. Although I’m sympathetic to trying to protest the corruption I still think there should be support for our players. These players don’t need to play for the national team. Modric is earning millions of dollars playing for Real Madrid. He doesn’t need to be on that field in the 85th minute flying through the air onto his back. Mandzo doesn’t need to be out there hobbling around on a hurt ankle. But they do it cause they want to represent croatia. The fans should support them and back them for it regardless of the corruption

DON’T BLAME STIMAC
– I don’t blame stimac for yesterday’s loss. Like I said, I liked the formation. I thought the offensive flow was better then it has been in some time. Replacing vrsallko with srna for all those crosses will help. The play was not that bad. One stupid perisic mistake. And one beast play by lukaku

Yes I am shocked by the attendance. Other countries have crappy leaders but the fans turn out. Also, some of us don’t even have the opportunity to attend soccer games at that level. Hashtag Canadian soccer 😉

@
imocan i like youre lineup!
@ Denis svircic that savez dosent deserve a 12 man, people can only take so much crap!

win or lose against scotland if suker had any common sense hed fire stimac ive never seen two games where a coach went from one extreme of playing three strikers on the road with no midfield play to fielding 6 midfielders the next game. that 3-4-2-1 was the dumbest thing ive ever seen, how do you expect people to perform under that. you could tell in that first half the players were uncomfortable they didnt know exactly how to play. regarding rakitic i dont think he played that bad i think effort was there just not going he way and kovacic should never play defensive mid that was ugly, i liked lovern out there and strinic had a good game .

When are we gonna see a game at our beautiful POLJUD. Like luka modric said, i think its time we try new venue.

Even though a bad loss against Scotland won’t impact our status in qualifying and it would put us one step closer to having Stimac removed…I can’t root for us to lose.

This is eerily similar to the devastating Greece loss, followed up with that Latvia game. Makes me wonder if this shitty Belgium loss would unite the team for a good outing against Scotland, they way they did against Latvia before we drew Turkey in the playoffs. Maybe I’m just an optimist…but the post game comments made by the players, along with the relatively decent play yesterday, makes me feel like they can turn the corner.

This past lineup wasn’t bad at all…it was just the formation that was wrong. Kevin de Bruyne even made a comment today about how weird it was.

If Stimac plays this same lineup, but pulls Strinic back as a fourth defender. It would have made a remarkable difference. Both Belgian goals were the result of our three back defensive formation (yes, Perisic was at fault for the back pass, but the massive gap between Lovren and Corluka made it worse).

Playing a 4-5-1 is the way to go, not this 3-4-2-1. Playing the right footed Rakitic as a left winger, and a natural left winger in Perisic on the right side was also baffling (and resulted in them being invisible most of the game). But if he pulls those two positions back into the midfield (and includes players who naturally play in those areas) and pulls back Strinic into LB so Lovren doesn’t have to play there, we would be even better and it would be our only chance against a team like France or a red-hot Ukraine.

We wont lost to scotland twice, you heard it here first. The game yesterday was well.. disappointing to say the least. I don’t understand how perisic got a call up or even started the match. that is the mystery of the year for me. he looks slow, he looks like a 16 year old playing ball. first half we had a lot of crosses come in from the right side, not very dangerous crosses but we also never had more than one player in the box. i thought strinic played well but he over did it by trying to get into the box himself. always one touch too many. we cant do that back line of 3 because it doesnt have any speed.go back to 4 in the back. srna carli dejo and strinic. no we cant play srna as one of the wings, it wont end well trust me. he is dangerous going forward because he is the extra guy coming forward. reason he brought on vukojevic is because it was his 50th cap. mandza
dudu rakitic kovacic maybe?idk
modric vukojevic
strinic dejo carli srna

obviously our wings are our weak spot. that at the moment is our best shot.

I honestly believe the following is the best thing for the repka……

We lose 2-0 or 3-0 to Scotland. Strucnjak Stimac gets fired and a new coach comes in for the playoff round. While a new coach wont be able to do much for two games, a new coach can help change some of the negativity around the team. It would be more of temporary jolt for the team. Now, who would replace Strucnjak Stimac????? Ciro, Cico, some seljak, a random HNL coach or a picture of Tomislav Ivic’s grave.

So, as we look for an answer and how we can make it to Brazil……..Let’s hope for a disasterous loss on Tuesday if it leads to Strucnjak Stimac being replaced. Because, do any of you have confidence in him that he could get it right against France, Ukraine or even Greece in the playoffs. I sure don’t, at least not based on what we have so thus far from this team and Strucnjak Stimac.

Some of you guys appear shocked by yesterday’s attendance?????? why the surprise????? Everyone knows there is a negative vibe with the repka thanks to Strucnjak Stimac and Puppet Suker.

Would it help the team if the public supported it??? Sure. But, when you have the idiots up at the top, the public rather watch at home than come to a run-down stadium. No longer is it as simple as just showing up. People want amenities.

@the anonymous1
Good post. Too many people on this site are coming up with execuses. Everything from savez, location, coach, fans. End of the day the players have been playing horrible this year. We are not a ten team.

We need a player that can score from half a chance. Benko should be in the lineup. He has scored some beautiful goals this year.

The scots are going to rub our noses in it in a few days.

Thus is the worst Croatian national side I’ve ever seen!

Sramota!

Good morning to all my fellow Croats around the world. I woke this early in the morning following a small bout of stomach indigestion, I am. It sure whether it was caused by the crappy food I eat last night or was it a cause from the crappy game our fellow Croats played with Belgium. Best to put yesterday’s game in maksimir, Croatia learned a good lecture from a well rounded team. I clearly put the blame on our friend mr igor., although i must add that this is not a time for dismissal’s, however if he continues this road of a weak formation on the pitch, and losses, as my friend Steve P say’s, “if the players are not playing for the coach, it’s time to get a new coach”. And wtf about the lack of fans at this game, ya i know HNS mamic & hard economic times in Croatia , but still this is our national team were talking about, when living in Zagreb I would always go to see these games.. Za dom spremni !!!!

we are fine. Everyone stop panicking. Before this qualifying round started, most people predicted Belgium to top the group. Today, they topped the group. Nothing new.

our game sucks but we have the talent to get the result. Fire stimac and bring in who?

you know who lost the game for us today? The 12th man. The 12th man showed up after we scored the goal. Where was the 12th man during the game, after we got scored on? Embarrassment.

for those of you that follow American baseball, the cubs haven’t won a world series in over 100 years. Fans still show up, still cheer. Some people say that the cubs have stupid fans. A friend of mine from Chicago says ” the cubs are a religion” win or lose I am there. The 12th man should be there for Croatia.

@ Imocan

That line up looks right. Except I don’t think Radosevic is ready to be a starter.

I trust Vukojevic in that position. We need a midfield destroyer to complement Modric’s artistry.

………Mandza………
Kova.Raketa.Srna.
……Zujo.Modric…..
Strinic.Lov.Cor.Vrsljako
……….Stipe………….

sucks that we have no natural wingers, other than maybe rebic….we neeeeeeed pace on the wings

and for the people who want to play 4-4-2, who people r idiots…the main threat comes from the wings in that formation, and we have no talent their, nor do we have two capable strikers so stfu about that formation

Corrupt HNS is hitting the nail right on the head. I thought by joining the EU that all the corruption would be cleaned up. What a joke.

we need a new manager >
we recharge the squad …
and get for more expectation !!

With France playing so awesome, how the hell have they dropped to 25th? They really should be ranked above Sweden, and be a seeded team.

France beat Australia 6 – 0 today. They looked awesome. We don’t stand a chance against them especially the way we are playing at the moment.

I cannot believe eduardo and olic didnt come in what was that about and asmuch as we shit on vukijevic should have played imo. If strucnjak was playing 3-4-2-1 then sifo vukojevic kranjcar should have played instead of perisic vida kovacic

“I can’t believe they didn’t play Jelavic today”………….said absolutely nobody today.

@jm

Srna where Perisic played would be good. I wouldn’t want to see Srna at RB. We need him on offense, full time.

We also need to pull Strinic back at LB, and play four back. He can still make occasional runs up the left side. Then again, there is no Lukaku in Scotland anyway.

Also, we need to move Rakitic in a more central role behind Mandzo, and find someone to run down the left wing in his place (since there is no way Perisic will be playing).

short training session this morning for the team plus the presser with Strucnjak Stimac is this morning. This will be must-watch TV or must-read material.

So, will Strucnjak Stimac:

a. blame the media for a negative atmosphere (this one is always my favorite because these bozos all seem to think the media should be blind cheerleaders for them)

b. blame it on bad luck

c. say we ran into a better, hotter team in Belgium

d. say no need to panic, because we still got 2nd place and the playoffs.

e. blame Corluka’s STDs have impacted the health of the team and the team’s performance

f. all of the above

Oops, scratch what I said. England screwing up in Poland would result in them not making enough of a jump to catch us.

I don’t think we can be unseeded, as we are currently the top seed. Greece and Portugal/Russia can surpass us, but I think that’s it. We’ve got a big cushion over Sweden and France…and Romania/Turkey/Iceland/Slovenia are light years away.

Is there any scenario in which we would drop our ranking enough to not be a seed? Say for example we lose to the scots?

yeah, you’re right, no way ukraine will drop points to san marino 🙂 – overlooked that. I’ve just been looking at the potential (and most likely outcomes), and this is what the playoffs ‘should’ look like after Tuesday (barring any unlikely results)

Croatia (10)
Romania (31)
Sweden (22)
Iceland (54)
Portugal (11)
Greece (12)
Ukraine (26)
France (25)
-Denmark -out

So in pot 1 should be comprised of Croatia, Portugal, Greece and Sweden

And in pot 2 we have France, Ukraine, Romania and Iceland.

Here’s hoping that we avoid ‘Les Bleus’.

The four non-seeds are ‘likely’ to be:

France
Ukraine
Iceland
Romania

France would be a nightmare. They would be the favorite, despite our seeding and they’d give Stimac yet another excuse as to why we lost.

Ukraine has been playing amazingly in 2013, and we’d probably lose to them as well. I’d like to have gotten some revenge against them for missing out on the last World Cup, but they’re hot right now and we’re cold.

As a ‘footnote’ I’d like to add that’s it’s quite possible that Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia could all qualify for the Biggie. That’s would be the icing on the cake because all the Serbs would be sulking in front of their tellies. 🙂