Photo: Drago Sopta/Cropix
Croatia all smiles in Zagreb
Fruit baskets and flowers are currently on their way from Zagreb to Riga, Latvia. Not only did Croatia come back to defeat Israel 3-1 at Maksimir Tuesday night; but Latvia drew Greece 1-1, giving Croatia pole position in Group F with only two games to go. After controlling the first half against Israel, things looked bleak for Croatia entering halftime as Mallorca’s Tomer Hemed slithered past Josip Šimunić and Dejan Lovren to put Israel up 1-0 in the 44′. Coach Slaven Bilić must have had one hell of a halftime speech as Croatia scored three goals in 10 minutes during the second half to defeat Israel 3-1 and move top of the qualifying group.
Luka Modrić wasted no time after the restart, blasting a 28-yard rocket far post to tie the game at 1-1 in the 47′. Things only got easier for Croatia as Israel’s Tal Ben Haim was sent off in the 51′ for a ‘studs up’ tackle on halftime substitute Eduardo. It only took Tottenham’s ‘want-away’ midfielder Luka Modrić eight more minutes to double Croatia’s goal tally as he fed a beautiful ball to Eduardo, who chipped the Israeli goalkeeper to make it 2-1 in the 55′. Croatia locked up the victory in the 57′ when a Darijo Srna cross appeared to go off the head of Eduardo towards the far post for the final goal. All in all, Croatia showed up when it mattered and were willing to fight with their backs to the wall.
CROATIA-ISRAEL HIGHLIGHTS
With the win versus Israel, Croatia now only need a draw against Greece in Athens on October 7th and a win versus Latvia to top the group. Even though a playoff berth has already been clinched by Croatia, a win in Greece automatically qualifies the Vatreni for a Euro 2012 spot. Greece must open up in this match which ensures no bus will be parked in front of their net- another advantage for Croatia.
CSR CATCHES UP WITH UEFA DELEGATE ON PLANE FLIGHT FROM DUBROVNIK TO ZAGREB
Seriously, consider Kelava when he is sold to a bigger and better club…. why would you want a hnl standard keeper to protect out goals. He has only played a few champions league qualifiers, so calling him the number 1 keeper in croatia is ridiculous. We will see how everyone reacts to his quality when Dinamo start copping a 4-0 drubbings in the group stages.
In my opinion Pleti still has 2-3 years in him. This gives enough time for either Kelava, Subasic or Delas to prove themselves.
I think the real argument should be 'who would replace Pletikosa if he were to be injured'? I would still choose Subasic as second in line due to his experience.
standard nonsensical cliche,,,,,,younger keeper will learn and listen.
Its all about talent. If the kid is talented, then he will succeed. National team coaches do not develop players for the national team; they don't have enough time to develop and teach them at the senior international level. Those players are developed at their clubs and how they play at the club level. At this point having them on the roster is enough for these guys. They need to show what they can do at the club level, especially Kelava. If he can do something in the CL, then he will open up doors for himself with the repka. Right now, he is in a better situation that that stiff Delas who everybody was proclaiming to be the next great GK. So, its to him to show what he as now.
Shinobi
Wow! A conversation that doesnt start with insults…this is new..
I agree with you when you say experience gives him precedence over a younger keeper, but thats the onyl thing I can see that is keeping him in the #1 spot.
Giving a younger goalie some experience was exactly what I was getting at. Dont want to start off World cup qualifiers with a goalie that hasnt played a game for the NT.
The way I see it, is that pleti and kelava or any other young prospect will both make mistakes, so why not prepare a younger keeper for the future..especially against teams like malta. I still think a younger keeper will learn and listen more then a old fart like Pleti.
@dinamoDennis "You convinced me, I finaly see the greatnes that is Pletikosa." Thats a laugh!
True some people talk like he's the greatest keeper this side of the milky way, and that he is totally irreplaceable. That may be true for now, but it wont be too long before pletikosa makes his usual amateurish mistakes, which will cost us big one day.
But yes, he is the best goalman croatia has at the moment, and his experience in big games must give him precedence over any other options croatia have.
DinamoDennis i do see your logic in blooding some of the younger keepers and getting some caps under their name, because when pletikosa finally does hang up the gloves, it would be better to have a keeper at the ready with some familiarity in bigger games, than someone who will be thrown in to the deep end and be dead in the water.
Ziva,
Are we name calling again? Thats so much fun..Ummm you're a dumb man! Oh yea, that was a good one.
Now…to the topic at hand..
Has anyone ever told you how smart you are ??
You convinced me, I finaly see the greatnes that is Pletikosa.
@allen19…..just ignore the resident idiot. Its one thing to play a kid with no experience in meaningless games, but to do so in in games that are do-or-die is just plain moronic.
Happy to see everyone agrees with me on Pleti. You can start your Dinamo boytoy in friendlys, but were making a push for first place so no way.
Simunic won't be able to play the first game for Dinamo against Real Madrid because of 2 yellow cards he picked in a UEFA Cup tie between Hertha Berlin and Galatasaray in 2008.
@Jordan
"why in the world would EA Sports want to include the 20th ranked league in Europe on their game?! I'm sure there are tons of gamers out there clamoring to play a season mode with Lucko or Istra 1961…"
It was sarcasm…
Ziva
Yea, your wrong. But thats okay.
Your still my hero.
Your writing is so smart and funny.
You must be like…25, wow!
Thats just great. Good job.
I agree pletikosa should play but only because thats what we have!
please for all those out there that love him thats fine i respect that, but dont say he's a monster or that he's alert at all times cause he's not. The guy hasent had a great club carrer, and he's never really stole a game for us, he tends to make the makeable save's, and the 50-50 saves never quit seems to make those, but forsure he's our goalie for know theres no doubt about that.
obviously the remark about dudu playing with one leg is an eggageration, but the fact he is our best striker. Even if he dosent score the next five games, he's still the only striker that in my opinion links the mid and forwards well with open play!
dragi, you ain't late for class, you missed class.
Am I worng??? I am willing to bet you are under the age of 20. Your writing reflects that.
Ziva
That must feel good…that the person agreeing with you says that Pleti is a monter between the pipes.
Didnt knwo that malta and isreal are the big boys of soccer.
Mabey I should go back to highschool. Im late for class.
Ziva = my hero
Wow, this is a first. I finally agree with Ziva; Pletikosa is a monster between the pipes.
I have no interest in playing a young or an old GK. I want to play the best. We are within one match of clinching a direct spot into the Euros and you want to use a GK with no experience playing against the big boys of soccer.
You can't compare Pletikosa to any of these two because Pletikoa has played in more important games.
Now, go back to high school. I think school started back up last week.
Just because you are a dinamo fan does not mean the dinamo GK should be the starter on the repka.
Since were starting off all our posts with insults…ziva and jorda… are you guys retarded ?
Were you two born with mississing chromosomes ??
… okay now we can talk
Arguing will never work so ill just make my point.
Kelava is shakey yes. But so is Pleti.
Why not give a chance to Kelava ?
Id rather have a shakey young keeper then a shakey old one.
Arnt you guys curious to see how a new young keeper will do ??
Andrej: "I don't really waste my time responding to stupid comments as its an expression "dudu is better with one leg than any striker we have"…ya over exaggerated but true."
It looks like you did "waste your time". I know it's an expression; an overexageration by definition can not be true.
Obviously, the other draw back is Eduardo only playing 45 instead of 65+; then again, if you plan to play say Klasnic and Eduardo 45 minutes each – it's more of a concentration of energy and perhaps effectiveness. And don't forget about Olic, he and Eduardo made for a formidable spearhead pre-08' euro.
Shinobi: "This site is doing an awesome job. If you dont like it(anonymous,hamilcar), dont visit it. No one is putting a gun to your head to come here."
——————————
Oh I agree, I wasnt the anonymous who said this site was "amaturish" – and I was busting balls in a way about "donations".
Also, let me clarify/expand on what I said about Eduardo not starting: I think it may very well be a good idea to keep Eduardo in reserve – basically let the starting strikers know you got 45 minutes to prove you belong; plus it keeps the opposition guessing; plus you can keep the starting strikers and bring Eduardo on the pitch and just change tactics as Bilic did against Israel. The only draw back to this strategy as far as I see is possibly limiting your subs from 3 to 2 for the entire 2nd half; but this seems a small price to pay.
@Dinamoblogger
why in the world would EA Sports want to include the 20th ranked league in Europe on their game?! I'm sure there are tons of gamers out there clamoring to play a season mode with Lucko or Istra 1961…
@DinamoDennis…….no, no, no….you can't be this naive when it comes to Cro soccer can you? How old are you???? 17, 18????Pletikosa today is head and shoulders above Kelava or Subasic. If you want to argue Kelava is better than Subasic, then you have an argument. But, to say either is better than Pletikosa is just dead wrong.
And just because they are young does not mean they can learn from their mistakes and improve. They might, but no gaurentee. Delac is a perfect example. Looks like he will go another season without playing which only reaffirms what I have said about him the entire time.
What mistakes did Pletikosa make? The goal by Israel was not on him.
In regards to the game:
it really was a tale of two halves. Bottom line, we can't have halves like the first one we had where the boys seemed uninterested and didn't really play with any fire in their bellies. But… We came out in the 2nd, Luka had that beauty and once Ben Haim got the red, the game was over in my book. Truth be told, I thought we'd score another and maybe just call it a day, but it was nice to see that offensive outburst and attack minded play continue roughly until the end.
The 2nd half did a good job of masking our deficiencies and I'm sure if we at least tie Greece and win in Rijeka vs. Lativa, most will assume everything is 'back to normal'. Fact of the matter is this: we haven't been playing like a top 10 footballing nation for a while now.
The NT doesn't play with the same fire it use to, a lot of our guys shouldn't be locks to start every match (see Big Joe, Srna and that clown in the midfield Vukojevic), Bilic plays a number of guys out of position and we rarely play attack minded football.
Personally and I think I've said this before on this site; it's time for Slaven Bilic to step down or get replaced. After this cycle, I really hope he does the HNS a favor and steps down. Since Euro 2008, we've been playing inconsistent and somehow or another, whenever the team and Bilic's job is on the hot seat, they manage to pull off a big win and everybody breathes a sigh of relief. Bilic will continue to have a good coaching career I'm sure, we just need new blood. It's obvious he's buddy-buddy with a lot of the players and relies entirely too much on the 'old guard' for our NT games. Fact is, in most games we come out flat, don't play attack minded (when we have plenty of pieces in place to do so) and as mentioned, have a number of players each game playing out of position. I think we'll make it to the Euro's, but depending on our group, I wouldn't be surprised for a second if we don't make it out the groups, unless the squad has a group epiphany and magically starts playing to the level they can and should be.
I know it'll never happen, but I wish we could bring in a foreign coach, maybe a little more on the disciplinarian side, good tactician and isn't afraid to pull the strings when needed to get the necessary result. That and we need some of our younger guys to step and be leaders out there. I use to be a fan of Slaven AND Dario Srna, but he's a complete joke of a captain. For all the talk that has gone on about him, Niko Kovac was a big loss for us and while he wasn't a dominating DMF, he did his job well and consistently and more importantly lead our NT by a good example, not like Srna, diving and flopping around like a moron every game.
LOL – whoa that was a big rant, but I needed to get that out since I don't post on here as often as I'd like to.
Despite speculation, there is no Croatian League on FIFA 12. I'm cancelling my preorder now 🙁
@ DinamoDennis
Do you watch football? Or do you just watch the highlights on CSR from the HNL? Keleva might look like an all-star in the HNL since he plays for Dinamo, which is head and shoulders above any club in the Prva Liga. Does he have a future on the NT? Definitely. Subasic is the same story. He plays for the second best team in the HNL, which is below Dinamo's level but a few levels above the rest of the competition. My point is, both of them are really shaky and Keleva is still young, in terms of keepers. He had some decent performances in the Europa League last year, but I think during the CL, he'll get lit up a few times. Give'em a few years and maybe a move out of Croatia, then we see what's up with Ivan. Subasic has been utterly average in my book. Yeah, he's above average in the HNL, but put him in any decent league in Europe (say…Austrian, Belgium or Russia?) and he wouldn't hang, I feel.
Plete, as we know, hasn't been getting burn like he use to. He's at Rostov and hopefully he sticks around as the first choice keeper and maybe from there, can move back to a better team in western Europe.
My point is, even with Plete's deficiencies now, I'd take him as the first choice keeper for the NT in a heartbeat over Keleva, Subasic, Runje, Dario Kresic, etc. and if you read other forums (English and Croatian) and read Croatian sport sites, most fans and experts would agree with me.
If somebody can't see that Dudu is our best striker than they shouldn't even comment on here. I don't really waste my time responding to stupid comments as its an expression "dudu is better with one leg than any striker we have"…ya over exaggerated but true.
You have to understand some of these people have watched very little soccer and even less of our nt. If someone is still posting as anon…they have not been here to long and cannot put a name behind the stupid comments.
@Anonymous said "All you geneouses who want to start Eduardo, shut the fuck up!"
Geniusiuses is that what you were trying to say? This is a joke right? you got me if it is, i had a good laugh. Nice one bro.
allen19
Kelava or Subasic are a better option then Pletikosa.
You say pletikosa is always alert…maybe
But I cant remember him making a good save for the NT in forever!
ANd you right kelava does have his botches along with subasic and pleti….the difference being that kelva and subasic are young and can learn from there mistakes and improve…pleti is an old fart! SHouldnt be making the mistakes he makes at his age.
@anon – Only if the player who is offside is interfering with the shot or goaltender….and if there is a rebound, he cannot play the ball or he will be ruled offside.
This site is doing an awesome job. If you dont like it(anonymous,hamilcar), dont visit it. No one is putting a gun to your head to come here.
TheGoldenChild: "donate"
—————————-
"donate", shut the fuck up "donate", what do you want next? foodstamps? You should be asking for brain donations, not greenbacks. Greenbacks don't make brains, brains make greenbacks.
We all know players are trained as a unit to draw or render the opposition offides; and I think in other instances (some famous) and in other sports, players are trained in the same vain, but it goes unsaid out of ignorance and secrecy.
If an offesive player is ahead of the defense (offsides) while his fellow offensive player (who's onside) takes a shot, that's offsides right?
All you geneouses who want to start Eduardo, shut the fuck up!
Certain angles it looks like Dudu headed the ball, other angles it looks like it deflected off the Israeli. Of course, Eduardo deserves credit for the goal as does does Srna either way.
@CSR, is there a way of showing the highlights vs Israel with same music and theatre as the against Malta?
Music makes a tremendous difference!
Modric's goal definitely competes with either of Young's goals against arsenal. That was just a beauty!
Anonymous,
We're working on it.
We have jobs, so it's a bit hard to juggle both.
If you'd like to pay, donate, or do the work yourself please do, instead of complaining.
Pleti sucks yeah sure, then what's your upgrade Einstien? I hope its not your boytoy Keleva cause he sure has had his botches. Pleti is the man, always alert and makes good saves.
upgrade your website
this sucks, its so amatuerish
Pletikosa's a bum
thx for clarification Bobby, that was news to me but makes sense. What would make even more sense is throwing out some teams like Kazahkstan which aren't even in Europe and maybe you can get to an even number of teams so all the groups are the same.
– that is for groups with 6 teams in them only
Don't think many of you know this, but, the second place team awarded automatic qualification is the one with the most points not including games against the last place team in your group at the end of qualification – which can change. The current standings are listed here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:UEFA_Euro_2012_qualification_(2nd_place)
Denmark and Bosnia are at the top.
Look at how quickly Pletikosa got the ball out for the counter-attack and 2nd goal.
although its a 3-1 victory,croatia only started to dominate after israel reduced to 10 man…
It is still not convincing performance when its 11 vs 11..
Loved the vintage Luka to Eduardo combo… reminding me of their golden days together before the injury. Hopefully they are on the path to regaining that form together!
amazed Latvia held on…it will be a tough match in Athens but its some relief that a draw will be good enough. We still have to play for the win
I'm not happy with the goals we are conceding where the opponents just ran straight through the heart of defense. That definetely needs to be fixed for the Greece match
It was an excellent strike, one for the archives. Eduardo should always be on the field, he is a player that can always make a difference.
Congratulations to the team on a important win. I am
just going to soak it all up and enjoy the win, it wouldve been better icing on the cake if latvija could have held of greece for the the win, but if someone told me a draw before the game i wouldve been pleased with that.
Modric's goal totally turned me on…. just wanted to share. Hell of a strike.