Croatia face Belarus this Saturday, September 5th, at Maksimir Stadion in Zagreb. The Vatreni took care of Belarus 3-1 in Minsk with ease a month earlier. Reports are suggesting that Belarus captain and playmaker, Alexander Hleb, will not suit up for the Croatia match due to a small muscle pull. Hleb wants to be at 100% for the rematch with Ukraine on September 9th. That certainly works for us Croatian fans.
Slaven Bilić is yet to name his starting XI but there should be a few formation changes as we will be without the services of Luka Modrić.
I think Croatia will easily win 3-0 with the England match on their minds. Eduardo scores two while Kranjčar puts one in from far to shut up his critics who say he can’t replace Modrić.
WHO SHOULD REPLACE MODRIĆ?
WHAT SHOULD THE FORMATION BE?
WHAT WILL THE FINAL SCORE SHOW?
Croatia wins 3-0. Goals from Kranjcar, Olic, Mandza
Croatia wins, 2-0. Goals from Olic and Rakitic.
Croatia wins, 2-0. Goals from Olic and Rakitic.
@ Ante BBB,
I look forward to seeing your stuff at the game. Have fun man!
@ Vatreni,
Do you live in Pedro? What is your first name? I'm glad your coming out to Cock and Bull with us for England.
Ante is off to a Mensa meeting.
Ok decki from CroatianSoccerReport.com (formerly HajdukSplitReport.com), I'm off to Zagreb to catch the games against Belarus and England!
AJMO HRVATSKA!!!
BOG I HRVATI
=U=
ZA DOM SPREMNI
(ps. for all of you blowhards who got offended at the hajduksplitreport joke, blow me)
The place to watch in NYC is the Irish Rover. 3718 28th Ave, Long Island City (Astoria) – (718) 278-9372
The hardcores have made their switch from Baker St. Pub in Manhattan to the Irish Rover in Astoria due to a BAN on the core group from the Tri-State area.
Baker Street can, as we were told, "no longer host Croat supporters."
The reason? For well over two years Baker St. Pub (www.bakerstreetny.com) was the base for Croatia supporters in NYC. We created a stadium-like atmosphere that cannot be found anywhere in the US (This claim will be supported by video in the very near future – the material hasn't been edited yet ). Singing in unison, chanting, drums, megaphone and fist-fights – all on the corner of 63rd St and 1st avenue in Manhattan. We have since been banned from the establishment.
So we have migrated.
If you are looking for a genuine atmosphere – with hardcore Right Wing supporters, come to the Rover.
We are a lot more peaceful now, being that we are running out of comfortable venues in NY to watch Cro games. So you don't have to worry about your safety. LOL
Although Bilic hasn't announced his starting XI yet, this is what all the so called pros in Croatia are predicting.
Runje – Ćorluka, Križanac, Šimunić, Pranjić – Srna, Vukojević, Kranjčar, Rakitić – Eduardo, Olić
For all of you wondering where you can find a live feed, I would recommend http://www.videosport.com. It's a couple bucks but worth it if you have a PC.
CSR will also be Twittering the match. You can find us on CSR or Twitter.com/Croatiansoccer.
Where can we watch the game online?
like a stream or something?
Nogometni-Magazin.com had the article. Bilic was using that very formation in practice already.
There's no way Bilic named the starting XI yet. He usually does it 24 hours before kickoff.
And that's coming from my own experience running CSR the past 18 months.
i was applying to peter radman's comment above, where he says bilic announced the lineup, but i guess he didnt, cant find it on the net anywhere
He has not named the line up. What are you reading?
First off why is bilic naming his lineup so early, why give the oppenent an advantage of knowing how we will play,
second i agree rakitic shouldnt be on the left, i also dont think he should start. He is out of form, he at most should be used as a second half replacment for someone on the right wing.
I say Croatia 2-0 Belarus with goals from Srna and Olic.
Hey, does anyone know if they're going to be showing the game at Scorpio in NYC?
I think Sharbini is ready now and i also am getting bored of seeing Rakitic on the left wing. The guy is right footed. Anas is also quicker than him. I think its time to freshen up the team. Badelj is clear cut replacement for Modric. We should move him up to the bench and start using him from the point of Kazakstan match. Jerko Leko is on the downturn. If Lacombe gets his way at Monaco he'll destroy Leko as he intends to keep him out the squad till December. I think we have to change Leko with Badelj.
I am surprised by seeing Mandzo in centre midfield in a few peoples team. I think we are getting bit complacent because Belarus will not sit back. They have a terrible defence. There only hope is attack. We need at least one proper defensive mid to break up their play. Also Mandzo is a worker not a technical player. His passing is not that perfect for him to play central mid. If Bilic must play Kranjcar in central mid then he can try it, but ideally would shouldn't do this. If he must, I'd definitely prefer if Pranjic or Sharbini was on the left wing though rather than Raki as that's where it could all break down. Although it looks attacking i worry about this all out attack line up. We prob would have been better playing everyone in their normal positions even if it means Pokrivac or Leko coming in the middle.
Take the square of our left side. Raki, Kranjcar, Pranjic and Simunic. That does not look like a solid defensive unit to me. Hope it works though.
just hope they dont get more injury, so they will be in great form for england, england also playing a friendly game this saturday against slovenia ( lets hope our slovenian friends will break a few leggs :p)
for the peoply who are making the trip to the game, enjoy and have a good time, make alot of pictures!!
Try The Kings Head in Santa Monica, it's got better atmosphere than the Cock'nBull- it's still packed with English but that's a given…
@Vatreni,
Good one! I have already watched tons of games down south in Pedro and had a great time, no matter the outcome (2:2 against jugo and 1:0 against Belgium stick out the most). I remember standing on chairs but then the alcohol took over, jebi ga!
Thanks Pedro for the wonderful memories!
I still believe that players like Ilicevic, Prahic, Vida and Lovren should get call ups as well. Prahic was close to Celtic last winter, we should give him a run with the reserves at least.
Apparently Bilic announced the team.
Runje
Corluka Krizanac Simunic Pranjic
Srna Vukojevic Kranjcar Rakitic
Eduardo Olic
@ DinamoFan – I agree with you idea to blood new talent. Players like Sharbini and whoever else can play for other nations should be called up at least once to protect them from joining other national teams. The real problem is, that they now have to receive a cap in a competitive fixture for it to count. I believe that Jermaine Jones, once of Germany, who will be joining the U.S will be the first to break in the new rule.
My prediction… We'll be having the bulk of possession especially in the midfield, have a number of chances on goal but only score twice
Hrvatska 2-0 Bjelorusija
@ Ante … I'll be joining you, Denis and the others to Santa Monica…
As for the game against Belarus, Denis I'm gonna have to disagree with your formation. Simunic is too slow to be playing a holding midfield position.
To respond to the Sharbini comment, what has he ever earned to have a place with the national team?
My formation is as follows
Corluka-Krizanac-Simunic-Pranjic
Srna-Kranjcar-Mandzo-Rakitic
Eduardo – Olic
In the U.S. the last game was on payperview for like $20. Last time I invited all my Croat friends and we watched the game live. I would rather watch it like that than around a bunch of English idiots. On the other hand, it would be fun watching it at a pub if we beat them again in England:) I won't be able to watch the Croatia-Belarus game because I will be at the Croatian Labor Day Tournament in Los Angeles. Anyone in California, Nevada, Arizona should come out. There's going to be a big party Sunday night at St. Anthony's Croatian Church in L.A. Croatian band Zrinski will be playing all night. Doors open at 8:30pm. The games are September 5(1st round) and September 6(semi/final-9am-3pm) at the Glendale Sports Complex. Everyone is welcome to come except for Ante BBB. That Mamic lover makes me angry 😉
Hey FIFA just updated rankings, we moved up to number 9. See here.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AghnLkQUM6BvA7rkRWrXuS8mw7YF?slug=ap-fifa-rankings&prov=ap&type=lgns
Also, read this piece about "sportsmanship". We need Dudu and the rest of the team to read this so that they are as disgusted by the piece as I am.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AhDraiLf00xNPdw4g50SYUQmw7YF?slug=ap-johnleicester-090209&prov=ap&type=lgns
Stupid English/Scottish don't understand that they are increasing our motivation by the minute, a'la what happened to Srebric last time. I hope they keep it up!
Speaking of atmosphere, am on holiday in Croatia next week. I have tickets to the Belarus game (will be my first time watching the NT live?), and will be in Split for the England game. Where is a good place in Split to watch the game? Do they show the games in public squares (via large outdoor tvs)? Any suggestions for good locations?
With Hleb out of the picture, I think Belarus will play bunker and hope for 0-0 tie. We have trouble against teams that play bunker (see Andorra most recently), so I see a 1-0 maybe 2-0 win for us. Olic or Eduardo as goal scorers.
@ Ante BBB & Ivica,
Glad to hear you guys are already on board for Belarus. I think it's be great if we got 4 or 5 people from around the world to send us some pics and videos. Obviously this is all time sensitive and the sooner it gets uploaded to the site, the more relevance it has.
Email your stuff to CroatianSoccerReport@gmail.com.
Also remember that you are not just fans with that camera in your hand. You become official CSR reporters and can use that with people at the game.
Denis and I will watch the Belarus match from the comfort of the CSR War Room on a live feed. Videosport.com has the game on clean quality for a few euros.
However, for the England match, it now looks like we will heading into enemy territory to Santa Monica, CA to an English pub called Cock & Bull. Hopefully we can get at least 10 Croats to come with us and wear their checkers while we watch the match.
I'm sure we can get some good commentary out of those wanks no matter the result.
Great to hear Ante BBB! I'll be getting some pictures and video from over here in Astoria, NY for both games.
It would be great to see some pics and/or video from CSR's Aussie's, Californian's, and where ever else in the world we CSR Hrvati reside.
As for my prediction: 4-0 Croatia
The pressure will be put on Belarus very early and they will collapse in the hostile away environment of Maksimir.
Goals from Eduardo (2) Olic, and Vukojevic
After some debate, I've decided that I will take some pictures for this site with the game against Belarus in Zagreb.
I unfortunantely got screwed out of going to London for the England game (hvala Uvijek Vjerni–my ass so I will stay in Zagreb for that as well. I can take some pictures of the atmosphere, if there is one.
You can now breathe.
Croatia 3- Belarus 0
Goals: Da Silva, Olic, Kranjcar
I'm looking forward to seeing Sharbini play at least the second half. Anas has alot to prove and I believe he is quality enough to make a difference for the Vatreni. This will be a great warm up before we play England. It will show Bilic which players are in form and ready for a difficult match at Wembley. Get ready everyone because this is when soccer gets fun. Players show what they are made of in these difficult situations. A win against Ukraine would have made things a bit easier. We must remember that its never easy for us to qualify. Our team that finished 3rd at WC98 needed a miracle tie from Denmark-Greece just to finish 2nd in the group. Then we had to beat Ukraine in the playoff. That was our best team in our short history. Its never easy getting to these tournaments but we always manage to find a way.
3-0 for us.
Dudu with the Hat tick, to put the fear of god in the English!
Against Belarus we need a strong midfield that will keep the ball on the Belarus side the whole time. So this is my formation. I'll explain why…
————–Runje————-
Corluka—–Krizanac——Pranjic
————Simunic————–
Srna—-Vuko—–Rakitic–Kranjcar
———Olic——Eduardo———
Simunic defensive middfield, because hes strong and will win most balls.
Srna and Kranjcar would almost play forward, while corluka and Pranjic cover their position and occasionaly attack also.
This formation is very compact. It would shut down Belaruses chances of ever going forward, and create more chances to trash their team 9-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm starting to believe now revamping Croatias team is as much as important as qualification. I'd like to see Anas Sharbini start against Belarus on the left wing if Kranjcar plays centrally. I never thought i'd say this but i'm also not completely against Denis's idea of playing the same formation we intend to play against England – against Belarus. The reason being is that we need to practice it as whatever it is will be something totally new to the players. We don't want to just use it against England without knowing if ups and downsides.
For the Kazahkstan match i'd like to see Lovren, Dujmovic and Badelj called up. Leko, Drpic, Vejic dropped.
Ya delac got called up since ladic didnt call him to the u21's, i think it was more a protective move as i heard that bosna was thinking of calling him.
Thank the good lord that Hleb will not be there. Lets just hope that Belarus doesn't pack it in and just play anti Football. I think Bilic will look to include most of the key players for the England match in this one, just to see if their understanding is there.
Eduardo will net a hat trick to silence all those negative comments he has been receiving.
I read that Bilic was debating whether or not to call up Delac to replace Stipe. Has anyone been called up to replace Luka?
@ Ziva Istina
They aren;t gonna take it easy. they need gd.
4-0
olic 2, Eduardo, Rakitic
@ Ziva Istina
They aren;t gonna take it easy. they need gd.
4-0
olic 2, Eduardo, Rakitic
Formation only agianst belarus
eduardo
olic Manzukic
Kranjcar – Vuko – Srna
Pranjic-Simunic-Kriznac-Corluka
3-0 my prediction,
Olic 1, Kranjcar 1, Eduardo 1
I think we should use a 3-4-3 and really take the game to Belarus, especially with Hleb out of the mix.
Olic Eduardo Petric
Pranjic Niko Vuki Rakitic
Simunic Corluka Srna
Vuki will cover the back 3, a la Claude Makelele. We desperately need Vuki to succeed at the DM spot, and be the 'battery' of the team.
I think we'll win 3-0, and I'm gonna predict Olic with a hat-trick (on 10 quality scoring opportunities). I love the man, he works his tail off, but COME ON.
Rob – Toronto
I hope that Bilic puts Olic back in left mid like in 2006 because he misses too much and his pace would cause a lot of trouble for the right defenders. Plus Petric is a better goal scorer. And Srna should play right back to add pace and athleticism in the back. This is my ideal line up:
Edurado Petric
Olic Niko Vuki Rakitic
Pranjic Simunic Corluka Srna
Then replace Luka with Vuki when he returns.
Good luck Vatreni!!!
4-0 Cro. goals by Kranjcar, Olic, Eduardo (2)
2-0 win. Cro will be able to make it a wider margain, but Bilic instructs his boys to take it easy in the 2nd half.
Croatia have a friendly with Qatar on October 8
http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=cro/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html#
i predict 3-0. Scorers Eduardo 2 and Olic.
I really hope Kranjcar knocksin an amazing goal to make the critics shut the hell up already. That's his natural position so Modric will certainly be missed but Niko will do a tremendous job I'm positive about it. With Hleb out brings even better news we'll play more freely and will hopefully play a pressing style as we did the last game it worked great Belarus couldn't cope with the pressure. Olic is going to have another workhorse effort Vuki will cover his assignment great and Rakitic should be put in at left wing if not Petric. I don't see a need for a formation change we're fine and we'll do fine.
SRETNO MOMCI ZELIM VAM DVI POBJEDE!!