Croatia came back from a one goal deficit Tuesday night to beat Norway 2-1 in friendly action. Darijo Srna had a stupid foul in the first half which lead to Norway’s goal. He made up with it moments later crossing in a dead ball, which Mario Mandžukić got a toe on for the goal. Niko Kranjčar put Croatia on top for good in the second half when he rolled the ball in Šuker-esque fashion past two Norwegian defenders to slot the ball home. Kranjčar now has three goals in his last two Croatian games. Is somebody trying to make a point to Harry Redknapp?
Ivo Iličević had a nice debut as he pulled out a small bag of tricks and had a nice shot on target. It looks like we have a keeper ladies and gentlemen, however, still early to make a final judgement. Hopefully he receives some time against Malta in November.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
CSR’s Zagreb correspondent, Branimir Kvartuč, caught up with the Norwegian national soccer team as they took a walk through Zagreb before their friendly match against Croatia on October 12th, 2010.
STARTING XI AGAINST NORWAY
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My question about the 30 for 30, how the hell did they fail to mention Toni Kukoc won 3 NBA titles?
It doesn't matter if Divac is a big dumb oaf who made a mistake, or a tactful asshole proving a political point. Vlade will be remembered as a whiney bitch who never stopped complaining to refs and flopped worse than Christiano Ronaldo.
Can't believe some of these comments about divac being a good guy, partiucuarly from Andrej. you live in a fantasy world. You are honestly going to sit there and justify the flag incident? My God, sometimes I really have no words for the garbage I read on here from some people
i'll bet if you asked divac at the time where the western serbian border should be, he would've said Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag.
his big support of 'yugoslavia' at the time was nothing more than supporting milosevic.
@ ziva
i don't buy divac's story that he would've done the same thing if the guy in argentina came on the court with a serbian flag. the 'balvan revolucija' had already started in croatia in the summer of 1990 prior to the world championships in argentina. serb/cetnik flags were all over 'the krajina', and i doubt he would've risked pissing off all of serbdom. it's easy for him to say after the fact that he would've done the same thing if the fan approached him with a serbian flag.
and of course the croatian guy in argentina who came on the floor with the croatian flag cursed divac's reference to the commie yugo flag…there's probably a reason that guy was in argentina in the first place….yugoslav communism chased him out of croatia.
re: stojko – how would they remember radja more than stojko? the both played for the celtics, and i'm sure any celtics fan, of which there are many all over the country, remember stojko. i had buddies at boston U at the time who said stojko was a fan-favorite, and got loud cheers when he'd get garbage time at the garden….probably because european players were still an oddity in the NBA at that time.
stojko was also with tudman and susak in knin a couple days after oluja raising a croatian flag on top of the tvrdava. who knows? maybe divac wanted to interview him and stojko told him to get lost?
Drazen Petrovic is a hero, I just watched the documentary and man what a player. He might have been one of the best players of all time if he had more time left, what a shame. His work ethic was one of those you see once in a life time, like Jerry Rice's. As for Diva, fuck him. He's a piece of shit, one for taking the croatian flag, two for doing his three finger bull shit, and three for making this fucking documentary about him and having the balls to go visit Drazen's family like they wanted to see him. I like how when kukoc was young he seemed to have some balls and said fuck talking with that fool. Drazen seemed to make it clear he was on the right side and wanted nothing to do with that big serb. Drazen bilo si dobar Hrvat, i uvijek ces biti u nasu srcu. Boze cuvaj Drazena i njegovo obitelje
Bog i Hrvati
I do.
ANTE BBB SLEEPS WITH SERBIAN MEN FOR FOOD
yeah, it would have been interesting to get Stojko's comments, but nobody in the US has a clue who he is, so made no sense to interview him. He rode the bench during his NBA stops. Hopefully cro media interviews him on his thoughts about the documentary.
I was not shocked or surprised by anything i saw in the documentary. We all knew Divac was involved, so for anyone to expect anything that portrayed the serbs as the agressors was asking for a miracle.
at the end if it all, Petro's legacy and greatness is further enhanced at the expense of Divac's jugo brotherhood ideology. Jebiga, we got our own country and that was something that Petro was always proud of.
Documentary was great whenever they brought Drazen up. Tears were flowing the entire time. There will never be another Croatian sportaš like Drazen. Goran Ivanisevic is a distant second.
If Divac is such a jugo lover, why didn't he interview Stojko Vrankovic? Weren't they on the same team? Probably because Stojko wasn't passive like Kukoc or Radja, whom I have completely lost all of my respect. Stojko would've actually told him a thing or two and probably would've gotten physical with him.
Divac showed he was a cetnik in 1995 after Croatia walked off the podium at the European Championships. It didn't bother him to lift up three fingers as high as he could. Spare me that that has always been a serb religious salute. Kurac. The day Vukovar fell to those three finger saluting cowards was when it no longer carried any religious weight. The same thing goes for the swastika. When Divac played for partizan, la lakers, did he ever use those three fingers before the war like he did when he started playing for Charlotte and Sacramento?
The serbs won a media battle with this documentary and I thought most of us knew the truth. Judging by the some of the comments I read, I now have to question that.
It was also good to remember how Croatia once dominated in basketball unlike today.
Favorite line had to be "ti si ga rodila ali on je naš" and when Kenny Anderson said that Drazen posted up 40 against Jordan and didn't care. "DC, kick it to me for three."
Ziva,
I agree with you pretty much right on.
I will say this documentary was a really good one. Their was no good guy bad guy it was as neutral as it could be from both perspectives and it kept most the political stuff out of it. It was a really sad documentary strictly on friendship that couldn't be. Divac was far from a bad guy and out of almost all serbs he is as respectable as anyone and he probably viewed himself as a jugoslav more then a serb at that time. Croatian media is what made him look like crap because we wanted our freedom and that is understandable but Divac wasn't a bad guy.
I watched it. It was strange. Divac did a great job of portraying himself as a good guy. I don't think of Divac as a cetnik. In fact I would love for someone to prove he is a cetnik…..you can't. We hrvati throw around that word recklessly. Seselj and Vuk Draskovic are cetniks, Divac is not. He threw the croat flag down to the crowd, but that does not make him a cetnik. Makes him a fricken proud jugoslav. I would have thrown a serb flag if put in the same situation. That don't make me an ustasa either. Just makes me someone that dislikes serbia.
What gets me is from day one he has always been about blaming the politicans on both sides. Hrvatska has no blame in this. We never enter another country's territory.
Petro comes off looking good in this as well. Someone who was proud of where he came from and went the extra mile to discuss the plight of hrvati at that time. One of the greatest leaders we have ever had in cro sports.
where can i catch a rerun or watch it online?
Boris,
I think you are wrong Divac was a good guy to all the guys and as for the flag incident I can understand from his side but it still does put a downer on himself because he knows he should have never done it. To be fair as well that guy came at him and provoked him….For him to actually do an interview like that and be so humble about it there is no cetnik that would be that respectful towards our people. How many people do you actually know that are Ustase who would go on TV and say something respectful about the serbs? None! I am not defending the serbs in anyway I am just saying Divac is one of them who isn't asshole. It does take guts to go into Zagreb and walk through there knowing you will be treated like shit and you are just going their sincerely for an ex-friend.
re: ESPN's 30 for 30 on Petro/Divac
anyone else watch last night? overall i thought it was pretty good. but as i suspected, the impression is given that yugoslavia was such a great place, and evil nationalists on both sides wanted war and tore it apart. and he trots out some quack academic from columbia for commentary on the centuries-old conflicts between serbs in croats. where did they find that asshole…croats and serbs didn't have political/military problems prior to 1918 when they were forced into yugoslavia by the 'great powers' at versailles (at least, no more than any other states that are also neighbors).
i actually expected more of the old "both sides are to blame for the war" BS, so i was glad to see that it was mostly hoops-focused, and drazen was portrayed in the best possible light. when you have all these me-first NBA guys like derrick coleman and kenny anderson saying "drazen could flat out play", you know it's true.
i only saw petro play live once….1993 in milwaukee…he dropped 30+ and made the game-winning shot. it was the only time in my life that i ever cheered against the bucks.
one thing i didn't buy was divac's line about how he didn't understand why drazen was mad about the flag incident in argentina in 1990. drazen knew him well, and recognized a true cetnik when he saw one. the best line in the film was when divac was walking around zagreb, and the cameraman was getting the reaction to him from passers-by, and the one guy asks…'is that vlade divac'…the cameraman replies yes, and the guy looks disgustingly into the camera and says "cetnik".
anyone else notice that stojko vrankovic wasn't interviewed at all, or even mentioned (divac only referred to drazen, toni and dino). no stojko? hmmmm..maybe because stojko would've punched his cetnik ass in the face?
video of italian cops beating down serb fans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11534331
Anonymous,
Kranjcar wont go up it only reflects on league campaign not Champions League or International….sorry haha
Mishko,
You have come on here twice and both times said the same thing about Eduardo. Don't get me wrong I am a Klasnic fan as well but he isn't fit and who couldn't play 90 minutes so why put him on the team?
To me everyone played really well last night. Eduardo is in a goalless spell but his movement is never a question to me. He always finds himself in holes and links up great/better with our midfield then Olic, Petric, or Mandzukic do. For being what? 5'9? He gets his head on the ball when provided service as much as anyone. I thought Eduardo and Mandzukic looked pretty good up top just couldn't finish but they showed they could play together possibly. I would like to see them given a run out in another friendly and see if they could play like that again. We came out and we created chance after chance last night and its been a while since we have played like that.
Hopefully Kranjcar's FIFA 11 rating increases after this weekend 🙂
someone tell this mishko character its pronounced "spremni"
to be fair, Norway requested ZG and said it would not play in any other city. ZG was the easiest way for them to fly into and for the players to fly back to their clubs after the game.
@ziva istina
"Another great decision by the savez to have this game in ZG. Give it to a smaller city that hardly gets a chance to watch the repka. 1,000 fans."
I agree. However, I am surprised that only 1,500 turned out. If thats the case, why doesnt the HNS give away 1,000 tickets for free to some charity, or offer a buy one ticket get a child in for free.
Lose lose situation for everyone today at Maksimir. 1) Players dont give a shit, 2) HNS made peanuts in sales, and 3) rest of Croatia is still dying to host the national team.
Klasnic has got to start playing some football at club level. Just like when Jerko Leko was at Monaco, Klasnic can't expect to get in whilst playing no football. Maybe Klasnic will turn this around as it only takes him seconds to score. Nothing wrong with Eduardo. He played 2 we won 2 where's the problem.. He needs games.
I'll keep saying it. Remove this Eduardo character, he gives us nothing, and put in Ivan "The Killer" Klasnic. He is the man, he just doesn't get his just deserts.
Za Dom Spremi
I'm happy with these two wins as Croatia's still work in progress. Its disappointing the under 21's lost but that was THE worst draw and they should have qualified out right if it wasn't for that daft system.
I think Perisic, Vida, Lovren, Jajalo and Kalinic will all be on the radar of Slaven Bilic now which isn't such a bad thing. These guys will be outside of under 21 age soon.
Yes thumbs up to Mandzo for once. Ultimately to hold his place he has to show us something. Whether its in a Croatia shirt or a Wolfsburg. If he does that then fair enough.
@thegoldenchild…fair enough. no questioning Kranjcar's talent; he was a large part of the reason Portsmouth won a FA Cup a few years. He has his limitations, like most players, but can flourish in the right system. Put him in a spot where he does not have to worry about tracking back, he is excellent. As soon as he has to have defensive responsibilities, that takes some of his game away.
@ziva istina
You have a point, and I think you might be right here. I agree with most of the stuff you say on these blogs, so I took a step back and realized I might be a little over the line. Maybe jekyll and hyde would have been a better metaphor? In my opinion, I think he just looks disinterested some games. I don't argue that he doesn't give effort, but when you see his body language on the field it looks like he is pouting or throwing a little kids temper tantrum. I don't know if it's just me and I'm reading him wrong, but that's my opinion on him. Obviously, lately he's been playing at a high level and producing. I've always liked his play, but I feel like he's got more in him.
I think we played well all in all. The last 20 minutes of the game was pretty trashy. Lots of turning the ball over by both teams, and just ugly play all in all. During the game there was also some questionable passing, lobbing balls across the field when they could have easily played the easy pass.
Illicevic and Strinic were real bright spots for the team. It's nice to see new guys step it up. Strinic was controlling his side and creating lots of opportunity on the offensive side. Seemed frustrated when the camera panned to him a few times because he wasn't getting the ball enough. You have to love that fervor these kind of guys bring. Illecivic is our new trickster. He lost the ball on his first couple of touches, but then really picked it up once he got comfortable. His ability to go one on one will be very valuable in opening up better opportunities on the offensive side. I don't care what Ante says, I'm calling him a keeper after one game. (If I'm wrong you can harrass me later).
Another surprise, Mandzo and Vuko actually played well. Mandzo had multiple chances on goal, and if he was actually good, he could have put away another. (Still don't like the guy, but I'm hoping he can prove me wrong.) Vukojevic nothing spectacular, but he was solid throughout the game.
One last thing Keane doesn't even start, he hasn't came on since completely blowing every chance against West Brom. I dislike Pavs very much, he does absolutely nothing then when he scores he celebrates like " I'm the man". Crouch is going to play always as long as he's healthy. He is such essential part to Spurs offense with the headers and volleys to VDV. For now Niko's best chance is to take Jenas spot which I really hope that happens.
When healthy this is my Tottenham lineup ( yeah I am not on the whole Crottenham bandwagon. I talk to a few English fans that love Tottenham and they hate when I use the term it's offensive still love the shirt CSR <3).
First off before I do it ( I am watching the friendy game tmw morning with my baby cousin who is five months old as he has his own Croatia jersey already. I have off tmw so that helps. Assou Ekotto has played really good this season, so I highly doubt he is going to bench unless hes hurt. Bale is also too good on the wing, but believe me I wish he played back. I am the biggest Kranjcar fan on this site probably so believe me I wish. As for Jenas, I hate that guy so much. Complete waste of space, only on there because he runs and plays physical something Niko needs to try to do. With all the transfer rumors with Niko, he better start playing him otherwise it could bit them in the ass. My lineup with Tottenham when healthy.
Defoe ( Defoe has been missed so much as Tottenham misses so many easy chances. Defoe bangs them home more times than not. I wish I can put Crouch but for me more times than not their better options).
Van Der Vaart the guy is a great option behind Defoe and can really explode there
Bale, Kranjcar, Modric, Lennon
Those four would be explosive. I hope Harry would do a Croatian link up there but the vibe I am getting is that Niko can't play center mid because he can't run. He hates the right side where he has a better chance of playing since Lennon has struggled. Sorry Niko, your not taking Bale's spot the guy is incredible.
Huddlestone- I love big Tom, the guy bangs bodies and always makes smart plays. He is fun to watch and is miles better than Palacios. I don't want that guy playing unless their is a lead that needs to be protected.
Assou Ekotto King Dawson Hutton
Hutton is playing really well right now, but just got hurt so if Corluka wants the starting spot he better start playing well. Other than, King and Dawson are rock solid although you know Ledley isn't playing every game. Gallas still has something left and Bassong has potential although seriously needs to get more physical the guy got bodied by Emile Heskey against Villa and it lead to a goal. Emile Heskey LOL.
Gomes has been solid after a bad first year. I don't mind him, it could be better but Gomes gets the job done.
I can't see that lineup that much though. I would love to see this, as it's so explosive but nobody has much of a header on this starting lineup so this would make crosses tough. That is why most likely Crouch would start putting Niko on the bench. I hope Niko gets more chances, but I can't see him and Modric ever being in the centers together. Huddlestone is big and physical, he can run and last with great center mids. As long as Assou Ekotto continues his play, Bale will stay at wing.
My take on Crottenham's lineup-
Crouch up top, Pav subbed in at 70th
Van Der Vart as withdrawn striker
Modric supporting the attack, Huddlestone behind him (unless Palacios plays better)
Kranjcar on left, Lennon on Right
The defense is tough since they're all injured, but Corluka should start either center or out right. Bale at left back
Gomes in goal
I can tell you if Kranjcar didnt do enough to get a start this weekend that he shouldn't even consider staying. It's nonsense I don't care for Bale this isnt the argument here. You either put Bale at LB or you play Kranjcar in Jenas position or you sub Kranjcar in instead of Keane!!! because if you watch Tottenham Jenas is the biggest joke to ever be put on the field….What is his position anyway anyone can do side passes and back passes all match. His defense is terrible as well although Kranjcars is to its probably on the same level. HR complains about goals yet he sits Kranjcar on the bench FFS he scores more goals then Pav, Crouch, and Keane. That is 3 of their strikers who are playing more games then Kranjcar and produce almost nothing. Like I said Kranjcar is not god but if HR thinks he is going to be happy riding the bench just because he got a couple international games then he is wrong very wrong and Kranjcar for himself needs to move on.
Allen19,
You are on the right track, but you don't have to pick Bale over Kranjcar. Last season Bale started at left back and it saw them reach the top 4. No reason why the two can't start together.
I just want you guys to know last time we played Malta we tied 1-1! So dont go out and be like the Croatian media celebrating and counting you points before they are in the bag. These are the games I absolutely hate because we go in with such a terrible mentality most the time that it hurts the team. Common sense on paper we should without a doubt win but football is a bitch sometimes and results dont always go your way! I know some say/think we should experiment next game with youth but thats what I use these friendlies for…and as in experiment if we do choose to do so I would maybe bring in 1 or 2 players because lets slowly do this the correct way. We are in the lead spot and we do not need to panic and do something stupid.
We pretty much dominated today for 80 minutes…and the other 10 we still did well. I am actually shocked because I didnt expect this type of energy out of our players. We had chances constantly I thought every single player had a good game including Vukojevic who I am not a big fan of. Eduardo still isn't getting enough touches but he didnt have a terrible game either. I am also really pleased with Strnic who is starting to play really well at LB in both def/off. I would like to see Eduardo play more as a link to a primary striker because he is technically gifted enough to do so he just gets easly marked out of the game up top by himself. I might even consider playing him out right instead of mandzukic because like kranjcar he can cut inside while Srna overlaps ect…we just have to accept he isn't the goalscorer he used to be anymore but I still think he is among the best 11 and is very difficult to not have him in the squad at all. He is at worst a bench option. For the conditions of the game the guys for me played an -A effort but that may be to my low expectations. But like Bilic said to the media after the game its their fault these stadiums are empty and that friendlies shouldn't be played in Maksimir because anywhere else it would be a full stadium even for a game this big.
I missed the whole game, but yes NIKO!!! Once again haters time to confess that this guy is more than worthy of a starting spot. I am not sure if he ran the whole game but holy shit that goal was nice. Harry it's time to play time to sit crappy English men like Jenas, although I still take Gareth Bale over Kranjcar in terms of Tottenham any day and if you wouldn't then your a bias fan. Manzo finally scored it took about 14 games after his first. Still happy to see him score, I would like to see more highlights though oh well. Anyone have a link to catch the repeat, it would be awesome!!! Ivo played yes and it seems like he did well. I am really excited for him looks like Klasnic but can actually run. Can't wait to destroy Malta. As for Schldenfield, well he has been at fault for both goals in the last two days. I hope Lovern develops and is ready to start soon.
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/skandal-u-genovi–delije-upale-u-autobus-s-igracima-i-htjeli-lincovat-vratara-srbije/894504/
What a fucking goal!
it will 3-0 for Italy.
Just watch how the serbo-cetniks-yugo-lovers will blame the Italians for poor security.
Well I hope FIFA dock them points or automatically kick them out of tournament.
To cancel a game because of this is something very rare and I cannot tell you the last time it happened. The money it costs to cancel and the inconvinience it is I wouldnt be suprised if we saw some big measures taken.
over 500 years hatred with those guys..
This is great.
Ziva Istina,
Not to start anything political, but yes I know they don't get along.
I was wondering if I missed anything recently that would make burning their flag relevant for today's match.
Lots of signs about Kosovo and chants of it. Even the commentators were bringing it up (as best I could figure out).
Basically, match was out of control before hand, read on Yahoo that players feared for their safety and nearly refused to play?
Why burn an Albanian flag?????????
Do you know anything about history in the balkans.
Google it.
Yes! Well done Israel, now hold on for the draw.
Why burn an Albanian flag?
Israel ties!
nebi srbin bio srbin bez nereda…..
@ Ivo
I had it on TV (Hoorah for Free TV), they started off by burning the Albanian flag, then throwing flares on the pitch.
One guy threw a flare, but it hit the glass baracade and fell back on him. They only had about 8 minutes of play and in that game, Serbia got a yellow and nearly conceeded a goal.
All you can do is shake your head.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/12/2115045/violent-serbia-fans-delay-match.html
anyways its because of hooligans
england serbia huh?
anyone know why england serbia suspended?
Did Eduardo touch the ball at all?
that goal by kranjcar was beautiful plain and simple wonderful
Another nice goal by Kranjcar, hopefully he can keep it up during qualifiers.
Crap. Greece just scored.
two really good goals croatia scores ties it up at 1-1 and latvia ties it up in extra time agaist georgia 1-1 🙂
Good news….Latvia and Georgia tied. and I saved some money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.
Hvala Ivo Miljanovic!!!!!
to be fair to the guys they are trying and giving more effort then i could have ever seen so far. we are actually doing a lot of things right i really do think we are better without srna sometimes…he just does not make the right choices
http://www.justin.tv/ginger_bloke5?#/w/460569520/2
That goal is on Srna. Dumb foul outside the box. There was no need to foul. Those type of balls into the box are tough to defend. Vukojevoc almost scored on his chance, Norway scored on tehir chance.
A LINK PLEASE!!!
oh and we have been better so the people who were so mad last game for us not playing good and winning will now complain about us playing good and losing…? haha
NORWAY GOAL
post…how typical it seems so common
But the direct link please 😉
I'm not to good in computer… 🙂
MYP2P.EU
Dobro vecer guys!
Can I have a link to watch the game please?
Hvala!
…and Za Dom Spremni makes its appearance amongst those 2,000. Bravo
Adthe.net does not have it for some reason. Where are guys watching it?
it actually isnt starting out that bad we are being creative and attacking a lot but i doubt it can hold like this for a long time
Too bad for our U21's, Spain has to be the best of the bunch.
It makes me sick that a team like Iceland qualified and we didn't, if they drew Spain it would have been 10-0 aggregate.
Evidence why all games NEED to be played in Zagreb. Please note my sarcasm.
Agreed, seeing Maksimir empty with the national team there is pretty sad. This is going to be a boring match.
I hope the players do take it serious in all honesty just to help some with form and confidence.
I agree Ziva! This is what drives me insane! Friendlies should NEVER be held in zagreb. You can hold it anywhere and you will get people to show up outside of zagreb.
Another great decision by the savez to have this game in ZG. Give it to a smaller city that hardly gets a chance to watch the repka. 1,000 fans. The players have no desire to play in a game like this and you will see it. You can't replicate the same situation as a qualifier by playing in a game nobody cares about. If you put this game in Osijek or Rijeka, at leats you get fans to game to create a decent atmosphere to perform on the pitch.
this match is beyond meaningless.
Forgot to put in Srna……..whoops
so we are only playing with 10 players huh?
Starting lineup
Pletikosa
Strinic
Simunic
Pranjic
Vukojevic
Eduardo
Modric
Schildenfeld
Mandzukic
Kranjcar
Only around 1,500 in attendance, but our U-21's drew around 8-9K.