I have a bittersweet feeling about yesterday’s 5-3 loss to Spain in extra time. The loss definitely stings, but if you’re going to exit a tournament – that was the way – the way the Vatreni did it in Copenhagen. Down 3-1 with five minutes left in the match, Croatia found fortitude and strength from super subs Orišić and Pašalić to equalize the match in the dying moments. Spain was shook and Croatia had all the momentum in the world on their side. Then in the 95th minute, Andrej Kramarić had a near point-blank shot on goal but didn’t quite get under the ball enough as the Spanish keeper got a hand on the shot to make the save. It would have completed one of the greatest EURO comebacks ever (until the Swiss did it 2 hours later) and Krama would have been a national hero.
Instead, Spain would score twice in extra time to seal the deal and send Croatia home for summer break. The Vatreni have yet to win a EURO knockout round match in their history. Crazy to believe, I know.
So what went wrong? And what can we build off of this tournament?
Lots of things went wrong. But lots of things went right as well. Let’s go down the list:
THE GOOD
- IF this was Luka Modrić’s last tournament in a Croatian shirt, he leaves us with more legend than he already entered EURO 2020 with. At 35 years of age, Modrić orchestrated the Croatian midfield – as he usually does – and capped off one more legendary moment with his game-winning goal against Scotland to send Croatia to the knockout round. It was with his signature “outside the foot” shot from 20 yards out that won the game in Glasgow to break the 1-1 deadlock. Modrić currently holds the record for most capped Croatian player in history at 142 games and is the seventh leading scorer with 18 goals. He’s only two behind striker Ivica Olić (20) which is pretty impressive. Modrić is also the youngest AND oldest Croatian player to score at the EUROs. Will he return in 17 months for a 2022 World Cup run in Qatar?
2. The Croatian fighting spirit is still alive and well! For whatever reason, the team plays better with their backs to the wall. It’s annoying and it shouldn’t be happening, but it’s the truth. The Vatreni came back three times at the 2018 World Cup from 1-0 deficits. They did more of the same at EURO 2020; drawing Czech Republic 1-1 after conceding the first goal, dominating the 2nd half vs. Scotland when it was 1-1 at half, and miraculously scoring two late goals against Spain to force extra time. How do we get these guys into believing they start the game down 1-0 already? I feel this would win us every game. (more to follow on this shortly)
3. The young bloods got a taste of the big leagues. Future center-backs Duje Ćaleta-Car and Joško Gvardiol got multiple starts for Croatia this tournament and they did pretty good. The days of Vida and Lovren are now gone as we turn to the future. Gvardiol, who is only 19 years old, definitely showed his age and nerves this tournament. He was directly responsible for two Spanish goals but nearly scored one himself against them. DCC is only 24 and was on Liverpool’s wish list last summer. Gvardiol played left-back at EURO but his natural position is CB, where he will be playing at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga starting this August.
4. Croatia’s 2nd Golden Generation topped out at the World Cup in 2018. Mandžukić left. Rakitić left. And through all that, Croatia still made it to the knockout round of the EURO, which is a much deeper tournament than the World Cup. Look at Italy and the Netherlands during their generational transitions. Neither of those nations even qualified for the World Cup in 2018. Germany didn’t make it out of group stage. It’s tough to be consistent forever. Yes, we all tasted the sweet fruit of the World Cup Final three years ago, but it’s damn hard to get to a Final. It’s even harder when these tournaments are every four years. Croatia gave a better Spain side a run for their money yesterday and had them shaking in their boots without Ivan Perišić and without a real striker to be found.
THE BAD
- Why does it take the Croatian national football team so long to play angry? To play with urgency? To play pissed off? It’s not just this tournament, it’s been like this for years. The Vatreni start the game nice and slow like they’re playing chess with their Dida and then finally turn it on to full speed when they finally get scored on. Why?! It happened again this tournament against England, Czech, and Spain. Go play! Go score goals. Yes, the Croatian team always has individual talent but we need someone that will fire them up and teach them not to have fear…to absolutely play fearless. This crop of Vatreni play with fire in their bellies; but only when they’ve first been punched in the face. And that needs to change now!
2. Ivan Perišić contracting COVID right before the Round of 16 begins. Really? I mean, really?! He’s Croatia’s second best player and tore up Spain at EURO 2016. That news sucked!
3. Croatia vs. VAR! Why does VAR hate Croatia so much? The elbow call against Lovren in the Czech game was laughable. This comes three years after VAR gave France a penalty against Croatia that completely changed the World Cup Final. VAR was supposed to improve the game, not ruin it.
4. Not having a true striker. Some countries have two. Currently, Croatia does not have one. The Petković/Rebić carousel project did not work. Rebić is a winger and Petković still plays in the HNL. Who will come from the shadows to be the next Šuker, Pršo, Mandžukić for Croatia? Please stand up!
THE UGLY
- Kramarić, Rebić, Petković. All these guys are on my EURO 2020 shit list. None of them came to play in any of the four matches they featured in. Both Krama and Rebić had wonderful seasons for their clubs in 2021. They were scoring tons of goals for Hoffenheim and AC Milan. Then crickets. All three of these players are on the field to score goals and between the three – not one goal. You’re not going to win many games if you’re offensive players can’t score goals. Simple as that.
2. Dalić lost the locker room a long time ago. It was evident the past three years and it’s even more evident now. This current crop of Croatian players weren’t up for the England game at Wembley. There were already rumors flying around that Dalić had taken a head coaching job in Turkey. The magic that he supplied at the World Cup in 2018 quickly faded. It’s time for Dalić to go. He did everything he could for Croatian football and the man – in my opinion – shouldn’t have to buy a drink while he stands on Croatian soil for that reason. He didn’t do a good job of managing egos between the young guys and the old guard and it showed on the field.
3. Dalić kept Brekalo as a defender against Spain in extra time. WHY? Brekalo came into the match for defender Juranović in the 73′ with Spain up 2-1 for extra offense down the wing. Spain quickly made it 3-1 but Croatia would tie it up at 3-3 to force extra time. With one sub left on the bench and a brand new 30-minute game at your fingertips, the only true defenders Dalić had out on the pitch were Vida, DCC, and Gvardiol. That’s three defenders with 30 minutes left and your tournament life on the line. Why not restart with a back-four and throw Vrsaljko or Bradarić in there? Instead, Brekalo got burned on the cross and Morato fired home for the win. GAME OVER.
It wasn’t a bad showing by Croatia at all this tournament. They had to play England in London and Scotland in Glasgow for fox sake. That’s not easy by any means. With no true striker and a brand new defense, the Round of 16 was the sweet spot. I would have considered a first knockout round win and quarterfinal berth a huge success and huge bonus. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Now with Šuker leaving office as HNS president, the question is: who will be the next coach? The most logical choice is Nenad Bjelica, who has done absolute wonders for Dinamo Zagreb and Osijek over the past three seasons. But as we all know in Croatia, politics are involved. For that reason, look for Slaven Bilić to return as manager for the second time. He’s currently coaching in China but can easily be wooed away with the right offer. He’s likable, a good energy in the locker room, and the new crop of kids will like him.
Speaking of the kids, if everyone develops how they should, the future is bright. Modrić may or may not play in the checkers again, but DCC, Gvardiol, Ivanušec, Juranović all got a taste of the big leagues with Sučić, Bradarić, and Biuk not far behind. And will Sosa ever make amends with the HNS and Croatian people?
Stay tuned…
Cilic won in 4 sets great match.
From the ashes of this defeat, there is cause for some optimism.Budimir indicated he has the energy and aerial ability to lead the line, and Orsic showed that he deserves the opportunity to start. There is the transition occurring in defence, even though DCC looked crap on the headed goal by Spain. Livakivic is a world class shot stopper but still needs to develop in terms of controlling his goal area. I hope Luka will stay for one more tourney and we can integrate someone to slide into his position. No one player can have his impact, but with Vlasic, Kovacic, and Brozo, strenth by committee. Brozo improving but still hits poor passes off his dribble.
Also, what is the problem with France? Best individuals by far, but so immature as a team. As soon as things go wrong, the players are at each others throats. Lucky for the country they dropped out now. Closer to the final and there would be blood on the street.
Make that Kovacic with the poor passing, not Brozo.
Cilic is on the court today in Wimbledon. 🇭🇷
Sosa should definitely be brought into the mix, as long as his attitude is right. Not as a guaranteed starter but a player you give some opportunities to prove himself, just like Bradaric.
Happy Canada Day to all the Canuck Hrvati on the site!
We have to integrate Borna Sosa into the system. He might very well be the key to the whole operation. If not, peril awaits.
Croatia B vs Qatar match
……..1…….__……….3………..
any information about this?!
For you Hajduk fans, there’s a new app you can place on your phones to watch the games.
No charge – sign in with your Google or Facebook account
Hajduk HDTV
Need to go into settings for the app and slide the two tabs to the right.
Could it be Rebic made up the shoe malfunction? Has anyone seen the shoe in question?
He’s still a useful player but should have a much shorter leash
We’re actually lucky to have such a diverse set of players who are good in different situations.
We, unfortunately, don’t have a coach that knows how to use them on a game by game basis.
I remember Peru looking very impressive before the last World Cup… But when the tournament came, they couldn’t adjust.
Their players all have the same strengths and weaknesses.
We have such a wide array of skills at each position… But we didn’t use it.
Rebić is right when he posted that comment about Dalić.
Great generation of players, but nobody that knows how to use them.
We do have a diverse set of players and I do think Dalic has some faults that hurt him. He’s definitely extremely loyal to certain players and I think that hurt his credibility for the last few years.
He was extremely loyal to Mandzukic after ’16 where he abosolutely sucked, and that turned out ok, who was to know.
Many here thoughgt that Rebic could play striker (didn’t he score a hat-trick at Milan as a striker), @Soul Champ being one of them.
Guess what, Rebic sucked up top, now you all know. The problem was when he got to play on the wing, he still sucked, and that’s on Rebic not Dalic. Rebic can sook all he wants now, but everyone knows that Dalic got Croatia to the Final in Russia.
Weren’t you once saying that the coaches role in soccer is like in the military, you said it after the Lovren Cacic affair? If Rebic doesn’t like the leader, don’t f***ing play for him, but the bum shouldn’t sook after the fact that he absolutely sucked.
Rebic easily has the worst feet on our team
Drazen Petrovic’s older brother is the coach of Brazil’s national basketball team.
When he angrily came onto the court in today’s game to protest something, he received a technical foul. The crowd started laughing and cheering – thanks for helping Croatia – haha -awkward moment.
Not even having Zubac, Saric and Samanic would have helped today – that was awful.
Bogdanovic and Hezonja were embarrassing.
I would have more respect for Rebic if he said Dalic should have recognized that Orsic is a better player than I am and should have started before me.
If you want to feel good about Croatian soccer just watch the Croatian basketball Olympic qualifying
20 point loss to Brazil in split against a weak Brazil team
Only less then two months before the rest of qualifier’s begins. Lot’s of changes will be made in the squad and in regards to the coaching.
Goalkeepers: Livakovic, Grbic, Kalinic
Defenders: Sosa, Bradaric, Jurnavoic, Barisic, Gvardiol, Caleta-Car, Pongracic, Melnjak
Mids: Modric, Kovacic, Pasalic, Brozovic, Vlasic, Ivanusec,
Forwards: Orsic, Budimir, Colak, Brekalo
Maybe call up Pandur? I saw him in a few Serie A games and he looks pretty good for his age.
Croatia is a small country yet all you guys want to do is deplete the depth by kicking everyone off of the national team. And what happened to “Modric and Kovacic can’t play together”? In the garbage can with “Modric and Rakitic can’t play together”. I may have coined the term: two ‘mobile pivots’. I’m blown away with the fact that a Croat has the surname ‘Pandur’ – that’s the name of a Croatian irregular military unit from Medieval times. My comment might get deleted b/c someone is afraid of knowing anything important. He wants desperately to get to his grave living out the “ignorance is bliss” life. He just wants to “go along to get along” so unbeknownst to him, he has the hottest circle of hell waiting to greet him.
Not replacing Brekalo at right back when the score was 3-3 was an egregious and inexcusable mistake, did anybody from the coaching staff bring it up or were they just jumping around like monkeys? Still, does Brekalo not have any athletic instinct? He was a good 8 feet from the goal scorer and he jumped for the ball when he was nowhere near it. Why didn’t he LOOK to see where the player was, run to him and at the very least force him to head the ball into the net rather than giving him the time and space to chest the ball and then blast it into the net?
Let’s say hypothetically speaking that Dalic is a tyrant and won’t permit anyone from the coaching staff or even the players to speak, to offer any ideas; so no one dared bring up the right back situation. You see how suppressing speech stops progress and leads to catastrophe, especially when you’re doing it to your own people? Do you see? And don’t give me that horseshit “well, it depends what you say” because I’m sure hypothetical tyrant Dalic would have no problem having his ass kissed. IT’S YOUR FAULT, YOU THINK YOU’RE SOME BIG SHOT BUT YOU’RE JUST A TOADY AND YOU DESERVE WHAT YOU GET.
I kinda like Bob!
Yea right, until I actually speak heresy rather than just point out you shouldn’t suppress it, then you’ll join the mob demanding I shouldn’t be allowed to speak about anything anymore – which is the point I made.
Something astonishing has happened, when you tell the truth and don’t compromise on the truth (which equates to a lie) like a respectable conservative does, you find out you get around the “authorities” and the general fanaticism and realize that the so called “experts” in our society you previously may have thought were big shots are not only not big shots, but in our society of disloyalty and dishonesty, are actually human scum to be trampled over.
Bob. When they tied 3-3. Dalic sent Vrsaljko to warm up. By the time he was warmed up. Two goals were scored. They were waiting to put Vrsaljko in but no stoppage in play.
The question is. Why was Vrsaljko not getting warmed up when the score was 3-2 or even earlier?
Answer is, they never expected to tie it up and had no plan if they did.
Poor coaching by coach and assistants
They should never have started extra time with Brekalo at RB to begin with.
We’ve seen this mistake twice now: the coaches get so wrapped up in the emotion of the final push that they forget to keep the players organized. It happened to Bilić in 2008 after the Klasnić goal, and it happened to Dalić this year. These coaches need to remember that the players leave it all on the field, and the coaches are there to manage them. That’s how Biscan helped the U-21s take down England. He told them to hold off on the celebration until the game was all the way finished.
You took the words out of my mouth Bobby
A professional soccer player can’t come within 2 yards of gauging a ball over his head was comical. I don’t care that he’s not a defender it was embarrassing that’s on brekalo!
I guess no Sosa AND no Rebić in these qualifiers.
Ante Rebić posted a video from the match between Spain and Croatia on his Instagram profile, and in his description he sharply dealt with criticism and called out Zlatko Dalić. In addition to the coach, he also attacked Robert Prosinecki and Goran Vlaovic, calling them “TV experts”, writes Index.
The video shows Rebić going out to change his football boot when Croatia got a goal-out, ie at the end of the game, but he failed to return before the goal of Spain.
Due to his move, Rebić was under great criticism from the public, but also from captain Luka Modrić and selector Zlatko Dalić. After the championship, Dalic said that some players “spent their credits”, and it is possible that Rebic felt called out.
He therefore wrote on Instagram: “I’m sorry we didn’t have someone to take advantage of this talented generation,” which is most likely a criticism of Dalic.
After only 20 minutes, Rebić removed these Stories from his Instagram and posted two new ones, in which he thanked the fans who came to Copenhagen with the caption “Above all – Croatia”.
He then very quickly shut down his Instagram profile, writes Index.
Give me 96-98 Vlaovic or any form of Zuti over Rebic.
Take your criticisms like a man and quit calling out players that were better than u for the Repka.
Ante Rebić na svom je Instagram profilu objavio videozapis s utakmice Španjolske i Hrvatske i u njegovom se opisu oštro obračunao s kritikama te prozvao Zlatka Dalića. Uz izbornika, napao je i Roberta Prosinečkog te Gorana Vlaovića, oslovivši ih “TV stručLjacima”, piše Index.
Na videozapisu se vidi kako je Rebić izašao promijeniti kopačku kad je Hrvatska dobila gol-aut, dakle u prekidu igre, ali se nije uspio vratiti prije gola Španjolske.
Rebić je zbog svog poteza bio pod velikim kritikama javnosti, ali i kapetana Luke Modrića te izbornika Zlatka Dalića. Dalić je nakon prvenstva izjavio da su neki igrači “potrošili svoje kredite”, a moguće je da se Rebić osjetio prozvanim.
NAPAD U STANU Teško ozlijeđena djevojkaNAPAD U STANU Teško ozlijeđena djevojka
Na Instagramu je stoga napisao: “Žao mi je što nismo imali nekoga da iskoristi ovu talentiranu generaciju”, što je najvjerojatnije kritika Daliću.
Nakon svega 20-ak minuta Rebić je uklonio ove Storyje sa svog Instagrama i objavio nova dva, u kojima se uz natpis “Iznad svih – Hrvatska” zahvaljuje navijačima koji su došli u Kopenhagen.
Zatim je vrlo brzo ugasio svoj Instagram profil, piše Index.
Dalić je nakon prvenstva Evrope rekao da su neki igrači potrošili svoje kredite, a očigledno je da se Rebić našao prozvanim.
“Nakon svega, nije ni bitno ko je krivac. Činjenica je da smo zadnje 2-3 godine sr*nje. Lično mi je žao što nismo imali nekoga da iskoristi ovu talentovanu generaciju”, napisao je Rebić, a preneo “Indeks”.
https://twitter.com/nijeusoldimasve/status/1410256702851665923/video/1
Rebic calls out Dalic lmao
I wonder if he gets the call for qualifiers lol
At this point the sooner Dalic goes the better!
He had his chance and blew it.
We have a good team and missed a great opportunity to go deeper in this tournament. Hopefully by WC 2022 we get our act together and can figure out a winning strategy.
Hopefully we can find a smart coach that can take this team to the next level. Good Luck.
Just watched the highlights and analyzed where we went wrong. Josko is young and I’ll go easy on him considering he’s a teenager still. Lots of time to improve but my word did he play awful. I personally think he’s too slow to be a left back. He allowed two goals against Spain and that one against England after the failed attempt clearance and tackle. Livakovic played well this tournament considering it’s his first. I’m confident with him as our starter. Then Brekalo at right back made no sense and him alone caused to goals. Did Dalic just not have any more subs or ideas and for some odd reason to allow a winger at the back play in a do or die game against Spain. Vida looked poor too. If I’m Dalic I would honestly drop Lovren & Vida. The defending needs to be rebuilt. Majority of the goals we’ve allowed happen off of poor clearances, running around, no coverage and ball watching. Then no finishes at the front by Kramaric. Orsic, Budimir, Colak, Vlasic our new forwards. Don’t even argue. Brekalo too but he sits. The rest get dropped. Get some friendlies in before the qualifying games. We should have quality to beat Russia, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Considering both shit the bed in the tournament. Slovenia didn’t even make it.
the kid in net was definitely a worry leading up to the Euro but he didn’t make his usual coming off the line blunders and for the most part kept his head under a crazy amount of chances- I am surprised he was that placid considering he should have taken a shovel and given Dalic a LIKA beatdown like no other- the tactical direction he gave the players is inexcusable- of course Dalic will stay- Suker wants to keep his job so Dalic has to keep his job and so on down the line- it’s just HNS at it’s best- what will be their demise is the next few games if they get torched in Russia – they shouldn’t but this team is just a puzzle with missing pieces
Great breakdown Ante!
Good points.
Luka is going to player/coach
Call rakitic and a fit mandzo out of retirement and we win world cup
They all retire
Dalic and whats his nuts tv repairman go around selling soccer camps and fixing TVs
I think that it’s pretty unanimous around here that Dalic shit the bed, so repeating the Brekalo and Rebic stuff adds nothing.
What I haven’t seen anyone comment on is Livakovic. He seems to have gotten a free pass. Sure he made a couple of good saves, but c’mon, he allowed 5 goals and people around here think he did well? Go back and watch the replays. Sure other people are always responsible for setting off the chain of events that lead to a goal, but if you want to be a contender, you need a goalie to bail you out on occasion. We never really get that.
On the first goal, he runs out to challenge like a chicken with it’s head cut off, then back pedals. This leaves the defence completely disorganized as they scramble to cover the net. The ensuing chaos results in a goal.
The second goal is a good header, but one that is also within reach.
The third goal was terrible. Sure Gvardiol has a monumental brain fart, but a weak side footed shot from a bad angle nutmegs Livakovic. Unacceptable.
The forth goal results from Brekalo’s poor defending and Morata hammers it, but it was a shot that was also within reach.
The fifth goal was also the result of Brekalo’s laziness, but the shot again goes right through Livakovic.
Livakovic has always seemed to be a good reflex goalie, and not much else, but those reflexes sucked. Until we have a goalie that can at least do the bare minimum, things will be difficult. Maybe he can still become that guy, but I’m not hopeful. He’s not some young up and comer. He’s 26 and should be in the prime of his career. I don’t have the solution, but one needs to be found. This cannot continue.
Grbic is only 25
Is he forever just going to be a back up at atletico
Really he does technically play for one of the best teams in the world
Does he need a move and start Playing?
There has to be a Hajdukovac on here with the scoop on Grbic. Based on talent, he’s probably our best young GK prospect. He needs some first team football. Is AM looking to loan him out or keep him there for Oblak’s backup? Ideally, he should go to another team this summer, get a bunch of first team reps and at least be the 2nd/3rd choice keeper by Qatar.
Unless he starts playing out of his mind or moves to a better league, there is no reason to have Sluga on the squad moving forward. He’s 28 and while he’s a nice guy and Istrian (HUGE plus) he’s not going to play a role for the NT. Let Grbic (or others who are in form) mesh with the NT and if Livakovic isn’t the long term answer, they can be the #1 and will exposure to the team.
With all due respect – don’t think any keeper in the world is stopping the 4th goal
Bingo. You can put a in-his-prime Vladimir Beara out there for that one and its going in… 😀
At the barest of minimums he has to stop goals 3 and 5. The Spanish goalie makes a meal on the first goal, but when they needed it the most, he saves Kramaric’s blast from in close while going the wrong way, and make no mistake, Kramaric got all of it, just like Morata did. His save on Gvardiol was also incredibly difficult to make, but he keeps it out. We didn’t get that from Livakovic.
Before the tournament, I read somewhere that Grbic is looking for a transfer to get some first team playing time. I hope so…..
Bang on becar!!!!
You’re right, but alot of us Livaković haters expected him to make several blunders and look foolish.
He didn’t do that, plus he didn’t look as panicked as he usually does.
He was handling the ball at his feet under pressure, without immediately kicking it out of bounds.
That is an improvement lol.
But yea, I don’t expect him to make deciding game winning saves like what Unai did.
Unai made a blunder, but that Gvardiol low corner shot and the Krama point blank shot were goals that 90+% of keepers would not save.
Unai is probably the player of the game lol.
I always said that the day we get an average keeper is the day we will win multiple tournaments lol.
Stipe Biuk.
This kid is 18 and is an explosive runner.
He can’t be trained to be a striker?
New HNS president, new coach needed to honor the talent we have as a footballing nation.
New vision for September qualifiers.
I am still reeling from that Spain extra time Dalić dereliction of duty.
The boys comeback after 75 minutes of inept tactics by their coach. To score 2 goals in 11 minutes, to make it 3-3 against Spain in a knockout round of the Euro!!
You don’t switch off Brekalo for Vrsaljko?
Hope Brekalo can play any defense?
I realize this match was in the making for 3 years. Lack of vision of cultivating new talent in the side.
Perišić and Modrić are both world class and have one more World Cup in them in 16 months.
You have a LW and a legend creative midfielder.Figure out 9 other players to support them.
Where are the Croatian hunters that can play striker and lead guard in basketball?
Who was that 18 year old from Split for the u21 side?
I liked the way he ran.
Kramaric actually had two chances to put the tie away in the first extra-time, one at point blank range.
@Soul Champ Dalic was out of his league. No plan, no vision. There was nothing in place if we actually tied up the game. No plan B. Sime didn’t start warming up until it was 3-3. Full time ended after that tying goal. He should have been running the flanks warming up with Pasalic, Kramaric and Orisic. Instead he wasn’t warmed up to start the extra time and Brekalo got caught playing RB on that breaking goal. Orisic & Pasalic should have started right at half time for Rebic and Petkovic but he waited until the end. Rookie coaching mistakes over and over.
Dalic staying and only badelj will be retiring wow
I guess that thought the euros was a success
Source?
Jutarnji list
Seems like SN ‘think’ he’ll stay – nothing confirmed though.
Nevermind.
The game was headed for a 4-1 finish and (if that happened) then Dalic would have been fired.
But, because he finally subbed out Rebic in the 70th minute (something that anyone else would have done at halftime) it resulted in us scoring two goals and gaining some respect back (despite still making an equally disastrous mistake in extra time with no RB).
He needs to go.
I doubt Bjelica will want to take over (he seems committed to what Osijek is trying to build), and there is no way we claw someone like Vladimir Petkovic from Switzerland or Ivan Juric from his new Torino gig.
It will have to be one of Biscan, Bilic or Zuti.
All three are a risk, but banking on Dalic “learning his lesson” is an even bigger risk.
https://www.croatiaweek.com/croatia-coach-zlatko-dalic-i-made-mistakes-i-will-talk-to-luka/
What are you muppets saying, that Dalic should’ve taken off Brozovic and put on Vrsaljko?
But Brozovic may of attacked Dalic in front of the world then lol! It’s Brozovic’s fault that Vrsaljko couldn’t come on.
Dude, we get you’re grieving that your “beloved” French got smoked by Swiss cheese, but relax in the comment section. Get a life 😂
Lol, aren’t you half French you idiot?
Someone mad? I’m half Québécois and proud, that isn’t French. Learn some geography you shmuck.
We gotta stop bashing Petković for still playing in the HNL with Dinamo Zagreb, when you have Mislav Oršić and Mario Gavranović playing there too at an older age (and doing incredibly well at these Euros).
@Maminjo
Has Orsic ever played abroad though?
Because bush league Petkovic has been in Serie A and couldn’t score a single goal, then went back to the HNL because he couldn’t cut the mustard abroad.
@Armada87 wrote,
“Hey, all you tin foil hat wearing nerds – why was Switzerland “allowed” to win today? Why did the illuminati allow it? When having France in the tournament is the bigger money maker? Does FIFA and TV execs just have it out for Croatia? Waiting patiently for the explanation on this.”
FellowfromtheSelo wrote,
Well said Armada. Reminds me of similar comments when incompetent reffing and an apparently injured Subasic led to the loss in the WC final. If there was corruption, it would have occurred with Perisic’s tying goal, which could have been called back with a high foot. Would have given a France v England final, which all the sports marketing types would have died to see.
Now lol a couple of comments by good ol’ @Mile, the first one in response to Me, the second one when jocksniffing @Armada87 lol!
“You are a special kind of idiot. But then again, your user name is Frenchman. You are gullible enough to believe that France legitimately won the World Cup, and it wasn’t handed to them by FIFA. Let’s put a loser Argentine ref in charge of a World Cup final between two European teams. Got to have a patsy ref instead of a seasoned European ref. Too much money to be lost by Croatia winning.”
– Mile
“Agree. Conspiracy theories are eaten up by people that are of lower intelligence and those that lack critical thinking skills. They need to have everything they disagree with explained away by nonsense. The world is a big eyeroll right now.”
– Mile
Is this @Mile guy a troll or what?
To use a hockey analogy:
So Dalic basically pulled the goalie at 1-2 when he took out a defender, and managed to end up with 3-3.
Then, he kept the goalie out in overtime.
It was that stupid.
Zlatko Dalic must go. Rebic taking a time out to fix his cleats is ridiculous.
When my father was a kid they played all day barefooted. This shows a total insubordination. Dalic
is a lousy technician and all he has done for the past 2 1/2 years is apologize for the teams performance. Borna needs to be given another chance but Dalic will block him. What coach relies on a player to install discipline?
Well said ^^ Dalić is the captain of the ship but can’t steer. Too many issues this Euro to allow him to continue. Also, I don’t see a path forward with Borna until Dalić moves on.
it always give me a laugh when people think frenchman is actually French and not just a Croatian troll
I think I’ve written to him three times in French and he’s never answered. Just proves he isn’t actually French.
@Markus
So why would I be grieving over France’s loss to the Swiss then ya bozo?
Ask questions to these people in Croatian and tell them if they can’t answer you in Croatian, that proves they’re not Croatian? Do that, and then I’ll talk to you in French.
@Baka
Let me help ya here, because no one knows what’s happened to the Croats better than me.
“I choose to treat everyone with respect and help those in need. Im pretty sure Jesus would have wanted us to open our doors to the people in need that you are not wanting to let in.”
When someone knocks on your door though, do you first ask “who is it?” Or are you suggesting that no one should be made to knock, lol just leave the doors open for friend or foe? (Luke 11:9)
The question I would ask, is why would a non-Catholic knock on the Croatian door, does he not have any likeminded people in this world on whose door he may knock?
And these people that you would want to bring in are in need of what exactly? Work? Well they can go find that in Germany, Austria, Ireland etc, like the Croats have to.
Are they dead or are they alive? (Matt. 8:22)
Are they with Christ or are they against Him? (Matt. 12:30)
It’s like a good Croat friend o’ mine once said (and I agreed with him), “Samo oni koji žive od vjere stvarno znaju što se događa u svijetu.” That being said the first question @Stari should’ve asked you (instead of shitting his pants lol), was what’s your faith, so he knows who he’s talking to, because Croats claim to be a majority Christian people and if you’re not with them you’re against them (just like commies/partizani and the schismatic Serbs were against them)? What’s your faith, in that the Croat can know if you’re his enemy or not, and whether or not you have the Croatian peoples best interests at heart.
Matthew 22:36-40
Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
Communism/globalism is atheistic, commies don’t believe in God. Zoran Milanovic doesn’t believe in God, but the stupid little Croats, who have in reality embraced the spirit of this world (1 Cor. 2:12), believe that Zoran Milanovic loves them. That’s why Croats are cursed (Jer. 17:5), because they chose to put their trust in man and not in God by voting in Zoran Milanovic (and all the other globalist stooges in between, from Tudjman to Milanovic), a man that cannot love the Croats, but that’s only true if the Croats still believe in God, which it seems like they don’t.
And Croats say “Bog i Hrvati” lol.
“Lol just as I thought, so you are anti immigration in Croatia but at some point your family immigrated to the states.”
You should be asking why they haven’t gone back to Croatia if they call it independent now lol, not have a go at their families for leaving (sorry, you can have a go at the atheist/commie/partizan families for leaving Yugoslavia, what the fuck did they leave for?), because their is someone to blame for the families of nationalists leaving communist Yugoslavia.
https://youtu.be/Ky1jxBhj6_g
Here is a great Croatian song, now in this song there is a genuine question asked, that is, “Tko je krivac mili Bože da se braća rasula po svijetu?”
Can you answer that please?
Man your post is hard to follow,bunch of nonsense. Go watch CNN.
@Amerika
How do you know it’s nonsense if you don’t understand it?
@The truth
I was born in Dijon. “Troll”? If a “troll” is someone that writes the truth, and some get upset by the truth, then you can call me a troll. But if something I said isn’t true, then please tell me where I’ve gone wrong?
Because as St. Augustine says,
And it is one of the distinctive features of good intellects not to love words, but the truth in words.
– Saint Augustine
On Christian Doctrine
Dijon huh? Do you have any grey poupon.
wow this post just gave me brain cancer. Please try posting it again coherently.
@Baka
You surely could of answered that last question, but instead you choose to avoid it, why do you think that is? I believe it’s because you were talking shit and you can’t answer it without looking like an ignoramus.
I know more about the Croatian people than you do fella, so just stay in your lane because you haven’t got the mental capacity to have the conversation you were having with those other bozo’s, ok, you got no f***ing idea.
Lol you can claim you know more about Croatia all you want, doesnt matter to me, I for one am not insecure in my “Croatianess”.
Here is an idea, why dont you stay in your French lane and wave the white flag in give it up. because honestly it doesnt matter whos fault it is that Croatia has so much Diaspora because they fact of the matter is that some of the ones that emigrated and fled whether it be for political persecution, religious or as refugees and are still living in the those countries for some reason have a problem with other immigrants. And then to top it off they claim to be good catholics but don’t actually practice any of it. In fact, Jesus was from the Middle East and he was a refugee and if he came to the Croatian border some of these people wouldnt let him in and still claim to be big Catholics.
So please spare me the word vomit lecture above and wave your little white French flag and call it a day.
@Baka
“It doesnt matter whos fault it is that Croatia has so much Diaspora because they fact of the matter is that some of the ones that emigrated and fled whether it be for political persecution, religious or as refugees and are still living in the those countries for some reason have a problem with other immigrants.”
So your issue is they haven’t gone back now, now you’re saying what I already said. Listen, like I said, you got no f***ing idea.
And of course it matters who is to blame for some leaving Yugoslavia (or the guy singing that song wouldn’t of asked the question), to be dumped into atheistic/communist Yugoslavia by your people was not the will of a majority Catholic Croatian people, you do know that communists hate Catholics?
“In fact, Jesus was from the Middle East and he was a refugee and if he came to the Croatian border some of these people wouldnt let him in and still claim to be big Catholics.”
More nonsense from you ya bozo, of course they’d let Him in ya fool, their whole faith is believing that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, that He is God. In my above comment I quoted Jesus Christ.
Like my half French brother @Markus has suggested, if you don’t speak Croatian, you’re not Croatian, so start writing your comments in Croatian or get back into whatever lane you’re living in, because you got no buisness talking about the Croats like you know them, I know more about them than you ever will.
@Frenchman
You should ask that simpleton “Baka” if he locks his doors at night when he goes to bed, or whether he leaves them open just in case someone might be in need of some shelter in the late hours of the night?
Why would he lock his doors?
Why yes, thank you for asking! Yes, I do lock my door, unfortunately I dont live in Canada where it isnt necessary to. But with that being said, if you were educated and knew how to read any sort of peer reviewed study you would know that immigrants commit less crime so eh. But shelter wise, I actually help quite a few people, donate to charities, am part of groups that help immigrants and homeless people.
tell me what do you do you big Catholic? Let me guess, sit front row in church on Sunday’s give the priest 100 bucks and then get hammered outside of church?
Daj bolan ne seri. Unlike most of the people here I was actually born in Croatia and not abroad. See what you are doing is picking and choosing what you are reading and not reading the whole comment. Its kinda like what the Trumptanzees do state side.
“So your issue is they haven’t gone back now, now you’re saying what I already said. Listen, like I said, you got no f***ing idea.”
Nije to problem majmune! The problem is they are anti-immigration somehow and they themselves are immigrants, thats where the hypocrisy comes in. Please make sure you read things in full you uneducated swine.
Context wise it doesnt matter who is to blame because they still emigrated and have a problem with others immigrating into a country where they dont even live anymore.
They wouldn’t let him in if they didnt know he was Jesus is my point you fool. There you again, picking and choosing.
Again you can claim you know more about whatever you want but your arguments are still shit and not valid. Mozemo mi pricat cijeli dan ali ti samo ides u krug.
@Baka
How many 70 or 80 year olds do you think there are here you idiot?
What we have here is the children of the diaspora, and they’re not immigrants dopey, their parents emigrated to where ever the f**k they were born.
So who is to blame for their parents having to leave atheistic and communist Yugoslavia is a very valid question ya fool?
Maybe the children of the diaspora when they visit Croatia want to see Croats, they don’t want to see a country like the one they live in now ya little twerp. F***ing ask ’em before you call them hypocrites, they may have a constructive answer for you ya muppet.
“They wouldn’t let him in if they didnt know he was Jesus is my point you fool. There you again, picking and choosing.”
So if Jesus came but they didn’t know He was Jesus lol, that’s just dumb, you’re an idiot that just wants to focus on race.
So you’re just talking about a middle eastern man then, does he follow Christ or is he dead (Matt. 8:22)? Is this middle eastern man with Christ or against Him (Matt. 12:30). It’s important to know that because Croats claim to be Christian, and Christ clearly teaches them who their enemies are.
“But shelter wise, I actually help quite a few people, donate to charities, am part of groups that help immigrants and homeless people.”
Do you help them spiritually?
1 Corinthians 13:3
And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Some may say that distributing all your goods to feed the poor is charity, but the Apostle is obviously talking about another more important kind of charity, one I believe that you don’t have, and 84% of the Croatian people should have, and 16% of the Croatian people can only pretend to have.
So do you have charity?
Reading your comments shows me that you don’t have charity, so stop talking shit.
Like I said, you got no f***ing idea.
I know more about the Croatian people than you do, so please, just shut the f**k up because you’re out of your element here.
Still hypocritical. So their parents/grandparents wanted a better life and they emigrated just like the people that you arent wanting in Croatia. theres no difference.
Also by your argument these people are now not Croatian anymore so why the hell should they have a say who gets to live in Croatia and who doesnt?
You sir are obviously uneducated, very uneducated at that, so claiming you know more about anything is wrong.
You can google and quote bible verses all you want, you can have the bible memorized but it still wouldnt make you a good catholic. It quite simple actually.
Jesus would be ashamed of you people.
@Baka
You don’t understand that you’re just giving your opinion on a people without understanding the essence of the Croatian person like I do.
So atheistic communist Yugoslavia was not going to grant Catholic Croat a better life?
So why then were they a part of Yugoslavia if they’re a Catholic people, who f***ing made that almighty blunder?
You understand that there wouldn’t of been a bloody war in the 90’s if that blunder by your incompetent people was never made after wwii?
“Also by your argument these people are now not Croatian anymore so why the hell should they have a say who gets to live in Croatia and who doesnt?”
How did you come to that conclusion if I may ask? It was actually my half-French brother @Markus that suggested if you don’t speak Croatian that you’re not Croatian, I would never say that.
But it is true, some of these people I wouldn’t consider Croatian (lol maybe we can call them Croat anti-Croats), you being one, but some I would say, like St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, although they be absent in the flesh they are with the majority Catholic Croats in spirit (Col. 2:5). It’s about having a spiritual connection to the place where Croatian people live.
Now if the children of the diaspora want to tell me they’re no longer Catholic (which they maybe aren’t because they’ve attacked me here many times and I’m Catholic), then I’ll shut the f**k up, and I’ll let you continue to bash ’em. I’d also tell them to stop using that Napoleon quote as if it somehow applies to them, because that was said about a different type of Croat, a Catholic Croat, like those that battled at Sisak.
I know the Croats and what’s happened to them better than anyone, and have I told you that you’ve got no f***ing idea.
@Baka
“In fact, Jesus was from the Middle East and he was a refugee and if he came to the Croatian border some of these people wouldnt let him in and still claim to be big Catholics.”
Who came to the Croatian border?
Wouldn’t let who in?
Now you say,
“They wouldn’t let him in if they didnt know he was Jesus is my point you fool.”
You’re funny.
So if they knew the middle Eastern man was Jesus they’d let Him in, that would be because they’re not racist correct?
But if they didn’t know the middle Eastern man was Jesus they wouldn’t let Him in?
Well, it’s your story, so why wouldn’t they let the middle Eastern man in if they didn’t know he was Jesus? I know it can’t be because He’s middle Eastern, so why is it?
Crisis starts their qualifying tournament for the Olympics tomorrow but are missing some pieces
Zubac- playing in wcf and sprained mcl
Saric-playing in wcf
Bender-torn acl
At least bogdanovic made it and hezonja is going to try to do his best Tracy mcgrady impression
No shame in the loss but another missed chance as i said in the last post just like the last euro, had we gotten through this one, a favourable draw to make the semi and then anything can happen. I never feel as disappointed now though, given what we achieved in 2018, feel like this generation has proven themselves and that was a huge relief that makes it easier to deal with these kind of disappointments, much easier actually.
i wanna know the tea about what happened in the locker room with brozo having ice on his hand………
Me toooo!!!
Dalic still wants to stay :_(I
I guess:
1) Modric could just leave it to the next generation |l
2) there is no chance for Sosa
3) Petkovic still there II(_o makes for starting 11
4) Lovren and Vida won’t give away for central back_+
5) another hurt o_o wasted talent as they -> out of position
this is for the new mind }{ new era formation
that we dream of for World Cup!
……………………..A Budimir………………………….
Perisic………………Vlasic……………….Ivanusec
………………Kovacic…..Brozovic…………………..
Sosa………Gvardiol…..Caleta C………Bradaric
……………………..Livakovic…………………………..
if Modric would like to stay around then ->
……………………..A Budimir………………………….
Sosa……….Modric……..Vlasic…………..Perisic
………………Kovacic…..Brozovic…………………..
………Gvardiol….Cale Car….Pogracic…………..
……………………..Livakovic…………………………..
Wondering how you rate Sosa Vs Bradaric?
For Sosa’s position in the 2nd line up
– ………..Borna Sosa………….. –
offense ||||||||||||||||||||:
defense ||||||||||||||||||||||:
accuracy |||||||||||||||||||:
ball control |||||||||||||||||||:
agility & speed ||||||||||||||||||||||:
– …………. Bradaric …………… –
offense |||||||||||||||||:
defense ||||||||||||||||:
accuracy |||||||||||||||||:
ball control ||||||||||||||||:
agility & speed |||||||||||||||||:
Sosa still better in technique compare to Bradaric
you can count on Bradaric mentality and he is ready |}
Sosa needs a chance to prove that he is worth calling .^.
this is why | I hate Dalic -> He won’t do that |l
Lol you guys have gone mad.
I just finished watching the replay of the world cup final, I feel better already.
Euros this year were meaningless anyway.
But boy did you guys make Spain look like they were on drugs yesterday.
Sure. Meaningless after you lose
The entire soccer world rejoiced in the west African/Algerian team being knocked out by a Croat coach yesterday…viva la Swiss 🧀
If you feel better about watching a World Cup final, where a team of three Frenchman needed the assistance of an illegitimate referee, VAR and FIFA to beat a country of 4.2 million people, that was coming off three straight extra time games, that was in complete control of the game from the start, then good for you. LOL
I prefer to win the game by being the better team. If you need the refs and another continent of players, you are not a legitimate champion. And again, congrats on being a troll. You must be proud.
Weird tournament. Three of the four third place teams won, and the one that didn’t, Portugal, should have won too. And the three group of death teams all lost. The only game that was not close was Denmark-Wales. Every other game could have gone either way. You need some luck in these tournaments. Croatia had back luck, bs penalty shot, Perisic with COVID, but was given a freebie goal against Spain. They were not good enough to take advantage. Maybe next year.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ex-west-brom-boss-slaven-20929279
Maminjo 😂
It’s gonna be really interesting to see what happens in September. I don’t want Lovren and Vida to hang it up cuz there is still a lot to sort out in those positions. Moving forward with gvardiol and DCC as starters would be great and should be there direction we take but after that we have Pongracic and no one else really. So we still need to have Lovren and Vida there. But yea idk if Lovren will take a back seat. He’s gonna say the 2 games he didn’t play we lost lol.
I think Dalic needs to spend the rest of the year experimenting with different lineups, and try to find that diamond in the rough player.
Maybe get Livaja some burn?
Perhaps an Ivan Santini resurrection?
Duje Cop maybe?
Lots of possibilities, lots of potential lineups, rotations, formations…
I just hope that every single player gets at least one game to show what they can do.
We can worry about actual lineups, formations and building chemistry when we arrive in Qatar.
are you drinking by the pool by any chance?
Cop? Santini?
I’d rather some kid in the Croatian league that has some scoring abilities and also a player that can bring a different dynamic.
for the better of our national team, I’d immediately bring in Sosa and allow Gvardiol to challenge for centre back. Sosa may or may not be our answer but Gvardiol should be afforded the opportunity. If Pongracic is really capable, he also needs to come.
I think we somehow need to test out Orsic but thats obviously going to be very tough to do. That would mean he plays out of position, then the domino effect comes in because we are making room for everyone while most of the players wont be in their natural and best positions.
Ivanusec also needs more time on the field, Majer deserves a crack and for once and for all, we either learn how to use Petkovic or leave him home!
Slavonac, man, I get that it’s hard to detect sarcasm online…but come on.
Give me some slack here, lol.
I get you’re joking with Cop and Santini LOL but if Livaja continues doing very well with Hajduk, why not give him a shot? We’re giving Petkovic too many LOL…
We should have finished group stage in the spot where the Czechs finished, It would have been easier against Netherlands Denmark and most likely England. This way we finished second in the group and crashed out early.
https://telesport.telegram.hr/analize/hrvatska-bez-reda-i-logike/
This match was just the beginning of something great, I think. A lot of mistakes out there on both ends of the field, but also some really great displays of footballing energy. Maybe Luka leaves, but I think the next three years of Croatian football will be stellar.
Let’s see the Pasalićć/Budimir duo (they always find the goal) up top get the playing time it deserves and win us every game over the next year or so. The Kovacić/Brozović midfield becomes the best of the next two tournament cycles. The Juranović/Duke/Gvardiol/Bradarić defense becomes an unstoppable counter-attacking machine for the next decade. Why not? Slaven Bilić is a good coach. He understands team development, and he knows whom to play when and where. If Spain wins this tournament, we will have fallen to the champion for a 3rd consecutive tournament. No shame in that. The key is to keep growing and be a perennial challenger for the cup.
Dalic needs build this team agin for 2022 cant make mistakes like from 2018 do now. Orsic was playing football of his career for dinamo not just in hnl but in europe big games. Pasalic is a differnce maker always liked him vlasic is a starter in the 11 for me. So i am so eager to see who 2022 qualifying goes. This was a wasted tournament like 2008 2016 euro life goes on but i still dont understand some of dalics mistakes at half time if he subbed in budimir orisic and pasalic and vrsaljko in i think we get a win but who knows and maybe kramaric should not give interviews for sn he lost all credibility for me. Idemo dalje wc 2022
All the sides in the group of death are out.
No excuse not to start Orsic and Pasalic
No excuse not to put Vrsaljko back into defense at the start of extra time.
Could you imagine the bitching if England had to play in Zagreb, Prague, Glasgow and Munich?
This home field setup should never happen again – otherwise, let’s have our entire group come to Zadar to play .
The setup of this tournament was ridiculous to begin with, then add Covid, which affected Croatia, and it’s even more ridiculous. They couldn’t train in Scotland. And then England is given today’s game as another home game, when Dublin was pulled. So six of their seven games would be at home, with the only neutral site game against the winner of Sweden/Ukraine. What a joke. If the final is Italy/England, I don’t think I could stomach it.
Where do you guys get this speculation that the younger players have egos? I swear you guys make shit up.
Otherwise, most of your points are fair. Although, I think Bjelica is unattainable
To all those asking for migrants and refugees to help the team. Hard pass! This is a nation that has only been independent for 30 years. We’ve achieved a final, semi finals and been at five world cups. Taken on and overcame football powerhouses. We’ve only missed two major tournaments. For a small country that is a lot to be proud of. England, Italy and Netherlands have missed some major tournaments too in recent years. Croatia is the only Eastern European team to make two semi finals and a final. Smallest country to make a final. We need better coaching, development, stadiums, youth to win a tournament. No refugees or imports. Nothing against other nations but it ruins the culture. Imagine if all European teams just said fuck it and let’s invite a boat of migrants. Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Italy don’t need them. Neither do we. Period.
Well said Croatian Assassin! Add in our continuously improving junior level results, it shows that we have the native borne talent required to compete at the highest levels consistently.
Croatian Assassin the day that happens were are no longer Vaterni . Neither do we Period is 100 percent correct.
its perhaps time to do the progress/regress list for 2022 world cup
forwards
brekalo up, orsic neutral, rebic who knows, kramaric neutral, perisic down
vlasic up, kovacic up, modric possibly way down, brozovic neutral
vida down , lovren down, vrsaljko naturally down but healthwise maybe up, barisic up, gvardiol up, pongracic up, caleta car up
livakovic up
The most dangerous part of this simple chart, is likely lovren and vida maintains their spots in qualifying..
with significant risk factors that perisic and modric stay too long as well…especially perisic… perisic rises for the tournaments but he might not have the phsycial will for mid november qualifying games in slovakia any more
Maminjo – is Pongracic your uncle or something?
He sucks – you are wrong about him.
You are also wrong about Pasalic.
If trying to prove your point about him is all based on one fast paced situation in the penalty box, that is sad.
I can point to at least 5 mistakes Modric made yesterday – it doesn’t mean he is just a good sub.
You have pretty good knowledge of Croatian culture and heritage, but, I’ve been reading your posts for awhile – your judge of soccer talent sucks.
Pfft. Whatever. You’re just being racist now.
And I can point out at least five mistakes that Morata made yesterday.
Imagine the reaction here after that own goal — if it was against us and not Spain.
This is international soccer — it’s not as fluid/well played as the club game where goes are much more familiar with one another.
Imagine if we had our own Mbappe and he missed a tournament-deciding PK — on a team favoured to win it — after he failed to score all tournament. Take a deep breath when analyzing, people, jebemti!
Who cares? The grb isn’t a big deal. That chequered board has been around for centuries. Nobody should be ashamed for our teams symbol. It could’ve been a misprint or accident. Who gives a flying fuck. It’s out history and the chequered logo regardless of the pattern its in, it’s history. Let it go. It’s there to stay on the jersey so who cares.
Its always some bull shit with us that they want to demonize us for. they want to prosecute us for something a fan did or for some innocent mistake. Mexican English French fans get away with worse and not even a slap on the rest .
So we play Bruno why? I’ll tell you why. He is Dinamo and the hope was that he showed something and gets a transfer to a bigger cup and Dinamo gets a transfer fee. That why.
you’re a retard!
Mamic je kriv!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah the mental midgets are back from their olic pool party I see.
Fed up, I love how you didnt answer my question on the other post. lol coward.
I did Fanook but this website just spun. I live in NJ you got a Problem with that
Lol just as I thought, so you are anti immigration in Croatia but at some point your family immigrated to the states. Of course theres no logic there which goes along with the rest of your “points”, theres no logic there. You’re a hypocrite lol You’re a joke man.
You really are anti Croat. Everywhere we have went we made that place better. You just need to look at Western Europe videos from the 1960s and ones from today. It’s right under your nose.
you lost the little credibility you had man, youre a hypocrite and a shitty catholic at that. If you think about it you’re a Croatian Poser. You’re not Croatian lol
UEFA is currently investigating Croatia for the grb incident and is considering having them play world cup qualifiers without fans or deducting points in the qualification. Despite perhaps being accidental, given Croatia’s soccer history with nationalism and fascism, UEFA is taking a little tolerance approach to dealing with Croatia displaying a ustase white square first grb on their jersey throughout the tournament and not correcting, believing the Croatian HNS should’ve been able to make an adjustment. I guess there is some truth to that. If a swastika had mistakenly appeared on the German jersey, I’m pretty sure the German federation wouldn’t have let their players go on playing with those jersies
Your actually comparing a swastika to a chequered symbol? Are you on drugs?
LOL. The white square grb is an ustasa symbol now?
Give me a break.
Also, stop making up nonsense. UEFA is not investigating anything.
the white checkers 1st is the correct grb.
They had the wrong coat of arms on their shirts. Three checkers are supposed to be on top. Croatia week is reporting. It is wrong too. Check it out. Hns apologizes.
Dalic is staying???? What a mistake.
As far as migration I hope you Globalists will enjoy the crime it will bring. Say good bye to peaceful Croatia and say hi to your Baba and Dido getting robbed on the way to the beach. It is not worth it. Somethings are more important than Football.
shut up clown
suck on an egg
Fedup lol wtf are you saying?
I don’t understand how you don’t get it. Allowing migrants into our country will cause a new set of social issues like crime.
wait I am very curious, where do you live Fedup?
hey truth, you want the Truth?
Jesus Christ is the Truth, the Way and the Life!
Oh is that the best solution? You want to save Croatia by bringing in Africans. Hmmm!?!
YOU ARE INSANE!!!
Oh, and that’s what has led to England’s success and Scandinavia’s!?!
What success, you fool. The English haven’t won anything since the 60’s and the only time Scandinavians won was Denmark and I don’t recall any Africans on either of those teams.
The only way for Croatia (or anyone) to survive and thrive is to honour God first in your life!!! That’s it, full stop.
When Croatians were humble and God fearing they had huge families 5 kids minimum. Everyone was mostly poor, but everyone was vigorous and embraced life.
Now, all of us in the ‘West’ are rich and oh so educated…and virtually sterile.
I am not racist. I thank God for Africa and all Christians there. Africa is the only place on Earth where the Church is growing. I pray for them as they are constantly bombarded and slaughtered by their Muslim neighbours.
But a Croatia devoid of Croatians is not really Croatia is it?
The meek shall inherit the earth.
Bog i Hrvati!!!
oof, ill pass on the 5 kids. wouldnt want any priests getting frisky with them or is that gonna be put under the rug too. Look you can be scared all you want but I choose to treat everyone with respect and help those in need. Im pretty sure Jesus would have wanted us to open our doors to the people in need that you are not wanting to let in. Doesnt sound very Christian of you so shut up.
Baka I presume you don’t want to preserve Croatian culture. Western Europe are soft betas unlike us in the Balkans. Piss off with your multiculturalism bs. Croatia stays European like it always has been. Go to France or England if you want your globalist agenda to be true. Otherwise stay quiet.
Lol I smell a fake Catholic in you, one that is only Catholic when its easy. You’re a joke.
Of course you’ll pass on the 5 kids you’re too busy playing xbox, going to Soviet international meetings and dating chemically sterile pussy riot members.
Bog te blagoslovi
More of a PlayStation guy myself but I hardly play. Soviet International meetings? wow thats a new one. Everyone wants to be smart about what Croatians in Croatia should do but all the people on here live outside of Croatia lol what a joke
Yeah because we have to live in the country to be experts or speak on the country’s state. Get out of here with your globalist multi racial agenda. Tell me why isn’t Japan accepting any? Mexico? Or China? Other nations that are developed or somewhat developed. Funny you should say. I’m Christian…nice try but I think your thick head wouldn’t comprehend the difference.
Lay off the Qanon. I hope there isnt tin foil shortage, I wouldnt want you to be without a hat.
agreed that Croatia will have a major population problem going forward and the best solution is a much more aggressive and welcoming immigration policy facing Africa.
Most importantly, it is the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective and Croatia would be strengthened by finally increasing it’s diversity.
From a football perspective, it is crucial. As mentioned, Croatia’s population is in decline and with EU access more and more families are going to other parts of Europe and foreign FA’s are getting more and more aggressive about courting and retaining these players and pressuring them to play for their new country.
Many other European teams have benefited greatly from the inclusion of immigrants from the African diaspora such as France, England, Portugal, Germany and ever more in Scandanavia. This inclusion has linked directly to their increased success.
you said it much better than i can – thank you- yes, we have to face reality and exclusion is a big political issue in Croatia and has huge ramification – this has to be a major mindset change for the majority of Croatians – if they slide to 2 million people- nothing good will come out of it.
Slovenia @ 2 million is doing just fine.
The economy needs to improve and the native born population will stay. Importing potential players with no Croatian connection is garbage. Croatia’s population has shrunk since 1996 and the talent pool has never been deeper. It’s about how we develop OUR OWN that matters. Also, Sucic is an example of why diaspora kids will always generally pick Croatia over the new country.
“Croatia suffers a population loss equivalent to losing a small city every year,” prime minister Andrej Plenkovic told Irish News. It’s not about soccer it’s about country survival – you are losing people who work in tourism for the most part – how do you own a restaurant if people serving are leaving and nobody will do that job? you close the restaurant- I’m guessing you are a Toronto guy- we have no clue what calamity is coming in Croatia if they don’t deal with the population crisis- if you talk soccer -it has ramifications mainly money- how do you develop kids when families are looking for survival- it’s way bigger than soccer
Which is exactly why I said it has to start with a stronger economy. I’m from Toronto but I have family that owns one of those small restaurants and family across different regions of Croatia. I know about the problems but it’s absolutely retarded to think that importing unskilled African or Asian labor will get the economy rolling and people staying. You also don’t try to improve an economy by focusing on how to staff unskilled jobs. It’s the skilled and value add jobs that grow an economy.
Less corruption, less red tape and a business friendly environment is what Plenkovic should spend his time on, not bemoaning people leaving. Incentives to keep people in Croatia and having families is what the focus should be.
Ask people who actually live in Croatia if they want to import a wave of immigrants and refugees to “save Croatia” and see what the answer is.
Yes, the answer would be no way- it will be interesting to see what becomes of Croatia- we can hope for the best
Don’t listen to those restaurant owners, or any of these other service industry types that require labor.
They want CHEAP labor, and they will always complain to the government to allow more foreign workers into the country (so they can hire it cheap).
There are plently of workers in Croatia, but you have to pay them.
The restaurant can increase the wages, and they’ll get plenty of staff. They just don’t want to.
I had a cousin who worked at a Trafika (kiosk) for $2 per hour. Brutal job, working in that hot little hut, and very busy with a high volume of locals and tourists buying cigarettes, newpapers, drinks, etc. She was busy as hell, and worked almost every single day…and she would make about $20 a day. Ridiculous considering the profit made in that same day by that one single kiosk she was operating alone. She eventually quit because it just didn’t pay off to do this anymore.
At the same time, her teenage son was cleaning car windshields at gas stations, and he would get 1-2 dollars in tips for it. He got probably a dollar per customer on average, lol. Guy probably cleaned 40-50 cars an hour.
The gas stations even made it fair, so that each kid in the schools would get 2 weeks a summer, and they would rotate it between them (so they could all make decent cash). He pulled in more money in half an hour than she did in 10 hours.
My point is…never ever listen to the business owners about increasing foreign workers. It’s just bullshit talk to get cheaper labor. If the business can’t survive by paying a person any more than 2-3 bucks an hour, and requires them to work 7 days a week, then the business is flawed and is meant to go under.
Let it go under, and (surprise surpise) you will see another one take its place.
Could’ve won it…dang so close.
Proud of our boys.
I’d rather the HNS stick with Dalic until after our games vs. Russia and Slovakia in September. If we get all the points Dalic should stay. Now that he was forced to use some of the youngsters this could free him up to rotate players in and out of the squad as needed.
Continuity is important and I think both the coming of the Nations league and covid have had quite a big effect on our performances since the World Cup and really messed with our rhythm.
All these elite players should not have to constantly play in high profile games. In some respects, playing friendlies against mediocre teams was a good break from all the pressure.
Croatia should use Nations league for experimentation only (who cares if you get blown out. You then go into a lower bracket and will get a back door opportunity to get into tournaments).
We can second guess Dalic all we want but in the end we must look at results and performance while weighing them against real time circumstances.
In the end, we qualified for the tourney, came second in a difficult group with 2 home teams, and narrowly lost to a very good Spain team (what club teams do their players come from? Madrid, Barca, Atletico, Juventus) c’mon Spain are pretty stacked.
Overall, we are out of the tournament by the narrowest of margins. We score one of those early chances in extra time and I’m convinced we win.
Jebiga! Tako ide nogomet.
We are, with out doubt the BEST team to watch on the big stage. No one has more heart and passion or generates more excitement than naši Vatreni.
Hvala Bogu da sam rođen Hrvat i kršćen u Katolički vjeri!!!
Napred Hrvati!!!
S’Bogom!
Croatia soccer has another problem rarely brought up- people leaving the country -it’s not a good situation there – kids with potential heading with their families for better economic conditions- so more and more Croatian kids will be playing for Germany, Swiss [we already see], Austria , Czech etc- if Croatia doesn’t deal with their population crisis they will have to promote living there from Africa/Asia – third world – and they have already strated-if they are a citizen and willing to come to Croatia- God love them – we have to open our eyes to a new world – easy for us in the West but Croatia is not a good place when it comes to economics- if they don’t aggressively open borders – soccer will be the least of their worries. Sorry, guys- not political but this could be seen as an opportunity or a total re-do when it comes to only Croatians on the team- we have to face realities and competition in Europe for people to see Croatia as a good place to live.
Why does a country have to have a big population?
Croatia has a slow economy, sure. But why is that bad?
Why must they consume and build, and build, and extract resources, and consume, etc.?
They could easily do things like drill for crude oil in the Adriatic, or give major tax breaks to bring in industry, etc…but it will just result in the same environmental issues we’re constantly lectured about in school and society. So why push for it?
People in Croatia may not have much financially, but they have a good life.
There was obviously going to be an exodus of a percentage of their population the moment they joined the EU and the Eurozone.
Some people want to live the fast paced life and make a lot of money.
This was anticipated. It doesn’t mean that every single person will leave lol.
Many are coming back too, and sending money back.
There are also people who are moving to Croatia, bringing money with them. Now you have digital nomads who bring their remote work with them too, lol.
I would ignore the whole ‘doom and gloom’ talk from cynical Croatian media.
There are many countries who have gone through much less than Croatia has in its recent history, and they are far worse off.
Looks like Dalic is staying !!! Really thought he’d go to club football but I guess his options dried up.
So unless HNS relieve him of his duties he’s our guy.
Honestly okay with him staying. Hes gotta bring more youth up the ranks but Continuity is a good thing. I wouldn’t wanna change just for the sake of change. Unless we have someone better lined up.
sure I would like to see more -0
anyway .. don’t throw away Sosa
He is actually good _o)) Bradaric will be on the right side
Gvardiol will go to CB with Caleta Car | back up by Lovren and Vida-
but I won’t call them – if they don’t like to start from the bench =0
I am completely worried about our entire back line
What happened yesterday is really concerned
Spain don’t have a recognised striker and don’t say morata and they are banging in goals left right and centre
Caleta is worse than corluka
We are screwed and any confidence Gvardiol had is now ripped apart
Livakovic has no commanding presence
It’s a complete shambles
Vida is non existent
We need a complete new backline
I’m sorry this has gone on for far too long
Huh? Gvardiol is 19. A few missteps and his confidence is ripped apart? LOL
Give Gvardiol more than three games, lol.
Also, let him get some reps in the Bundesliga too, as well as see some time at CB, and gain at least some chemistry with the National Team.
We have Pongracic hopefully back soon and in full form. He had a great start to the season with Wolfburg. If he gets back to that, he’s a huge asset.
Caleta-Car is not bad lol. Also, Corluka was not bad either.
We still got guys like Bradaric, Sosa, Juranovic, Vrsaljko (when healthy), Barisic, and Vida/Lovren (if they can accept not starting every game).
It’s not the end of the world.
Livakovic looked better than most goalkeepers in this tournament. He may be limited, but he isn’t hopeless (this coming from a big Livakovic critic).
You guys dont actually think vida and lovren will retire from international play do you? I would love to see a new back line as much as the next guy but with the world cup only 18 months away I highly doubt either one of them is retiring. Lovren see’s himself as one of the leaders of the team and I just cant see it. I wouldnt mind them coming off the bench if needed kinda like Carli did but do we really think they would want to do that?
Frenchman …cat 😻got your tongue 👅
Thanks for the continued coverage, Ante!
I’m still floored with how poor Rebic was. He always struck me as having a wooden touch, but then I thought hey if he scores he scores —> who am I to say. (Until, he doesn’t . . . )
If you want to make a long run at a tournament, you need three things.
1. Exceptional football players
2. Good chemistry/good coaching
3. Some luck (in the game itself and with the drawing)
If you miss one out of those three, you’re doomed.
1. We don’t have enough world class players at this point (compared to Belgium, Spain, France, Portugal, England,…)
2. There was not enough chemistry. Coaching was not good enough. Although I don’t like the comments after the game that Dalic should have played player X and not player Y. That’s like saying “you, moron. You should have bought Tesla shares three years ago, look how rich you would have been now.”
3. We weren’t lucky. Not in the game and it was tough to have to play a team like Spain in the second round.
Also people yelling that Dalic should have started Budimir over Petkovic. I remember Budimir two months ago against Malta. He was on the pitch for an hour and couldn’t do anything. Only when he was subbed out, we started to score.
#1 isn’t so bad.
We have enough quality players to go far (and even possibly win a tournament).
Look how far teams like the Swiss, Denmark and the Czechs have gone.
I doubt any will win, but they went very far considering they don’t really have the players.
I think #2 and #3 were the obvious ones.
Teams like Switzerland have been playing these core players together for years, and they have good chemistry.
We randomly rotated something like 45-50 players into the starting eleven over the past three years. That’s terrible for chemistry.
We had a lot of recently capped players playing key roles in this tournament. That was very surprising.
Of course we were unlucky with the Perisic thing. That had a huge impact as he is arguably our most impactful player.
In this goal-riddled game, I have no doubt he would have scored on for himself (maybe two).
Let’s have a real post mortem here
Let’s not sugar coat
This was a train wreck coming for a long time and nobody could stop it
Well we could but blinded by Dalic rebic and kramaric and co
I never want to see these individuals again
What happened to our midfield trio
What happened to our back including keeper
We only have perisic and orsic
That’s it
Could luck to the new coach whoever it is
They have their work cut out for them because they have to bring balance back to the Vatreni
Conceding 5 goals in a major tournament is disgraceful
Five goals is disgraceful?
It’s sport, it’s not black and white.
We gave up three in a 90-minute match. You know who else did? Ballyhooed France, ballyhooed Spain, Switzerland.
I even recall not all that long ago some wee soccer country called Brazil conceding seven goals in one game at the World Cup — on home soil no less.
Subafucksake would concede more than 5 goals | in a game
at least we are upgrading the keeper :I) wonder if defense for the next WC.
sure I would like to see more -0
anyway .. don’t throw away Sosa
He is actually good _o)) Bradaric will be on the right side
Gvardiol will go to CB with Caleta Car | back up by Lovren and Vida-
but I won’t call them – if they don’t like to start from the bench =0
1) Dalic primarily responsible for this loss. He actually gameplanned to sit back and counter. No team with Modric Brozo, Rebic, and Vlasic should ever counter.
2) Rebic was so bad today that when he left the field due to a shoe malfunction for 52seconds (not 3 mins as fakenews reported) Spain won back the ball and immediately scored. Boy what a shitty player. Here I thought he was playing well covering for Gvardiol and shutting down the left side.
As you all get pissy about Rebic, all you have to do is watch Kovacic during the entire leadup to the goal. Any moron would see Kova’s effort, or lack thereof, was the biggest reason for the goal.
The 2nd biggest reason is Gvardiol not willing to step up to Sarabias strong foot and take one for the team. It is almost like he wanted to ensure that Sarabia had a free shot with his left foot.
3) Well while everyone was praising Gvardiol, i was sure to document how bad he actually played recently. I even wrote he played so bad that I thought for sure he would lose his starting posotion. Boy I wish Dslic was listening, cause this was the single worst left back performance I have seen in years. ..but at least I saw it coming.
4) I know some of you follow my predictions for sports betting, and I genuinely hope you took my advice when I recommended Croatia’s odds vs Scotland were great, and that Spain would win this game if Dalic didn’t start Rebic and Vrsaljko. I know I made alot of money, but I’d trade it all back for a Croatian win, in a heartbeat.
So, you put money against Croatia?
LOL. You would’ve done well for yourself in Tito’s Yugoslavia.