Croatia have drawn Turkey in the Euro 2012 playoff round. Some Croatians would call it fate, others a revenge mission. No matter what word is used, coach Slaven Bilić and his boys now have the opportunity to seal a Euro 2012 berth against the very team that eliminated them from the quarterfinals three years ago. Will things come full circle for the Vatreni as they attempt to end a skid started by the Turks after a miraculous last second goal in extra time that crushed the hearts of Croatian fans worldwide?
Defeating Turkey over two legs could erase three years of agony through qualification and finally get Croatia back on track, however, there would still be lots of work to do. Croatia has played without any passion this qualifying campaign, but if they can’t get up for this one, God help us all…because this one’s personal.
Volim Hrvatska i nadam se da ostaje ovdje za sve i to je divno mjesto puno zmija i puno jeziv crawlys. Volim Hrvatska i pola moje obitelji živi svoju ljubav u bye
Unless we start playing people out of position (a mistake we’ve already learned our lesson from) the only Left Backs we have on the this team are Strinic, Pranjic, and Pamic. I easily take Strinic.
He may not be the most popular name out there, but he’s not the problem on this team. Pranjic is more of a Left Winger, and is not as fundamentally sound as Strinic as a defensive player. With Pamic, I can’t comment on too much as I only see highlights of him. Either way, I don’t think he’s played enough to warrant a start in such a crucial game.
Why are everyone putting pranjic at left back please he is not a good left back pleae he awas only good at euro 2008 thats all i dont understand please some one explain to me pranjic was ok at bayern at left back because bayern have better players than croatian and he had good cover pranjic doesnt even play for bayernso hes not playing the 2 legs left back could hav been solved if bilic tried out Cale Pamic in the friendlies.
@Denis
“where are you writing us from?”
I am from HamTown – I will flip you an e-mail.
“We need 2 strikers up top. Olic came off the bench for Bayern yesterday. If healthy:
Eduardo Olic
Perisic, Modric, Ilicevic(Rakitic), Srna
Pranjic(Strinic), Simunic, Vida, Corluka
No holding midfielder for this one. Croatia need an away goal or we are done. 0-0 doesnt work for us. I would rather lose 2-1. Lets go through Turkey glavom kroz zid with players that are hungry. Vida, Ilicevic, Perisic, and Olic are all hungry. I have no faith in Lovren, sorry.
But we all know that Bilic will play:
Jelavic
Eduardo Mandzukic Srna
Modric Vukojevic
Strinic, Simunic, Lovren, Corluka”
In regards to your proposed lineup:
Works for me.
Olic, if healthy, has to start. He just wears down a defense like nobody can and as a result creates more chances for us. Eduardo has to be close to goal as well as he is our best strker. The midfield is great. So much offense on a potentially “weak/weaker” defensive Turkey side. I really like how you penciled in Pranjic as the starting LB. I am not sure if that is the correct move, but I am not really not sold on Strinic @ the LB starting role either. He has had more chances than anyone to solidify that LB position or any position for that matter. He does the job, I give him a solid B/B+ as a grade. However, he lacks that fluid forward movement that we should have there. I don’t want it to seem like I am picking on him as he does his job well, but I think we can do better at the position down the road.
I also like your lineup for the fact that it “might” throw Hiddink off a tad in his prepwork/homework for this series. Wishful thinking? Probably.. It would be a different midfield formation he would be looking at compared to the videos he would watch leading up to the game.
No holding midfielder is necessary in this game, we have to score! I would put in Badelj before ever using Vukojevic if necessary for this match. I am not sure what to say about Lovren???? Too many brain cramps. I think that is his youth showing? Hopefully he can work those out of his system. Vida is a beast, and here’s hoping we have potentially found our future CDM! I think he would be great in that role.
You are probably correct in saying that Bilic will use the second option for a lineup. Bilic will probably go with a holding midfielder but I hope he does not.
This will be a tough series regardless. To be totally honest, all I ask is that we don’t play the the upcoming game/games the same way we did against the Greeks!! One shot on net for a game that if we win we get a direct placement into the Euro 2012 Championship tournament?!?!?!?!?! I realize there is no going backwards in life, but that was wrong on all levels! That cannot happen again. Oh well, we have bigger fish to fry!
If anything Illicevic will come off the bench late in the game. It will be Perisic, Rakitic, Modric, Srna. Unless Rakitic/Perisic drop the ball, I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of Illicevic just yet.
@Cro Klakan
Jelavic hasn’t done much just yet, I’ll agree with that. In the SPL, he’s scoring a off a lot of headers and counter attacks, which the national team don’t do successfully. It’s funny that at this point Eduardo and Mandzukic have the best production out of all of our strikers in the past year.
@mihovil,
where are you writing us from?
Ilicevic goal was assisted by Turkish international Gökhan Töre. With Kranjcar most likely out for Turkey, I wouldnt mind both Perišić and Iličević starting against Turkey. Still waiting to see what Rakitic can do in the next few weeks.
We need 2 strikers up top. Olic came off the bench for Bayern yesterday. If healthy:
Eduardo Olic
Perisic, Modric, Ilicevic(Rakitic), Srna
Pranjic(Strinic), Simunic, Vida, Corluka
No holding midfielder for this one. Croatia need an away goal or we are done. 0-0 doesnt work for us. I would rather lose 2-1. Lets go through Turkey glavom kroz zid with players that are hungry. Vida, Ilicevic, Perisic, and Olic are all hungry. I have no faith in Lovren, sorry.
But we all know that Bilic will play:
Jelavic
Eduardo Mandzukic Srna
Modric Vukojevic
Strinic, Simunic, Lovren, Corluka
@Shinobi
“If only bilic can see the advantages?”
Good question. I think he does see the advantages with Iličević, but due to injury and suspension he has not been available to him/us. I guess will find out soon enough.
Ivo does show great potential in our midfield, there is no doubt about it. Anytime we can use our speed to an advantage to spread out the field and open up cracks in the other teams system you cannot go wrong.
@Mihovil
If only bilic can see the advantages?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCi-QaDV0MA&feature=player_embedded
Iličević goal starting at approx 1:04 time frame.
Iličević scores the winner today for Hamburg. Petrić with the assist. Hopefully we see Iličević for the playoff series with Turkey as speed is a good thing!
It would be nice to have both Perišić and Iličević available as it would make our midfield options much more dangerous to the Turks. I don’t think we have had them both in the lineup at the same time previously for any games. Fingers are crossed.
@Mihovil “YES”
@ Matko.
how many games has Jelavic started ahead of Kalinic and Mandzukic? How many games has Mandzukic started out of position to allow Jelavic to take one of the striking positions? Kalinic, who im not a big fan of either, has at least scored some goals for the NT, and looks more dangerous than Jelavic, while Jelavic barely touches the ball whenever he plays. you argue about his scoring form for rangers, but realistically the scottish league is just as bad if not worse than the cro league. he might pump a few goals past teams like falkirk, but his ‘amazing’ goal scoring ability didnt stop rangers from getting knocked out of the CL by malmo, and lets be honest, who the fuck is malmo?! in my opinion, neither jelavic or kalinic should even get a sniff ahead of klasnic, mandzukic or eduardo. shit, you can put olic in that list of players ahead of them two, but at the end of the day kalinic has scored twice in qualifying, jelavic hasnt scored at all, despite more opportunity and minutes on the pitch
Still doesn’t explain why Jelavic is a waste of space. Besides Suker and Eduardo, our forwards do not have a spectacular goal to cap ratio. Olic played for a long time, and he only scored 14 goals. That’s good, but was he a waste of space? Olic was never a waste.
Klasnic did not score in this year’s qualifiers. Was he a waste of space? Hahaha.
More opportunities will come for Jelavic. He has his own style, and his Rangers form might benefit him in scoring goals for the NT.
Sorry @Thegoldenchild you are definitely right left foot right side.-U- za dom “spremni”
@the goldenchild I know the goal you are talking about but i could of sworn Ivo scored that from the left side…
I’ve been riding the Perisic and Illicevic train for awhile now. Perisic is ready to go, while Illicevic won’t get a serious/continuous look until Srna steps down. Once the Euros are over with, and Bilic is out, we’ll see some definite changes in players getting the call.
If they keep performing, their skill and pace are going to change the team dynamic. We’ll be more dangerous on both sides of the field, and that’s going to open the rest of the field. As it is now, we see that If teams shut down Modric, the rest of our team collapses. With that overall wing performance we won’t have to have the midfield/attack depend solely on Modric.
I just bought a Perisic jersey the week he scored to tie the game in Champs League. The only other jersey I had was Asanovic back in 98. I’m very excited for these guys to start playing consistently. It’s figuring out how to use Kranjcar, Rakitic, Illicevic, and Perisic that’s going to hurt us. Modric is going to be a constant, but any coach is going to have to make that hard decision on who to play.
@Nizic I think Illicevic or Perisic could play on the right. It’s going to be who is better with their right, I think it’ll be Perisic, but I’m not sure. They put Illicevic on the right when he played for the national team awhile back, he ended up scoring from 35-40 yards out. Also with a right wing that has a left foot, it brings another element to his attack. It’s going to cause the defender problems because Perisic would be able to cross as well as cut inside and shoot or provide a solid lob over the defense to a streaking midfielder or forward. They wouldn’t be able to both play on the same side.
I really Like ilicivic too could that work on the left krilo with perisic??
Bilic needs to analyze how Felix Magath uses Mandzukic in his lineup and mimic it. Mandzukic has no shot nor dribbling skill, and as a result, should never be played in the midfield. He scores from 6 feet in front of goal off of pokes and headers. It may not be pretty, but he has 5 goals in 9 games for Wolfsburg this season, and closed the season with 8 goals in 9 games last year. If Bilic wants to continue to start Mandzo, he had better play him in the center forward position and ensure he has everything around him just the same as it is at Wolfsburg. If not, then you cannot start him.
I like Jelavic, but we never see him playing full games in Cro’s lineup, and I also doubt many people watch full SPL games to see how he is utilized at Rangers. He seems like he can do a little bit of everything (taking set pieces, headers, long distance shots, etc) so I understand when people want to see this guy start for Cro. That sick header he had on Israel (that unfortunately was called back) is exactly the kind of class we need.
I think Bilic tries too often to play as many of the popular names on Cro at the same time in the starting 11. He’d rather play a Kranjcar or Corluka out of position than play a Perisic or a Vida in their proper roles. I guess it’s all CYA (covering your ass). The Croatian media is harsh, and if Cro lost to Geogia & Greece with guys like Niko or Lovren sitting on the bench, then he looks twice as bad. This way he can make claims like, “I couldn’t pick better players on this squad” (like he did last month) and his hands are washed.
mark my words Everybody will be on the Perisic bandwagon soon the guy is a powerhouse and will be the heart of the repka real soon along with modric ounce he grows some chest hairs too I like Perisic we need to play him more and watch him do the rest . what do you think men ?????and Alen19 too
I think most people are already on the bandwagon. Perisic is (by far) our best option on the Left Wing and, as much as I like Niko, I think his injury could be a blessing and will result in Perisic starting and playing both those Turkey games on the left side for us.
Note: My cousin from Split went to high school with Perisic and showed me all these game jeseys he got from him. He had a Sochaux, Brugges, and Dortmund jersey. They were all game jerseys and the Dortmund one still reeked of sweat (as he just got it from him). I keep forgetting how old I am and that my younger cousins are already like 21 and 22. We’re watching and yelling at a bunch of kids on this field, lol.
@ cro klokan
“[Kalinic and Mandzukic] both work harder and score more goals than Jelavic. jelavic shouldnt even be in the squad, he’s a waste of space…”
Oh really? What’s the difference in goal-scoring between Kalinic/Mandzukic and Jelavic in the NT? 2. Does that make Jelavic horrible? He needs to participate more in the NT, and he’ll probably make more goals. He was close to scoring against Greece, so he has a tendency to score.
Who works harder? Jelavic continues to score for the Rangers, and what does Kalinic do? Kalinic had a bit of a drought until he scored two not-so-special goals for Dnipro. Why was Jelavic chosen for the starting XI? Because of his laborious performance for the Rangers.
Just because Jelavic doesn’t score as much for the NT does not make him a “waste of space”.
let vuko, dujmo and jajalo fight it out for the midfield destroyer role, because God knows our defence is shit!
anybody who thinks jelavic should be starting obviously doesnt watch any of croatia’s games. you badmouth kalinic and mandzukic, but they both work harder and score more goals than jelavic. jelavic shouldnt even be in the squad, he’s a waste of space.
and another thing, no top team in the world plays with two centre forwards any more, so there’s no point playing nice and safe 4-4-2 formations, because it wont take us anywhere in the future, we need to modernise our style of play, not stick to the same tactics that won games 20 years ago. a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 should be used, something like this:
Pletikosa
Corluka Lovren/Vida Simunic Strinic
Vukojevic/Dujmovic/Jajalo Rakitic
Srna/Ilicevic Modric Perisic
Mandzukic/Eduardo with Klasnic as supersub
@Hellas(Vlakas)40
This is why Greece euro 04 triumph, was considered a fluke.
Previous tournaments involving Greece…
Europa 80:
Netherlands-Greece….1-0, Greece-Czechoslovakia…1-3, Greece-West Germany….0-0
1.West Germany….3 2 1 0 4:2 +2
2.Czechoslovakia….3 1 1 1 4:3 +1
3.Netherlands….3 1 1 1 4:4 0
4.Greece….3 0 1 2 1:4 -3
World Cup 94
Argentina-Greece….4-0, Bulgaria-Greece….4-0,
Nigeria-Greece….2-0
1.Nigeria….3 2 0 1 6:2 +4
2.Bulgaria….3 2 0 1 6:2 +3
3.Argentina….3 2 0 1 6:3 +3
4.Greece….3 0 0 3 0:10 -10
Greece were absent from the world cup in 1930,1934,1938,1950,1954,1958,1962,1966,1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990,( ),1998,2002,2006.
Greece were absent from the euro cup in
1960,1964,1968,1972,1976,( ),1984,1988,1992,1996,2000.
From those results of world and euro cup history, it is hardly the record of champions, it is more like a record of football minnows, and even after the 04 triumph, the euro cup champions could not qualify for the 2006 world cup. And even greeces most recent euro and world cup participations, have been less than desireable.
That is why it is and will always will be considered a fluke, a one time deal, a flash in the pan, a football miracle.
So dont come on this site trying to convince us otherwise, because we aint buying it.
We may have been a walk in the park for the greeks, but what other teams will be saying when they know greece is in their group is…”Krema”(easy as) and “Maresi” (i like it). Trust me.
One thing we definitely lack is speed. I think Perisic makes up for that a little coming off the left wing like he does. I like what I’ve been seeing from him lately. He’s got that little extra in his stride.
To hellas – get me a souvlaki with the lot and then make yourself scarce.
Dude above is right – bilic is not the same man as he was when he started. He’s become a confused mess. He’s obviously under a lot of stress as his coaching career could be over. People are deluding themselves if we think we are going to to Euro. We already had a direct qualifier against greece and failed. Failed to top an easy group. To hiddink – – he’s predictable. Also, Hiddinks australia drew us in the world cup against cico kranjcar. THE ONLY WAY CROATIA WILL QUALIFY IS WITH A NEW COACH, OTHERWISE HIDDINK SEE’S US A MILE AWAY. The savez are bleeding over losing 10mil euro last WC. Said they cant lose another 10mil this time. Heres up here for forward planning. Lol.
LOL!
Wow I’m the biggest Niko fan, but seriously Perisic may be the man for the job sooner rather than later. This guy has some serious quality and I love his spirit. He doesn’t seem to take crap and plays with so much emotion. I’m starting to like him more and more even though suspension does suck. Well at least he stuck it to the right man.
Not sure if you guys realize who Perisic got both fouls on. But they were both lunging tackles at the same person. Looks like someone was still pissed about last Friday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokratis_Papastathopoulos
Here’s the Perisic Goal. Very Nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJM2xQuzvA
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This is also not the same Turkey as ’08 and honestly, how often does something like what happened in ’08 happen ever? Pure luck. If you wanna check out their previous games, they don’t look very good at all, their back is weak:
http://www.footytube.com/video/turkey-azerbaijan-oct11-92899?ref=tchan_ov_vidgrid
OVE NOCI BI TI CE FESTA JER OVA PUBLIKA JE NAJ LUDA
SAMO TEBE VOLIM JA I VISE NIKOGA TO TI KAZE TVOJA TORCIDA HAJDUK U SRCU HNS U KURCU
It seems to me that if Bilic was a coke head he would act more rock and roll ??
++Sorry for the top post….to much coke…
It would seem to me if Bilic was a coke head would that mean he would be abd act more rock and roll ??
Whatever happens happens let just loss like pizde bez igre! People are saying put Kelava but no way you give him firt cap in big game sam for mijatovic at centre back who is captain of hertha i guess bilic like scifo who plays in bundesliga 2. i have been to many games and bilic will play Pletikosa in goal and the rest will wait till 11.11.11 IDEMO
Have any of you asked yourself what ever happened to the renaissance man, guitar playing, rock n roll Slaven Bilic…? Remember those times… when our team actually won games…
We haven’t seen any of that in a long time have we… all that I see is a nervous wreck, sweating, histrionics on the sidelines, haggard looking dude who is always in “sok” when the other team scores a goal.
You are all kidding yourselves if you think we beat Turkey. Bilic is delusional, and so are many of you it would appear… This is a man who said that we dominated the Greeks on National TV, when we lost 2-0 and didnt get a chance on net the entire game.
Sure the ball is round and so we have a chance, but you know what they say about the definition of insanity… expecting different results from the same actions…
At face value, Bilic seems to me to be acting like an addict of some sort, probably a coke head. I’m not one to cast dispersions, but this thought keeps coming to my mind, and first occurred to me during the Belarus game in Zagreb, in the last qualifying cycle, when Rakitic scored a lucky goal for us to eke out a 1-0 victory. For his sake I hope I’m wrong, but you can’t deny that rock n roll Bilic is nowhere to be seen, further proof that his mojo is long gone. If CS gets the chance I’d love you to ask him about “Where’s the rock n roll Bilic”?
Furthermore, if the man cannot even control or calm himself, how can he possibly do so for the team. The Pranjic and Krizanac episodes are just proof that something stinks really really bad in the locker room… remember the party photos from before that game a long time ago… Simunic was involved with that wasn’t he… big cover-up there, and that’s probably what Mamic et al (or other more nefarious types) are extorting Bilic with. Hmmm Jelavic seems to get a lot playing time… and we know that he comes from a quality family.
The Turks are right… what kind of coach parties with his players…?
I’m not surprised that Kranjcar appears to be “unavailable” for the play off games… he wants no part of this train wreck. And you can rest assured that his pops knows whats going on too, which is why he is lobbying so hard for the job. Cico qualified a team with half of this talent for the WC and he would turn this one around in a matter of days, I believe.
Cico Kranjcar je pijancina who had his chance he played Niko in every game and forces him he was ovr weight and crap in 2006 qualifying and in germany thi guy wa lucky he had the best team and did nothing Didnt call edaurdo modric want not key player to him he didnt call carli as young player he didnt call pranjic who at that time was playing well and that team aslo had dado prso on and igor tudor and no rapaic So thats why i dont trust cico he had his chance that team was great if he just didnt force his son Hi team could have been 3-4-1-2 was cico formation Pletikosa r.kovac tudor simunic(simic) srna modric nkovac pranjic kranjcar(rapaic) prso eduardo and a good bench this was a team that could doo damage but cico was tooooooooo dunk!
Bobby V “but of the 300, how many have provided you with a soccer memory?”
Bobby V, what does that mean?
On a second side note…what a red card for Perisic!!
On a side note….Perisic just score a sick goal for Dortmund!
Some of you guys make me laugh. 80% of you say we need a shake up, we are stale, Bilic is predictable, the system we use doesn’t work….etc etc. But then you want the same players playing in the same roles they have been playing over the last 2 years.
Pletikosa was a 3rd string keeper last year for spurs, 2 years ago he was a backup to a 20 yr old keeper. Now hes playing for a bottom half Russian club. He hasn’t started against a top club in 3 years. Time for Kelava or Subasic.
Simunic cant even get a start in Dinamo, yet Bilic picks him for the NT. Hes been a great player for us over the years but his time is done.
We are forced to play Charli in the middle, we don’t have 2 better CB then him. I prefer him on the right but we dont have a choice. I don’t like Srna at RB… Charli and Srna on the right side of the back 4 is a disaster, too slow. Any team with speed on the left wing will pick us apart. Yes, Vrsaljko is young but is very good.
We can’t play with 4 or 5 attacking midfielders. We need a holding MF player, with our defensively weak back 4. Lot of you dislike Vukojevic but name a better option at that position?
As far as Olic goes… hes not the typical striker, he isn’t a pure goal scorer. What he does is what Ziva Istina said, he opens up the game and creates space for our other striker and midfield players. If healthy, hes a must in our starting 11.
@ Dan…BTW…. Im not a Dynamo supporter
.
I saw this comment on Vecernji, it got me laughing, hehe.
“turci su nevjernici. Bog će biti na strani Hrvata. Ako izgubimo od turaka to je kazna Božija za sve pohlepe, krađu, narcisoidnost i druge grijehe koji su napravili u HNS. Prije utakmice svi iz HNS i igrači trebaju se ići pomoliti i zatražiti oprost od grijeha. Samo tako će im Bog pomoći protiv nevjernika Turaka. “
@ ziva: well said in the previous post…
Kelava and Vrsaljko are great future prospects, but right now we should stick with Pleti and any combination of our current D-MEN.
I am surprised to read so many negative posts on this forum. It is not like the Turks dominated in their group either. They achieved second place on the very last game day. A lot of their players from 2008 no longer play for the current side…whereas, we pretty much have the same team minus the Kovac bros and our 2nd & 3rd goalies form ’08.
Strinic concerns me, as he simply is not at the level (even though i have to give him props for the assist vs. Latvia), Lovren is a good player and i think that one day he will be great, but he always seems to mess up royally at least once a game (kickser? as Ladic called him in the U-21’s).
And what is with the hate on with Bilic? These same people loved him prior to not qualifying for the WC. And to read that some pple think it would be good if we lost, because then he would be fired? What retarded logic is this?! He said he is leaving after the Euro anyway, so we may as well cheer him and the boys on, because anything could happen from November to the EC.
As for Hellas, if you return to the forum, then i have a question for you.
What do you call a Greek without a restaurant?
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a Macedonian.
Another one,
What do you call a Greek with a big dick?
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You guessed it. A Macedonian…
@ Ziva Great points on your post first time I agreed with Istina since I’ve been posting Pleti HAS to be our man Keleva is not good right now I think it would be disasterous and at olic open up the rest of the field i also agree the man is not afraid to bang with the bestt of them
I always get a good laugh from some of you……
We seriously have people on these boards who want to start Kelava over Pletikosa???? Based on what???
Fine, he had a good game against Real Madrid. You can point to that. I’ll point to his disasterous performance at Lyon where he was out of posotion at least 5 times. Always easier to play at home when nothing is expected from you and there is no pressure (Dinamo – Real) than to go on the road where expectations have raised and you fail (Dinamo – Lyon). So a kid who couldn’t get the job done on the road against Lyon and made mental errors, you want him on the orad in Turkey. That is not going to happen. God help us when or if we have to rely on Kelava or even Subasic in the immediate future.
Kelava and Vrsaljako may be good players one day that will command starting spots on the national team. But, they are not going to play against Turkey and they should not play unless we are down to our second and third-string options.
I’ll say this about Olic….a healthy Olic opens up space for everyone else on the attacking end. yes, he misses his fair share of chances, but those chances would never happen without him in the line up. We had games were we failed to score with him in the line up, but we have had numerous chances. Now, look over this qualifying cycle in the games we tied or lost. We have not had many chances compared to when Olic is in.
Spot on about Olic’s impact. He misses chances (including that sitter against Turkey in ’08) but he creates a lot out there. His work ethic is contagious…
Other than Samaras, where the hell are all the other Greek players with famous clubs in Europe? Hellas, you couldn’t name me 5 players on the current national team.
If you really want to laugh your ass off, check out this website – a list of famous Greek soccer players.
http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-soccer-players-from-greece/reference?page=1&format=GRID&sortby=&sortdir=
Who the f*** are these bambalacas? I think a few of them have made me gyro sandwiches over the years and have mowed my lawn (in plaid shorts, white socks, and black sunday church shoes), but of the 300, how many have provided you with a soccer memory?
@Hellas(Vlakas)40
You are the embodyment of every greek ive ever met, cocky as hell when you succeed at something, and nowhere to be seen or heard, when you fail.
I am sick to death about hearing about your 04 triumph, ” we are kings of europe”, this, or, ” we are european champions” that. You guys may have won the trophy in 04, but in the most yiftos(shifty) way possible. I personally, would not be too proud of that. Yes i wouldnt mind having a euro cup under our name, but its not something i would rub in peoples noses every chance i got, everyone knows the undesirable methods you greeks used to attain that trophy, why would you want to remind people of that.
If you actually think that you greeks are going to do a repeat of 04, or even make it out of the group phase, get ready to dissapointed. I cant see nothing but successive losses for you, and you country.
Good luck….. your gonna need a hell of a lot more than luck on your side, to duplicate your 04 fluke.
Hellas, your a pure malaka, get this through your head re, your side is shiiiite, the entire Greek squad bar samaras are ordinary players, honestly when I watch Greece play they remind me of school yard soccer, The only thing your squad has got going for it is flooding in defense and fairly precise backward passes when an opponent gets near, no word of a lie Hellas, I’d rather watch paint dry then watch the Greek NT,
In 04, how many goals did youz score again, oh that’s right, equal us & we didn’t get out of the group stage, all that signifies to me is that Greece is with out a doubt the worst euro cup winner in history, all the Greek NT is good for is frustrating the hell out of their opponents by playing back passes continuously..
Yes we both scored 4 goals, but you guys conceded 6 and didn’t win a game??? I don’t get how your boxhead thinks??
We beat France, you guys didn’t………so once again you baffle me.
And to the others on this forum calling the Euro 04 triumph a fluke…..All I will say is this – no penalty shoot-outs, no controversial decisions, just straight up WINS. Luck??? I don’t think so, just a dominant tourney against the odds.
Anyways like I said earlier enjoy the playoffs, maybe if Greece didn’t thump you guys you wouldn’t be in this position. I hope we get you guys again in qualifying it’s a walk in the park.
Huligani u Zadru upali u hotel s igračima Dinama te su razbijali
Policija je privela devet navijača, od kojih su dvojica maloljetnici. Oni su u četvrtak oko 23 sata upali u hotel Kolovar. Nitko nije ozlijeđen, piše Slobodna Dalmacija…
hahahaha..those are my boys! Dinamo is looking forward to Ajax…better watch out for Zadar.
One more from Hiddink today (sounding a little more cockier) : “We will deal with Croatia easily. We saw how they performed against Greece and were not impressed watching their match against a bad Latvia side – a game where a Latvian forward went in against the goalie alone when the score was 0-0”.
Jebem mu mater, I could say the same thing about Turkey’s effort against Azerbaijan, where they lost 0-1.
Some interesting quotes from Turkey:
Turkish Newspaper : “Bilic keeps on his players who have problems with alcohol, but, locks out Pranjic?”
(I guess a sore subject with the Turks who are Muslims and don’t drink)
Guus Hiddink : “If we lose to Croatia, at least we won’t be ashamed. I wanted to draw Ireland, which would have been suited for our style of play, and avoid Croatia and Portugal. Playing at home first will be a disadvantage – we will be under pressure.”
Turkish newspaper: “In Turkey, we need a new Boksic or Prso”.
Turkish newspaper: “Croatia is very good technically, however are having problems on defense, especially with their left back position, where Strinic has received much criticism.”
As of this coming Monday, Sammir will be eligible for the national team. Olic says he feels fine and is ready to go. Kranjcar doesn’t think he will be available against Turkey due to injury
“If we manage to soak it up that will give us space to punish them on the counter-attack.”
~Slaven Bilic…..
Slaven already has his strategy set. He’s like a broken record. Maybe its a bluff and he shocks the world.
@Dan,
Why does everyone keep spelling my name with 2 n’s? Copy and paste people.
Bilic already tried out Rakitic-Kranjcar-Modric. WE have the same problem England had in Euro08 with Gerrard and Lampard. Same player, same position. Didn’t work. Both world class players. Cant have them on the pitch at the same time.
I dont trust Carli at center back. He is solid at RB. Would shut down that Turkish left side. I ouldnt mind seeing Mijatovic on the team, however, no way you give him his first cap in a playoff game. We are stuck with Vida, Lovren, or Simunic as centerbacks. However, Bilic might bring Srna back to RB and switch Carli to CB.
@Rob
Great news that Vidic retired. Im not sure that he will return. He missed a penalty kick against Slovenia, had a miserable world cup. I dont think that anyone cares about him in Serbia.
The problem is Lovren is so terrible out there for club and NT he constantly gives up chances which then become goals and he has cost his club and the NT several games each. Therefore Bilic HAS to pull him, and with limited options and good size Vedran has to be the one to slide to CB and Srna back to RB
@Hellas40
What do you expect to achieve by posting such comments.
Good for you, your sub par team beat and average team like croatia and made it through. woopty doo.
For all we know your probably some typical greek who’s reaped composition and retired at 40yo. Good to know that your country can win euro and also bring down the whole economy of europe. Find something else to do with all of your free time.
@Hellas
I was just on GreekSports.com. I was disappointed to see that it is up for sale. To bad no one wants to pay the $2.99 domain fee. Round up all your greek buddies and get something done. Look through your couch for nickles and dimes. I do however appreciate you making me $$$ every time you return to my site. “thank you very much, come again, ” as Apu would say on the Simpsons.
“The only good thing about this match-up is that one of the teams will NOT qualify.”
scared of us seeking revenge. scared of your “friendly neighbors”.
“Bet you Croatian fans were happy back in February 2010 when you were drawn with Greece for the qualifiers?”
Yes, we were. Don’t even tell me that you are comparing Greece to Spain and Germany. Good luck facing them in the Euros. Croatia and Greece both dont deserve a spot in the Euros. We had the easiest qualifying group. Don’t book your trip to Poland/Ukraine unless you want to see 0-3 from Greece, just like world cup ’94.
“Don’t ever underestimate a CHAMPION!”
You will be saying this when you are on your death bed at 89. Greek’s only championship. Just like the British keep mentioning ’66, now 40 years later.
Enjoy the play-offs guys.
The only good thing about this match-up is that one of the teams will NOT qualify.
Bet you Croatian fans were happy back in February 2010 when you were drawn with Greece for the qualifiers? Avoided the likes of Spain and Germany…………………silly silly boys.
Don’t ever underestimate a CHAMPION!
Top of the group baby………undefeated baby!!!!……….you couldn’t score against us!
Anyways good luck………your gonna need it.
Go away Dude! No one here gives a shit about what any Greek thinks!
@ Dennis
They are risks I would be willing to take. We need to gel the midfield and make something work. We supposedly have a world class players in midfield, so they should be professional enough to adapt and play effectively. As for corluka, I know he creates chances on the wing but we need stability in the back.
By the way a little off topic, I there any chance to get a mobile site back?
A two legged tie is surely a more just way of determining who should advance in a tourny as compared to a penalty shootout; that’s obvious, and that’s why a tie against Turkey will be a tipping point for Hrvatskan football. Knocking Out Turkey will have erased the 08′ game, and the struggle of this campaign; getting knocked out would seal 08′ and the recent struggle forever. I can’t wait for 11-11-11! Please tell me they’re going to show this on HD-TV.
@ Miro – Dude, you have the perfect starting lineup for the future, perhaps for WC qualifiers. Too soon to do against Turkey for obvious reasons.
yeah I like the 4-3-3 solution
you can flexible to LB and RB >>overlap.
I like Lovren and Mijatovic ,.for CB Speed and Quick Response
@JP
you a right to say, “Club form is tremendously overrated anyway.” If club form was so vital, podolski and klose would never get a game for germany, because their club form has never been that great, but as soon as they put on that white shirt, black shorts combo, they always ready to shine, and do whats needed of them.
Very pleased to draw Turkey because if we are to qualify now, we will have deserved it. I will be biting my nails the entirety of the 2 legs though. The one piece of this draw is that Hiddink does scare me.
Being in Zagreb for that fateful night against Turkey was so painful – but this will be that much sweeter if we can pull it out.
If we lose, the changes will have to be made. I only hope that if we beat Turkey, Savez isn’t afraid to shake things up.
PS – Did anybody see that Vidic retired from Serbia? This is actually great news for us for next round of qualifying, without him they look much less dangerous.
Vidic AND Stankovic retired.
I don’t believe it though. I could see Vidic coming back to play for them after they “talk him into it”.
Trying to beat Croatia is too big for Serbia. It’s all they hope and wish for in their existence as a separate nation now.
Hiddink knows that bilic will play for a draw in turkey. He also knows which players will start. Bilic is so predictable. Same players in the same negative formations he’s been playing the last 3 years. Turkey will go all out first 20 min to surprise us with an early goal. Really … how many times have we been surprised by his selection and formations? Its always the same shit.
Hear bilic saying that croatia has more class and quality than turkey. Doesn’t he always say that b4 we get embarassed.
Really sick of this shit and the monkey’s in the savez!!!
That looks like a Satanic Ivan Lubjicic!
@JP, ahahahahahaha!…….Sammir on the NT; it’s hilarious how people on these boards say to me “I agree, Sammir isn’t Croatian”…….ahahahahah!……..No, really?…….Duh!………What ever gave you that idea?…….I thought all Croatians were blind and dumb!……ahahahahahahahahahaha!
@Denis
Im with you, it would be nice to see estonia go thru, because of the ultimate under-dog story. But then again,i wouldnt mind seeing the irish get their chance of playing in a major tournement again, since they were totally robbed by the french last time around.
I will be hoping the czechs get up against crna gora, because they are my number 2 team, along with australia on the international level.
You guys all forgot Sammir in the starting lineup… if he keeps Jelavic and or Mandzukic off of the field I’m all for it.
Either way, these palyers have to be replaced from any playing time whatsoever… in order from worst to least worst Jelavic, Simunic,Vuki, Mandzukic… replace these four guys forever!!!!
…With players from this pool Rakitic, Illicevic, Badelj, Sammir, Vrsaljko, Klasnic, Schildy, Dujmo, Lakic.
btw., those of you who will complain that this pool that I suggest isn’t “in form”… too bad… the 4 I am replacing have never been in form. Club form is tremendously overrated anyway. I wish Bilic understood this, among many other things that he appears to have no clue about.
At worst it’s addition by subtraction. It’s simple you see.
Eduardo Olic
Modric
Perisic Srna
Rakitic
Pranjic Corluka
Simunic Vida
Pletikosa
Line Up .Growthing./ must be >Turks defeat
GK> Kaleva
DF> Corluka, Mijatovic, Lovren, Strinic
MD> Srna, Modric, Rakitic
2FW> Perisic / Kranjcar
FW>Mandzukic, Jelavic
No point making any predictions right now. Still a month away boys. Lets see how the lads perform for their respected clubs in the next few weeks.
I like the Irish. I really do. But we are 180 minutes away from something that only happens once every 20 years: A country like Estonia qualifying for a tournament.
Lets go Estonia. I will break out my Estonia headband for the two legs.
@Raptore
“This play off will determine alot, Honestly what’s the worst that can happen, we loose & bilic goes, we win & we have gotten revenge on turkey,”
I agree. Perfect match up. I didnt want anyone else.
@anonymous
I appreciate you quoting, however, sign in with a name and stick with it, then I will have your back.
@Jordan
“I think this draw could be a HUGE turning point for the savez and NT.
We win – get back to a major competition, fire Bilic and hopefully between our up and coming generation and our old guard, we can make some noise at Euro 2012”
I dont see it happening buddy. Only way Bilic is fired is if Croatia strike out against Turkey. No way the savez replaces Bilic after qualifying for the Euro.
@JP
“Come on Bilic, show me that you have some balls, and at least go out swinging.”
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Lets gooooooooo. win or lose, I would be proud.
@Ivan
Keleva to start in Istanbul? Oh me oh my.
“Pletikosa has only played a handful of games in the last 2 years, Kelava is a better keeper.”
Maybe in 2 years. Keleva looked silly against Lyon. Im not a huge Pleti fan, but he’s our #1. Not even close.
@nizic
“I should a gota hold of you guys when you were in Toronto”
yup.
“straight out of COMPTON”
oh yaaaaaaaaaaa. Nice touch.
@Dan
I guess I am a “budala”.
We all know that
1) Rakitic-Kranjcar-Modric doesnt work.
2) Corluka is terrible as a CB. He was solid against Greece at RB.
Also, I’m waiting on Olic to see if there is still something left in the tank.
Bottom line: We need to play way more aggressively and have more shots on goal. We need to score first and early and keep attacking! The longer it stays 0-0 and the longer we sit back on the ball dillydallying in the midfield, the greater the chance Lovren and co. fall asleep and open holes in our defense. What’s the point of controlling the midfield for so long when you can’t muster up any shots on goal?! Olic might bring a new energy on the pitch, or he might look flat. No one knows. It’s Bilic’s job to choose the starting lineup that gives us the greatest chance of winning. He also needs to do a better job “hyping” the players up and getting them excited. They all look so lazy and miserable on the pitch. WTF is up with that?
you could always take olic off at the half if hes that rusty with all this time off he had i still think he be tougher tan Kalanic…
Olic hasn’t been playing for months now due to injuries. I know a lot of you want him, but the guy simply hasn’t played. He says he’s match fit, and hoping to get a new contract from Bayern…but I don’t think that’s going to happen with how they’re doing. The problem with bringing Olic on, is time played. Yes, he’s fit and yes he’s proven himself, but he’s still going to be rusty.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/968773/ivica-olic-expecting-to-sign-new-bayern-munich-deal?campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901
Yea you r gonna slap him allright the guy that has a hand full of beer and a couple shots of jagr and cant host his buddies that come all the way from the west coast straight outta compton maybe we should put you on the field I wanna see OLic out their with DuDu and klasnic and Jelavic on the bench you can send k Kalanic back to dnipro because that the only place he could probably score a goal no Kalanic on the repka save the spot for some one with some fight in him hahahahaha lol za dom -U-
Bas mi je drago da igramo protiv turci, jebeni turci dobi ce te vi svoje ovaj put.
Za dom
@ Ivan
i can see that your a typical dinamo supporter supporting uncapped and inexperienced players from your team.
Pletikosa will always be first choice. Kelava is ok, but you just cant risk him in such a big game. Im all for trying him in WC qualifiers, but not now. You say hes only played a handfull of games over 2 years, but in reality over 8 years pleti has played over 200 more professional games.
Why the hell has everyone jumped on Vrsaljko now as well, only 19 and way too inexperienced. Seriously guys pamet u glavu.
As for Srna, he is the only adequate player to play in the position. He has been doing it for years and he can continue to do so.
And for Rakitic, hes worth a try, you know he will put in 100%.
If Olic steps foot on the pitch for any playoff game, I’m getting a first ticket on JFK to wherever Slaven is and I’m slapping him in the face. Olic should not step on the field, the guy is a complete joke in big games. He single handily made sure that Croatia didn’t score when he was on. Some of the worst finishing I have ever seen, he’s awful. That game made me the biggest Olic hater out there. Still am and I am proud, although Kalinic is moving up.
@ Dan… Pletikosa has only played a handful of games in the last 2 years, Kelava is a better keeper. I dont like Rakitic and Srna playing the RM and RB… you take your pick which one plays at RM but Verseljko needs to play @ RB.
get real on Kelava people… Stipe will still be our starter after he reaches 100 caps. If that doesn’t clue you in nothing will
If you are talking about me i am personally a fan of
Hajduk but it is obvious Dinamo IS the team in Croatia at the moment.
this is the ideal line-up, anyone who thinks otherwise is a budala
Eduardo Jelavic
Perisic Kranjcar Modric Rakitic
Strinic Lovren Corluka Srna
Pletikosa
NO VUKOJEVIC
and klasnic needs to be given a go as a sub, instead of kalinic or mundzukic
We need a midfield like this who can actually supply to Jelavic. You have to remember, Jelavic is most effective when he is near the 6 Yard box and he has not been receiving any balls within the area in the previous games.
This is the time to play fluent and attacking football. We have to midfield to do it, so in my mind there is no excuses.
Man Dinamo fans have their head in the sand when it comes to their players spots on the squad
If we have any chance to win bilic has gotta start changing tactics they will exploit Strinic all day with Arda Turan. If Nuri Sahin gets back from his injurg he adds a Modric to their team. I know Vrsaljko can play LB and i would rather have him than Strinic any day. Vida deserves to start ahead of Simunic (Who should be dropped from the squad). Pleti has played well recently but we have seen Kelava shine in the spot light (Real Madrid game) so he deserves his chance. Up front should be Dudu(Played well for us recently) and Jelavic(The goals have to come soon, right?) to have any chance Bilic do the right thing!
I should a gota hold of you guys when you were in Toronto
I don’t think you can call Olic’s effort in that turkish game bumbling but more unlucky he ran like crazy thaat game hit a cross bar and a couple just over the bar I like his energy an toughness on the field unlike Mandzu that big pussy out their I like DUDU too but I want bilic and the boys to remember that game and go out with some Fucking heart and lay it all on the field if that happends da bog da alot will be forgotten I think by me too It all started from that quarterfinal game I believe I was fine with everything up too that ,from the heart of TORONTO -U-
Wow, There’s a lot of support for Olic on this board. People forget it was Olic’s bumbling mistakes that prevented this team from capitalizing on their dominance of the Turks in Euro2008.
I say this time we go with Eduardo (as it was supposed to back in ’08).
This draw was fate… and this time we play Eduardo as our man up front (watch him get injured, lol).
iF bilic had a midfield of messi’s he would still go to turkey for a 0 – 0 draw! The bigger the game the more cautious he gets. That is his history. The only way he can get the monkey off his back is to go to turkey and throw everything and the kitchen sink at them. What are the odds…..?
Motivation, revenge etc, etc, doesnt mean squat. Bilic will go to turkey the same way he approached the greece game. Bilic has shown he’s incapable of changing his tactics, or learning from his mistakes. We’re SCREWED.
yes I want Olic on the field aswell….and lets face it their giving Slaven chance for redemption I know he loves this team and his players dearly so I hope he clearly takes full advantage of this chance I want this game too that 2008 euro quarter final game hurt too much…..-U- za dom spremni -U-
Slaven the chance for redemption
i
F*ck’n Turkish animals.
jebu nas 400 godina i nece stat. jebem im muslimansku mate.
opps! should have been
Olic Eduardo (Perisic/Rakitic)
Modric Vukojevic Srna
Strinic Vida Corluka Verseljko
Kelava
Lol good luck getting that lineup
i want:
Olic Eduardo (Perisic/Rakitic)
Kranjcar Modric Vukojevic Srna
Strinic Vida Corluka Verseljko
Kelava
Jersey I know. It’s not my prediction but it’s what I’d like to see. Although maybe I take back Srna. It seems like we could’ve used his corners and flare against Greece.
This has the feel of being able to take the final exam that you failed in Euro2008 once more…..agree with the posts above, we have to attack.
Fifa has a new interactive tool on its website regarding upcoming World rankings. Here is the link:
http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html
The midle of the page at the bottom allows you to enter your countries name and get a current point total – as of now, Denmark, Argentina and Greece pass us in the standings, leaving Croatia 12th.
i think in turkey it will be pletikosa srna corluka simunic strinic vukojevic modric rakitic perisic olic eduardo
Runje is long gone Mark, Simunic would have left anyway, Srna will stay no matter what.
So a date with destiny it is… I think i said something similar on these boards after the Turkey loss a ways back…
If we don’t play with heart in these games then we never will, and at least the Bilic era will be over (albeit with a very bad taste in our collective mouths).
The formula against the Turks is really simple… attack… they will probably score a goal in each game (especially the first) and so we need to be of the mindset that we need 2 goals in each game to go through, and go for the jugular… our defense sucks, which is another reason we should attack. This mindset should also get the team excited.
Come on Bilic, show me that you have some balls, and at least go out swinging.
Triumph over Turkey could be the spark that ignites this team to play to it’s full potential and place well next year. Defeat will most definitely be the straw that broke the camel’s back and result in a team overhaul. Who gets the axe?? My opinion in no particular order: Bye bye Bilic, Simunic, Vukojevic, Runje, and Srna. They would keep Eduardo and Pletikosa as subs. Who would manage?? Someone find Alen Boksic and see what he’s been up to!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfiqhuSpUY
screw Estonia! This is what I wanted! I wanted turkey! Why in the right mind would you want to play estonia and beat them and than go to the euro and lose in the first round..If we beat turkey we beat them because we put some heart into it, if we lose we know we need big changes and dont have to waste time with bilic and etc…
you catch my drift? This turkey match lets us know where croatia as a team really is. If we win will gain more than just euro spot but also much needed confidence!
Jebi mu mater sta talibane se plaiti reka najbolji trener svi vremena JEBO VAS BOG. Ako bilic nemoze turku proci e onda mi nismo velika nogometna sila nemamo sto i dok neznalice poput markovica mamic i ekipa vladaju idemo nigdi. pusti bilic da radi svoj posa ona ekipa 2006-2008 je bila mlada i gladna triba dati priliku onaj ko je zljan igrati i gladan sjetimo se bilic kad je poceja prtic rusije prvi 11 Pletikosa corluka (tada 19)sablic kovac Seric rapajic (MIKI) modric 21 tada kranjcar nkovac klanic i eduardo probao je nesto a sada uvijek ito nita novo promjeniti zasto triba kranjcar u prvi 11 ako nije zasluzija uvjek se kranjca gura od 2004. triba promjena igra i puno toga neznam sto vise reci nego brod je potonija davno samo to jo nije dno mora!
Bilic says, “waiting and dreaming about getting our revenge”
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1696048.html
Best thing that could have happened to Bilic, maybe now he can exonerate himself.
@jm……the reason the are playing international dates on Friday/Tuesday is done at the request of the club teams. They want these players back earlier and instead of playing on Saturday or Wednesday, they get them back one day earlier. I don’t blame the clubs since they assume all of the liabilities when these guys get called up to the national teams.
There is a chance this Friday/Tuesday format may be changes. Instead we might see game divided up in three days. Istead of all the club playing on a Friday. It may be changes where you will have an equal amount of games on Thursday/Friday/Saturday and also an equal amount of games on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday.
This would be done for greater TV exposure. Right now all of the teams play on the same day.
Poljud > *
Sigh….another tournament missed.
any reason they always play games on friday and tuesday rather than actually on a weekend when people can easily watch?
@Ante B. You commented at 11:11 They will play on 11/11/11 I feel REVENGE comming…
I’m guilty of saying revenge too…how about instead of revenge, we say playing with a chip on their shoulder? Kurac, we’re playing for revenge 🙂
Turkey are the good side for sure. But I believe we have faith in our ability. We can beat them and take the REVENGE of Euro 2008. I know the Turks are also eager and hungry for this game but we need it more. Sorry Turks..
Billic is not to be luck for feat this team ./
so bilic was dump after lost his match for 3-0, 1-2
if he would’nt >just simple think .,
1. Simunic not started in team for this match
2. Kalinic not to be substitute
3. do not put Srna in DMD
4. and playing Rakitic Kranjcar in the same time..
On FIFA.com (which cannot be trusted), it states that the Croatia match in Turkey will be played on Friday, 11/11/11. Final Score 1:1 with a return leg in Croatia the following Tuesday 11/15. 1-0 Croatia with a 93′ strike from Klasnic. (One can dream).
The team needs to go through a very deep cleaning. Even if they get in, odds are the won’t get as far as the last euro. This squad is very limited while bilic is at the helm.
If they go in with the mindset of revenge, they will already been beaten. Focus on the now. My biggest fear is about the lack of speed at the back that Bilic keeps his faith in. Simunic has been a great servant, but between him and Corluka, there is more pace in a funeral procession.
My prediction 1-1 away and 2 – 0 at home.
@ Ante
Without a shadow of a doubt, the game will be at Maksimir. No question about that.
Also, one last thing I forgot to comment on: where would you like to see this game being played in Croatia?
Poljud, in my opinion, is front-runner for this one BUT I wouldn’t be shocked if it was at Maksimir since our players are more comfortable there. In Split would be added pressure but imagine that place if we won, u-r-n-e-b-e-s. I’d like Maksimir (shocker) but wouldn’t count out Poljud.
Either way, pjevaj brate zivjeli Hrvati
I think this draw could be a HUGE turning point for the savez and NT.
We win – get back to a major competition, fire Bilic and hopefully between our up and coming generation and our old guard, we can make some noise at Euro 2012, along with keeping our coefficient numbers high and keeping our world ranking somewhere between 10-15.
We lose – the NT goes into a freefall; Bilic will get fired, most of the old guard (Srna, Simunic, Petric, Olic, etc.) will leave the NT football scene. Our team will get really young, we’ll lose alot, coefficient wise. We’ll dip into the 20’s, ranking wise and be in Pot 2 or 3 for upcoming tournaments and won’t have a meaningful game to play until late 2012.
Revenge and perfect chance for redemption! This may be coming out from left field but maybe they can exercise their demons with a win against Turkey in a play-off series which might ultimately light the proverbial fire under their asses. Great draw and we have a great chance to move on! Our boys just need to go all in. Sretno nasima! AJMO HRVATSKA! SVE ZA HRVATSKU!
Croatia-Turkey, Part II. Who’s ready?
To play well against turkey, we need to be compact in midfield…bring on at least 5 midfieders…4–5–1.
Because turkey miidfiders are strong techniquely…we may get overrun by them in midfield department.
in euro 2008, seriously speaking, turkey appear to dictate the match better than us…we rely on counter attacks…losing to them may not be disappointing, however, losing at last minute is regretable…
Im glad we got the turks. Not because it’s going to be easy, and i think our chances are 50-50 but it’s only fitting that we play the team that started our downward spiral. Turkey put us in our comma lets hope that beatting turkey will get us out of it!
Im glad we got the Turks, even though Estonia would have been easier. Lets face it, if we cant beat the Turks in a home/away playoff what chance do we have in the tournament against the likes of Spain, Netherlands, Germany and the rest.
The Turks are a decent team. Although we arent in the best of form as of late, we have way more talent (I expect Olic to be ready come mid November). Bring it on… we win 1-0 away and 2-1 at home!
oh god, i called this, i dont know how much revenge were going to get…we might be missing out on yet another tournament
but turkey didnt do that well in qualifying either loosing to azerbaijan & tying belgium
lets just hope bilic doesnt close his eyes and stick his head in the sand like usual relying on his old tactics
@DinamoDennis
“you could just agree..no need to re post old posts. We get it ass kisser”
Whatever! I am just following the standards Dennis has asked us to comply with in according to replies. I kiss nobody’s ass buddy! lol !!! Nice head! lol !!!!
Thanks allen19! I am a hard drinking man as well. 🙂
Some of you are seriously underrating Bosnia. This team is a force and Portugal looks really shaky in the back. Carvahlo is suspended for a year and they seem hit hard. Bosnia has loads of talent and I can really see them winning. Its a shame they drew the toughest team though, wish they got Czechs or Irish. They deserve to be in Euro Cup
@allen19
Your right….next..
All i know is Primorac is laying a beating to this Ukraine!!!!
I know DinamoDennis people can be nice and supportive at intelligent posts. Its tough for you to deal with considering your posts are either “next” or “what the hell”
@ziva istina
The mental edge the turks have over us is, knowing that they (the turks) got one over on us. They snatched an almost un-loseable position from our grasp within a blink of an eye. One minute we are headed for the semi-finals with that klasnic goal, the next minute we are facing a nervy penalty shoot-out, after senturks late equaliser. They had the mental edge that night going into the shoot-out. Croatia feeling the pressure, and their body language, was as if like they knew they were destined to lose.
That night it was as if they lost a part of their soul, after that crushing defeat, and they havent recovered since.
That is what i mean when i say, they have the mental edge over us.
Croatia may have been the better side that night, and had the better chances, but just couldnt finish. All that is irrelevent now, the turks are the ones who got up that night, and to the winner go the spoils, and sometimes in just knowing that you have defeated a side, you have that belief of, we have beaten them before and we going to do it again. That is what i call a mental edge.
@Anon
you could just agree..no need to re post old posts. We get it ass kisser
I agree with Shinobi,
They may have a mental edge. Afterall, they were able to cope with going 1-0 down in the 119th minute. Our guys couldn’t handle the disappointment after the equalizer.
@allen19
“I would have liked Estonia but what are you going to do. The 3d weakest team that’s seeded gets easy draw, lucky Irishman. If they screw it up wow lol. I am very happy Croatia avoided Bosnia, they are a serious threat. I like their odds against Portugal. Portugals back four is in shambles and Bosnia is hot. Montenegro is another team happy not to draw. They are tough to break down and got some real good talent. They should beat the Czechs as well. Turkey well bring them on, I’m confident. Hiddink is a genius but he botched last playoff against little Slovenia. I’m not scared at all, billc learned his lesson. Croatia has so much motivation for revenge and to give them what they deserve. I really don’t see Croatia not going through and finally they play good football for first time in years. I have lots of faith, now let’s just pray no serious injuries for next month.”
Very nicely said Allen! We have to show them what we are made out of here! Lack of motivation should not be a factor!
@Ziva Istina
“What mental edge do the Turks have????
Listen, they may beat us, but there is no mental edge. How do you gain a mental edge from PKs? It would be a mental edge if they outplayed us and beat us in 90 or 120 minutes the last time we played. But, that is not the case here. Now, if this thing goes to PKs after the two matches then you can make that claim and our guys will begin to think about that nigth in Vienna.
Look at this from the players’ perspective. When we played Turkey at the Euros we were the better side on the field but could not finish all the chances and half chanes that we had. The players could not beleive they lost that game.”
Perfectly stated!
What mental edge do the Turks have????
Listen, they may beat us, but there is no mental edge. How do you gain a mental edge from PKs? It would be a mental edge if they outplayed us and beat us in 90 or 120 minutes the last time we played. But, that is not the case here. Now, if this thing goes to PKs after the two matches then you can make that claim and our guys will begin to think about that nigth in Vienna.
Look at this from the players’ perspective. When we played Turkey at the Euros we were the better side on the field but could not finish all the chances and half chanes that we had. The players could not beleive they lost that game.
WHat day is the first match ?
@JerseyCro
I have to agree with you, i also think the turks would be favourites for this one, maybe not in the betting markets, but for football analysts and experts alike would be leaning towards the turks, and i myself cant see croatia progressing out of this one.
The main reasons why i cant see them going through are, turkey will have that mental edge over us, our recent form leave alot to be desired, and guus hiddink will be to much for bilic handle. Lesser coaches have outwitted bilic, so just imagine what guus will have in store for bilic.
This is the best possible matchup for Croatia for one reason – motivation. It would would be non-existant if we had drawn any of the other three countries. I honestly believe that this will light a fire under the boys that has been missing for a long time.
Playing for your country is seen by the modern footballer as a chore – an obligation that you must perform as an aside to where your salary is coming from. It’s almost as is they do it today so not to be embarrassed or shunned.
Being the underdog has always inspired our team…the revenge factor is the next best thing.
An away goal in the first match will be huge. Bilic should play an open attacking style…even if we give up 2 goals, scoring one is more important.
Woooo hooooo Just as I wanted, would you believe I predicted every match, that’s no word of a lie, this is exactly how I wanted the play offs to be..
Honestly what’s better then seeing if Croatia was really hurt by that loss to Turkey, this is where we find out if the squad has any heart, This play off will determine alot, Honestly what’s the worst that can happen, we loose & bilic goes, we win & we have gotten revenge on turkey,
The turkey game at the euros is still fresh to me, so loosing to them again would be easier to take, the Greece & Georgia losses brought alot of pain, so honestly bring it on, win or loose it will be interesting to see what the squad is made of when revenge is on the dinner table..
Same goes for Bosnia, I desperately wanted them to face Portugal, the pain portugal caused them is fresh, can’t wait for kick off..
I would have liked Estonia but what are you going to do. The 3d weakest team that’s seeded gets easy draw, lucky Irishman. If they screw it up wow lol. I am very happy Croatia avoided Bosnia, they are a serious threat. I like their odds against Portugal. Portugals back four is in shambles and Bosnia is hot. Montenegro is another team happy not to draw. They are tough to break down and got some real good talent. They should beat the Czechs as well. Turkey well bring them on, I’m confident. Hiddink is a genius but he botched last playoff against little Slovenia. I’m not scared at all, billc learned his lesson. Croatia has so much motivation for revenge and to give them what they deserve. I really don’t see Croatia not going through and finally they play good football for first time in years. I have lots of faith, now let’s just pray no serious injuries for next month.
Turkey are the favorites for me, especially if Bilic reverts to his “lets play for a 0:0” away. I don’t have a good feeling about this
Revenge! The only bad side is if we get it Bilic stays on
oops….meant damn you IRISH in previous post.
all good things come to those who wait…..ireland will be rewarded for the nonsense they put up with during their wc2010 playoff loss to france. good for them! if there is any justice in the world, they will be selected into france’s group at the finals in june and really get their revenge!!
bosnia will be taken out by portugal 🙂
and we will get a bite of our turkey leftovers! it would have been nice to get estonia (damn you czechs!) but this is a winnable playoff. i just hope bilic (as someone posted yesterday) plays a highlight package from the euro 2008 defeat (without saying a word) as his pre-game speech before the first leg. once the video is done, simply say “pamet u glavu” and send them out on the field. our guys can do the rest. it will be tough but a winnable playoff.
lets just hope for good health between now and mid-november. let the discussion begin! if all are healthy, any changes to the roster from the last round?
BiH drew Portugal again and Ireland got the easiest of draws (Payback for the Henry handball)
Seen it a Million miles away…..
This should be a good one.