OFFICIAL: CROATIA TO MISS 2010 WORLD CUP
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
SOLUTION CENTER: We know Croatia might need a new coach, a new tactical strategy and a possible new starting XI, but what are the answers to these problems? Think hard and research. A serious chat on CSR is coming your way.
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Just for the records canadian croatians hate all serbs and do not get along with them in shape or form
@Anonymous, last comment
"maybe we are nicer to each other in america because there is less of us but in the end its all the same shit"
I don't want to talk politics, and I will only say a few words regarding Serbs, Bosna, hatred, etc…
1) Croatians in America are not much more friendly to Serbs than Croats in Croatia. The selo's and Cetnik torn towns are an exception. You will still here "ubi ubi Srbina " and "Srbe na vrbe" at home games for Croatia-Serbia. However this is only a select few, as proven this week in Varazdin. I expected a more hostile reception for the Serbs.
2) Croats living abroad have shown more hatred against Serbs then Croats in Croatia. Example, Australian Open a few years back. I remember in Croatia, war refugees laughing at the situation in Melbourne.
"Pa oni se vise tucu tamo nego mi ode"
Croatians in Croatia hate the Serbs but they have moved on. Croatians in the US and Australia haven't. I'm pretty sure its the same thing with Serbia.
Examples:
1) Serbians love Miso Kovac. Still heard in cafes all over Beograd, not by choice but by force. Serbian Cajke(Which I cant stand) are played all over Croatia.
No chance you will hear either in Croatian clubs in US, and I havent stepped in a Serbian club so I am assuming when I say Serian Hall doesnt play Miso.
2) Croatians living in LA, some born and raised in LA, hating on the Lakers, refusing to follow the Lakers because they had Vlade Divac on their team, or Radmanovic on their team, or today a Slovenian born Serb in Sasha Vujacic on their team. No class.
My final thoughts
I will not support Serbia for obvious reasons. However, I don't wish them bad luck.
I will not support Bosna for what went down after Croatia-Turkey
@Denis(Deno)
"Do any of you play footie for a team. Or still dream of becoming a pro player, and maybe someday play for Croatia???"
By asking this, I am assuming that you play football and are hoping to play for Croatia one day.
I have been playing football since Maradona's "hand of God", that would make me 28 today and still undiscovered by Croatian scouts 🙂
Just interested where you going with this question.
@Dinamofan
"How can anyone say Slaven Bilic is a better coach than Branko Ivankovic."
I never said he was better, never said he was worse, I just dont see this as an upgrade. The only think Ivankovic brings is a fresh new look new approach, not enough in my book. Also, Ivankovic has been coaching 17 years and besides a decent stint with Iran hasn't done anything impressive.
Also, Slaven Bilic and his under 21 squad lost to Serbia and Montenegro in U21 playoff because of Mirko Vucinic. Croatia had no one of his quality on that team.
I'm not saying that Bilic is a legend, I'm just saying that Ivankovic isnt a convincing upgrade in my book.
"Regards Daniel Pranjic, i think a massive club like Bayern should not have bought people like Pranjic and Olic."
I agree, neother are good enough for Bayern.
"Mandzo's problem is that he played too much midweek football which is not a normal thing for a HNL1 player. He needs to go through better fitness training or try to conserve his energy a little more in games."
I agree as well.
@Ziva Istina
"What does the future hold….I think we will be OK regardless of the coach (Bilic or someone else). By OK, I mean qualifying for the Euros. I think that is what we should hope for an expect. ANything beyond the first round at Euros or WCs is a bonus for us."
Huge huge huge comment of the day. For those of you that think we are Holland and produce quality players year in year out, then you are only kidding yourself.
We are a tournament team, and anything extra is a bonus. we are not on the same level as (Italy, Spain, England, Brazil, Argentina, Holland, and Germany). We are somewhere right there with (Paraguay, Uruguay, Sweden, Portugal, and France) We make most tournaments and anything extra is a bonus.
(Slovenia, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech, Denmark, Norway, Belgium) are a level below us. If they qualify thats great.
We didn't qualify for the first time in 10 years! Thats success in my book. Also, Europe is getting better every year. Countries like N.Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosna, Belarus, Latvia and Cyprus are producing Serie A and Bundesliga players.
Gone are the days when Croatia can go into Latvia, Belarus, or Cyprus and walk out with a 5-0 drubbing like in 1998.
Today, it is much more dificult to qualify for tournaments.
Example: Slovenia was in pot E and made the playoffs. Slovakia was in pot D and made the world cup. Bosna was in pot D and made the playoffs.
@Alex
"I've thought about it alot but I just can't get behind BiH (don't even ask about Serbia, and if the Slovenes make the WC with their crap team I'll change my name to Janez). It's not that I wish the Bosnians bad luck like I do the Serbs, but rooting for them to win is just a bridge too far- for me, anways. "
I agree, after watching them support Turkey, I hope they dont qualify.
@Kosor
"There's not one croat on the bosnian team that's all i got."
Ciro Blazevic?
haha nobody comes to the dom in phoenix if they are not hrvat and if they do they are not welcome by many i mean the music and parties are just for hrvate you can hang out with serbs and bosnians outside of that but its just like if we went to there music parties and stuff we are not welcome so get out of here with this whole we can be one crap it does not exist maybe we are nicer to each other in america because there is less of us but in the end its all the same shit…your a serb bosnian or croat and thats end of story if you are a croat who really goes out of there way roots for bih or serbia for pride well you make me sick really sick
DEFINATLEY NOT THE CASE IN LA your right.
Fair enough….
Seems like we have plenty of epople posting they hate the serbs and BiH. One question, how many of you guys listen to serb or bosnian music or attend their events? I have travelled to numerous croatian communities across the US and Canada and some of the hrvati in those cities talk the biggest trash abour serbs and mujos, but will party with them. Which is fine, but why the double standard for so many.
No the case in LA, Cleveland, and most of Canada. But, the Chicago hrvati – not so much.
Re: Ziva
Well i'm not Croatian so i can't empathise with your feeling on Bosnia and Serb as i can't see the bad. However perhaps this is same as why i want America to not win a game at the world cup.
Im american born croatian and will never ever root for bosna or serbia not even if hell froze over. Why would I? serbia hates us bosna hates us. so why do we have to be nice and root for them, this ain't yugo anymore fuck em. MI SMO HRVATI and that's all there is to it. Now GO TEAM USA since our vatreni aren't there hopefully they will go far. But all you guys who say bosna is like croatia i say get your facts straight cause after what i saw in sarajevo and mostar last year it was as if they were living in turkey, not bosna. There's not one croat on the bosnian team that's all i got.
k lets start a new page here ..clean slate
@ Cigani Bosanac
Dude… I have no problem with your opionions at all… As long as you got reasons to back it up its all good… But my problem is that as soon as you bring up stuff like "suck my kurac" and stuff like that, you automatically lose ur credibility. I'm not the only one who share the sediments….
yo and HvarSplican read my sh*t i wrote just above Alex's post
-Ciganski Bosanac
P.S.
ALL MY FANS OUT THERE ADD ME ON FACEBOOK : CIGANSKI BOSANAC
sorry for all these posts!
HvarSplican u have just sparked a rivalry
Zivila Bosna
now everyone knows my true identity thnaks HvarSplican! maybe i will start a BosnianSoccerReport.com and it will be a huge sucess
lol i know what happened in Mostar and i didnt like it either ..maybe bc my true identity is im croatian? o no my identity is out IM NOT A BOSANAC !!!!!!!
Way to be mature dude. I'm 100% Croatian, so i don't have respect for the neighboring nations. Especially what happened in Mostar and Sarajevo last year. Go start BosnianSoccerReport.com… I bet you'll have a huge following…. sike
nvm just suck my kurac
-CIGAN
feel like what? im saying that we should hate serbs because hate is the fuel of sucess
hey suck my kurac
@Ciganski Bosanac
Dude… seriously you need to chill on the yugo talk. My family was personally affected in the '91 war as well as MANY others. We have a right to feel this way and if you have a problem with that, keep your opinions to yourself. But all this stuff about you yugo, etc needs to stop. This is a football website and leave it at that. Period.
o and serbia?? which one of u croats actually dont have hate for serbs?? u yugos
I've thought about it alot but I just can't get behind BiH (don't even ask about Serbia, and if the Slovenes make the WC with their crap team I'll change my name to Janez). It's not that I wish the Bosnians bad luck like I do the Serbs, but rooting for them to win is just a bridge too far- for me, anways.
Besides, BiH isn't even a proper country- it would disintegrate tommorrow if the EU took it's band-aids off the place. Then we could pair Dzeko with Eduardo and put Misimovic in the midfield alongside Modric.
WHY WOULD U ROOT FOR BOSNA THEY ARE PHUCKING BALIJE WHO SHIT ON MOSTAR AFTER WE LOST TO TURKEY AND CONSTANTYL SHIT ON US AND NOW U ARE SUPPORTING THEM?
…whoops i mean ya woo go bosnaaa edin dzekooo zivilii muslimanii
i am the opposite. i wish ill will to every serb.
half of you guys are american born croats so you guys have no clue about this whole bosnia croatia thing…i am croat born in bosnia and i am telling you they go out of there way to root against us so i will do the same…why should i wish them the best? its not hate but its not like i want them to do good same with serbia…why do i care i rather have usa destroy them both
As Athletico Bibao said to the former Everton manager Howard Kendall 'THIS IS NOT FOOTBALL'. Politic's shit. Who gives a toss about ethnic shit. I'm only interested in football. I respect the players of Serbia and Bosnia. They've given me no reason to hate them. Okay maybe Eduardo, Corluka and Modric are nicer guys than Pantelic, Vidic and Jovanovic, but I'm not hating on them. No waysies. Hehe looks like its back to the day job tomorrow with HNL1 reporting
There are two teams I wont chear for….BiH and Serbia.
No way I chear for the muslims after the shit they did in Sarajevo and Mostar last year when the turks eliminated us.
BiH will get spanked in the playoffs. Turkey did more to lose 2nd place in that group than BiH did to gain 2nd place.
The balija have good cevape and burek, but here's hoping they fall down in the playoffs.
Bosnia should bulk up their squad for the play offs and call on the legend that is, Hasan Salihamidzic.
I'm sure the whole of Bosnia was not celebrating. I'm sure one or two housewifes were making tea and others doing other things. A few shouldn't represent a whole nation. I'm a football fan first and foremost. Just cos Croatia's tournament is over i'm not gonna start wish any other side bad luck. Let them all play on in peace. no bad sportsmanship.
The hell with bosnia when they freakin celebrated in the streets of sarajevo last year when we lost to turkey.. Forgot those guys
Well im rooting for bosna now since we're out of the WC. I dont give crap what anyone thinks about that.
Ciro is a legend. And bosnia is a hard working team. They deserved whatever they accomplished so far. No need to be hatin…
Also, you could make the same arguement about 98(even more strongly)- we only squeeked by the group stage and needed a pk to make the qf's.
Ziva you've got me totally confused. How can Poland be out when Germany had only won one match. Didn't Austria and Poland draw. That means that if Poland beat Croatia they could have overtaken Germany, therefore Poland were still active when we played them??
The Poland game was impressive cos we beat them easily when they were trying their hardest. In my opinion Croatia and England; Germany and Russia should have been saying to UEFA hey hang on we should all be first seeds. No way are Czech Republic and Greece better than us four.
I'll be rooting for Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia definitely. Bosnia the most. Blazevic didn't back stab Croatia. He was born in Travnik. Blazevic was hardly loved in Croatia recently. He has restored his coaching credibbility whilst with Bosnia.
Ziva, sorry, but your analysis of the euro's is just wrong(or an example of the glass being half empty). 3 of the 4 semifinalists came in second in their group, so you could also make harsh judgements about their group stage performances. Also, we still wouldve gotten to the qf's if Olic didn't score his "fluke" or if we drew Austria( I say "or"). There's very rarely a side who it can't be argued were fortunate. Even sides who were completely dominant, like the Dutch, got mauled in the Qf's, so you could make a different criticism about them. Point is, there's always two ways to look at a performance.
@ ZIVA ISTINA
I agree screw the neighbors and screw Ciro we treated him bad here in Croatia but he betrayed us and went to Bosnia. I wish I could have been on the streets when Spain wooped there ass yesterday like they were rooting against us for turkey because they are as turkish as croatian are german right….haha I feel no pride for them at all i would have never gone against them until they pulled shananigans like that and now infact i hope they get devoured every game…and i hope they get ukraine i hope ciro gets his wish and takes it up his @$$!!
We will be feeling the sting of not going to the WC when the event starts and through the first round. Once the 1st round is over we would have been emliminated, so it will be easier to live with everything at that point. Hopefully BiH and Slovenia are eliminated in the playoffs and the serbs go out quickly. If we cant have success then I dont want our neighbors to have any either.
There are so many ways to look at this and blame can be shared all around from Bilic to the players. But, part of me cant help but think we just had no luck or lack of luck this time around. In 98 we should have been knocked out in qualfying, but we somehow found our way into the WC. We had luck on our side that time. Now, I am a firm believer that you are a creater of oyour own luck, but sometimes it does not work. The posts we miised in the Ukraine game in the 2nd hald is an example.
I know there has been much discussion about the back ups Bilic picked for this team. Its my opinion that it does not matter who Bilic picked. This team has a solid starting 11, when healthy, and maybe 2 or 3 quality subs and that is it. Once we lose a guy here or there to injury or cards, we are in a tough spot. Just go throughout the entire qualifiers and look at the amount of times we had a full squad. Da Silva missed games, Kranjcar missed games, Modric missed games, Kovac was red carded, Corluka was red carded, Pletikosa was injured. I know we did not miss all these guys at the same time, but they were never part of our full and fit starting 11. Face it, pletikosa is our best keeper. Kovac, unfortunelty is still our best choice in the back. And the other guys are irreplaceable at their positions. Again, my opinion, once we are not able to use our starting 11, we are in trouble. We do not have quality depth to replace our bigger name players.
And I think our success at the Euros was a fluke. Austria sticks and we barely beat the host nation. Germany we outplayed but needed a fluke goal by Olic to get it done and Bilic was a mastermind with the team, Poland game ment nothing to us since we qualified and Poland was already out. We all know what took place against an average Turkey side. We could not score a goal on them until the 119th minute. So, looking back at the Euros, they seem to be more of a fluke performance than anything else. We had an easy group and in a one-game situation outplayed a better team (just like Italy in 02) in Germany.
What does the future hold….I think we will be OK regardless of the coach (Bilic or someone else). By OK, I mean qualifying for the Euros. I think that is what we should hope for an expect. ANything beyond the first round at Euros or WCs is a bonus for us.
Thanks but no thanks Tito. Croatia is a more superior Football team by its self then former Yugo was.
I say give Bilic the Boot, his Tactics are youth like & there is no discipline in the team, u want some 1 the players will respect….
I wish we had Blazevic, oh well Bosnia is reaping the REWARDS !!!!
Tito says- reunite yugoslavia for quality football
Suker prob being forced into the job. Doesn't seem like Suker is really totally passionate about being HNS president. I'd not take it if i was him. Stimac will try and influence him as well. I don't think Suker is tough enough for this position. He seems like a guy that would rather not have the hassle. Suker should be left alone to do his soccer schools and charity stuff. He should look across to Dragan Stojkovic. Stojkovic tried these roles and realise it was not for him and is not far happier back in Japan coaching.
Suker will realise after a while the job don't suit him. It would only be a good move to stop other people from getting the job. If it stays all the same then Bilic has to improve significantly.
Bilic IS STAYING! SUKER AS NEW candidate Sef
http://www.jutarnji.hr/sport/nogomet/clanak/art-2009,10,15,,179633.jl
WEIGHING ALL THINGS UP THOUGH I THINK CO ADRIANSE IS OUR MAN. HE LOVES ATTACKING FOOTBALL AND HAS ACHIEVED CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS. ALSO THIS GUY IS A REAL BASTARD. NOBODY WILL BE HIS FRIEND IN THE NATIONAL TEAM. HE WILL WORK THEM LIKE DOGS. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A REAL DICTATOR AND REAL BASTARD OF A COACH ADRIANSE IS YOUR MAN.
Aguirre is also gonna be a tough guy to get hold of, but he has also coached Mexico before so maybe he might leave at the end of the world cup. But to qualify them after the disaster job Errikson did is a miracle. Aguirre achieved it. These guys don't stay available for long. Croatia has to act if they are to get a decent foriegn coach.
Hitzfeld is bloody fantastic isn't he. I'd hope we could get him of Switzerland as we are better than them, but maybe i'm dreaming. One thing for sure, Bayern should never let this genious go.
Co Adrianse is available though. Javier Aguirre as i keep saying and Toppmoller. I'm sure they'd love to coach Croatia. For those who mention Hiddink, remember Hiddink has only gone to wealthy nations.
Re: Hrvasplican
Kranjcar is not a central midfielder, he's a wide player. Srna is not a captain. He is definitely not a captain in the mould of Kovac. He plays out wide, he has not time to captain from that position. His job is to get his head down and create. He's got no time for talking. He shouldn't have been given the captaincy, but i believe he's only been filling in for Robert Kovac. There is no captain in the squad. They are all too quiet.
I'm a bit annoyed at England cos they cheated us a bit. There team against Ukraine was awful. Why did Capello drop Crouch from the squad against Ukraine and then brings him back against Belarus and he scores two goals. Also why no Wright Phillips and why no Barry. All these players played great against Belarus last night. Why England replaced Barry with Carrick against Ukraine he left them with no defensive mid. That line up was like what Juande Ramos did at Spurs when he pitched Jenas and Modric together. Capello made it easy for Ukraine which really is no fair. They scammed us. England learned last night that Heskey and Carlton Cole both who play that Ukraine match should prob never ever play for England again. Also how can Heskey play ahead of Agbonglohar. If Heskey was better than Agbonglohar then he would have his first team jersey at Villa.
Also if they had Joe Cole, Owen Hargreaves and Defoe fit and been at fully strength they would have totally smashed Ukraine. That is the only way Croatia was a little unlucky and Ukraine were extremely lucky.
Regards Mandzo. The way he played for Croatia last night is how he's been playing with Dinamo for weeks. The guy is burned out. I definitely think we should rest him at weekend. Mandzo is an example of the poor fitness of HNL1 players. There fitness comes up short against the players from strong leagues. Mandzo's problem is that he played too much midweek football which is not a normal thing for a HNL1 player. He needs to go through better fitness training or try to conserve his energy a little more in games.
Regards Daniel Pranjic, i think a massive club like Bayern should not have bought people like Pranjic and Olic. They must have been insane. They had Klose, Luca Toni, Podolski on their books, why sign Olic. I'm happy to debate this with anyone, but if was a coach i would take Olic over Klose, Toni and Podolski. No way! I like Olic and Pranjic but we are talking about one of the very biggest clubs on the planet here. They can sign the best.
You've got also Ribery, Robben, Swiensteiger on the books, why would they need Pranjic. The German press are prob getting at Pranjic cos he is such a pointless signing. Ze Roberto still had enough in his tank to do what Pranjic does.
I don't think Olic and Pranjic are the only players they wasted money on. Tymoschuk is not Bayern standard, Van Buyten is mediocre, Van Bommell should have been sold. Even Mario Gomez isn't the best. If i was Bayern coach i'd have gone to Real oh you want Ribery do you, well give us all of the following Robben, Van Der Vaart, Metzelder plus cash. I think Olic and Pranjic are gonna be under massive expectations which they wouldn't have got at Schalke or HSV. Should not have gone beyond their level i don't think.
For Croatia we should have only used Pranjic at left wing rather than Rakitic and that was all.
How can anyone say Slaven Bilic is a better coach than Branko Ivankovic. Based on what? The national right was not all Bilic's work. Mirko Jozic created the defence which stayed together through 3 tournaments and had a good understanding with Pletikosa. Niko Kovac was also already in that position put there by Zlatko Kranjcar. Corluka is his player yes 100%, but Modric and Eduardo were both already in squad. Also did not Igor Tudor's injury have something to do with the change of formation cos Zlatko Kranjcar tried to accomodate him and who knows maybe if he was available Bilic would have done the same.
Ivankovic was coaching in Blazevic's team, also qualified Iran and he also along with Josip Kuze reshaped Dinamo. That is much more than Bilic did at Hajduk. At Hajduk Bilic stepped in as caretaker and took credit for other peoples work. At Under 21 level we got hammered by Serbia and Montenegro in the play offs. With the national side he had a solid foundation already in place to work from. Bilic hasn't done any miracles here. He already had decent materials from the work done by Mirko Jozic, Baric and Kranjcar. Those three coaches just could not find some of the components that fell in Bilic's lap like a Modric, Rakitic, fitter Kranjcar and a Eduardo up front.
So far Bilic has proved nothing at club level and when he was really expected to create his own squad i.e in this campaign, he failed. He also has not left that much of a solid foundation to build from. The whole defence which is supposed to be Slaven Bilic's expertise is a total mess for whoever takes it over.
All of you seem to love the national team. Do any of you play footie for a team. Or still dream of becoming a pro player, and maybe someday play for Croatia???
BILIC
Nice, ok we are on the same track..
good stuff.
Bilic
Stimac? Dont tell me this, I will have nightmares tonight.
Would you rather have Stimac or Bilic?
@Alex,
Yes, I agree with Ciro and Bilic staying on too long. In a sense they are actors and try to convince others that they are worthy to stay on. They never come down on themselves.
We will find out in a few days what the HNS will decide.
Denis,
I suggested a number of managers, whether they would want to take the job and/or the HNS would want to pay them is a whole other question. Co Adriaanse is one name who I believe isn't working. Huub Stevens would be perfect: yes, he's at Red Bull but contracts are fairly meaningless, even for coaches. Besides, he would be able to finish the season there. Other's have mentioned Toppmoller and Hitzfeld. These are all excellent choices who are within the realm of possibilty for a nation like Croatia. Fact is, there are a number of others with similar resumes.
Do I think the HNS will do this? No, I'm a cynic by nature so I'm certain they'll pick Stimac.
And a good example to take from both Ciro and Bilic is that they hung around too long. Both were fundamentally charismatic and emotional managers as opposed to tactical and cerebral. Depending exclusively on emotions, or "passion", is not a strategy for success- it may work once or twice or it may not work at all- the problem with Bilic is that he had nothing else-this campaign was like one big hail mary pass.
@Alex
I agree that Pranjic was at fault as well, and doesnt deserve a LB position all qualifying round. Hopefully Pranjic can bounce back after a horror Bayern Munich start.
Ciro was one Peter Schmeichel fumble away from missing the world cup in 1998. What happened that tournament?
I wouldnt call Ciro a great manager, great tactition, disciplined, however, the guy knows how to win. He has proved this with Croatia and now Bosna.
Bilic deserves to be axed, and I wouldn't complain. Its easy to look at the problems. What are the solutions? A foreign manager? What if HNS wont shell out cash? Ivankovic? In my opinion thats going backwards.
@HvarSplican
Thanks for clarifying "celebrating after goal". Also, There are different levels of celebration as demonstrated during today's game. After Croatia scored their first goal, the players rounded up, and acted like they scored against Kazakhstan in a pointless match.
I agree with you about others on the website celebrating victory. I just think you're being a little harsh and they are exaggerating a bit on the level of celebrating. There is no way that person that celebrated today, celebrated at the same level as when we scored against Ukraine.
Maybe, I didnt catch your successor to Slaven Bilic. 70+ comments on four different posts in the last four or five days. I agree with Hiddink, I would celebrate that.
Besides the foreign managers, how do you feel about Ivankovic, Stimac , Ladic, and other possible Croat managers? Lets say HNS decides to keep the manager domestic, keep Bilic or replace him with one of the above mentioned?
Denis, On the Sheva goal Simunic deserves some responsibility but Pranjic was standing by himself, marking no one, watching the ball while Sheva ran directly in from a long distance. Would a proper LB do that? Who knows. But we now know a non-LB definately would…
And about Ciro. I know it's sacriligious to say this, but was Ciro that great a coach? A great charecter, yes, and he was the perfect coach for us at that time, but, if we judge him by NT success, Jozic would then qualify as an even better coach through his results in '87, esp. considering he was working with many of the same players. However, in Ciro's defense, he- unlike Bilic- got to the Qf's at the the Euro's before the 3rd place WC finish.
Saturday England loss to Ukraine****
@ Denis Svirčić
Let me clarify my position a little clearer. I don't mind the players celebrating after scoring goals, in fact I would much rather have players with passion like that rather than players who dont.
I was referring to some members on here celebrating the fact that we beat Kazakhstan. #1 They're Kazakhstan, the U-21's should beat them. #2 Today is the day officially Croatia does not make the World Cup. We as a national should be in mourning instead of celebrating a win against Kazahkstan. I've had a knot in my stomach since the Saturday England loss to Kazakhstan and it will get even worse in June when the World Cup takes place and we're not in it.
To the point about naming a successor to Slaven Bilic, I've already mentioned several. My ideal choice would be Guus Hiddink. Throw whatever money he wants at him, but with this guy's discipline, player selection, tactics coupled with the fact that we'll be in POT A will almost surely see ourselves qualify for EURO 2012. I also mentioned some of the choices that DINAMO FAN mentioned would be good selections as well.
Lets just say Trešeta is a different game than nogomet hahaha… We'll get them next time 😉
@Denis Svircic
WELL SAID!!! AGREE 10000%
@HvarSplican
I agree with you, A win against Kazakstan is nothing to celebrate for us fans. However, the players and coaches have the right and should celebrate the goals.
Also, we did need this win for a guaranteed seed for the next qualifiers. I would much rather avoid, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, England, and Spain, then face them twice in group stage. The rest is up to the luck of the draw.
Also, enough of this pointless back and forth jabbering over who has a better I-phone and thesaurus.
"way to be mature asswipe"
Who is mature here?
I'm lost.
I agree with you, "the FIFA rankings mean shit and I dont hit the ceiling every time Croatia move up.
"We were HEALTHY when we faced Ukraine twice and drew both times. No excuses.."
I agree, no excuses, however I have one: We dominated Ukraine both games, and deserved to win twice. However, deserving doesn't mean anything in soccer.
"2 games against Ukraine wouldve got it done but it simply did not happen. "
I dont think we "performed great" against Ukraine but we deserved to win twice.
"Teams don't get lucky twice against the same team"
I disagree. I won the first and lost five straight treseta games last night against the same team 🙂
Also, basketball and soccer and different sports when it comes to luck.
Holland hit three posts and missed 2 in game penalty kicks, losing to Italy in PK's in Euro 2000 semifinals. Don't tell me luck had nothing to do with that…. or is this faith? sometimes it doesnt go your way.
@Alex
"And as for "luck", there is no such thing. You make your own luck. Blaming the post or mysterious "luck" is simply an excuse. " No such thing as luck ha? No wrong or right answer on this topic I guess. All I know is that everyone and anyone that has anything to do with soccer will tell you that you need a little luck on your side to be successful.
"Maybe the lesson is that passion only gets you so far….but beyond that, tactics and discipline are needed."
I agree. However, ultimately you need a combination of good tactics, discipline, talent, chemistry, and injury-free football to be successful.
Again, bottom line, who steps in for Bilic?
WC 2002, Germany had the worst team ever at the world cup and still managed to make the finals, only to get dominated by a far superior Brazilian team. Also, they had "luck" of the draw to face South Korea, United States, and an easy first round group on the way to the final.
"2nd Ukraine match, the 1st goal might have been averted, as Pranjic was ball-watching while Sheva ghosted in."
Sorry but Simunic was at fault here for ducking under the ball setting up Shevchenko
@Dan
Don't get me wrong, I feel Bilic must go. However, only if we can get a better replacement. If the HNS is willing to invest in a foreign manager and dish out $$$ fine. If not, we dont have a better option out there. Also, easy on the profanity.
best comment of the day Denis(Deno)
no relation..haha..
"Im mad because people praise the squad when we're doing good but play the blame game when things dont go as planned."
This doesn't apply to all of you here, however, it applies to most of us including myself. I haven't noticed any of Slaven Bilic's "bad tactics" at Euro 2008 until this qualifying campaign. Why? Because we were winning.
How does everyone feel about Ciro Blazevic for croatia? A genius at WC98, and a loser at Euro 2000 not even qualifying us for the tournament. Same players. Same strategy, same shit.
In the end, Bilic is to blame, however, this is only half the problem. And, to get rid of a Bilic for another Bilic is like bringing sand to the beach. I'm always open to upgrades in our squad. The only way o upgrade Bilic is to bring in an experienced foreign manager.
@Ziva Istina
"Forget analyzing this match. The players want no part of it and just want to finsih up not hurt and go back to their club."
Good point, however, Mate Bilic, Jelavic, Pokrivac and Lovren all want to impress. I was all for sacking Bilic, then when the smoke cleared I realized that I was speaking with my emotions. Who would replace Bilic? I am still up for a GREAT foreign manager.
However, if we bring in a Camacho or an Erikson, forget about it. Also, not another Croatian coach available that can compare to Bilic. Sad but true.
@Andrej
please refer to "Denis" as Denis(Deno) to not confuse one another. Also, please easy on the profanity.
"we have the best team since 98"
I agree, however only on paper.
Also, look at all the injuries, Olic, Petric, Eduardo, Modric, Kranjcar, Pletikosa, Krizanac, Knezevic, Juric… to name a few..
Also, look at the bad luck that has followed us since day one. England had our number, the end. We hit how many posts against Ukraine? Also, our defense is not the best since 98. From 2002-2006 we had a better defense than today. Slaven Bilic used the same tactics for Euro 2008 qualifying and EURO 2008 that he used for this qualifying campaign, we had a little luck, no injuries(besides Eduardo for the tournament) and won. In the end results are what count for many of you. Slaven didn't do anything different this time around, just the results didnt add up.
Quesion for you. If you sack Bilic today, and have the power to apoint a manager, who would it be? Markovic and HNS might not be willing to give a Hiddink 2 Million Euros per year… then what?
@Marko Polo
Mate Bilic deserves a Croatia shirt. Not because of todays meaningless match, but for his experience playing against world class competition day in day out for the last few years. Vukojevic, Srna, Pokrivac, Leko, and others play against HNL teams. Srna has been a major disappointment, Vukojevic is used to playing with another defensive midfielder in Ukraine and cant handle a Niko Kovac role by himself. Too much pressure on the kid, like I've been saying the last year and a half. Kazak goalie was standing on his head today.
@Someguy
"realistically I don't think we have a better option right now" Unless the HNS and Markovic is willing to dish out $$$$ for a proven foreign manager, we don't have a better option.
Dinamofan
I rate Klasnic as a 5.5. He didn't do much in the little opportunities presented to him. I've always liked him as a player and a person, however, I dont see him returning next year.
Mate Bilic looked good in his debut, brought energy, fought for every ball, and nearly scored twice. Also, this is kazakstan, so like Ziva istina said, we shouldn't praise anyone for a good performance against a bottom feeder.
Mandzukic was awful once again. I agree with you, he might be fatigued.
"Pranjic needs slapping" well said. I was expecting great things from him ever since he transfered to Bayern. He might have some personal problems, hasn't been the same since the transfer. Also, Bild had Pranjic in the top 5 worst Bundesliga transfers of the season.
I agree with you on R Kovac performance. He played well in his final match and was left "high and dry by Pranjic."
"Rakitic also looks awkward on this left side. He does not once kick the ball with his left foot."
Srna had 40 or so touches today, all with his right foot.
"Tonight Kranjcar struggled with Kazakstan so he's clearly not a central midfielder."
Who would you put instead? I agree Niko isnt the answer, however, we don't have any options.
"Some things you cannot legislate for. Corluka's red card against Belarus, absolute disgrace and totally unprofessional. Kovac's elbow leading to red card, not needed. Pletikosa's sudden lack of first team football was also a killer. That came out the blue."
I agree. These are all "excuses" by some, however, besides Luka Modric, and Vedran Runje that saved us multiple times, everyone else on this team had a horrible qualifying campaign. Should we blame Bilic for this too?
I would approve Ottmar Hitzfeld and Klaus Toppmoller.
I don't believe all these negative comments thrown out at Croatia and Slaven Bilic. One minute Slaven Bilic for president, the next minute, can his ass….
"its kazakstan i dont care wtf happens if we cant beat them BILIC IS OUT!!!"
Switzerland lost to Luxemburg, shoud their manager also be fired? They qualified for the world cup today.
Bilic did what he could and gave everything of himself. In the end, he just wasn't good enough, no experience, not a good tactician, bad luck, injuries, no team chemistry, no team efforts… Bilic not the only one to blame.
@Denis(Deno)
"I heard andorra isplaying their heart out!! Thats good…i hope they equalize in the secind half…and hopefully win. "
Never lose hope, however, Andorra haven't won since the Nixon administration. Andorra is 100-1 to win. That means if Andorra play Ukraine 100 different times, chances are Andorra win one, probably a 1-0 Penalty kick win in the year 2035.
So, you say we have a "crappy goalkeeper". Who is better than Runje?
"Like I said if there is a better coach then him somewhere out there! Be my guest."
Well, there are plenty of great and "better managers" out there. The question is will the HNS pay out. If not, no one can replace Bilic with that salary.
@Will,
Yes, by far the worst qualifying campaign. I dont want to make up excuses, but injuries and bad luck had a lot to do with our campaign. Sure, we have no business against England, however, I still feel we are better than Ukraine. In the end, 100 posts don't count, only a ball in the back of the net counts and takes you further…
"olic just would of hit the post"
Ivica is famous for that.
"Discipline and self control are needed to do your job the right way."
I agree. However, are Croatian people disciplined in general? We are the opposite of Germans. WE have twice the talent of Germany, and the have twice the discipline of Croatia. A good German coach should do the trick. Now, the question is, will the HNS shell out $$$$ and squash the politics?
You sack Bilic and then what? What are our options? or is Bilic just terrible in your book, and you would rather see another unproven manager like Stimac, or Asanovic, or a mediocre foreigner take over?
Easy to name the problems, however, what is your say on a solution.
"I guess we should bring Zlatko Kranjcar back? Or maybe, Otto Baric, or Mirko Jozic? What exactly has Bilic done thats anything greater than them? "
Umm, did you forget about EURO 2008 Quarterfinals, 30 seconds away from a semifinal spot. Hmm all the rest of those managers fell in the first round.
You can honestly say that Ivankovic over Bilic? Thats a huge improvement. I'm already looking forward to the qualifiers.
I want Bosnia to play Ukraine and beat the crap out of them….
Ajmo BOSNO!!!!
Im really happy Slovakia made it to the World Cup today so did the Swiss and Argentina just did now. Playoff could have some interesting match ups. Russia Ukraine would be good.
I agree with Denis. We are a great team and we will bounce back. Had England beat Ukraine we would have been all talking different. Our rankings would get us to face Bosnia Ireland Slovenia or Portugal. we are better then all 4 of those and we would have been at the World Cup. We finished with 20 points, look at the second place teams Portugal 19,Slovenia 20, Greece 20, Bosnia 19 Ireland 18 Clearly we didn't do so so bad considering Injuries and England's bad blood towards us, We were short 1 point for the playoff. The good news is there will be no stress watching the World Cup next year.
By successful I meant we were always regarded as a good team. Even though we didnt qualify we're still considered dangerouse. There is no doubt in my mind that we're not going to bounce back. I mean come on. We still have a great squad. We just need some finetunning by gettin in some new players. mainly to reconstruct our crapy defense wich in my mind blew it for us.
"Our squad successful…"? That's strange to say after failing to even get to the WC play-offs.
"Getting rid of Bilic would be a disaster"? Yes, we might actually qualify next time…
"Have you seen some NT's?"? Yes, And I'll see them this summer…
Igor Stimac says some stuff about the HNS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4GclAWp4Sk
Bilic player selection is horrible????
Okay so ur saying that bringing in Eduardo, luka modric, niko kranjcar, corluka is horrible..OKAY.
Bilic player selection is horrible????
Okay so ur saying that bringing in Eduardo, luka modric, niko kranjcar, corluka is horrible..OKAY.
LMAO!!! "Kurac". Dont worry im not that mean.
Im mad because people praise the squad when we're doing good but play the blame game when things dont go as planned.
What happend has happend. Im just a firm beliver that getting rid of bilic would be a disaster.
The reason our squad is succefull in the first place is because we are so close as a group. So what if Bilic is like a father figure. Thats what brought our squad the bronze medal in 1998. And now they criztiseize him for being to leniant. Have you seen some national teams. They dont even know each other. Atleast we can call Croatia a real team. Brothers.
Deno u must be the dumbest person in this forum. Don't u fukin get it?? We FAILED. Who gives a fuck of how we could of scored or how we were unlucky. Were not going to participate in the worlds largest tournament. And with bilic don't get me started. He's formations and payer selectons have been absolutly horrific. He must go he has no choice but to. I think the significance of this day will hit you next year when Cro won't be at south africa.
Bilic did not ban Simunic and Krizanac from the national team; it was only for this match.
Srna as captain…..big deal if he is giving instructions on the field or not. He seemed to be able to win a UEFA Cup as a captain. Just because one players is more demonstrative on the field (Kovac) does not mean is a good or bad captain. It has nothing to do with it.
Again….why are you people even anlayzing today's game. it was worthless. the games that should be analyzied are the two games against Ukraine, two against Belarus. Forget about the last England game, we never had a chance with the people we were missing in that game.
If they want to get a foreign coach get a big name, but we lack the money for that. And using Reja as an example is dead wrong. He is at Hajduk and Hajduk plays in a bad league. You need to get a coach who the players have respect for from the start and bringing in a washed up foreigner will not be enough.
last post was directed to Deno
HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO SAY WHAT MANAGER SHOULD REPLACE BILIC???
Teams don't get lucky twice against the same team.. Thats like saying the Chicago Bulls got lucky 6 times by winning the championship. Teams who HUSTLE for 90 MINUTES create their own luck.
I've watched more nogomet in my life-time then you ever will. You were probably still shitting in a diaper when Croatia was in Euro '96 based on your immaturity. Because I'm a corresp. on this site, I'm not gonna stoop down to your level and say to pušit moj kurac and the kind of stuff your saying. Take a chill pill and relax
Dinamofan, funny you beat me to it, but in compiling my list of potential coaches, Co Adriaanese was up at the top.. He'd be the level of foreigner who would be realistic. Thing is, there are no shortage of guys like that- i'm having a harder time narrowing them down than I am in listing them. Hitzfeld would be fantastic, but isn't he with Switzerland? Or is he leaving after WC? Too bad Huub Stevens is at Red Bull, he'd be perfect, however I'm not sure about his contract. It would be worthwhile of the HNS to have a look.
The only Croat, besides the hugely unlikely Primorac, who has any type of decent resume is Kresic. Ivic is Ciro's age, but I'm uncertain as to his health. This is why a foreigner would be preferable. If Hajduk can hire someone with Reja's resume, the HNS can do likewise. Speaking of Reja, we could do far worse, although it would be a bit strange having a Slovene coach for Croatia.
dinamofan:)
it all made sense to me lol.
Anyway, do you see any defensive prospects the HNS are currently scouting from outside Croatia's national boundaries to pluck, sayyy, another Josip Simunic from Australia of maybe even a reincarnation of Niko Kovac from Germany?
HvarSplican
What does not make sense? Ti nemas pojma o nogometu pa zato ti ne mejkeni sense. Just because we lost doesnt mean our team is lazy and sucks.
You talk about a new coach, but who!!?? WHO THE FUCK can coach better then BILIC. Ivankovic, stimac, ladic????? Yeh right!! You know Bilic is better then them. Fuck ur jebeni iPhone…
Ukraine got lucky twice…once in zagreb and once in Ukraine.
@ DinamoFan
Te foundation of any team is the center of defense, which makes your point absoloutely correct.
Another point, Draijo Srna was mostly captaining this team throughout the qualifying. Never did I see a moment where he gave instructions to someone on the pitch or motivated his players. Niko Kovac did all of that and then some. I don't know whether Bilic appointed him Captain or the rest of the players voted him in, but either way it was the wrong choice and it proves the lack of discipline within the squad.
Kranjcar again was horrible today. Some of his passes/crosses were absolutely pathetic. Yes he scored the clinching goal, but his play in the midfield was atrocious.
I wouldn't i mean. Cmon brain where are you today.
Ivica i would quote me like that if i was you i wrote the wrong word a couple of times lol.
I'd argue that we don't actually have the talent in defence. Croatia seems to be going through a serious crisis of defenders. See Below.
1. Josip Simunic (Hoffenheim) 31
2. Ivica Krizanac (Zenit) 30
3. Dario Knezevic (Livorno) 27
4. Goran Sablic (Dynamo Kiev) 30
5. Andre Mijatovic (Bielfeld) 30
6. Luka Vucko (Eskirespor) 25
7. Dejan Lovren (Dinamo Zagreb) 20
That is basically all we have left to choose from. Choices one and two would be banned under Bilic's structure. Choice 3 and 4 have been unavaliable during the entire campaign due to injury. Choice 5 plays in Bundesliga 2. Choice 6 plays in midtable Turkish side. Lovren is arguably a right back. That is a crisis if written in big capital letters.
Maybe it's to early to call it a pattern, but we didn't qualify for EURO 2000, now South Africa 2010. What will EURO 2020 qualifying bring for Croatia?
I myself am open to the idea of an NT coach from outside Croatia
Since 1990, the Croatian NT has had 8 managers, all Croatian. The system needs a shakeup, but it has to come from the top-down. If the thought of a foreign coach every reaches the negotiation table, it will only be because Vlatko Markovic has no say in it.
"Bilic also should have hoarded rubbish in his squad like Leko, Drpic, Vejic, Kalinic, Pokrivac who he never ever had any intention of using. He should have given himself more options and more of a chance to alter his place. He basically tied his own hands together and restricted himself to a particular select few who at the end of the day failed. There is no two ways of putting it." -dinamofan:)
You took the words right out of my mouth. Horrible roster moves based on friendships and under the table dealings proved to be one of many factors that doomed Slaven Bilic. His time as NT coach needs to end tomorrow in a press conference announcing his resignation. I am sure there is an English Championship of 2.Bundesliga team that is willing to negotiate for his services.
We need not only someone from outside Croatia to come in and coach, but a hard-ass, an authoritarian, not a "players coach" like Bilic. Someone from the outside with that kind of mentality will hit the books immediately to determine who are the players best suited to get this team into world class form again. The best players will play regardless of the size of their current club contract, past club and NT achievements, and past "ins" had with the HNS.
I agree, dinamofan, that things like red cards aren't the coaches fault, but Pranjic should simply not be played as LB. His positioning is atrocious, and while that isn't Bilic' fault, his decision time and time again to play him there most certainly is. The fact that there were no friendlies during the times in the campaign when Cale couldve been blooded in is another thing. Even the decent idea of using Corluka as a stop-gap LB was reactive- and too late. Had it been employed in the 2nd Ukraine match, the 1st goal might have been averted, as Pranjic was ball-watching while Sheva ghosted in.
@hvarsplican….some strong words today, i think that's the first time I've seen douchebag written down in a long time.
I'm going to have to agree with you on bringing in a more professional coach. Now I know people will say, "that we don't need a foreigner screwing with a Croatian way of football"..or "where are we going to get the money for a coach when Khazakstan's stadium is better than our teams?"
I think that we have the talent, as we've seen in the past, we just need the mentality to get us over the plateau of crap we've hit.
Lastly, I don't believe people are happy or settling for the fact that we've lost. I think it's more of an issue of we know that our team sucked, we played like shit, and we accept the fact that we didn't make it due to those factors. Now if we didn't make it because of some fluke, a terrible call by a referee, so on and so forth there would be more of an argument. But you can't really argue about why we will not be in South Africa.
Ottmar Hitzfeld is available. So is Klaus Toppmoller. So is Co Adrianse. Zico was available. Hector Cuper is available i think. Javier Aguirre is available. To me we aren't short on options. But i just don't think their is the intelligence and integrity in HNS to do it. Hehe Arrigo Saachi also said he'd like to come back. oh yes no dinosaurs i just remembered.
To an extent i agree Alex. Bilic could have done more with his defence. Some things you cannot legislate for. Corluka's red card against Belarus, absolute disgrace and totally unprofessional. Kovac's elbow leading to red card, not needed. Pletikosa's sudden lack of first team football was also a killer. That came out the blue.
I also think that some of Simunic and Pranjic's defensive play has been particularly wild and bad. I don't think Bilic told them to do that. They played below their capability. Pranjic defends like a stupid person. He vacates his position far too often. Even if he is not a left back, he could at least give himself a chance by not racing 20 yards up the wrong end of the field at the worst possible moment. I don't blame Bilic for any of that regards Corluka/ Kovac's red card or Simunic and Pranjic's play. I also don't blame him for the fact Sablic and Knezevic got injured at key times. The only things can blame him for regards defence was not having a proper look at Cale or not picking some better cover than Drpic and Vejic.
His use of strikers, Rakitic left wing and Kranjcar central has been a bit iffy though to say the least. His bench also puts no pressure on the start 11 which is very bad thing to have in any side.
I agree with you Dinamofan. We were HEALTHY when we faced Ukraine twice and drew both times. No excuses.. #2 the FIFA rankings are full of shit.. It's based on a points system.. After Italy won the world cup they were still listed 3rd in the world.. Give me a break about the FIFA rankings.
#3 why are so many people satisfied about not making the world cup?!?!? We've missed one major compeition in our history! (euro 2000) Not making the world cup with the number of players we have in the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A is unacceptable.
Dinamo fan some of those choices are good. I would prefer to throw big bucks at Guus Hiddink or a manager of that ilk. More importantly we need a manager that isn't "buddy buddy" with the players and who knows how to setup up good tactics against the opposition.
Croatia hasn't played a good game since beating Germany 2-1 in Euro 2008. Can someone tell me a game where Croatia has performed great since then? 2 games against Ukraine wouldve got it done but it simply did not happen. Ultimately, Bilic is responsible.
The problem with the shape and organization of the team, esp. the defense, is -if not his absolute "fault"- it is his responsibility. That's the job of the coach. He can't stop individual player errors but if the keeper and CD's prove to have no chemistry and the LB is incapable of defending, the coach must respond somehow. Bilic didnt. He was entirely reactive. His "changes" were forced by injury. His cronyism resulted in the lackluster performances we saw all campaign because everyones place was secure. His reliance on "luck" and vlaji magic was embarassing. Even now, I haven't heard him own up to his responsibilty in this debacle- It's all " we were unfortunate…unlucky with the post…" blah, blah, blah. Above all else, This is why he must go; from these statements, he's shown he hasn't learned anything. I haven't read anything in the Cro media where he lays out his errors and has ideas about fixing them. The mans in denial.
Maybe the lesson is that passion only gets you so far. It may work in the beginning, during the honeymoon( the 06-08 campaign,) but beyond that, tactics and discipline are needed.
hehe i don't actually believe the players took advantage of him. I think Bilic just made the wrong decisions, the wrong combinations, the wrong players. He could have worked all this out in friendlies. He didn't even give himself a chance to find the answers to the problem. Tonight Kranjcar struggled with Kazakstan so he's clearly not a central midfielder.
Bilic also should have hoarded rubbish in his squad like Leko, Drpic, Vejic, Kalinic, Pokrivac who he never ever had any intention of using. He should have given himself more options and more of a chance to alter his place. He basically tied his own hands together and restricted himself to a particular select few who at the end of the day failed. There is no two ways of putting it.
Ultimate was Capello however. Capello stuck in the final dagger with his horrid team selection against Ukraine. Tonight they bring Crouch, Wright Phillips and Barry back and the whole team looks much better.
@dinamo fan
completly agree with your last statement!
im not saying that there is a better coach then bilic but there needs to be some order and disipline and thats what the players have forgotten with bilic i love his personality but the players have abused it he has made friends with them and when they dont preform he has not kicked them aside and made replacements for them and thats bilics fault for letting the players take advantage of his nice personality
Nah i disagree we should not be happy with third place. We can't blame injuries either. Its clear we could have digged into the reserve and still pulled this out the bag. Ukraine are promising – they got a handful of real quality players. I'll name them Cringinsky, Gaye, Aliev, Milevsky all improved them beyond what they were last campaign when even Scotland wided the floor with them.
However they missed Aliev for some key games including Croatia and Croatia should have beat them at least once. Croatia was the better team in both matches and should have took the result. I don't blame Bilic for the defence, although Dejan Lovren showed tonight he is better than Drpic and Vejic and in an crisis like against England we could have used him if only Bilic called him up. Mate Bilic also showed tonight that he could have offered us something that we couldn't get from going with Klasnic, Mandzo, Petric and Olic till the death.
I think Slaven Bilic has had his chance. two tournaments is enough for anyone. West Ham United or Portsmouth is waiting for him. He should part from Croatia now. I feel Ivankovic, Vulic, Scoria, Susak, Novesalac, Kresic and many foreign coaches could do a just as good or better job. Our main issue is in defence and squad defence and Bilic demonstrated he does not have the answers. If you don't have the answers you should step aside. Its as simple as that. HNS should shake him by the hand and tell him to take it like a man.
Who cares if we are not going, Lots of teams wont go, Lots of countries never go. we have been bless by being good in the past years and have made most competitions.That is why in even today Im proud of Croatia. You don't need to be at the world cup to be a good team. like i said we are 9th and we didn't get to there accidentally.
First of all I'm typing from my iPhone dipshit, spelling errors tend to occur, probably something you can't afford. #2, way to be mature asswipe, your arguements make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Did you watch the game? They didn't start playing with "passion" until the last 15 mins of the game. This has been their problem this whole campaign. They play relaxed for the first 75 mins and think they can squeak out a win at the end i.e. The Ukraine game in Zagreb. Your arguements make no sense and your mozak needs to be checked. Try using that language with me in person, u wouldn't last 5 seconds.
Anonymous, have you been hitting the pipe? Proud of not making (even) the WC playoffs? It sounds like the drivel told to little children, "oh, little Johnny, it doesn't matter that you lost, as long as you tried your best". Yeah, remember that next summer…
And as for "luck", there is no such thing. You make your own luck. Blaming the post or mysterious "luck" is simply an excuse. Besides, if Bilic had gotten the defense right and organized(hell, make that the whole team), hitting the post wouldn't have mattered.
Ziva, I'll get back to you about (realistic) candidates for the NT job, just give me a little time.
do some of you guys even understand soccer.
9th in world……who cares. We could be 180th or we could be 2nd. those ranking mean shit unless you win a WC or a Euro title
We did not show today we are WC side. We struggled with a minnow. That being said, I did not expect much from us today because these guys knoew they had no chance to advance.
I don't understand why everyone is so mad at our team. We should all be proud of our team however this qualifying has ended. We are still ranked 9th in the world. If you look we were only 1 point shy of playoffs and we definitely showed today that we belong in the World Cup however luck was not on our side. We will be back and when we win the Euro Cup in 2012 all this will be forgotten. GO CROATIA GO.
SUCK MOJA JAJA!!!! Is that better Vocabulary??? I looked it up in thesaurus u gay cunt.
And DONT talk about VOCABULARY with me when you can't even spell thesaurus. PICKA TI…
HvarSplican
SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!Croatia should of beaten Kazakhstan 10-1 today. They have every right to celebrate when they scored. They played with pride and passion(EVEN THO THEY KNEW THEY WERENT GOIN TO THE WC). Its shows Croatia never gives up! If you HAVE A FUCKIN PROBLEM with that. Then suck my BALS!!!
With that being Robert's last game i think he can be happy with that disply. He was a bit slow on the goal, but that's not his fault as he's too old now. Pranjic left him high and dry by giving away the ball after vacating his position.
Mate Bilic should have played ages ago. He can play better than that, but even in this game can see his movement and link up play better than others. Kranjcar proved last night that he can't play that Modric role. Kranjcar needs to be put on some serious fitness training. His stamina is terrible. Rakitic also looks awkward on this left side. He does not once kick the ball with his left foot.
Klasnic and Kovac prob on their last game tonight. I think Pranjic should have played his last game at left back and be regarded as a midfielder from this point on. Vukojevic's position is up in the air i think. Can experiment with Dujmovic or Jajalo in that position, before deciding if Vuko starts next qualifiers. Mandzo seriously has to do better. I think his and Kalinic's call ups were arguably unjustified. Mandzo can be a good on his day, but i think he should drop behind Mate and Jelavic in the pecking order from now on.
Every coach has his ups and downs. There is no coach that has a hundred percent record. Im sure Slaven learned his lesson. Why start all over again with a new coach. He obviously knows what needs to change. What kind of players to bring…etc
Like I said if there is a better coach then him somewhere out there! Be my guest. I want the best for the national team. But there is not. So I vote slaven Bilic for a another two years…
Deno ur an idiot and a kreten and a douchebag. Why would Croatia celebrate beating Kazakhstan in a meaningless game like they won the world cup? People like you the problem, celebrating non accomplishments. The U21 shouldve beat the Kazakhs 5-0 today. Your arguements make absolutely no sense, pick up a thesarous and increase your vocabulary a little bit you turd.
@ ziva istina
I loved Slaven Bilic at first, and I'm pissed at some of the things he's done this campaign but realistically I don't think we have a better option right now.
Well, if I could pick anything. I would like a foreigner as a coach to completely reshape this team…its desperately needed. Realistically, it will probably be Ivankovic or Ladic…I'd take Ivankovic over Ladic though.
I also think Mate Bilic should stay, he should definitely start whenever we have another friendly, he wasn't given much of an opportunity today.
As for Mandzukic he looked alright at the start but then he didn't help too much after. He needs to play in a bigger league to develop while he's still young. Slaven Bilic needs to phase in the next generation of strikers a little more, not just because our starters are injured.
question to everyone regarding Slaven Bilic. If not him as coach, then who, and keep it realistic knowing we cant pay big time for a foreign coach.
Mate bilic and jelavic look promising. Eduardo and Mate should be a decent pair up front.
Our defenders looked a little more stable in the back without simunic.
Kranjcar was man of the match for me.
All we need now is a Modric back, we need a captain. And we need a couple new defenders that we can count on.
Well then Denis…I guess we should bring Zlatko Kranjcar back? Or maybe, Otto Baric, or Mirko Jozic? They proved they could get the job done with getting WORSE Croatia teams to the World Cup/Euro Cup. What exactly has Bilic done thats anything greater than them? He even failed to get us to a playoff for the world cup with Ukraine as our main competitor, frightening…ya Bilic can "get it done" alright.
couldn't catch the game, but how was M Bilic?
fuck yeh, that kazaki goaly defied gravity!!!!
Looks like Mate Bilic belongs on the team. Jelavic was eh, but wow that Kazak goalie saved like 5 goals, he was amazing!
Whatever Will. Bilic is the shit, we dont need no fuckin dumb coach that does fist pumps! Bilic proved him self long time ago that he can do the job.
I mention Mandzo not from a Croatia point of view but Dinamo perpsective. He better not play like this against Ajax. Mate Bilic is a far better player than him. Lovren and Kovac were alright. Pranjic needs slapping. He can't even cope with Kazakstan right midfielder. Rakitic struggled as well.
YES!!!!!! NOW THATS FUCKING PRIDE!!!! WE CELEBRATED LIKE WE WON THE WORLD CUP!!! EVEN THO WE KNOW WE're OUT!!!! 2-1 CROATIA!!! MOTHA SUCKAAAA
Passion is great, I'm all for it. The issue is, he is the coach. Discipline and self control are needed to do your job the right way. Do a fist pump or something and then get back to WORK. Emotional coach like Bilic can only take you so far…eventually it wares thin.
finally….
why is everyone getting worked up about this game….it means nothing.
the players only starting caring about this game the last 15 minutes trying to get the winning.
this game became worthless the moment Ukraine beat England. Stop thinking we are playing England or someone else here, the games is nothing.
Agreed. I cannot believe he has prevented us from scoring on all of these chances.
MY GOD!!! I THINK KAzackstan has the best goal keeper in the world!!!!!!!
Will. slaven bilic has passion for the national team. Thats why he jumps around.
Ukraine is taking a dump all over Andorra right now….5-0. Hahahaha, man we stink right now.
ANDREJ ARE U FUCKINGW WATCHING THE GAME!!! CROATIA SHOULD BE UP LIKE 10-1 !!!!!! WE're just unlucky.WE HIT THE POST 3 FREAKING TIMES….
fUCK ENGLAND…YEA WE LOST. sO WHAT. iTS england!!!!!!!!!!
Denis, you may like Slaven Bilic and thats fine…but he has to go. A soccer country like ours is expected to make the tournament. Failure to do so should result in a termination. Besides, I think it's becoming clear that Bilic has lost this team. For me, my belief in Bilic as a coach was destroyed after that Turkey fiasco in the Euro Cup. He was to busy jumping around and cheering like a fan, not behaving like a coach and getting that much needed sub on the field. Again, to each his own I guess. I want him gone though.
oh ya just because we get devoured and embarassed by englad 2 TIMES!! cant beat kazakstan i dont care if its our reserves they are 130th or so in the world… ANY YES EVERY TEAM loses but not to kazakstan not if we are so called 9th in the world you dont! we tied ukraine 2 times i mean give me a break no excuses i was huge bilic fan but hi sometimes u have to say goodbye and now is the time he never gets it right anymore EVER!
Changes are coming…..Our next meaningful game will be next Aug or Sept when Euro 2012 qualifying starts. I'm sure we will schedule some freindlies against some of the WC teams in the Spring.
As for Bilic…..its 50/50. We probably need a new voice at this point, but remeber the young guys that are the core and heartbeat of this team are very loyal to him. If Bilic wants to come back and he is pushed out that might cause some drama with the players. I don't think there is any croatian coach that will gain the respect of the players more than what Bilic has now. Ivankovic is probably the most logical canidate, but I am indifferent on him. He doesn't scare me and he does not hype my hopes if he is the coach. He is just blah…
the other one that will be considered is Stimac. I would not want him, but he has plenty of freinds to make it happen.
Other than those two maybe a foriegner.
ur fuckin retarted!!! EVERY team loses sometimes…just because you lose doesnt mean u have to sack the coach.
Has Jelavic gotten into the game? I know ppl thought the goal he scored was pretty basic but he went right into the thick of contact and traffic to get at that ball. I dont see petric doing that and olic just would of hit the post. Anyways, I'm hoping we have a whole bunch of friendlies over the next while and players like Bilic and Jelavic and maybe even sharbini get some time. I can only hope…but if Slaven is still here? Doubt it.
Klasnic leads the team in giving the "thumbs up" sign.
@Denis
WTF are you talking about you moron the only thing that matters in the end is the result! so fucking what it should be 3-1 ITS NOT!!! end of fucking story and we are not going to the world cup so get of slaven bilics dick and realize that we have the best team since 98' and we can even make the world cup! changes have to be made WAKE WE ARE SIMPLY NOT THE BETTER TEEAM NOW ARE WE!!!
Mandzukic was awful. Glad he went off.
@Luka
http://www.iraqgoals.net/ch1.html
do u guys have a good stream
Forget analyzing this match. The players want no part of it and just want to finsih up not hurt and go back to their club.
I'm not sure what i'm learning here. I knew all this before. Mandzo is struggling for form, Rakitic, Kranjcar out of position, Pranjic is a poor left back, Kovac is slow, but already accepted retirement. The only player that's impressing me is Ivan Klasnic but he's at the end of the road, so that's insignificant as well. I don't think Vukojevic has secured his place during this campaign either.
Andrej SHUT THE FUCK UP…We're playing with a reserve squad…and a crappy goal keeper. If ur watching the game we're playing beatuful, passing the ball we're going to win this match…
You know what would be the most fitting for this team? If Ukrain ties Andorra and we tie Kazakhstan. Our Croatia squad has no business being in the world cup with this sad excuse of a performance all of qualifying. There has never been a more horrible qualifying campaign in our history…I just want this over with and be put out of our misery
Im watching the croatia game, croatia should be up 3-1. Klasnic hit the post…we're playing some nice football though. We'll win this i think…
I heard andorra isplaying their heart out!! Thats good…i hope they equalize in the secind half…and hopefully win. GO ANDORRA GO CROATIA!!!!!!
dont blame the ref its kazakstan i dont care wtf happens if we cant beat them BILIC IS OUT!!!
1-1 this is just more embarassing every game we are starting to embarass ourselves he gets tactics wrong EVERYTIME. i dont care if sir alex was here and making these mistakes he would have to go…
Good to know someone besides me is at least watching.
this referee in the croatia kazakhstan game is a fucktard