PHOTO: Pixsell
Croatia defeated Liechtenstein 5-0 today from an absolutely raucous Stadion Cibalia in Vinkovci. With the 18 year anniversary of the massacre at Vukovar just days away, extra flags, flares, banners, and songs were seen and heard at the packed out stadium throughout the course of the match.
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač
Upon arriving in Slavonija for the match, all players and coaches visited the memorial site at Vukovar to pay their respects to Croatian civilians and soldiers who were the victims of ruthless Serb militias aided by the Yugoslav People’s Army.
PHOTO: Pixsell, Slaven Bilić paying his respects
PHOTO: Marko Lukunić | Pixsell
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač
Croatia began the match in a high gear and didn’t take its foot off the pedal. Mate Bilić scored the first goal off a great pass from Drago Gabrić just 44 seconds into the contest. Gabrić hustled the entire match and played with a hunger that very few of our veterans have left, but most of our up-and-comers should take note of. This guy definitely impressed me in his NT debut and should be heavily considered for our EURO 2012 qualifying campaign.
PHOTO: Marko Lukunić | Pixsell, Mate Bilić
PHOTO: Pixsell, Drago Gabrić
Ten minutes later, Darijo Srna put Croatia up 2-0 with a free kick past goalkeeper Peter Jehle. Eduardo came through in the 23′ by burying a shot off a pass from Mate Bilić as a result of a well-placed cross from Srna.
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač, Darijo Srna Scores
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač, Eduardo in action
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
PHOTO: Pixsell, Mladen Bartulović
Going into the second half up 3-0, Croatia coasted the rest of the match as Eduardo again hooked up with Mate Bilić (47′) for the fourth tally of the contest (and his second on the day) which was nearly identical to the Brazilian-born Croats first goal of the match. These two players are already showing that they have great chemistry together. Mladen Petrić and Ivica Olić could be on the bench if Bilić keeps up these solid performances. Two minutes later, Bilić found the back of the net for his second tally of with an absolute blast off a free kick.
PHOTO: Dragan Kovač, Tomislav Dujmović made his debut today for Croatia
Despite a 5-0 result, let us not get ahead of ourselves. Liechtenstein are far from a world class opponent. However, it is worth noting the multiple new faces in Croatia’s lineup, most well deserving of an NT callup. The game featured the international debuts of Drago Gabrić, Gordon Schildenfeld, Tomislav Dujmović, and Danijel Subašić. Mladen Bartulović, another new face, acutally earned his second cap for Croatia today, three years after his first in 2006. Subašić started but was rarely tested, Schildenfeld entered the contest in the 59′ for Srna but failed to make an impact. Tomislav Dujmović, however, provided an impressive effort after coming in for a lackluster Ognjen Vukojević in the 66′.
Clearly, this will not be the last time we hear of Tomislav Dujmović.
Croatia U-21 Update
Ivan Rakitić in action today against Cyprus
The Croatia U-21 side defeated Cyprus 2-1 from Peyia, exacting revenge after a shocking 2-0 defeat in their previous encounter with the Cyprian squad. Newly demoted midfielder Ivan Rakitić looked rather impressive in his first venture with Croatia’s junior squad, assisting a Domagoj Vida goal in the 60′ before scoring a goal himself just five minutes later to seal the come from behind victory.
With the win, Croatia are in second place in Group 7 with 9 points, one point behind group leaders Slovakia. The young Croats travel to Slovakia on Wednesday to face the group leaders in a pivotal match that will determine who will be leading the group into 2010.
~Ivica Peroš reporting from Long Island, New York
[url=crush-the-castle.com]Crush The Castle[/url]
Hello. And Bye.
Yes you can quote, just give us credit.
Twitter: twitter.com/croatiansoccer
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?
Dear Author http://www.croatiansoccerreport.com !
I know, that it is necessary to make)))
Just sent it to you, it may be a bit long. Hope you guys enjoy it.
@ Radman
Send it to croatiansoccerreport@gmail.com. I have a busy day but will post it ASAP. I'll also add some pics and vids if I can find them.
Hockey would be perfect to put up during winter break.
Thanks again. Your work looks good.
@ Ante – Yeah, let me clean it up a bit though. I didn't have a laptop with me as I was laying down watching the game. So, had to run to my PC every now and then. I want to clean up some of the language. I wasn't really aiming for an authentic game report, was trying to help out those that didn't have the luxury of watching the game live. This site is for all real football fans. I would have said all Croatians, but, we have a friend from Spain who has joined us over the past few days, so, I will say Football fans now. I do not mind if you use any of my works.
Side note, don't run up and down 3 flights of your home over and over to update CSR if you are recovering from Hernia Surgery.
Also @ Ante – We spoke awhile back about the Croatian National Hockey team. I recall you asking me to write something up. I have found some pretty good resources over the past few weeks and am close to a final draft that is pretty respectable. Give me about a week and I will have a write up that details the origins of Hockey in Croatia, the present state of the game in Croatia as well as what the future holds.
@ Peter Radman,
Can CSR use your play-by-play for a report tonight. It was excellent!!!
We will give you credit of course.
Yeah, Skolnik looked lively when he came on, made some confident runs down the left. Agreed, Jozinovic was awful. The one image that stands out was when Lovren was yelling at him, telling him to get his act together after he was victimized yet again on the left flank. I wont be too harsh on Maloca. I dont know if he was intentionally trying to use his hand to touch the ball for his first yellow. Looked like he was turning, didn't really know where the ball was and it was accidental contact. He did look shaky for the Slovakian goal, but, either he or Kelava have to charge that when its only 2-3 feet away from goal. I would love to see Badelj play more advanced. He was playing far too deep, we couldn't really see the creative aspect of his game.
All in all, good game by the boys away from home. They top the group now. Thats all that matters.
Okay, for all of you that follow Croatian youth Football, we are next in action on May 19th when our Under 21s welcome Slovakia to Croatia. That will be another key match. Things look good at the moment with destiny in our own hands.
Our Under 17 and 19s, who both topped their qualifying groups will wait for early December when a draw will be held to see which group they will be in for the elite round of their respective tournaments. Those fixtures will take place in the spring. Both competitions employ the same format. There will be 7 groups of 4, group winners will go on to join host countries Liechtenstein and France respectively. The finals will be played in May (Under 17s) and in the summer of 2010 (Under 19s)
Just finishing watching the game. JOZINOVIC is terrible. No wander he's out on loan with Zadar. He'll never be a player. MALAOCA – is this Dino Drpic in disguise. The best thing that could have happened was his red card.
On the positive side VIDA looked excellant. He had a brilliant game. Kalinic, Badelj, Lovren, Rakitc, Perisic also looked good. I was also impressed with DEJAN SKOLNIK. Looks to have a lot of potential to me. For Hajduk he would have been a cheaper signing than Anas. Great Win.
Radman, you should sent your report to Ante and got it put up. Maybe do it next match. Great move by Kalinic on the last game. That was a brilliant peice of play.
The winner comes from who else, Domagoj Vida!! Kalinic, Vida and Oremus were the danger men all game. Its a break, 3 on 3, Kalinic is central with the ball at his feet, Vida on his right, it appears to be Ljubicic on his left. Kalinic keeps on dribbling at the 3 defenders who are ignoring both wide men, just at the last minute Kalinic has a daft little pass through two defenders with the outside of his boot. Domagoj Vida did well to hold his run so he wasn't offside, takes the ball and has a poke over the goalie from about 8 meters. 2 – 1 Croatia!! The Refs had some terrible calls late on, Maloca was sent off for two bookable offenses. Kalinic, Oremus and Vida share the man of the match in my view.
Just as in the senior team, LB is also a problem for the Under 21s. The second half begins with terrible play by Jozinovic, he lets his man easily beat him. The ball is lightly crossed on the ground and both Maloca and Kelava have a terrible reaction to it. One of them should have charged that. The Slovakian taps in from 2 feet away from goal.
It appears as if Ladic s going with a 4-2-3-1.
Kelava
Vida, Lovren, Maloca, Jozinovic
Jajalo, Badelj
Oremus, Perisic, Rakitic,
Kalinic
Through the first half Jozinovic has looked pretty shaky. A few of his passes have gone wide off their mark and seems to be pretty nervous. Kalinic, Oremus and Vida have worked the hardest so far. Kalinic deployed as the loan striker has held up play when needed, and has been on the right as well as central. One look at him and you can see he has worked the hardest, he is absolutely filthy, mud all over himself. Oremus and Vida seem to have a good understanding on the right. Oremus has pretty much done anything and everything in the first half, he has even tried some CR9 tricks here and there. Sadly, Perisic has not had much time on the ball, when he has seen it, he looks very comfortable, runs with purpose. The kid is definitely ready for the National team if he is needed there. Ivan Rakitic has looked very good and very bad so far. Creative at times, trying to link up with Nikola isolated at the top, then, the moment of madness with a terrible penalty effort. Badelj and Jajalo seem to be the Bulldozers in the middle of the park, wrecking anything that comes in their path.
What stands out most is probably the right hand side, Vida and Oremus have had allot of touches.
Finally, 1 – 0. A nice little dance by Badelj between two defenders, he then finds Rakitic who hits a one time pass between the Slovakian rear guard. Kalinic makes a nice run and one time hit for 1 – 0 to Croatia. We have dominated the chances so far.
12th minute Kalinic wasted a glorious chance 3 feet away from the goal. A clever run by Oremus found Kalinic with 2 defenders all over him, he then boots it terribly wide.
Next, a clever one two by Oremus and Vida allows Domagoj to cut in from RB and charge up passed midfield and hit a really nice one time pass to find Kalinic with a nice run down the right in the 23rd minute, he cuts in to the right of the box and passes to Rakitic who is open in the middle at the top of the penalty area, he muffs the shot.
Finally, Again its Domagoj Vida and Oremus involved. Domagoj and Mirko are charging up and down the right flank and causing all kinds of problems. This time Domagoj is released by clever hold up play and a nice pass. He charges into the box and is taken down, PENALTY. Ivan Rakitic steps up and hits one of the worst attempts of a penalty shot that you will ever see. It could have been 3 – 0 at this point.
I think with Mate Bilic and Dujmovic all that's happened this week is that they said to Bilic with their performances is that they deserve to be Croatia internationals. A lot of work still to do, but i'd imagine Bilic, Dujmovic and Gabric will all stay in the squad now. It prob says something though that Bilic barely celebrated any of his goals, even his quite excellant free kick, so that kinda shows there's still work to be done. He's definitely suitable for selection during the next campaign. Being at Sporting also is gonna ensure he has outstanding fitness levels. To be honest the guy looks in fantastic physical condition. He's an asset. His presence hopefully will also encourage Olic and Petric to step up there performance. Bilic being there has raised the bar. I would imagine a out of form Petric and Mandzo is no longer acceptable in the national team and that we won't see it in future cos Bilic can just yank them off whenever they do it.
I am also not entirely sure Klasnic or Budan has a place in Croatia's squad anymore. Unlike Olic and Bilic, it does look like age has taken its toll on Klasnic and Budan. Both of them whilst still being half decent have definitely lost significant pace. It might be best to go with younger forwards like Perisic and i suppose Jelavic in future. Jelavic should still be scoring 12-15 to be a Croatia international, but he looks like he could have a super sub role to play for Croatia in the next campaign.
I think the order should go Eduardo, M Bilic, Olic, Petric, Perisic and Jelavic and after that should be Mandzo, Klasnic, Cesarec and Budan. At present i think Kalinic and Ruki are still a long way off. They need consistent games and goals. I'm also wandering if Vrucina will become any kind of a player once he gains his transfer.
Regards the under 21's i'm not totally in favour of Kramaric being left out and Delic, Bodul, Milicevic not being there at all. I think Perisic is A team standard now. He should play for Under 21's in the short term, but a couple of months being the next qualifiers he needs promoting.
@ DinamoFan – Yes, Ladic is spoiled for choice. Is that such a bad thing? The depth looks great in midfield and in defense. Ladic has only been consistent with his use of a back 4. Aside from that, we have seen a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and a 4-5-1. Last game Kramaric was the odd man out, I believe he may be left out again tomorrow. You could go Lovren, Vida, Maloca/Barbaric, Jozinovic – Oremus, Jajalo, Badelj, Rakitic – Persic – Kalinic. I would have to believe that Tomecak, Barbaric/Maloca, Kramaric, Ljubicic and Knezevic will all be bounced in and out of that lineup as a starter or as a sub.
As for Ticinovic, Bodul and the others you mentiones. Ticinovic should be used between the Under 17 and 19s. Darko Bodul is an interesting case, he hasnt been consitently playing since his loan move, I dont believe he has scored yet either. That being said, he should be on the radar, as should the youngster at FC Twente, Dario Vujičević and Boris Vukčević of 1899 Hoffenheim. Ademi has done well with the Under 19s. They have topped thier group, as have the Under 17s. In December we will see the lottary for the next stage. Ademi, Ticinovic, Vukusic, Antolic and Sacer can definitely help out those two teams with their next hurdle. Correct me if I am wrong, I dont believe Milicevic was even called up for the Under 21s. I believe we only had 2-3 strikers available for that game against Cyprus.
@ Alex – I dont think anyone in their right mind would ever want to replace Modric. I believe we were all talking about the same thing, finding an adequate replacement for when he is not there. Replacement/Alternate, may be an issue of semantics. The one thing most here agree on is that Ilicevic, Badelj and Perisic seem to be the names that make the most sense. I personally believe that Ilicevic would shine in that role. I love Perisic, believe he is off on the right track. The one thing that worries me is what position he will evolve into. He seems to be fielded as a support striker as of late. He was playing right off the loan striker in both legs against Partizan. If he continues to score as he has, one of his coaches will deploy him as a striker. I dont know if anyone follows Baseball, and youth development in tht sport. Guys are drafted as one position and constantly change before they reach the majors. a SS gets to big, he shifts to 2B. A 3B loses his range, he goes to 1B or RF. Look at Domagoj Vida, he was a CDM last year, shifted to a CB towards the beginning of the year. Ademi was a LB last year, now he seems to be playing LM. Strinic has been used in a Back 4 as a LB. Under Reja he seems to be a LM in a 4-3-3.
Its not a question of finding a replacement for Modric, but-as Dinamofan said- finding an alternate who can do the job moderately well in those occasions when Lukas injured. Kranjcar does not…Perisic is most similar to Modric on paper (he's probably stronger defensively) and he's showing to be developing into a player who can dominate/change games- precisely what's needed for Modric' alternate. As for his u-21 status, lots of players go back and forth between jr and sr squads depending on needs of the team(s).
Siempre Sporting,
I'm curious, how is M Bilic viewed not only by Sporting supporters but by the Spanish media in general?
While it's only vs a very, very weak opponent, Bilic showed remarkable understanding (for just his 2nd app) with Eduardo. 2 goals and 2 assists is something none of our other strikers besides Eduardo ever seem capable of, even against similar opponents.
But where is Perisic playing exactly. If you got Rakitic left and Oremus right. You got Kalinic up front with Kramaric. Jajalo and Badelj in midfield. Therefore that should be enough. If you put Perisic in there one of those guys is gonna miss out. And also where do prospects like Jugovic, Knezevic, Ademi, Milicevic and Delic fit in. If Bilic takes away Perisic it should be no big deal. There should be more than enough cover. They aren't even using guys like Ticinovic or Bodul at present. Ladic has players come out his ears.
I should have said this earlier. Perisic is not in the under 21s to help Ladic, taking him away isnt punishing Ladic. It is the other players on that team who gain from playing with him and suffer when they cant play with good players like him. I was all for giving all these kids a shot before. I just have a good feeling ever since they recalled Kalinic and called up Rakitic. If they can make a deep run in the tournament it would be a great show case for foreign clubs and would be a great stepping stone for their young careers. Look what that junior championship did for the Suker, Bilic, Jarnic, Stimac and Jarni generation. No doubt all would have been great regardless, but it did give them great confidence from the beginning, showed them the value of hard work. Also, any kind of success early on can teach them valuable lessons.
I think the main thing is that we need to hope our players never play Birmingham again 😉
@ DinamoFan – Yes, there is no doubt that Ladic has made a number of key mistakes along the way. However, so has Bilic. I dont care for Ladic at all. I have always wondered why Ivan Gudelj wasn't promoted from the Under 17S where his record is amazing. To Take Perisic away from him because he wasnt called earlier seems harsh. Following such actions to their logical conclusion would mean that senior players could just ignore the national team all together because Bilic has ignored them for years.
As for this Luka Modric debate. Yes, it is true there is no immediate successor. Ilicevic, Badelj, Perisic can all be given a try. To be honest, while it does suck we do not have a replacement, lets be honest with ourselves. If you take Wayne Rooney off England, there is NOBODY who can do what he does, not even close! England would suffer greatly. You take Kaka of Brasil, suddenly they will lose something as well. You take Hamsik off Slovakia, Ozil off Germany, Ribery off France, Prilo off Italy, on and on we can go. Allot of Countries do not have contingency plans, those are the cold hard facts. Some players are irreplaceable and we will not be blessed with that kind of depth at every position. Just go to Church this Sunday, pray that Luka never gets hurt again, sacrifice a virgin in your backyard if you have to.
I think Ivan Leko has just gone over the hill. I think he's reached Hjorve Vejic stage now. 32, 33 is just that little bit too old. As long as Bilic tries someone there rather than Kranjcar and Pokrivac that's all he has to do. If it don't work fair enough, but all he can do is try. There is no point not trying anything. At present Croatia was knocked out by Ukraine. All it needs is a player who is better than Ukraine standard as back up to Modric. He doesn't need to be the best playmaker in the world, just good enough to help Croatia to at least finish second every qualifying campaign. Perisic should be able to manage that.
U-21s…….While it would be nice to see this team do something (doubtful), I am more interested in the development of some of the key players.
As for replacing Modric……..you can try all the players you want. We don't have anyone who plays that role. Ivan Leko can, but he is not a national team caliber player.
@ Denis Svirčić
Thanks man. Haha, the picture….have at it, I don't mind.
All I want is that copy if Slobodna Dalmacija with CSR highlighted, that's it.
I can honestly say I rarely if ever followed the U-21 squad in the past decade because they had always been fairly disappointing, whereas I live and die by the senior squad. Now I realize that years of failing to make an impact at the U-21 level caught up with us through our recent failed qualifying campaign. I think differently now that there are some real stars in the making in that young squad.
A handful of these U-21 kids will more than likely be with the senior squad for our EURO 2012 qualifying campaign, so watching them win these pivotal qualifiers gives me hope for the near future.
I couldn't be more excited for tomorrows U-21 game against Slovakia!
As I can see there is a discussion about some players that are not 100% croatian. I can talk about some similar situations in Spain National Team. As someone said Bojan is one of them. In this case his participation in NT is reasonable: he speaks spanish perfectly, his mom is Spanish,he has been educated here in junior teams of Barcelona and NT. I think he thinks he is more spanish than serbian indeed.
Marcos Senna is another case. He played great in the European cup we won. I am more doubtful in this case. I dont think he feels more the Spanish flag than the Brazilian, but at least he speaks spanish almost perfectly. And his permormances in NT prove that he does his best when he plays for NT. But he is not Spanish at all, although he has the Spanish citizenship. I would prefer other player there. But who can criticize him with the performances he has done?
In your cases I am not deeply informed. But if it is true that Sertic can not speak croatian, he has not said he is Croatian and he is using your NT to promote himself in french NT,… I think it is doubtless: he does not deserve to wear croatian shirt. This is my humble opinion from Spain.
Saying there is no replacement for Modric is exactly same attitude of people saying we can't try out anyone to replace Eduardo. Then we tried to the same unsuccessful olic/ petric partnership over and over and over until we were out. I definitely hope Croatia don't do that with finding an alternative to Modric. I think we should give Perisic a chance in mid and see how it goes. I don't think he should go to under 21's cos those players like Rakitic and Lovren don't belong to them and yes whilst they are helping them out they are also blocking the likes of Kramaric from getting games. Rakitic can stay with under 21's cos we've already seen what he can do, but i think Perisic should come into the first team squad. As i say if Ladic wanted him he would have called him ages ago. Since he shown him no respect then Perisic should be taken off Ladic.
Regards Sertic i don't think i'll go there cos i can see there's friction. I hope he gets the call, but thats a personal view. We definitely need him or Perisic there cos Bilic plays either a immobile Niko Kranjcar there or Pokrivac.
My apologies, Adem Ljajić jumped between the 17s, 19s and Under 21s. Not the Senior team.
As for the Serbs, I believe Gojko Kacar, Adem Ljajić and Zoran Tosic all did the same thing as well. They bounced from the Under 21s to the Senior team as often as they could.
The one thing that would definitely help is if Hajduk gets their act together. Mario Tičinović, Ante Vukušić and Mario Sačer should get as much playing time as possible. Interesting thought, whos squad is bigger, Hajduk Split or West Ham United? Both seem to collect players as if they are trading cards.
As for Sertic, we should not pursue this kid at all. He seems like he is just using the story line to garner attention for himself. Stop sitting on the fence and follow your heart. Those are the people I want in our National Team. The ones who will cry after a devastating loss, the ones who sing the anthem with pride and will die for the shirt. People like Srna or Olic, guys that leave it all out on the field.
As for Vukojevic, how long ago did I say that it was worrisome that he is not the sole CDM on his own club. I still like him as a player, perhaps he grows into that role with age, as he learns how to read the game better. Dujmovic hasn't done anything yet, he didn't even play 30 mins. He should definitely get an opportunity to earn that starting spot. Lets not get carried away with any of the praise that Bilic has directed at him or the other debutantes. Bilic has said allot of silly things over the years, he is far to emotional and thinks and speaks with his heart and not his head. We played one of the worst teams in Europe, even San Marino beat them. Some of the sings were positive, I believe the friendly was arranged only to give the team some confidence and start the new campaign on the right track. Give Dujmovic, Gabric, Ilicevic, Jelavic, Juric, Pamic and whoever else the opportunity to show what they can do and lets keep our expectations realistic.
The Under 21s should be left alone! I will always be the first to advocate giving youngsters a shot. I have been following Barcelona, Arsenal and Ajax for as long as I can remember, so, I see on a weekly basis the advantages of trusting youth. However, I think it will really put allot of these kids on the right track if they are involved in a successful under 21 side. I am keeping my expectations realistic. I just want them to make a deep run into the tournament. If we can use some of the Under 21s when the Under 21 team is not playing, fine. The team looks balanced, has some nice depth, especially in defense. The Serbian National team is definitely enjoying the fruits from their consecutive under 21 teams that made the final tournament. It would be ideal to see the senior team treat some of these young kids just as Spain treated Bojan Krkic. As I said before, the kid represented the Under 17, 19 and 21s all in the same year. He would bounce from team to team and make any dates that he could.
@ Denis Svirčić – I dont know about the others, but, I have always fillowed the Croatian team at all levels; Under 17 – to the senior team.
@ SIEMPRE SPORTING
Good to see a true Sporting Gijon supporter on CSR from Spain. We look forward to hearing what you have to say about your club and Bilic. If you'd ever like to write a little report up on any Sporting games, please feel free and we will post it.
Hopefully we hear more from you soon. -Ante, CSR
Th reason we cant find a replacement for Modric is because there is noone to replace.
Sertic…….come on. The kid has never said he is croatian, same goes for Cvitanich. I don't want them and we dont need them.
U21……its not a shock the U21 game was not broadcast on TV in Cro. Their is a lack of interest in following that team and the costs of buying the TV rights for that game are outweighed by what you could actually charge advertisers.
Isn't there a slight difference with Cvitanich and Sertic. I think Sertic's grandfather is fully Croatian and his dad is half Croatian, which makes Sertic half Croatian. I think its as simple now as Bilic calling him and then he'll play. I don't think there is any France issue no more. But if not Sertic then Bilic still has to find someone a back up to Modric. I think he should pull out Perisic from the under 21's and try him there. I don't think Perisic is exactly happy with Ladic anyway so its best if he was taken away from Under 21's. I think Perisic was offended when Ladic only called him up cos another player was injured. They have enough players to use, so i think Slaven Bilic should start experimenting with Perisic.
Ivica, firstly congratulions for this blog that like I can see is very active and where people can express their opinions. I will be pleaased to report on Bilic's performances and to comment on it. Regards from Spain to that country of great football players called Hrvatska!!!!
@Ivica
Well done sir. Once again you came through. Good job commenting as well, a true class act.
There is nothing for me to criticize. Maybe I should make fun of your picture…haha…
Anything I can bring back for you from Croatia?
think about it. I am still 'on assignment' until December 12th.
@Petar Radman
Believe it or not, the Croatia U21 game was not televised in Croatia. Question for everyone: How many of you followed the U21 team in the last decade or so? now that the first team is out of the running, and Kalinic, Perisic, and Rakitic getting an invite, this U21 team could make some noise and draw interest.
@Michael
My call is for 'Bilic-Eduardo' up front. Olic as always is killer off the bench.
@dinamofan:)
'These friendlies are all about adding depth to the squad. Dujmovic, M Bilic, Knezevic and Gabric all belong in the national team.'
'Yesterday i still saw no replacement for Luka Modric???'
I agree
I still think that Bilic is waiting for Modric to return just like he waited and relied on Eduardo the past 4 years. Hopefully, he will try out some of the youngsters, however, Sertic is not Croatian. As great of a prospect and pick up for Croatia, he doesnt bleed red and white.
'Basically he's Croatia's.' Its not that simple. If Croatia decide to call him great, I will support him and everyone that wears the shirt. However, as of right now, along with Cvitanich, they are both not Croatian 'enough' to deserve the shirt. Again, only my opinion.
'Yes he may not know Croatian, but its not that hard to learn.'
Jst like Figo said about Deco, 'Anyone can sing the national anthem, but this national anthem means something only to a select few.'
@alex
I still feel Sertic is out of the question. I like Perisic to one day take over the playmaking position.
'it was a clever way of a warning to Vukojevic that his starting place isn't certain. '
this was clear since Bilic called up Juric. Now Juric, obviously way way past his prime is out of the picture, Dujmovic is already in the picture. I was never satisfied with Vuki. Maybe, I expected him to replace N Kovac one day was too much to ask and a difficult task which ruined Vuki. The last few years I didnt see a 'Croatian Gatusso'.
Dujmovic to replace Vuki!
@ziva istina
'why do some of you guys keep mentioning Sertic…..the frog cant speak croatian and only used croatia as a negotiating ploy with france.
the kid is not croatian.'
I am with Ziva on this one
@SIEMPRE SPORTING
Great to have you aboard. Nothing but good things from Mate Bilic so far. We have been calling his name for almost a year. Keep us posted on his training and performance.
@ SIEMPRE SPORTING
Welcome! We are very happy that you have discovered the blog. It is nice to have a true Sporting Gijon fan here to keep us up to date on Mate Bilic's performances with your club.
Bilic plays with a lot of heart and fights to the end as you say. He played well against Liechtenstein, who aren't the best opponent. However, he did show us that he had great chemistry with Eduardo. It will be interesting to see how the two of these players interact with each other on the field. It could be the beginning of something great.
We are all looking forward to hearing your views and opinions in the future.
By the way, this is a link where you can see some Mate Bilic's goals with Sporting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EskxBavOzk
I'm a Sporting the Gijón fan and I discovered this blog trying to know what you thought about Mate Bilic's performance in Crotatia's match. I'm glad he is playing for national team because he really wanted it and he deserves it. Maybe he is not good doing tricks. Obviously he is not Messi or CR9,he is not even Modric. But he fights until the end, he does his best for the team success and he scores goals. He is a good option for you, youll never regret about chosing Mate for playing for NT. I know what Im talking about, I see all Sporting matches and I go to the satadium, Ive seen Mate several years playing for my team and he is an example of attitude.
Thats fair enough. Leko can take the money, but he's probably killed his career now. I doubt he'd get any sort of decent move from here on and will never play for Croatia again. If a guy takes a year out the game it usually takes a while to come back with an kind of rhythm.
Nothing wrong with that…….Leko is an average player, so why not. Nobody will remember him 20 years from now anyway, so why not take the money so you can live in a house double the size.
Unless you are hippie smoking the the green grass, money is a good thing to have.
I bet Leko turned down Wolves and Portsmouth once he learned the tax rate in England- I could honestly see him signing for a Qatari or Saudi club if the money was right.
Vukojevic will be better off as a bench or squad player. When he played defensive mid at both Dinamo's he always played in a paired. With Croatia he plays on his own as a defensive mid. I think Dujmovic is more used to playing the role. I think we certainly continue with Dujmovic in the short term. Its up to him to continue his form. in Vuko and Dujmovic we have two guys who play regularly at club level competing with each other which is a better situation that having Juric a guy on the brink of retirement and Leko who does not play. Leko has to roll his sleeves up and fight if he wants to come back. Last word from him was that he thought he was too good for Portsmouth which shows his mentality at present. He's looking for an easy life.
Sertic playing for France is not an option. Last word was that Sertic was happy to stop playing for French Under 21's and that he'd rather play for Croatia. Yes he may not know Croatian, but its not that hard to learn. Even i been catching some of it just by reading articles over time.
I think Sertic's place in Croatia's squad is like Marmite. Someone will want it some won't. On a pure football basis he will add depth and back up to Modric and make a great squad player. Regards the whole France debate though, that's over with now as he can't get in in the short term so is no longer interested. Nobody in the world has patience anymore. People want the here and now and that is why Sertic will play for Croatia.
I am almost certain that Sertic has declared his desire to play for FRANCE, not Croatia…or at least his father has.
why do some of you guys keep mentioning Sertic…..the frog cant speak croatian and only used croatia as a negotiating ploy with france.
the kid is not croatian.
@ Ante
thanks for clarifying. no worries.
@Alex
I picked up on the Bilic quote about Dujmovic right away. If there was ever a tell tale sign for Vukojevic that he has serious competition, there you have it.
I have never liked Vukojevic in the NT. As opposed to being a given starter, I feel like he is just a temporary measure until someone better comes along to take his spot. If Dujmovic can draw such praise from Bilic in his first game, it has to mean something. However, lets face at least a mid-table European team and then evaluate Dujmovic's form before we make that assessment.
Sorry, Leko's no.7 was given to M Bilic, not Dujmovic.
I liked Bilic' comment about Dujmovic- it was a clever way of a warning to Vukojevic that his starting place isn't certain. He was completely absent against a poor opponent which is unacceptable- friendly or no friendly. He wouldn't have had to get much out of first gear to make a positive impression, yet he couldn't even do that. I've begun to have my doubts about him (Vukojevic) as a key member of the squad. I'm not sure he's got the personality for it. He's usually been the most anonymous player on the pitch for much of the last campaign. He's lacking the ability to force himself onto a game.
Btw, speaking of dissapointing defensive midfielders, did anyone else notice that Jerko Leko's no. 7 shirt has been given to Dujmovic(?)…my only question is why did it take so long…
As I see it, Perisic or Sertic are Modric' alternate. Perisic has the whole package for a CM. I do agree that the dependence on Modric needs to be addressed with Kranjcar not suited to the task. Still, I'd like Perisic to stay with the u-21's at least until qualification and dependent on Modric' fitness.
What I like about Dujmovic is that he's not a specialized DM- he's comfortable playing as a CM in a 4-4-2, which is the system/position he plays at Loko.
i hope olic and petric are on the bench from now on those none scoring mother fuckers !
@ Boris,
We did not delete any of your comments. I promise you that. It could be a Blogger issue where sometimes the comment box doesn't fully process the request and then you close the box. It's happened to me and it's the only thing I can think of.
looks like eduardo will get a chance to be THE MAN at Arsenal with Van Persie out for a couple months. let's hope he takes advantage of the opportunity and establishes himself as one of the best attackers in the EPL.
on another note, i posted some comments on the previous thread regarding the whole 'cheering for BiH NT' topic, but they haven't been published. i'm hoping the editors aren't practicing censorship. if it's OK for guys to justify their support of the BiH NT, then it should be OK to criticize it too.
i only wish i could be in Mostar on Wednesday to take the streets and celebrate the eventual BiH loss to Portugal.
mate bilic is the shizznit. Funny how we score two free kicks in this game but couldn't even score one during the world cup qualifiers to save us a spot for the playoffs. But oh well…good things are coming. Good things.
I like the call up of Bartulovic. I never realistically thought Bilic had the intelligence to look at him. I think Bartulovic and Manuel Pamic have got a problem though. Croatia needs player who have their club status sorted out and Bartulovic and Pamic have not sorted out there situations. Bartulovic does everything at Krivbass and even admits himself that he is in a poor club. He should tell Dnipro he wants to leave and try to get a decent move abroad. If not then we would definitely take him at Dinamo.
As for Pamic he leaves Sparta next month and goes back to his situation in Red Bull reserves. I think Pamic has to get a proper transfer otherwise we can't consider him.
These friendlies are all about adding depth to the squad. Dujmovic, M Bilic, Knezevic and Gabric all belong in the national team. When the Euro campaign starts they have to be in the squad. Bilic has to select people on merit at the end of the day. If a player like Gabric and Dujmovic are playing well abroad he has to take note. He can't go around select people like unfit and out of practice Jerko Leko ahead of Dujmovic and out of form Anas over Gabric. From now on he's got to be more attentive to his job. Last campaign Bilic used select the same squad over and over. All he needed to do was freshen it up now and then and am sure Croatia would have got passed Ukraine. I definitely think Dujmovic and Bilic could have got a different result against Ukraine. Olic spends too much time in the wrong areas as a striker, but Petric has been taking his place in the team for granted. Both should sit down on bench. I think Olic has had enough campaigns now. He's had 4 major tournaments. He should go the bench. We all know he is a great bench player anyway. As for Petric though basically we need a reaction from him. He's not really had a good game since scoring against England.
These is also a lot of competition for 5th striker. There is Jelavic, Klasnic, Mandzukic, Perisic and i'd also include Cesarec in there as well. At present i want to see Perisic in a Croatia shirt before i say who i think 5th striker should be.
Yesterday i still saw no replacement for Luka Modric??? Bilic still hasn't sorted that issue out and it is not solved by Kranjcar playing there. We have to find someone cos then we can stop having a breakdown whenever a key player like Modric gets injured. My personal opinion is that Sertic has to start the next friendly. Talk about his nationality is no longer an issue. Basically he's Croatia's. Its simple as that. There is no vacancy in France's squad and we need him. I think in the next match we should start Subasic in goal, Dujmovic central midfield, alongside Sertic, continue with Mate and Dudu up front. I think we should also leave Kranjcar out next match and bring Marko Babic onto left wing and also take Perisic out of under 21's cos they don't need him. They have Kalinic now plus they have Kramaric and Milicevic is also a good player. Perisic needs a try out in our next friendly as well.
As for Rakitic he's only on loan in under 21's. He should be on the bench when Croatia starts the Euro's. At present i think our best squad is this.
K – Subasic, Runje??
D – Knezevic, Corluka, Cale, Simunic, Krizanac, Lovren
M – Srna, Gabric, Kranjcar, Vukojevic, Dujmovic, Modric, Sertic or Babic, Pranjic, Rakitic
F – M Bilic, Dudu, Olic, Petric, Perisic
On Standbys: Jelavic, Mandzukic, Pokrivac, Jajalo, Ilicevic, Mijatovic, Vucko, Bartulovic, Pamic, Klasnic, Babic
Juric, Budan and maybe even Leko are finished now with national team.
To me that's what you call a competitive squad. No passengers.
looked good…saw smiles out on the field for the first time in awhile, but the players looked focused on the task at hand. good stuff.
wooops on my last 2 comments, came home and found out i was wrong.
Even though it was a meaningless match it'll definitely boost the confidence of the team, at least a little. Going into the Kazakhstan match they knew it was essentially meaningless and thus not very much pressure was on them but they weren't able to dominate. The way they played today is the way they should have been able to play against Kazakhstan.
A good win today for both sets of teams. Mainly for our U-21 squad, who with a win vs Slovakia can take 1st spot with only 3 matches left (2 @ home and 1 away to Serbia)
Granted it was a nothing match, nice to see Bilic/Eduardo looking like potentially a formidable duo upfront.
With Modric near match fitness and Dujmovic being impressive and Rakitic (Should he garner regular playing time) it's only uphill from here. Can't forget about Gabric as well.
Good game for the Under 21s. Rakitic had the goal and assist, Kalinic got the game winning assist, great goal by Domagoj Vida. Lets get 3 more points on Wednesday.