Croatia and Turkey kick off the 2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualifiers Group I at an empty Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb on Monday night. Croatia has been sanctioned by FIFA to play two home games behind closed doors after two cases of “discriminatory chants by fans” were filed against them to the sports governing body, which took place during exhibition games against Israel and Hungary in March of 2016.
Ante Čačić’ boys will be without starting keeper Danijel Subašić while Turkey head coach Fatih Terim will be without team captain and Barcelona forward Arda Turan. Turkey held 2018 World Cup hosts Russia to a goalless draw on Thursday in a warmup friendly at the Antalya Arena in preparation for this opening game.
Who will come out on top in the battle of the managers Ante Čačić or Fatih Terim? Have your say on who will win Croatia or Turkey?
AHAHA CROATIA IS A SHITY COUNTRY AND A SHITY TEAM YOU NEVER GONNA HAVE THE GLORIOUS OF Yugoslavia/Serbia national teal your shity players never make any difference during the old Yugoslavia in other words players like prosinecki, boban, sucker etc never make any difference in Yugoslavia team all the old Yugoslavia is thanks to Serbian Players cause yugolavias was always non other that a Serbian national team those Croatian players I mention were a fucking shity players and now even they don’t played anymore they’re still shity players like all fucking Croatia nation 🙂
Seems to me that Luka Modrić has turned 31 today.
Happy Birthday!
Sretan Rođendan!
@Faux Cro
“Put Kovacic, Halilovic,Pjaca and Brekalo on the USMNT against Caribbean NTs and they will look like Lionel Messi.”
So true!!
The only player that would not look like Messi against a Caribbean NT would be Strinic!! lol!!
Put Kovacic, Halilovic,Pjaca and Brekalo on the USMNT against Caribbean NTs and they will look like Lionel Messi.
I’m still waiting for Kovacic to show me something for the Croatian national team and prove himself.
Seems likely to me. Good reasoning 🙂
Pulisic is an awesome prospect, and he is on par with guys like Kovacic, Halilovic, Brekalo, Coric, Pasalic, Vlasic, Pjaca and Rog in terms of ‘potential’.
The problem with ‘potential’ is that it’s not a guarantee that you become a star. This is why having a collection of these talented prospected (like Croatia has) is very important. Many will become simply above average players. However, you may get a couple who become serious game changers.
Pulisic could turn out to be the better than everyone I listed above, but statistically, it’s unlikely.
I think he’ll be an excellent player, but I think at least 2-3 of Croatia’s prospects listed above will be better than him.
IMHO, Halilovic dribbles “like Messi”. By that I mean he covers lots of ground quickly with close ball control.
He can also shoot off the dribble.
I don’t think Pulisic is as strong in those aspects of the beautiful game.
Pulisic would struggle to crack a Croatian midfield.
Many rate Halilovic as a better prospect than Pulasic and he can’t even get selected for the Croatia bench.
I have not seen enough of Pulasic yet to agree or disagree with this, but I do think Pulisic is showing more maturity despite only being 17.
Badelj looked great. nothing fancy, but solid.
Pulisic is good, but Trinidad and St Vincent are not good teams.
Croatia would have a field day with either of them.
Pulisic is good, but he would not crack the Croatian NT’s midfield.
Perisic was tearing up the Belgian league at his age and getting no minutes with the NT.
…because he doesn’t want to
Why isn’t Pulisic playing for Croatia? Has Croatian passaport.
Lovro- I have no problem with that. I will take a 4-3 win, over completely dominating our opponents but ending up with 0 or 1 goals ( which is the current 451 trend)
BZ – don’t know about that. Take Badelj out and you’ll probably be talking about how bad Corluka and Vida are.
@ff – preaching to the choir.
@Badelj jocksniffers-he does what he is asked to do. My point is our team doesn’t need his services against inferior opponents. We should replace him with Kramaric or Kalinic & call it a day, we won’t get shitty offensive results anymore. Modric is there to cover for him defensively anyway. Kinda like having some dipshit dedicated Project Manager on a very agile & intelligent team…only needed on projects that are full of cost overruns.
@andrew, unfortunately mental midget syndrome kicked in and the pressure got to the players, final score: 29-30 to the imaginary opponent…
hot off the presses!
to build up cacic coaching confidence leading up to the game, he practiced coaching the national team against an imaginary opposite team. the players were told to imagine and picture their opponent. the initial report is the repka lead this match 29-0 at half time and many players, especially marko pjaca, were showing great form. his stepover moves really allowed him to get by the imaginary defenders
http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/sport/domaci-nogomet/clanak/id/390836/ciro-cacic-ne-zasluzuje-reprezentaciju-i-sada-je-to-i-vise-nego-ocito
@ Amerikanski
Pulisic is a BEAST!
Klinsman has been waiting for a talent like him his all tenure as coach.
He is cat quick and purposeful with his dribble attack.
Dortmund has taught him that pressing style to win the ball back as soon as possession is lost.
He will own that #10 shirt for the next 10 years!
You can see the kid trains and is committed to being the best.
I am looking forward to seeing him provide the X factor against Mexico on November 11.
Mexicans have never a seen an American player like this before. He will put a different pressure on them like they have never seen before from the US.
I like Klinsman deploying him on the left wing.
Pulisic will be starting for the US at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and still will only be 19!
He can play in 4-5 world cups and be the man in the next Olympics in 2020 when he will be 23 still.
If he continues to progress and gets transferred to a big club, which Dortmund does on a regular basis, then he can become an international phenomenon.
Can you imagine if Pulisic makes a move to La Liga?
His game will grow leaps and bounds.
Once you learn German Spanish is a piece of cake.
Real Madrid would sell more Pulisic jerseys then in the history of US soccer players.
If I were adidas or Nike I would sign Pulisic to a boot deal right now.
Every soccer kid in America would by his boots.
I hope his Dad can navigate this level of business marketing.
Good news is at Dortmund they keep you grounded and training for the next level.
Bog i Hrvati
^^
Although Strinic is winner by default.
We aren’t exactly breeding world beater left backs.
He is still lightyears ahead of Pranjic.
We would have to integrate Lovren and place Vida out of position.
@Bobby V:
I agree with everything you said.
Badelj was great in that game.
Somebody, somewhere in Croatia has to finally admit that we have a forward problem and start teaching goal scoring at the schools again, or is that something that can’t be taught?
The longer we deny it’s a problem, the less of a chance we have to qualify for the World Cup.
Mandzukic is done. I’m surprised that we haven’t given more players in that position at least 45 minutes to show anything.
Perica looks good to me.
in all this strinic hate did anyone start a bring back pranjic movment!!
@ Bobby V
Great points !
Rakitic put that penalty away and I am not sure there is anyone near his level from the spot?
Rakitic is too slow to play that #10 role. Put him as right midfielder on the side with Pjaca and Vrsaljko to run cover for him.
Emre Mor was gifted a free kick, definitely all ball with the Modric tackle. But his speed and technical ability were handful all night. Kovacic needs to be deployed in that #10 role. If he plays well great if not pull him out but that is where he is best for us.
I too find that Suker optic bizarre. This zemljak is running our savez?
What are our chances of getting into euro?
Shocked with the result with the u21. I thought we would beat Georgia.
@ Bobby V
Mandzukic no longer seems to be bullying the opposition with his physicality like he did in his hey day. The reality is that we have so many options for that CF position. And Kalinic, Kramaric, Cop, are all off to good starts at club level this season. Heck even Perica scored 2 goals for U21 today.
So Cacic should have the players compete for that position, and not guarantee a spot to Mandzukic. Besides we need a mobile striker to synch-in with our operating system in midfield.
@ Maninho
I sorta agree with you. I believe if we play like we did against Turkey for the remainder of the qualifying cycle–we won’t lose a match. Now finishing first that’s a different story, to do that we need to finish our chances.
Now I don’t know about any of you….But I found it so depressing that the cradle of Croatian Football, Maksimir stadium was empty during a Repka game. You could hear the echo of our players’ shouts off the rafters.
Sure we are the better team and shoulda one, but one can’t help think what would happen if the Maksimir was packed and rockin’. We woulda had our “13th man” to provide us with support.
Now to think we need to endure another 90min of this!!!
So do we now start calling Portugal mental midgets. You see how stupid that is.
Portugal loses to Switzerland and France ties Belarus. Talk about some results.
Strinic and Mandzukic are not staters any longer – and Rakitic needs to come out after 60 minutes. He just seems not to play with the same effort as he does with Barcelona. It is more noticible with him than any of our other stars.
Pivaric and Perica should start, Kovacic needs to be our first sub – coming in with speed and technical ability when other players are tired is a huge advantage.
Pjaca did everything very well except finish.
Nice dive by Emre Mor to win the free kick that led to the goal – Modric got all ball.
Badelj was excellent
Kalinic needs to work on his kicks after getting back passes – he really struggled.
Funny to be able to hear the players on the field without the crowd. Clearly heard Mandzukic tell Perisic once to center the ball right away – not to wait.
Anybody else cringe when they show Davor Suker sitting back in his chair smiling with all the dignitaries?
Haha lol, awesome….. 🙂
hot off the presses!
supposedly to boost mandzukic’s confidence, cacic has been having him play with a goal the size of the entire penalty box. in addition, defending him in training has been a new batch of toddlers from the san marino u-6 team. supposedly mandzukic has recently been dominating them in the air and cacic says he’s really showing himself in form
@BZ
Qualifying is a 10-game journey. If they play like this the entire campaign, they will definitely finish first.
I did say that we should not worry, and I stand by that.
We dominated Turkey, hitting the woodwork several times, before they scored on a deflected free kick off a non foul.
They were extremely lucky,we were extremely unlucky, and it still only resulted in a draw for them.
If this is repeated, they lose 3-0. Don’t be surprised if we somehow win in Turkey.
On your other point, I do agree that we need more Krama. Someone made a good point about Mandžo possibly losing his starting spot at Juve being a good thing if it forces Čačić to not play him do much during NT games. They have a good point.
Iggy I’m still waiting for you to tell me that Pjaca supposedly did not play a good game
@Andrew
WHY NOT MAKE THE GOAL SMALLER SO THEY HAVE TO FOCUS MORE?
I think what we have to focus on here is that Cacic wants to make the changes but he has too many prima donnas on the squad starting with our “super star” striker Mandzukic. Kalinic subs in for Pjaca in 79th minute, supposedly to play with 2 strikers, but in the 84th Krama comes in for Mandzukic to play Pjaca’s position. Mandzo sits and pouts like a 6 year old girl because he got subbed in the 84th minute!!! Obviously Cacic wanted to sub him out earlier but was scared of a negative reaction from super star Mandzo, which in the end happened. I think it’s time to put Mandzo off the list for this incident. Doesn’t benefit the team at all and everyone knows Kalinic deserves to start.
hot off the press!
some of the players revealed what may be causing all the shot hitting the post lately. apparently cacic has had them practicing with a goal that is about a foot higher and a foot wider, in order to build more confidence and be aggressive shooting
@ Iggy im level 23 also hahaha funny shit man…game is so addicting I cant stop lol…huge day Saturday I hope miocic can defend his belt
In happier news:
here’s a pic of my Cali wifey and myself:
(She’s cute as pie)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153990832659888&set=rpd.612117500&
@maminjo-in all fairness, you are in no position to tell us what to worry about.
You were the guy saying we shouldn’t worry about Turkey. Tied us in Croatia…oops.
Srna was missed. Vrsaljko will have good games, but will never be as good as Srna.
Why the Badelj love on this site? You would think Badelj was freakin Zidane if You listen to these guys. Badelj’s position against inferior teams is a WASTE. We should be putting up more goals…Kalinic/Kramaric in for Badelj (442), and we will finally light up the scoreboard, guaranteed.
Rakitic lacks that explosive burst of speed to play #10.
Couple that with Mandzukic’s lack of explosive speed and we are wasting Perisic’s and Pjaca’s explosive speed.
Badelj starts because he has freed Modric up and that in itself is value added, plus he looked very comfortable on the ball.
He scores that late chance and he is Man of the Match.
I would go with a 4-3-3 formation to spice things up :
Perišić _________Kramaric__________Pjaca
Modric _________Badelj___________Rakitic
Vida_______Lovren__________Corluka_________Vrsalkjo
Kalinic
Subs- Kovacic, Brozovic, Kalinic
found some highlights :
Ana’s great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsGOSl8oVK8
Does anyone have highlights of Konjuh today?
I tried to find ’em but all i got was the old Wimbledon ones
Trolling? Tell me Pjaca didn’t play a good game today.
Wow, Konjuh won !
Great job !
Yeah, i stand by my comment, Modric was one of the best players on the field
As for Ante B: He’s just trolling
How beautiful was it watching Pjaca play today? What a player.
The Truth said
3) “luka modric would not have what it takes to captain the team to victory because he requires great players around him.”
Iggy said
nbr 3 – “that’s just totally wrong – modric was one of the best players on the field.”
Allen Strk said
“Last note. How about Modric? Easily man of the match. Absolutely controlled the midfield and broke up so many attacks.”
Do you see Iggy, even Allen Strk agrees with The Truth.
Looks like Konjuh is going to conjure up a win!
@ Maninjo
Badelj sure had a coupla tricks up his sleeve, those where some neat flicks in midfield. He surely was one of our best players.
Now as for Strinic! The guy seems to lose control of the ball at times. Especially when he’s put under pressure and starts twisting and turning.
Idk Maminjo.. i thought Vida did well.. thinking about the options, he was okay..
Strinic was trash.. he kept taking the ball up the wing and then just deciding to give the ball over, it was not great tbh
You guys need to stop complaining about Vrsaljko. He’s fine. He’s good and he’ll get better.
Badelj is solid too, but man, too bad he can’t finish for shit. That “shot” at the end of the match was his to put away. Can’t really fault him as that’s his biggest weakness. Always seems to “pass” it at the net. Never seen him actually shoot. Oh well, can’t have it all I guess. I really loved how he was nutmegging players all game today. Anyone see those? He’s an underrated dribbler.
Strinic is our worst starter.
He “seems” to play well, but I have a problem with him holding onto that ball for too long. He tries to do too much. He needs to pass it off, and just stay open to provide support.
I assume Pivaric will come back and take that starting spot from him? Not sure why he hasn’t been put back into the starting lineup. He’s better than Strinic…but whatever, I’m still happy that it’s not Pranjic back there, lol.
Also, I like Vida, but damn…he got in the way of his teammates on the offensive end on a couple of occasions. He did this at the Euros too. Still a good player though, just wish he had some natural technical ability.
This is all nitpicking though. I think if we play every game the way we did today, we won’t lose a game. We, at worst, will finish with 7 wins and probably 3 draws.
Cacic’s homework assignment is figuring out who to play at LB instead of Strinic…and also to try Kalinic and/or Kramaric up front.
We have a serious problem with finishing. We rely too much on our midfield and wingers to finish, while our lone striker plays defense. I think Mandzo is great and all, but we really need to see what Krama can do with this team (and Kalinic too).
Lovren in, Strinic out and push Vida to LB.
Strinic needs regular minutes if he’s going to start. He has probably played more minutes for the NT than he has for Napoli in 2016… I’m not exaggerating.
Agree with the comments about Badelj playing well today. During the Euros I could not understand why he was so poor – constantly giving the ball away. This was more of what I expect from him.
emre mor is gonna be a wonderful player, glad dortmund snapped him up
Pretty solid performance as a whole. First ten minutes were shaky, but they looked good for the most part. Crazy how Strinic looked so careless on the ball. So many misplaced passes in the first half. Slightly looked better than second half. He’s a much better defender than Pranjic, but still can’t be considered as a major upgrade. I’ve been one of his bigger advocates. Hard to defend him after a performance like that. At least Badelj was one of the best player on the field. Best game I ever seen him play for NT.
Rakitic looked off. Couldn’t handle Turkey’s pressure. You could argue that he’s not an ideal fit in a number ten role. It’s a shame that Croatia can’t find the perfect spot for him.
At this point, I’m praying Higuain starts playing for Juventus and Mandzukic goes through a long spell on the bench. He played decent in first half, but second half was a disaster. Just doesn’t fit in Croatia’s system as lone striker. At this point, try Kalinic up top. Cacic made a great decision starting Pjaca over Brozovic. Hopefully, he makes the next logical move to start Kalinic over Mandzukic.
Don’t understand the Vrsaljko criticism. Never looked out of position defensively and delivered some precise crosses. Teetered off in the second half though. I’m worried that both Vrsajlko and Strinic aren’t first team options at their respective clubs. Wish they were playing weekly. Still think Vrsaljko looked much better than Srna (excluding those performances at Euros).
Last note. How about Modric? Easily man of the match. Absolutely controlled the midfield and broke up so many attacks. Him and Emre Mor were on another level today.
Rafael, we’ll said!
We created tons of chances. Didn’t finish but that’s ok. Modric played with fire in his heart to today. Nice to see.
We need to change our expectations in regards to Vrsaljko. He is a different type of back than Srna. Give him time. We will win this group.
Not a bad game considering it was played on an empty stadium.
Let’s remember, Turkey is a good team.
You know, in this disappointment, it’s worth mentioning world heavyweight champ in UFC is defending his title in Cleveland on Sunday v Cuntreem
Stipe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSI-n2fZDsk
Croatia played really well. Very unlucky. First half reminded me of 2008. Croatia scored and on the final whistle- of the first half -Turkey scored a lucky deflection off a free kick.
Don’t panic Croatia is playing very well. Eventually the ball will go in the net.
Is Pivarić back and healthy at 100%?
@Crotone
“Didn’t watch the game, but was the goal we conceded Strinic’s fault?”
Absolutely!!
His bonehead play created the free kick opportunity out of thin air that puzzled the sane and insane alike.
If he does not put the ball stupidly back into the middle of the field, time would have run out and we go into half time with a one goal lead and also more importantly with three points. The FK never takes place without his bonehead play! One hundred per cent his fault!
He keeps topping himself, Belgium 2012, Portugal 2016, and now the Turks 2016.
Even Segesta had their way with him! LOL!!!!!!
Please guys, a link to see the match?…..
Shit!(again)
Agree JP. It’s not so bad, turkey are not as bad as many here are saying. Obviously we still have some problems, lack of cutting edge, we can’t find our best formation, a coach who is very conservative in important games…but with new players coming in and most of the current team still improving I predict we will be fine. Strinic is not good, mandzukic needs a strike partner to be effective. Basically we need to play 442, let the strikers compete fairly for the 2 striker positions, say to them all, including cop, perica, kramaric, pjaca “ok whichever combination works best plays” and give them a chance. 442 same in midfield, which 2 central midfielders work best together, for example if rakitic and modric doesn’t work for some reason, then push rakitic to RM, he can play there easy, let him compete with brozovic for the RM spot. Vrsaljko best asset is his pace, perfect for brozovic or rakitic to play a little narrow and allow him to overlap. Finally with 442 the is less of a need for both fullbacks to overlap, in fact it’s dangerous for both fullbacks to attack in without a holding midfielder to drop between the CB’s. Therefore play Vida LB, give lovren his chance, if he flops give jedvaj or caleta car a chance at CB. Perisic doesn’t need a LB to overlap, he can do all the damage himself…
Kalinic/subasic
Vrsaljko/jedvaj, corluka, lovren/jedvaj, Vida/pivaric
Brozovic/rakitic, modric, rakitic/badelj/kovacic/rog, perisic
Mandzukic/kalinic/perica, kramaric/pjaca/cop
Simple. Let the players compete for a place, let the team evolve…..
Anyway, I haven’t seen the game, can anyone give me a link where I can see a recording the whole match? I’d like to watch it now. Gonna check youtube. Cheers
Didn’t watch the game, but was the goal we conceded Strinic’s fault?
You can’t forget that Strinic is a Napoli fan and has watched every game this season, and most of last season, not his fault that Cacic believes that he’s in-form!
Cacic also mentioned after the massive win against Segesta that our strikers were in-form!
Also how was Modric playing in the second half when the team was looking for a winner?
Yes, today’s game was miserable to watch. We hit the the framework of the goal more than any team that I’ve ever seen, but that also says we are creating chances. Cut it with the pessimism after 1 game. All draws in our group today so let’s consider it a wash.
I disagree with the Badelj “waste of space” comments. He does his job as a holding midfielder and took some of the pressure off of our backs today, supported Modric well, and came forward when he needed to. Unlucky with that shot at the end, but good show of judgment to make that run in the box to create that chance.
Srna’s presence is missed, especially his delivery. Strinic is lame, and we definitely need change back there. I would expect Cacic to experiment with some new lineups against Kosovo, since they, hopefully, are the team we can afford to experiment against. Croatia needs to start converting some of these midfield maestros that we keep producing at an exorbitant rate into wing backs.
lol level 23.. have a couple okay vaporeans and a clefable im proud of.. LOL
how are u going?
im normally holding down a few gyms down the road from here which is nice
@ iggy lmao what level and you and how many Pokemon do you have?? No but seriously mandzukic has to go he can’t finish if his life depended on it I think kalinic should’ve started for sure
But yeah one thing i’ll say, Strinic is a massive liability, im sorry, i was defending him before.. i dont think i can anymore.. he needs to go ASAP.. we can’t have such an easy route to attack for other teams as that.. they all just need to say “lets attack down HRV’s left hand side” and they’ll do it all day long. turkey, iceland, finland, ukraine etc.. it’s just too vlunerable.. sorry but we need better defence down there.. and then strinic comes forward and i nearly choke on my vodka.. fuck sake.. lol
We played okay, too many shots off the posts… need to hope turks take points from the other teams for sure
we’re lucky everyone else in the group drew, helps us out
in any case, im off to drink vodka in the park and play pokemon for a few hours, adios amigos, this is what my pathetic life has come to, lol 😀
@ Svima
Our group has the most parody.
Even Kosovo / Finland 1-1.
Cacic had a pulse today but we need subs even earlier.
Mandzukic is on the other side of his prime.
He is at 45 minutes, if that?
Lovren needs to be integrated back in the fold.
Unfortunately home or away is the same for us these days.
Šteta that our boys get zero support from our savez in terms of community building.
You have a rockin Maksimir like in the hey day some of those young turks would have been shaking in their boots.
Turkey will grow with Fatih and are more than capable of taking points from Iceland and Ukraine.
Over all we played well today.
Need more sense of urgency.
Kovacic needs some minutes, a slalom run to break the D is needed every match.
By the way BS free kick against Modric, all ball.
Fluke free kick.
1 point for the entire group.
Better strap it on for the next two.
Uvijek Vjerni
serbia what a shit game, guy dives for a penalty, dreadful like the country
@BZ
“Strinic- after blowing the Portugal game, he stunk up the field today. Serviceable at best.”
Serviceable?? LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Ok,
Pjaca-had two strong headers, but lost some balls unpressured. His sitter off of Mandzukic’s great effort in the first half was real bad. Setup again by Mandzo in 2nd half, and did nothing with it. He doesn’t get back enough to help on D. He will get better but too many lows to go with the highs today. Still way better than Brozo.
Vrsaljko-Clear we will miss Stna.
Strinic- after blowing the Portugal game, he stunk up the field today. Serviceable at best.
Mandzukic- Goalie got lucky to deflect his shot against the crossbar. Unbelievable defense & pressure.
Cacic-why Bring in Brozo for Rakitic when you have a waste of space like Badelj on the field? Don’t say bc Rakitic is out of shape!
Badelj- waste of space. Start Kalinic up top in place of this guy.
We should win all these games by 2 goals, but we can only scrape out 1 goal with this incompatible 451 formation.
Iggy Ireland is not gonna sashed Serbia cause Ireland like Croatia is a shitty team and a shitty country AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
We are not in a difficult position, it’s one round of completed matches. If they slip up during the October matches and proceed to drop points at home to Iceland in November, then our position becomes difficult depending on the other group results. Way to early to make that remark.
“In what well be a very close group”
Hence the need to win early
we’re now in a difficult position, we need to win from now on, can’t afford more disappointing draws
Another lame result against a third rate opponent.
I thought Mandzukic work rate was good today but it’s obvious he needs perfect service to even be positive near the goal.
What I mean by his work rate that he was hustling and tracking back to atleast cause the Turks some discomfort when they had possession. He wasn’t just standing around like a fucking lump on a log like he’s done on other occasions, just totally disinterested.
Some of you need to not push the panic button. We are one match day complete of 10 in what will be a very close group. The next round of games is where we need to get maximum points @ Kosovo and @ Finland before returning home versus Iceland. It still sets up well as other sides will cancel each other out with draws as witnessed today.
Lots of matches to be played. It’s a long road through qualification.
The Truth,
Okay, you’re Ziva Istina. To be honest, I liked Ziva better.
The nicknames you’re using are really pathetic.
@anon, i thought about that too, that’s the same jersey we lost in in euro 2016.. i prefer the blue one now
i dont want to wear it anymore.. it’s bad luck.. same as france 98.. our home jersey is always bad luck
blue jerseys generally win
Jedvaj, Lovren, Pivaric, and Kramaric probably should get to play a full first half in the next friendly match.
Pivaric combined really well with Perisic and Kalinic before he was injured, Jedvaj is playing maximum minutes at right back on a top Bundesliga team, Lovren probably would have scored on one of the many set plays that Vida botched, and Kramaric is a consistent goal-scorer. They might have the stuff we need in order to put the ball in the net.
Also, on Vida, i thought other than Luka he was one of our best players tonight
I just can’t understand the hate for Vida.. he sent a bunch of defensive headers out for throws and not corners cos he kept getting fucked up by Strinic. Who on earth blames Vida for that? Fuck off.
Vida is like the king of dealing with shit considering he’s defending Strinic. He’s the best player on planet earth dealing with that shit. I will NEVER understand anyone picking on Vida atm
I’m convinced when we wear the checkered jersey we have bad luck…we need to always wear the blue
When you lose points at home, it will be hard to qualify.
We had the chances but failed in the end and had some bad luck (3 times crossbar)
Badelj was our best player today.
Vida, Corluka, Perisic and Modric did great.
Lovre Kalinic Pjaca and Mandzo were okay.
Vrsaljko? I have my questions. He’s still not as good as Srna.
Strinic and Rakitic were disappointing today.
Kramaric, Kalinic and Brozovic were subbed in but none of them made an impact.
You were kinda right about nbr 1 for a while
nbr 2 – idk about that.. at some points its true but he was okay overall
nbr 3 – that’s just totally wrong – modric was one of the best players on the field
nbr 4 – again wrong, he actually played well, hit one against the bar, did a bunch of awesome defensive moves, he was fine tbh
on a side note, if the point of soccer was to see how many times you could touch the ball with your head on free kicks or corners….doh-my-god can you believe he is playing vida would be the greatest soccer player on earth
unfortunately, the goal of soccer is to head the ball toward the goal…not to touch it with your head and then fall down
what can you expect though from a guy with a me-first look-at-me haircut like that
well a lot of you were against me , but I was proven correct. lets check some of my predictions to come true
1) marko pee-ass-a would do lots of stepovers and then fall down bringing excitement to the diaspora but nothing to show for it….wow really nailed that one
2) the vrsaljkoholic would make us actually miss srna…nailed it again….rather than achohol, the vrasljakoholic is addicted to benches and sucking
3) luka modric would not have what it takes to captain the team to victory because he requires great players around him
4) mahir mandzukshit would continue to suck and be well past his prime
but don’t worry guys, juventus just paid 27 million euro for pee-ass-a and soon ante cor-bitch will be signed by a big name team as well. the future must be bright
Mandzukic is useless. It’s like playing with 10 men. How does he start with Juventus?
It took too long to get him out in the 84th minute.
If that game today does not show everyone how garbage a player Ivan Strinic is than nothing ever will.
He offers nothing offensively, his crosses suck, he is clumsy, and a bonehead, and so overrated defensively, and in a word he is useless.
Such a boneheaded play to setup that free kick for Turkey at the end of the first half!!!! I still cannot believe it!!!
Actually, considering it is Strinic I can believe it.
oh well, i got my wish
Kosovo DID score against Finland and finish 1-1
and Ukraine and Iceland finished 1-1
so basically, all games in our group finished in draws, which is good for us cos we fucked up
We need to finish our chances , it always comes back to bite us in the ass.
Yeah but this really fucks us over.. we need to play Turkey away, Iceland away, Finland away, Ukraine away yet..
we needed a positive start
im really worried about our qualy chances now
If we can’t beat Turkey at home, could be a long qualifying campaign. Always have a bad feeling when Mandzukic is up front. With all of the other games tied in the group, this was a big missed opportunity.
We will be fine
Just started we know we ain’t going to go undefeated during this run
There’s the iggy we all know lol
fucking disgusting
hate it
why cant we finish half of our chances? We need some actual strikers, not trash like Mandzu and Kramaric and Kalinic.. let’s be honest, all are trash.. we need proper strikers like Suker and Boksic., it’s fucking hopeless, it brings my piss to a boil, fucking fuck off fuckety turk cunts.. fuck you turkey
yeah finishes 1-1, horrible result for us,we deserved to win
Garbage
yeah missing Srna
Well least we played strong
Once again need more finish it sounds
Let’s hope we get more finish versus the finish lol haha not funny
Least we hit a pk
90 seconds let, turk goalkick
Ugh
oh and now a turk is bleeding so that’s prolly it for the next 5 minutes
croatia shouldve won this match, no question
massive chance from badelj .. saved from the turk keeper again
6 mins added time
Ya we will have to sneak in by the hair of our chiny chin chin
corners: croatia 8 – 1 turkey
gives u an idea of dominance
but yeah looks like a 1-1 draw all the way
As I mentioned earlier, it’s going to be a tight group, all 3 group games tied atm.
They are obviously happy and lucky with a tie
4-5 mins left, 1-1 atm, turkey time-wasting
looks like a 1-1 draw tbh cos turkey are being cunts.. can’t see many chances left arising
Still nothing?
Is it over
Yeah Turkey are massively time-wasting, they are all dropping all over the pitch, having a cry even when no one touches them
Keep updating
That link crashed my computer
How much time left
oh Kramaric coming on in the 84th minute
Shouldn’t have subbed out Pjaca
ugh god at strinic
two times know he’s tripped over his own feet and given away a free kick in the attacking corner ffs
Lol like they do during wars…
Iggy man, don’t put yourself down. Plus no one wants to know about your dick…come on kalinic!!
Turkey now going to the time-wasting route, every turk going down as weakly as they do during wars: dropping left, right and centre like weaklings
This game is a bit like my dick: kinda disappointing and not as great as expected
Pjaca did a super-strong header and cunt-turk keeper saved it.. real chance.. good header again from Pjaca..
yeah im sorry Strinic needs to go.. he’s absolutely useless
u cant tell me there isnt a better player in our country than him
i mean fuck me, i have double hernias and let me play, im sure i can do better, rofl
aww shit serbia up 2-1 over ireland now???
Prolly his best position
lol, ive joked about Lovren as a striker before.. he prolly wouldnt be too bad tbh
He should bring on lovren as a striker. He would score
Who’s the hot blonde girl in the HRV jersey they keep showing?
Lol anonymous
Another thing worth mentioning is Cacic looks massively stressed.. ive never seen him look stressed before but he really does at this moment,almost like there’s some deal we dont know about that if he doesnt win he’s in shit or something.. that’s just my read on it
Good sub. Come on brozo be epic
Good first sub. Brozovic on for Rakitic in the 63rd minute.
So anyway, there’s a bit of a lull in the game atm, chance to say, we should prolly commend Rakitic for (a) taking a penalty which we know we are bad at and (b) nailing it
some credit deserved there for that effort in a pressurised situation
even Ziva might have to say well done for that
and as i say that, Rakitic subbed off .. for Broz? Ugh.. see how we go.. not sure about this one
We wanted Cacic to make earlier subs but not if they’re shithouse ones
Only 30 minutes until Čačić remembers he’s allowed to make a sub.
Thanks. Come on boys
Rakitic is off his game. If he had not taken the penalty you would not know he’s out there.
Badelj continues to play well, but Cacic could sub him for another attacker.
Pjaca has made a couple of youthful mistakes, but holding his own.
TBH, this is very, very similar to the euro2016 match b/n these two countries.. u know how we shouldve won that by many goals? Well, this is similar, same kinda tone and play and chances so far
To quote the commentators i have
“Frustration from the Croatian bench because they know they could really have been out of sight in this match already”
that tells u about the tone of the game, we’ve had the best chances, hit the bar many times, had some misses from right in front (Pjaca ffs) .. should really be winning
Lol. Strinic smh
another miss from right in front by mandzu.. but it wasnt an easy chance this time to be fair
Iggy, if we need to Kosovo to score against Finland to win this group then we don’t deserve to go to russia….
Pjaca has been pretty good except for one shocking miss in front of an open goal in the early part of the match.. he had a great header off the bar and looked good, he did however do stupid stepovers and fall over someone in the box once, but overall, pretty solid performance by him
Basically, our players are doing well, but Strinic leaves me so unconvinced.. im really nervous each time the ball goes near his side.. if i was coaching vs HRV, i would be directing all traffic to that side tbh
It’d be nice if Kosovo got a goal vs Finland too for our sake
Guys tell me who is playing well, who needs to be subbed? How is pjaca playing? How many stepovers has he done?
If it stays like this for another 20 mins he has to bring on nikola kalinic for badelj. I’m not even watching the game. Put two strikers for poseidons sake. Give them hell. modric can look after the midfield by himself….
Well, 5-1 would be nice lol.. i’ll take 2-1 at this stage.. we’ve been dominating so we can still win for sure.. just need to stay cool..
also very good for us if, as i said, ukraine and iceland draw.. we want lots of draws from other teams so we can win this group
Just seen the goals on youtube. I know there was a big deflection but I feel like kalinic should have reacted quicker. If he’s on top of his game he drops to his left late and claws that away….come on guys. 5-1
that Turkey goal was a bummer…
otherwise, we dominated that half
If Croatia pushes numbers forward, they will continue to give Turkey issues as defensively they have been shaky thus far. Obviously, tough break right at half time but the 3 points are there for the taking.
I think we can grab another goal in the second 45.
in our group at half-time:
Finland beating Kosovo 1-0
Ukraine and Iceland 1-1 (lets hope they draw)
and as someone else said in the other groups:
Nothing of too much interest but serbwanks are losing 1-0 to Ireland at home, which is obviously providing a very nice feeling down my panties
LOL Razbijac that’s one positive way to look at it haha.. do own goals count in tallies for international goals cos he’s got a bunch recently and here’s another beauty
i was just thinking, does anyone remember how many times we hit the bar v turkey in euro 2016? wasnt it like 3 or 4 clear chances that hit the bar? And in this match, we’ve hit the bar 3 times in one half..
hmmm..
Perisic scores with a header, lol
yeah no blame on the keeper there, nothing he could do
That should count as an own goal.
iggy’s gonna need some more vodskies at this rate LOL
well it’s 1-1 at half-time cos fuckety fucks
Fuck!!
ah fuck sake fuck off fucking fucksville
Good. Can’t get any link working. I’m giving up. Relying on you guys to follow the game. I have an old iPad an I’m rubbish with technology so don’t know how to make adjustments. Never mind. As long as we get the points…..
If wasn’t a dangerous scoring chance, but a penalty is a penalty.
Nice footwork by Modrić, resulting in a bad late tackle by the Turkish defender.
Where’s that guy who was hating on Luka and saying he shouldnt be captain etc ? LOL
That’s exactly why I want to see Luka drive at defenders more… Good things will happen.
Goal Rakitic from the spot.
and just like in euro 2016, we score just before half time thanks to brilliance from lil Luka.. what a champ he is.. great footwork to win that penalty.. 1-0 Hrvatska ! 😀
is that like our first pk goal in 10 year lol
rakitic!!
pk??
YEAH BOY PENALTY
BEAUTIFUL PLAY LUKA !
nice grab by kalinic
he looks pretty solid
we actually look like decent depth in goal
yay good stuff ireland !
ireland serbia
1-0 ireland so far
You know, Vida’s actually one of our most reliable defenders.. i dunno why ppl were so down on him after Euro.. he was at least trying to make shit happen and has been consistent in defence
the longer we go without a goal….
Strinic is gonna have a brain fart….I can sense it coming
maybe try this link if it’s simpler (may or may not work)
http://ceksjmvwxvsa.ceiy.us3.gsr.awhoer.net/watch/462650/1/watch-croatia-vs-turkey—2018-fifa-wc-qualification.html
Crnkovic, the other thing you could try, which might be best, is still using the link i posted but using webproxy to load the site and saying you arent in UK
so, for example, goto a free webproxy such as:
https://whoer.net/webproxy
and then pick a location like Aus or France or some shit not in the UK, and then load the gofirstrow link, and hopefully that’ll work?
That’s another option i can think of
Perisic hits crossbar…that is three hits of the frame!!!
god dayum 3 shots off the bar in the first half from us.. just need one to go in
in that case, i would literally just google croatia v turkey stream
there will be heaps of results, some will be spam but some will be legit and work
i do it with cricket all the time and even NRL, just google the game i want to stream and normally can find a link
Really appreciate your help iggy, that website has also been closed down in the UK by court order. Thanks anyway..
well i would recommend going here:
http://gofirstrow.eu/
clicking Cro v Turkey
And there are ~4 links, ONE of them should work for sure
Mandzukic with wonderful flick on to Vrsaljko who cannot time his run well enough to stay onsides.
Aaargh….just been to the pub on my road, they were showing Wales Moldova on eight different TV’s and wouldn’t put the croatia match on for me. The only other pub, where I could watch it, I’m banned from. What can I do??? Iggy I tried your link, doesn’t work in UK. Help!!!
at least these English commentators aren’t saying his name PIAKA like the others were.. god dayum that got annoying quickly
Love it. Mandzukic our best defender…horrible unpressured crosses by Vrsaljko…pjaca hits crossbar w nice header.
Need some goals soon.
yeah the link works through despite the popups, just need to close em all
normally i use firstrow for all the games
plus to be fair to the guy he didn’t play a ton with the team besides practice. only limited time and that was with stimac i think
ah piss on my tits.. good header Pjaca, unlucky.. two shots off the post by us already
brkic do you really think badelj played poorly in france? i thought he was ok… got decent ratings by the pundits
maybe just less pressure now
Badelj playing very well at the moment. Where was this play in France?
that fucking link is poison… more pop ups then a childrens book
Thanks Iggy!
i posted a link above already u lazy bum anon:
http://gofirstrow.eu/watch/462650/1/watch-croatia-vs-turkey—2018-fifa-wc-qualification.html
Where can I watch the game? I’m in toronto..
i love super mario but i hope we don’t have to wait till he retires himself to give kramaric or someone else a chance
i honestly would like to see perica get a call up… he tall like the others but seems to have more skill at his feet correct me if im wrong
Mandzukic another perfectly timed run…hits post…pjaca misses sitter blasting it over crossbar.
wow.,.. what an incredible miss from Pjaca.. that’s Olic-like
well the game just started but we look like horsepiss already .. complete opposite from the euro 2016 match where we showed a lot of intent even in the first 2 mins
btw how come keeper subasic replaced?
ooh ireland playing serbia.. hope the irish smash those wankers tonight too
ok here’s a working stream im using:
http://gofirstrow.eu/watch/462650/1/watch-croatia-vs-turkey—2018-fifa-wc-qualification.html
Hopefully this game goes similar to the last empty stadium match we had (3-0 v Bulgaria)
haha.. i wont fall asleep, im yet to crack open the vodskies – although i will hop to that now 😀
As for Mandzo starting, i agree it’s not ideal but tbh i dont blame Cacic for that cos there arent a heap of options.. i mean you cant blame him too much for that.. if he drops him he also risks shattering the guy’s confidence and then he’ll be even less useful in future games so it’s a bit of a pickle
now, im gonna watch at firstrow i take it, any other options for streams?
I’d much rather see Kalinic (never thought I would say that) in there than Mandza. He’s pretty much useless at this point in his career.
Got to be tough to get up for a game in an empty stadium. Hopefully the campaign starts off with a solid win and 3 points.
I think this group will see its fair share amounts of draws, lots of even sides amongst the six in the group. Do not overlook Kosovo. There is no minnow in the group.
Live on the Watch ESPN App in the USA.
Come on boys!!!!! U boj
Anyone know what network is playing the game? I’m in NYC and only see ESPN deportes is playing it at 4:45 right after the game is over
Maminjo if true
I like: no lovren, Pjaca replacing Brozo.
I dislike: Badelj (but coric/rog/brozo will be filling this spot at some point in the near future), no 2nd striker
Thing with Vrsaljko is he is a nice-to-have utility player coming off the bench. He could sub in for a RB or LB, which makes him valuable off the bench..that said, he is our best RB only bc Srna retired IMHO.
Not terrible IMO. Pjaca and Perisic add quite a bit of offensive power. Cacic just needs to be ready to make changes depending on how things flow.
Pjača is a good change…..but why I’d Mandzo starting. Let’s face it, he cannot perform at a top level anymore.
My prediction is it will be a boring defensive 0-0 game.
Apparently, we are rolling out the exact same 4-5-1 lineup as what we played against Portugal, minus Brozovic, Srna and Subasic (replacing them with Pjaca, Vrsaljko and Lovre Kalinic).
…………..Mandzo……………….
…Perisic..Rakitic..Pjaca………
……….Badelj..Modric………….
..Strinic..Corluka..Vida..Vrsaljko..
…………..Kalinic…………………..
I bet Iggy falls asleep before gametime!
Only 90 mins till smashing time fellas 😀
I just bought the beer and the nachos.
It’s time to beat the Turks again.
@Soul Champ
I agree, make adjustments when needed and we should win.
Modrić not deserve captain?
Pa da …
Looks like we finally have all the Dalmatinski out on the pitch.
Cacic needs to have plan B, C, D and E written down and given to his coaching staff. When he goes into half time, he needs to bring out his note pad and make adjustments in the second half.
The whole point of having a full squad of talented players is to utilize all 14 players to wear down the opposition.
There is no one in our group that has more depth than us.
But if you do not make tactical substitutions in a timely fashion your advantage is wasted.
Wave upon wave of attacking play should be in effect all match tomorrow.
I have faith in the players to play from within and not be effected by the lack of crowd support.
Looks like pleasant weather tonight in Zagreb.
U Boj
4.45 am Bris time, not the worst prolly can sneak in a few beers 😉
I predict a 2-0 victory for the good guys
Pjaca has dirty stepovers. The truth would get ruined by them …..that said he’ll stop that in about 1-2 season just like Ronaldo did… question is will he start tomorrow???
Geez.
Ziva leaves this website, and now we have a poor man’s version of him.
@allen-i hope I am wrong but I think Cacic will start Lovren. I would love yo see a humbled Lovren watching from the bench, but I don’t think it will happen.
@truth-I know Ziva Istina, and you sir, are no Ziva Istina.
@ stef Bo.zo.
On the contrary…. I’m the biggest domoljub on this board….domoljub Means patriot…. The j is soft like a y
I actually placed a wager for Croatia on this game. I just need to keep you guys grounded in reality about the quality of this team and their upcoming youth. The kriz i have to bear
Can’t wait to see Marko pee-ass-a do some more stepovers and then fall down and hear the board get excited about it….pee-ass-a reminds me of a young halilovic
The strongest Argentina
with their new Maradona
http://bit.ly/2bQMfAT
I think they will win WC2018 for sure
The only thing about “the truth” is that you’re a homo Serb. If you’re truly a Croat you should crawl under a rock. You have nothing positive to say, just brutal!
Cacic will put out a good line up as he’s capable of doing that. However, yes I’m worried about his management skills as the game progresses. We know he’s clueless! That being said, we have too much talent to lose this one. I say Cro 3-1.
Perisic should be captain.
Kid’s a warrior.
If Mandzukic starts I really hope that the HNS sack Cacic after the game, I mean what more proof do the HNS need to see that Cacic has no idea.
Making Modric captain is also a very poor choice, we can all remember him butting heads with coach Kovac when coach Kovac questioned the teams performances (which were pathetic by the way) against Azerbaijan and Norway.
Modric also had a pathetic game against Portugal and for that he gets the captains arm band, Modric doesn’t make a captains asshole in my opinion.
Rakitic should’ve been made captain.
Sigh i think this is 3 or 4 am for me,. oh well i will prolly get up and watches.. always up for some turk-smashing
The Truth needs to find a new gimmick. Nothing is worse than copying someone’s unfunny gimmick.
My hopeful lineup for tomorrow
Kalinic, Vrsaljko, Corluka, Lovren, Strinic, Badelj, Modric, Pjaca, Rakitic, Perisic, Kalinic
Most likely lineup
Kalinic, Vrsaljko, Corluka, Vida, Strinic, Badelj, Modric, Pjaca, Rakitic, Perisic, Mandzukic
Don’t think Lovren is going to jump right back into the starting lineup. I don’t mind Vida, but he isn’t technically as good as Lovren. Limited passer and tends to get reckless. Still works hard and not an outrage if he starts over Lovren.
Highly doubt Cacic would bench Mandzukic. Probably going to start until Juventus starting playing Higuain over him on a regular basis. Kalinic deserves to be rewarded for his excellent performance against Spain.
I have hope that Pjaca will get the start. It’s not like Brozovic is starting for Inter and I would hope Cacic recognizes Pjaca’s ability. Nothing against Brozovic, but he’s simply not a winger.
Scorpio Bar
Where’s the best place to watch the game in Astoria New York?
well here we go fellas. here are the wagers for this game
1) does mahir score a tap in goal?
2) does marko Pee-Ass-A do a bunch of a stepovers that get the diaspora excited but result in nothing?
3) Does druga liga cacic make a sub before the 87th minute?
4) Does cacic start dejan love-men or d-oh-my-god “can you believe he’s playing” vida ?
5) does the vrsaljkoholic make us wish for the days of srna again?