Welcome welcome. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts with us.
'I guess we can only wait and see…..'
well said…. there is no need to look at every match and what ifs… We are no Germany… Croatian discipline is our kryptonite. Every since that draw in Malta, nothing is guaranteed with Croatia…
@Croatiafan
I agree with you 'we are not done yet'
'Ukraine have got lucky so far. I think it must run out somewhere.'
Key word here is 'must'… However, when and if it will run out is the question.
Ukraine luckily qualified for the world cup 2006, winning every game 1-0… some goals coming ala shevchenko in the final seconds of the game. Greece outplayed them both games and lost points and ultimately qualification.
I dont think its fair to blame Runje for the loss.. Galinovic wouldnt have changed the result.
Drpic is a joke…
didulica has quit international competition. Smart man. He realized the politics that goes on with the HNS and quickly removed his name from the national team. You will see Galinovic in a red and white shirt before you see didulica
would be wise to lock up Sertic before the French take him. however, this kid cant help Croatia right now.
I agree with you on Kovac.. hes done… we need fresh new blood..
@Rob
Croatia have known to make something out of nothing in the past. World Cup 98, we needed Denmark to get a result in Greece for us to qualify. Less than a year later, Croatia gets bronze in World Cup 98 France… Croatia neding a voctory at home to Belgium in final game world cup qualifier 2002…
Ukraine's luck is sure to run out soon. i still expect changes for Belarus.
We are not done yet.
@Andrew
I agree, we shouldn't be pessimistic. Football is a game of luck as much as skill. A post or a goal could be the difference in winning the world cup to going out in the first round.
'If we win both in a row it will give us some much needed confidence and then maybe we can push for some points Wembley.'
Wembley is almost out of the question. Even if England qualifies, they will be hungry to knock us out.
vuki looked good cause he plays in Ukraine and is used to playing against Shakhtar and with Dynamo players. without a doubt a mistake by Bilic not to start Vuki.
Juric can still play an important role for Croatia.
Ultimately, qualification is still in our hands. If players will be on cell phones before the game, during practice breaks, then we deserve to stay home. Without communication we are doomed, just like in any relationship.
@Ciganski Bosanac
'SIMUNIC on the other hand cost us the first goal as he ducked and let sheva score.'
I agree 100%…
I have argued with Croatiafan after numerous games due to the fact that he hadnt watched the match. However, this guy knows his shit.
Bottom line, Pletikosa didnt deserve a start after going more than a month without action. Bilic had no choice but to start Runje. Remember, no one on Croatia knows who Galinovic is. Galinovic should be introduced gradually.. a friendly.. then on the bench, then a start… A keeper doesnt just save goals, he directs the defense… something Runje did brilliantly, because he knows each and every player and they have trust in him.
'i plea the fifth'
funny stuff…haha
@Ivica
'Goalie Situation is bad: a) stay with runje- yikes b)back to Pletikosa- after yesterday, I am definitely for this c) an untested (at NT Level) Galinovic- not worth the gamble'
Great analysis.. however,
'One thing is certain. our next qualifying campaign is going to be under with a new man between the posts'….
This is not certain… If Galinovic doesnt get the call, Subasic has no chance, this leaves Runje or Pleti… Could go either way…
Also, keeper is not what worries me..
'WE CAN DO THIS!!'
yes, they need to start by turning off their cell phones…
re: Ivica Thanks for applauding one of my comments. Nice to know theres one of you out there lol. Regards Pletikosa he may not get a transfer. And Subasic has Hajduk's Number 1 jersey so can't go back there. If Pletikosa doesn't get a transfer should we still play him? I think Galinovic deserves a game in our next friendly. Pletikosa can play one half and he can play the other half. I can't see what we got to lose in experimenting with that. Galinovic's confidence must also be through the roof after the season he just had. He went to Panathanaikos just to be a reserve keeper from little Osijek and he eventually took the number 1 jersey. He must believe he can conquer the national team as well. Yeah i don't think we should worry. I had a bad feeling about Ukraine as its just those Dinamo Kiev guys in there team has improved them a lot. Not the same time as in last qualifying campaign. If we played right team and prepared better we could have turned them over though. But is gone now. Next games are must win. Again Belarus is a tough side, but the players know now it won't just happen for them by chance. They got to work. Slaven Bilic is also going nowhere so he has to find the answer.
"We can still qualify. Not over yet"- croatiafan:)
thank you, some one still has hope.
Goalie Situation is bad: a) stay with runje- yikes b)back to Pletikosa- after yesterday, I am definitely for this c) an untested (at NT Level) Galinovic- not worth the gamble
One thing is certain. our next qualifying campaign is going to be under with a new man between the posts, but lets save that for another day. WE CAN DO THIS!!
Quite the contrary. I am actually very entertained by your comments when there is some kind of substance behind them.
I can't believe you opted to plead the fifth earlier today.
I only told croatiafan:) to cool down because he was venting at an incredible pace. Not that there's anything wrong with that, we actually welcome it. It was a joke. We laugh at jokes. And at your jokes CB.
Hehe! Nah i'm cool about this result. Its okay as long as we do a job against Belarus and Ukraine. Actually i quite like Sheva's goal. Despite our bad defending. That was a nice run and header. I thought he was finished but i guess class is permanent. Certainly showed me.
hehe sadly i haven't got alien TV to pick up Croatia Ukraine just the bog standard Sky and Domestic English stuff. I can tell you about the England and Kazakhstan game though. am i allowed to comment on that? In summary basically Kazakstan looked very comfortable whilst managed to concede 4 very soft goals. The most embarrassing moment was Beckham coming on as sub being applauded in mass by loads of Kazaks. Winking at the camera and posing like David Hasselhoff and then he put in the most stinky performance ever. It pains me to see England cruising like this. We've been sadly humbled. Best to go back to the training ground and do some hard work. We can still qualify. Not over yet.
Also i never said Petric play good bad or indifferent. I said he SEEMED to play alright. Which means he actually moved around this time unlike against England and the Euro's. Also i can't comment on the whole match but if we played top class then why are we drawing with Ukraine now twice. You think we can't play better than this. We can goalkeep better, defend better, create better and be more clinical. I mean look at Luka's goal – its very lucky. Thats not a good strike from him. Luka not got a powerful shot. Finishing has to be crisper than that. Also sorry but Petric pulled that shot he didn't hit it cleanly. Klasnic is a goalscorer so we should use him as sub. Also i know Mandza's game as a Dinamofan – i can just tell what he did in this game. Nice touches ran at players and held up the ball well. I know Mandza does all that. He's great at it, but he's not a number 9. We needed a scorer and we didn't bring one on. Still can't see what your disagreeing with. Also Denis said Ukraine are a joke side who cannot live with Croatia. Well in reflection this team has scored two very well crafted goals away from home. One thing for sure is that they are better than Romania who have no chance of qualifying. I always said Ukraine needed dealing with and that you can't mess around with them. If we played so great apparently we should be thrashing this team. Sorry but i'll say my initial point again. Not satisfied. Need to roll up our sleeves analyse our team and beat Belarus twice and England.
As for Pletikosa – he was bombed out of Shaktar Donetsk and now Spartak Moscow for a reason. Tell me what the guy has actually done since he left Croatia. Does his club form even justify him being first choice? We've given him benefit of the doubt long enough. Time for him to be dropped till he starts playing each week at club level. Also Pletikosa was 100% a joke against England. I wouldn't be so confident he'd have been better. As for Simunic he is just like Tomas and Zivkovic in that he will occasionally not concentrate all do something absolutely mad. I wouldn't trust him entirely in the centre. He should go to left back and protect Modric and Kranjcar just like in the Euro qualifying so we can have Sablic and Krizanac in the centre of defence. As for Kovac i'm sorry but check out that second goal its in his area. He's the right sided central defender. Its his responsibility. If that was Vidic he'd have cleared that whole zone completely, but we don't have agressive guys like that in the centre. Also even if Kovac played okay somewhat he's 35 why do we need to keep churning him out till the game eventually catches up with him. Do we have to wait to act? Why don't we just change things before they come back to haunt us. And this is a Dinamo Zagreb fan talking.
Re: Andrew/ Ciganski Er what?? Very hard to see the game when nobody is showing it here. However am sure i know Croatia 100% more than you do. A lot of the fans here don't even follow the Croatian league. Nobody needs to tell me about these players i watch them each week. Is it hard to work out that a goalkeeper relegated with Lens is not better than a keeper than one that reaches the later stages of the Champions league Galinovic.
I can't even see what you disagree. Aren't you just the people with a chip on your shoulder who i disagreed with previous still having a mardy lol!
What exactly do you disagree with? That Runje had a bad game? That Belarus aren't a serious team? That we should be beating Ukraine? What exactly is your problem here. You don't exactly say!
Yes cigan your analysis of the game is very good. Top class i agree with everything you say. Its as though we watched the game together. Croatiafan you definitely should not be talking because you have no basis of opinion, all you have seen is replays of key plays. Not the small things that actually determine how they play. They didn't show Petric running around for 90 minutes in the replay right? As I said in a earlier post Pletikosa needs to come back for the next game because they will all be on equal grounds since they are all not playing and just training.
at croatiafan's first comment. Ok first of all..YOU DIDNT EVEN WATCH THE GAME so dont make any comments whatsoever of performance of our players. Petric played well and surpirsingly constantly hustled and ran for the ball. He had a thunderous strike at the end that hit the post..but what are you gonna do. As for robert kovac…ya hes gotta go but in this game he was pretty stable..SIMUNIC on the other hand cost us the first goal as he ducked and let sheva score. And we didnt just play allright..in the second half we were really showing our colors after modric's equalizer but we were just so unlucky..and why would u take out pletikosa?? he is much better than runje and probably would have saved sheva's shot or atleast punched out the cross….
I don't know if any of you remember but there were a lot of people that wanted Runje starting, not including myself. I still think that Pletikosa should get the start against Belarus in August. He'll be training the whole summer and it's not like he will be missing out on games because there are no. If not Galinovic should get a chance.
If the Savez really wants to shake things up they will fire Bilic but at this point I think they will stick with him. If they had lost today Bilic would be a goner already.
Croatia might also have a chance to finish ahead of Bosnia for a spot in the top 8 second place teams.
Maybe I'm being very optimistic but I don't see any reason to count Croatia out at this point.
I agree with some of the comments about Runje. I don't think he had any confidence after Ukraine scored the first goal and there were a few other situations where he was very lucky to not let another goal go by.
Doesn't sound like there is much love for Juric. I never saw the justification for him going straight in the team over Vuko, but i think he'd still be a decent squad player. Although having said i want Gregory Sertic in there. Despite that he's played for the Under 21's in France we can still get him:)
Ukraine have got lucky so far. I think it must run out somewhere. We have stuck there post three times in the two games and were the better side. In addition they won the Belarus game with a very lucky penalty which they should never have got in the last minute. I think there luck cannot last. Yes agree 100% Bilic has made bad decisions. Again he has no faith in Kalinic so why call him up. Send him back down to the Under 21s as he doesn't use him. Also Kovac and Runje got to go. I think Bilic called on Runje as a friend. They are friends as is Vejic. Its not a way to pick a team. Runje is small and is therefore not confident coming for balls from crosses. That is not something you can do at this level. I'd just throw Galinovic straight in there and am sure he'll come good. I'd even get Didiluca back in there on the bench and would take out Pleti and Runje altogether. Pleikosa has in all truth been poor at club level. He's only really done well playing for Croatia. He's not really had much of a club career. He's in limbo just now so can see why Bilic made the change. He was just at fault against England, but Runje now has let in 5 goals in 2 important qualifiers counting the Isreal game. I think we need to give another guy a chance. Plus Drpic has gone to Karlsruhre permanently now so thats another second division player in our squad.
The matches that Ukraine and Croatia will play against England are crucial. Croatia must match or beat Ukraine's result against England.
If Croatia beats Belarus twice and Kazakhstan once more (assuming Ukraine wins all their matches against Belarus and Kazakhstan) and beats Ukraine's result against England, then they will take second. If they match Ukraine's result, it will go down to goal difference and hopefully Croatia can take advantage of the match against Kazakhstan to get their goal difference as high as possible.
When you look at the other groups, Scotland (group 9, only 5 countries) will probably grab 6 more points in their final 3 matches. If that's the case, when you don't count the points that Croatia grabbed against Andorra, Croatia will probably finish a point ahead of Scotland to grab a playoff spot. If Scotland manages a draw against the Netherlands, it would go down to goal difference. If Scotland beats the Netherlands, Croatia probably won't have much hope to get a spot in the playoffs.
I think that you are being a little to pessimistic Rob. I personally think that we are in the drivers seat for second place. We'll have to count on England to beat Ukraine and hopefully for Belarus to get a point off them. The games that will decide if we are going to the World Cup are the two against Belarus. If we win both in a row it will give us some much needed confidence and then maybe we can push for some points Wembley.
As for the game today I don't think Juric should play again, Vuk looked good and he should be starting from now on. For all you fans of Runje that were pushing him, good call, because he blew the game. Besides Runje I think that Bilic also lost us the game, a better starting lineup and better subs would have won us the game. But as I said we still SHOULD qualify.
I hear your Croatiafan, but its not 'comparing' that I'm worried about…I just feel like Ukraine getting a result (or at least keeping it close at home) is more likely then Croatia getting a result at Wembley.
I do agree with you re: Belarus, their two games vs us and Ukraine will likely ultimately decide second place.
However, as much as I love Dudu, I fear we will no longer be able to trust his health/fitness, and therefore be able to count on him the same way anymore.
I hope beyond hope that I am wrong, but that is just how I feel about him.
Agreed that it is not "over" per say, but we are now on our backfoot, in my opinion.
I don't agree with you there Rob we aren't done yet. We need Eduardo inspired wins against Belarus and a draw or win against England. When we have our strongest team out we are okay – but Runje, Kovac, Kalinic can be jettisoned as far as i'm concerned. Runje and Kovac's time has gone. Its hard on Runje as he was a good keeper, but he should have been called up in the old days. But Butina has moved on and so should he. At 35 Kovac has had his time in the sun too. I also don't think that comparing results against England is useful as we were down to ten men. As for Ukraine as i said they are serious side, but we just need to roll our sleeves up and keep going. I mandate is simple beat Belarus twice as i think Belarus can do us a favor against Ukraine. I like Belarus they will damage someone along the way. They have all the answers to this qualification.
We are probably done…consider the fact Croatia lost 4-1 at HOME to england, and Ukraine lost to england 2-1 IN england….does not help the goal difference.
Croatia battled hard today, tough luck and shoddy defence will quite possibly cost them a birth in the world cup…..oh well, what's done is done.
Hard to fault the players, they battled hard….good effort.
We are probably done…consider the fact Croatia lost 4-1 at HOME to england, and Ukraine lost to england 2-1 IN england….does not help the goal difference.
Croatia battled hard today, tough luck and shoddy defence will quite possibly cost them a birth in the world cup…..oh well, what's done is done.
Hard to fault the players, they battled hard….good effort.
Not satisfied. Sounds like we played alright, but we had to win. Chance to beat Ukraine has gone now and they haven't finished playing Andorra yet. Great looks like we are gonna need to beat a team twice (Belarus) that has scored 10 in its last two games and beat or draw with England away. Where was the defending? Sooner we get Kovac out and Krizanac and Sablic in the better. Did Runje really work? Me thinks time for Galinovic. Can't see how its any worse. Although Petric played okay and got a tap in we had no goalscorer when we needed one. He should have subbed in Klasnic rather than Mandza. We need September to come around. We need a fully fit Eduardo and Kranjcar and Galinovic has to be between the sticks. I'm not gonna talk about Ruki or Bilic, but at least next season they will be on a equal status with Kalinic and Mandza who won't get an advantage through playing in a inferior league. A fair fight for places between those four is healthy for the national team. And could be poss that Cvitanich is eligble for Croatia next year. I think Jol will make him into a player. I must admit to coming home from work looking at bit disappointed at this score. Love to see the highlights as only seen reports so far.
A draw is a bit disappointing but it should do. However, I was delighted to see that Croatia's offense really turned it up in the second half. Despite hitting the post I think Modrić played terrifically. Hopefully they can improve even more for the match against in England in September…..
@Nick Raspović
Welcome welcome. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts with us.
'I guess we can only wait and see…..'
well said…. there is no need to look at every match and what ifs… We are no Germany… Croatian discipline is our kryptonite. Every since that draw in Malta, nothing is guaranteed with Croatia…
@Croatiafan
I agree with you 'we are not done yet'
'Ukraine have got lucky so far. I think it must run out somewhere.'
Key word here is 'must'… However, when and if it will run out is the question.
Ukraine luckily qualified for the world cup 2006, winning every game 1-0… some goals coming ala shevchenko in the final seconds of the game. Greece outplayed them both games and lost points and ultimately qualification.
I dont think its fair to blame Runje for the loss.. Galinovic wouldnt have changed the result.
Drpic is a joke…
didulica has quit international competition. Smart man. He realized the politics that goes on with the HNS and quickly removed his name from the national team. You will see Galinovic in a red and white shirt before you see didulica
would be wise to lock up Sertic before the French take him. however, this kid cant help Croatia right now.
I agree with you on Kovac.. hes done… we need fresh new blood..
@Rob
Croatia have known to make something out of nothing in the past. World Cup 98, we needed Denmark to get a result in Greece for us to qualify. Less than a year later, Croatia gets bronze in World Cup 98 France… Croatia neding a voctory at home to Belgium in final game world cup qualifier 2002…
Ukraine's luck is sure to run out soon. i still expect changes for Belarus.
We are not done yet.
@Andrew
I agree, we shouldn't be pessimistic. Football is a game of luck as much as skill. A post or a goal could be the difference in winning the world cup to going out in the first round.
'If we win both in a row it will give us some much needed confidence and then maybe we can push for some points Wembley.'
Wembley is almost out of the question. Even if England qualifies, they will be hungry to knock us out.
vuki looked good cause he plays in Ukraine and is used to playing against Shakhtar and with Dynamo players. without a doubt a mistake by Bilic not to start Vuki.
Juric can still play an important role for Croatia.
Ultimately, qualification is still in our hands. If players will be on cell phones before the game, during practice breaks, then we deserve to stay home. Without communication we are doomed, just like in any relationship.
@Ciganski Bosanac
'SIMUNIC on the other hand cost us the first goal as he ducked and let sheva score.'
I agree 100%…
I have argued with Croatiafan after numerous games due to the fact that he hadnt watched the match. However, this guy knows his shit.
Bottom line, Pletikosa didnt deserve a start after going more than a month without action. Bilic had no choice but to start Runje.
Remember, no one on Croatia knows who Galinovic is. Galinovic should be introduced gradually.. a friendly.. then on the bench, then a start… A keeper doesnt just save goals, he directs the defense… something Runje did brilliantly, because he knows each and every player and they have trust in him.
'i plea the fifth'
funny stuff…haha
@Ivica
'Goalie Situation is bad:
a) stay with runje- yikes
b)back to Pletikosa- after yesterday, I am definitely for this
c) an untested (at NT Level) Galinovic- not worth the gamble'
Great analysis.. however,
'One thing is certain. our next qualifying campaign is going to be under with a new man between the posts'….
This is not certain… If Galinovic doesnt get the call, Subasic has no chance, this leaves Runje or Pleti… Could go either way…
Also, keeper is not what worries me..
'WE CAN DO THIS!!'
yes, they need to start by turning off their cell phones…
good stuff guys!
What's the fifth? I know the first, second, third and fourth, but not the fifth.
re: Ivica
Thanks for applauding one of my comments. Nice to know theres one of you out there lol.
Regards Pletikosa he may not get a transfer. And Subasic has Hajduk's Number 1 jersey so can't go back there. If Pletikosa doesn't get a transfer should we still play him?
I think Galinovic deserves a game in our next friendly. Pletikosa can play one half and he can play the other half. I can't see what we got to lose in experimenting with that.
Galinovic's confidence must also be through the roof after the season he just had. He went to Panathanaikos just to be a reserve keeper from little Osijek and he eventually took the number 1 jersey. He must believe he can conquer the national team as well.
Yeah i don't think we should worry. I had a bad feeling about Ukraine as its just those Dinamo Kiev guys in there team has improved them a lot. Not the same time as in last qualifying campaign. If we played right team and prepared better we could have turned them over though. But is gone now. Next games are must win. Again Belarus is a tough side, but the players know now it won't just happen for them by chance. They got to work. Slaven Bilic is also going nowhere so he has to find the answer.
"We can still qualify. Not over yet"- croatiafan:)
thank you, some one still has hope.
Goalie Situation is bad:
a) stay with runje- yikes
b)back to Pletikosa- after yesterday, I am definitely for this
c) an untested (at NT Level) Galinovic- not worth the gamble
One thing is certain. our next qualifying campaign is going to be under with a new man between the posts, but lets save that for another day. WE CAN DO THIS!!
Quite the contrary. I am actually very entertained by your comments when there is some kind of substance behind them.
I can't believe you opted to plead the fifth earlier today.
I only told croatiafan:) to cool down because he was venting at an incredible pace. Not that there's anything wrong with that, we actually welcome it. It was a joke. We laugh at jokes. And at your jokes CB.
ante u only think croatiafan is on fire because you dislike my comments
Hehe! Nah i'm cool about this result. Its okay as long as we do a job against Belarus and Ukraine. Actually i quite like Sheva's goal. Despite our bad defending. That was a nice run and header. I thought he was finished but i guess class is permanent. Certainly showed me.
@ croatiafan:),
YOU ARE ON FIRE RIGHT NOW!!
Just remember that a fire extinguisher is not yet at CSR's disposal. We need you for the long run. We're all a little annoyed right now.
hehe sadly i haven't got alien TV to pick up Croatia Ukraine just the bog standard Sky and Domestic English stuff. I can tell you about the England and Kazakhstan game though. am i allowed to comment on that? In summary basically Kazakstan looked very comfortable whilst managed to concede 4 very soft goals. The most embarrassing moment was Beckham coming on as sub being applauded in mass by loads of Kazaks. Winking at the camera and posing like David Hasselhoff and then he put in the most stinky performance ever. It pains me to see England cruising like this. We've been sadly humbled. Best to go back to the training ground and do some hard work. We can still qualify. Not over yet.
i plea the fifth
Also i never said Petric play good bad or indifferent. I said he SEEMED to play alright. Which means he actually moved around this time unlike against England and the Euro's. Also i can't comment on the whole match but if we played top class then why are we drawing with Ukraine now twice. You think we can't play better than this. We can goalkeep better, defend better, create better and be more clinical. I mean look at Luka's goal – its very lucky. Thats not a good strike from him. Luka not got a powerful shot. Finishing has to be crisper than that. Also sorry but Petric pulled that shot he didn't hit it cleanly. Klasnic is a goalscorer so we should use him as sub. Also i know Mandza's game as a Dinamofan – i can just tell what he did in this game. Nice touches ran at players and held up the ball well. I know Mandza does all that. He's great at it, but he's not a number 9. We needed a scorer and we didn't bring one on. Still can't see what your disagreeing with.
Also Denis said Ukraine are a joke side who cannot live with Croatia. Well in reflection this team has scored two very well crafted goals away from home. One thing for sure is that they are better than Romania who have no chance of qualifying. I always said Ukraine needed dealing with and that you can't mess around with them. If we played so great apparently we should be thrashing this team. Sorry but i'll say my initial point again. Not satisfied. Need to roll up our sleeves analyse our team and beat Belarus twice and England.
As for Pletikosa – he was bombed out of Shaktar Donetsk and now Spartak Moscow for a reason. Tell me what the guy has actually done since he left Croatia. Does his club form even justify him being first choice? We've given him benefit of the doubt long enough. Time for him to be dropped till he starts playing each week at club level. Also Pletikosa was 100% a joke against England. I wouldn't be so confident he'd have been better.
As for Simunic he is just like Tomas and Zivkovic in that he will occasionally not concentrate all do something absolutely mad. I wouldn't trust him entirely in the centre. He should go to left back and protect Modric and Kranjcar just like in the Euro qualifying so we can have Sablic and Krizanac in the centre of defence. As for Kovac i'm sorry but check out that second goal its in his area. He's the right sided central defender. Its his responsibility. If that was Vidic he'd have cleared that whole zone completely, but we don't have agressive guys like that in the centre. Also even if Kovac played okay somewhat he's 35 why do we need to keep churning him out till the game eventually catches up with him. Do we have to wait to act? Why don't we just change things before they come back to haunt us. And this is a Dinamo Zagreb fan talking.
Re: Andrew/ Ciganski
Er what?? Very hard to see the game when nobody is showing it here. However am sure i know Croatia 100% more than you do. A lot of the fans here don't even follow the Croatian league. Nobody needs to tell me about these players i watch them each week. Is it hard to work out that a goalkeeper relegated with Lens is not better than a keeper than one that reaches the later stages of the Champions league Galinovic.
I can't even see what you disagree. Aren't you just the people with a chip on your shoulder who i disagreed with previous still having a mardy lol!
What exactly do you disagree with? That Runje had a bad game? That Belarus aren't a serious team? That we should be beating Ukraine? What exactly is your problem here. You don't exactly say!
Yes cigan your analysis of the game is very good. Top class i agree with everything you say. Its as though we watched the game together. Croatiafan you definitely should not be talking because you have no basis of opinion, all you have seen is replays of key plays. Not the small things that actually determine how they play. They didn't show Petric running around for 90 minutes in the replay right?
As I said in a earlier post Pletikosa needs to come back for the next game because they will all be on equal grounds since they are all not playing and just training.
at croatiafan's first comment. Ok first of all..YOU DIDNT EVEN WATCH THE GAME so dont make any comments whatsoever of performance of our players. Petric played well and surpirsingly constantly hustled and ran for the ball. He had a thunderous strike at the end that hit the post..but what are you gonna do. As for robert kovac…ya hes gotta go but in this game he was pretty stable..SIMUNIC on the other hand cost us the first goal as he ducked and let sheva score.
And we didnt just play allright..in the second half we were really showing our colors after modric's equalizer but we were just so unlucky..and why would u take out pletikosa?? he is much better than runje and probably would have saved sheva's shot or atleast punched out the cross….
P.S. You should change your name to BosnaFan
I don't know if any of you remember but there were a lot of people that wanted Runje starting, not including myself. I still think that Pletikosa should get the start against Belarus in August. He'll be training the whole summer and it's not like he will be missing out on games because there are no. If not Galinovic should get a chance.
If the Savez really wants to shake things up they will fire Bilic but at this point I think they will stick with him. If they had lost today Bilic would be a goner already.
Croatia might also have a chance to finish ahead of Bosnia for a spot in the top 8 second place teams.
Maybe I'm being very optimistic but I don't see any reason to count Croatia out at this point.
I agree with some of the comments about Runje. I don't think he had any confidence after Ukraine scored the first goal and there were a few other situations where he was very lucky to not let another goal go by.
Doesn't sound like there is much love for Juric. I never saw the justification for him going straight in the team over Vuko, but i think he'd still be a decent squad player. Although having said i want Gregory Sertic in there. Despite that he's played for the Under 21's in France we can still get him:)
Ukraine have got lucky so far. I think it must run out somewhere. We have stuck there post three times in the two games and were the better side. In addition they won the Belarus game with a very lucky penalty which they should never have got in the last minute. I think there luck cannot last.
Yes agree 100% Bilic has made bad decisions. Again he has no faith in Kalinic so why call him up. Send him back down to the Under 21s as he doesn't use him. Also Kovac and Runje got to go. I think Bilic called on Runje as a friend. They are friends as is Vejic. Its not a way to pick a team. Runje is small and is therefore not confident coming for balls from crosses. That is not something you can do at this level. I'd just throw Galinovic straight in there and am sure he'll come good. I'd even get Didiluca back in there on the bench and would take out Pleti and Runje altogether. Pleikosa has in all truth been poor at club level. He's only really done well playing for Croatia. He's not really had much of a club career. He's in limbo just now so can see why Bilic made the change. He was just at fault against England, but Runje now has let in 5 goals in 2 important qualifiers counting the Isreal game. I think we need to give another guy a chance.
Plus Drpic has gone to Karlsruhre permanently now so thats another second division player in our squad.
The matches that Ukraine and Croatia will play against England are crucial. Croatia must match or beat Ukraine's result against England.
If Croatia beats Belarus twice and Kazakhstan once more (assuming Ukraine wins all their matches against Belarus and Kazakhstan) and beats Ukraine's result against England, then they will take second. If they match Ukraine's result, it will go down to goal difference and hopefully Croatia can take advantage of the match against Kazakhstan to get their goal difference as high as possible.
When you look at the other groups, Scotland (group 9, only 5 countries) will probably grab 6 more points in their final 3 matches. If that's the case, when you don't count the points that Croatia grabbed against Andorra, Croatia will probably finish a point ahead of Scotland to grab a playoff spot. If Scotland manages a draw against the Netherlands, it would go down to goal difference. If Scotland beats the Netherlands, Croatia probably won't have much hope to get a spot in the playoffs.
I guess we can only wait and see…..
I think that you are being a little to pessimistic Rob. I personally think that we are in the drivers seat for second place. We'll have to count on England to beat Ukraine and hopefully for Belarus to get a point off them. The games that will decide if we are going to the World Cup are the two against Belarus. If we win both in a row it will give us some much needed confidence and then maybe we can push for some points Wembley.
As for the game today I don't think Juric should play again, Vuk looked good and he should be starting from now on. For all you fans of Runje that were pushing him, good call, because he blew the game. Besides Runje I think that Bilic also lost us the game, a better starting lineup and better subs would have won us the game. But as I said we still SHOULD qualify.
I hear your Croatiafan, but its not 'comparing' that I'm worried about…I just feel like Ukraine getting a result (or at least keeping it close at home) is more likely then Croatia getting a result at Wembley.
I do agree with you re: Belarus, their two games vs us and Ukraine will likely ultimately decide second place.
However, as much as I love Dudu, I fear we will no longer be able to trust his health/fitness, and therefore be able to count on him the same way anymore.
I hope beyond hope that I am wrong, but that is just how I feel about him.
Agreed that it is not "over" per say, but we are now on our backfoot, in my opinion.
I don't agree with you there Rob we aren't done yet. We need Eduardo inspired wins against Belarus and a draw or win against England. When we have our strongest team out we are okay – but Runje, Kovac, Kalinic can be jettisoned as far as i'm concerned. Runje and Kovac's time has gone. Its hard on Runje as he was a good keeper, but he should have been called up in the old days. But Butina has moved on and so should he. At 35 Kovac has had his time in the sun too. I also don't think that comparing results against England is useful as we were down to ten men. As for Ukraine as i said they are serious side, but we just need to roll our sleeves up and keep going. I mandate is simple beat Belarus twice as i think Belarus can do us a favor against Ukraine. I like Belarus they will damage someone along the way. They have all the answers to this qualification.
Sorry for the double post guys.
We are probably done…consider the fact Croatia lost 4-1 at HOME to england, and Ukraine lost to england 2-1 IN england….does not help the goal difference.
Croatia battled hard today, tough luck and shoddy defence will quite possibly cost them a birth in the world cup…..oh well, what's done is done.
Hard to fault the players, they battled hard….good effort.
Here's hoping for the best.
We are probably done…consider the fact Croatia lost 4-1 at HOME to england, and Ukraine lost to england 2-1 IN england….does not help the goal difference.
Croatia battled hard today, tough luck and shoddy defence will quite possibly cost them a birth in the world cup…..oh well, what's done is done.
Hard to fault the players, they battled hard….good effort.
Here's hoping for the best.
Not satisfied. Sounds like we played alright, but we had to win. Chance to beat Ukraine has gone now and they haven't finished playing Andorra yet. Great looks like we are gonna need to beat a team twice (Belarus) that has scored 10 in its last two games and beat or draw with England away. Where was the defending? Sooner we get Kovac out and Krizanac and Sablic in the better. Did Runje really work? Me thinks time for Galinovic. Can't see how its any worse. Although Petric played okay and got a tap in we had no goalscorer when we needed one. He should have subbed in Klasnic rather than Mandza.
We need September to come around. We need a fully fit Eduardo and Kranjcar and Galinovic has to be between the sticks. I'm not gonna talk about Ruki or Bilic, but at least next season they will be on a equal status with Kalinic and Mandza who won't get an advantage through playing in a inferior league. A fair fight for places between those four is healthy for the national team. And could be poss that Cvitanich is eligble for Croatia next year. I think Jol will make him into a player. I must admit to coming home from work looking at bit disappointed at this score. Love to see the highlights as only seen reports so far.
A draw is a bit disappointing but it should do. However, I was delighted to see that Croatia's offense really turned it up in the second half. Despite hitting the post I think Modrić played terrifically. Hopefully they can improve even more for the match against in England in September…..