Lots can be said about today’s embarrassing defeat to Austria in the Nations League. Regardless of the situation, 3-0 is never a desirable score to lose by. However, it’s really not the end of the world – actually, it’s hardly a problem at all if you examine the loss with a clear and open mind.
Again and again, this Croatian side continues to prove that they don’t give a damn about friendlies – glorified or not. On the other hand, the squad will step it up when they have to. They’ve shown that time and time again, beating Scotland in the Euro, Russia in World Cup Qualifiers, good competition in the Euro 2020 Qualifiers, a whole bunch of solid teams in the 2018 World Cup. Before the 2018 World Cup (don’t forget about our glorious silver medal), the Vatreni fell short to both Peru and Brazil in scoreless fashion. Do we ever talk about those games now? No! In 2018-19, Croatia lost to Tunisia and Hungary, drew with Azerbaijan, and scraped narrow victories against Jordan and Georgia. How often do we mention those matches nowadays? Never, because Croatia went on to qualify for every single major tournament since. And how about this one – 6-0 loss to Spain, fresh off World Cup silver, in the glorious, wonderful UEFA Nations League. Doesn’t matter now, folks! And it didn’t matter a week prior to the defeat either.
I want this team to win just as much as anyone, but sometimes, as supporters, we need to take a step back and be rational. Zlatko Dalić’s father passed away this week unfortunately. Managing a national team only a few days later cannot be an easy task. Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić, and Joško Gvardiol were not amongst the starting XI – the three best players in their respective positions. Chances are, all three will be fit by the time November rolls around. Nothing was in our favor, and although we probably should have beaten Austria on home turf, it’s unlikely that the Croatian National Team extended any extra effort into ensuring a victory today in a glorified friendly.
The Vatreni play France next, and will most certainly pour quite a bit more effort into that match. We all want to beat France and get some taste of revenge from the 2018 World Cup final. Surely, Poljud will be electric and Modrić should get the nod to start the match. Expect to see a better performance from Sosa and Pašalić vs. France, as they hardly play two poor matches in a row. Duje Ćaleta-Car and Marin Pongračić should be a little more awake after a blunder of a performance against Austria, and who knows, maybe we can score a goal too at some point?
Hey, France and Belgium lost embarrassingly on home turf too. End of the world for them? Not at all. For us? Most certainly not. If the Vatreni manage to beat France at Poljud on Monday, all these frustrating emotions will disappear.
Now please, take your anger out on my optimistic writing in the comment section below. 😉
[…] If you’re asking how Croatia were defeated 3-0 on home soil against an Austrian side, I can absolutely justify it in the next few thoughts. With that said, please know CroatianSports.com was not worried about the loss to Austria. […]
VAR strikes again. Clear penalty should have been given to Ukraine. Again, the call depends on who is playing. FIFA is Russia friendly. They only banned them from the playoffs because the other teams refused to play them.
Your comment cannot be proven or disproven therefore it makes not sense to entertain it.
So you are in favor of punishing innocent athletes for the politics of their government? Then maybe Ukrainian athletes should be banned for the political stupidity of their government “leaders”.
Turns out liga nacija matters for euro qualifying if croatia finish 4th or worse third place then they fall to pot 2 and can get a bigger team and a tricky pot 3 team.
I’ve been saying this the whole time to people who claim these games don’t matter. I understand that we are not gonna get 100% in these types of games but a 3-0 loss at home to what is supposed to be your easy game, is not acceptable. We’ve been on the fringe of pot 1 teams when it comes to draws for some time now. With Luka most likely hanging them up soon, I hate to say it, but we are gonna need all the help we can get to qualify moving forward. Things are not gonna be so clear cut where we look at a group and say we most likely will qualify comfortably. Although fifa and UEFA adding teams to tournaments should help.
I didn’t realize that BOTH Dalić and Deschamps’ fathers died on the same day.
Both coaches had to leave their team camps for the respective funerals.
Our defence is the biggest problem. They say forwards win matches but a good, strong defence wins tournaments. We do not have a good goalkeeper, and in my opinion unfortunately we have to stick with Livakovic as he is the most experienced. Also not sure what is wrong with Lovren and his injury ? But if fit and playing regularly he needs to partner Gvardiol in the middle of our defence.
DCC is slightly overweight and slow. Pongracic is not a regular at Dortmund.
We need to try out Martin Erlic and see how he goes. Vrsaljko also needs to come in for Juranovic, providing he is fit and playing for his club side.
I see that Stanisic, Josip Sutalo and Sucic are joining the first team.
I have no problem with Sucic, however Stanisic and Josip Sutalo struggle in our Under 21 team. They were terrible in recent matches against Finland and few days ago against Norway. I would have called up Roko Simic as he deserves a chance in the absence of Musa and Livaja.
Everybody needs to relax!!
The nations league is practice, literally!!
DALIC is coach whether you like it or not it’s too late to change that now. Once again we need to use these games to make much needed adjustments and finalize our strategy/formations and starters!! Give hungry players a chance and create the best overall team. We really need these games to figure everything out. As long as there is no injuries and we learn who’s ready to step up and play we are good. Winning is a plus but it’s Secondary. These games matter for the sake of tryouts not winning. Give the young guns a shot and see who’s ready to play on the big stage.
These NL matches are important. They will determine seedings for EURO 2024. At the moment we are in Pot 2 for EURO 2024 draw. If we come third in the group we will most likely be seeded and avoid stronger countries in the EURO 2024 draw. From what I have read the Draw will be held in December 2022 ?
Fair, but the results still count towards your placement in the Euro Cup among other things you can get relegated. It still counts towards something, and there is a title involved,l for.thw winner, so your not getting nothing out of the tourney either.
The other side of this is, if the players are playing this poorly now, how will they be playing come World Cup?They have to show some initiative and some meshing together of sorts.
In a way it’s like saying you prefer the World Cup to the Eurocup and therefore you only try during the World Cup when really you should be putting your best foot forward for both.
WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO TELL YOUR OWN PEOPLE THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES, CITIES, COUNTRIES?
The ONLY thing that matters is that we can never have another black on our team EVER. What are you afraid of? some other white country who think they can go to war with us pro-whites and use blacks against US?
Do you need a hug Nikola? You seem disheveled
Is that a refutation of what I said or an admission you can’t refute me? What’s the matter, you don’t like when someone shows balls b/c it makes you think of your own moral cowardice?
Saying this doesn’t matter or recalling other bad games is denial. The team as a whole team and the coach is lame. Cheap HNS for not spending money on a professional foreign coach and lazy untalented players is the bottom line. Croat coaches are just actors who pretend they know what they are doing.
You were saying the same things leading up to the ’18 WC. You’re a defeatist, as soon as something goes wrong you turn on your kind and call it “objectivity”.
The info posted above doesn’t support the opinion of the headline. Denmark edging France with two late goals was not an upset. Danska is ranked #11 and probably would have won last year’s Euro, had it had not been for the horrific penalty call vs Italy in the semi’s.
Getting blown out by Austria (ranked #35) is embarrassing. Or, shall we saw “sramota’? They controlled the whole second half and toyed with us.
The friendlies are a chance for the “fringe” players to show what they can do in the post-Modric era. Once again, NO ONE stepped up when he’s on the bench at the start of a match. We knew we had no forwards for the past 4 years, so this is not surprising. What is disappointing is that the defense was repeatedly shredded after the 30 minute mark.
Pongrancic should never had been called for this event after his horrific match vs Slovenia in March. For DCC, it was a chance to step up but he laid an egg instead.
Even when we had lulls in the past (I called it the “Dadso Prso” and “Ivan Klasnic” years), we were always solid defensively, no matter who we put on the backline. Last year, we got shredded 6-0.
Again, very disappointing that the team cannot do ANYTHING in any match where Modric (and Perisic) don’t start.
This mentality of “it’s a non meaningless game and we should savour our energy” for the World Cup or against France are laughable and inexcusable. Teams like Hungary, Denmark and Netherlands all managed to pull of victories against the odds and big dogs shows they have more heart. Im sick of this shit, “only a friendly, they had a long season, injuries, they are always rusty in the opening games”. It’s pathetic to lose at home and the way our fans were supporting the national team. I could hear a pin drop with that lifeless crowd. Get your shit together Dalic. Scrap the assistant coaches, resign and get better strategies. Modric & Perisic not playing isn’t a excuse for this result. We have an abundance of talent. Let’s utilize it…goalkeeping is weak, our centre backs are extremely weak too. Jurnaovic, Caleta-Car or Pongracic aren’t ready for national level yet. Prioritize our offence with putting Pasalic at the front. He’s tall, fast, and great heading the ball. Orsic or Brekalo on the wings possibly. Try using Budimir. Kramaric is horse shit. I’m already sweating knowing Livakovic is our best option at the WC with Grbic not getting enough experience.
“Jurnaovic, Caleta-Car or Pongracic aren’t ready for national level yet. ”
Pong sucks cuz he has no awareness, caleta turned fat and slow this year. jj is weak but fast. I want to see Vrsaljko and erlic next game.
“Prioritize our offence with putting Pasalic at the front. ”
if we play a 4-3-3, uptop pasalic is the only answer for us, as long as we play 2 wingers (orsic/brekalo).
“Kramaric is horse shit.”
nah, hes a good attacking player and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t follow the sport. Does midget krama play like shit when he plays uptop striker alone? YES! But thats not his fault, its dalics for putting him there. krama himself said multiple times hes an attacking mid. Krama needs to play with budimir/musa, if not, then dont play him at all
…in fact, Italy playing with their D team right now against Germany.
Even though he’s not Croatian, I think the Croatian National Team should adopt Hernan Cortez as their patron saint b/c Mr. Cortez was the epitome of the saying: “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”. Dude was the equivalent of an Alien from Mars to the people he encountered.
England lose to Hungary this nations league in summer proves team are not serious about this competition.
@razbijac 100 percent agree with you
I don’t think the Nations League should be scrapped. Simply send the B-Team, fringe players, young prospects etc. Guys that are hungry and have something to prove. Problem Solved!
None of this first team BS, cause they don’t wanna play after a long season.
CC is getting married THIS weekend, the last thing he wants to think about is playing against Austria. His head wasn’t there, shoulda given Erlic a shot in his place.
I was a big Duje supporter, but he really needs to step up.
He’s still better than Vida and Lovren…but Duje has gotten away with some lazy defending lately. I don’t watch Marseilles games, so I don’t know how his season has gone.
But I would like to see what some of these new guys (like Erlic) can do when they are paired with a superstar like Gvardiol.
Can’t have guys be this comfortable thinking their spots are guaranteed.
Again then send a B team imo to this league of nations if uefa doesnt force you to call stars simple teams should stick it to uefa and fifa.
Id reward hnl and croatian players who dont get call ups often.
Subaric Stanisic Sutalo Vuskovic Bockaj Krovinovic Misic Muric Ivanusec Orsic Beljo. And call Simic Sucic Sutalo Marin Biuk Melnjak Skoric and play with hnl national team with some u21s
You all have to realize how stupid you sound trying to discuss players who were missing or formations as to why we lose a Nations League match.
….because nobody – on either team – is giving 100%.
Croatia actually has a good chance to beat France in Split.
….because the French actually give less Fucks than we do.
And this is why this entire tournament should be scrapped.
It frustrates fans of good teams and gives false hope to the shit teams.
Let the players go on vacation.
End of story.
I wanted Rebic to be a star just as much as anybody………
I want Kramaric to be a star just as much………..
The reality is as long as Dalic is coach
(which I wish they would of already dumped him after euro) and Rebic seems stubborn, chances are his national team career has been jeopardized. Big waste of potential talent… very sad!!!
Kramaric on the other hand for some reason hasn’t clicked on yet. Let’s hope Kramaric can figure it out?
As far as the Austria game goes it’s ok because it is a throw away game and as long as we learned something from it (like Dalic has his work cut out for him) it should be fine. I’m just glad it’s not a World Cup game and we move on.
I really really really want Croatia to beat France on Monday. Even though it’s just nations league if the team pulls off a win it would be great for morale and would provide a much needed boost.
For heavens sake I hope we can find a working roster/formation were every player is at their best and is being utilized correctly. Also creating a strong off the bench team for subs. That’s what these nations league games should be used for. Winning is secondary, finding our team starters and backups and correct formation is priority for World Cup.
We have the players… I just hope we have the coach that can figure it out??????
Rebic aslong as Dalic is coach has no room in the team.
I feel that we are an open book as tactics go its always the same play from us. If perisic doesnt do something or some luka magic nista od nas.
I am a doe hard fan but since wc 2018 groblje smo hand to heart. Players out of position not doing what is asked of them.
Its funny he called sutalo stansic they were terrile vs norway with stanisic being subbed out
For me Simic Sucic are A team materialm hopefully simic gets first teir football experience this fall.
What is Dalic gonna do v france good question. Alot of reports maybe 3 5 2 will be played again these are not meaningfull games i understand but we need atleast play well get some results losing by 3 4 goals is painfull.
Vs france im reading vida erlic sutalo will play how they never played together i dont get it CC is slow and worse version of lovren.
I dont know maybe start modric broz sucic?
I think at world cup we will have same problems we dont have a starting 11 4 years now. Every game is a differnet lineup and you hope to nail it somehow by luck.
Not an excuse for the boys but… literally for as long as I can remember, this particular part of the schedule year has been brutal, whether is cup qualifying games or friendlies!! Almost all big footballing nations hate this international break, players should be resting after cup chases, relegation battles and champions league positioning… see you in September, let the kids play if they gotta play
I hope all three run their legs and take someone’s spot in the pecking order.
NBA
No bums allowed
ZDS
* REINFORCEMENTS INCOMING*
Sucic
Stanisic
Sutalo
On a plane to Kaštela/ Split
Rebić – Budimir – Perišić
That is my front three.
We haven’t existed as a people surviving millennia in the toughest real estate on the planet by being weak?
Could you imagine trying to defend that power upfront with Luka legend pulling the strings?
I am tired of these second tier weaklings leading our line.
Let them play their part off the bench.
We start with power.
Could you imagine Sosa overlap Rebić on the left and then whipping in a cross to the back post to find Perišić, while Budimir occupies the middle.
Rebić banging in the rebounds.
Modrić arriving on the scene with delayed run to fire in yet another golasso.
We are simply too methodical.
Top teams with legit managers find us painfully predictable.
Where is the physicality to compliment our technicians?
https://youtu.be/X2s3jGD5_vg
Name one dude not named Perišić that does what Ante Rebić does in our talent Pool?
Drop the narrative and open your eyes.
yes, anyone who follows the sport knows rebic would be an addition to our squad as long as hes not playing CF
What did he even do in his “highlights”?
give one good through ball… step over the ball a few times…. lead foot first touch….. the only thing i would say is actually good is that hes physical on the ball and its hard to get him off it.
https://youtu.be/X2s3jGD5_vg
Serie A champions
BTW, Austria were missing David Alba their best player, lol
I am calling BS on the second tier players.
Actually we are blessed to have UNL matches as it exposes some folks.
Someone forgot to tell Austria that they were playing on the road in a “glorified friendly.”
That C team in LA, basically away to Mexico at Azteca north, is the blueprint for June marches. Young and hungry fringe players fighting for a look to earn a spot.
Question?
When has Ante Rebić ever not run hard in a match?
This dude is in his physical prime and over the last 3 years has been a part of AC Milan getting back to prominence.
He is probably the fastest most powerful attacker we have and his playmaking is always under rated.
I am supposed to pretend like we don’t need him?
No pass in my book.
We don’t have the depth of a France and we think we don’t need Ante Rebić?
There needs to be a sit down between Dalic and Rebić to work this out.
Are we going to waste the last World Cup for both Modrić and Perišić ?
“He is probably the fastest most powerful attacker we have and his playmaking is always under rated.”
He is fast and strong, but hes not a playmaker. He has no first touch, ball control, or vision. He will never be an effective striker or CF. Attacking winger is literally the only position he can play.
Literally rebic didn’t run hard in every minute he played last euros did you watch it? Also most people agree he is talented enough to be called but until he apologizes I’m sorry no call. We can all dislike Dalic but what rebic did was foolish and disrespectful to the HNS. Before we consider call up he needs to apologize.
Exactly…
I agree with the comment about the C team that impressed in LA in Mexico, but it appears you might not have watched all of the Euro matches last year involving Rebic.
Guy left for a footwear issue vs Spain that could have been resolved at halftime and we give up a goal since we’re a man down. Only someone with a low IQ does that. It was worth it for Dalic to give Rebic a shot upfront since we have ZERO forwards. However, all he did was walk around the field. He contributed NOTHING.
In the 2018 match against Argentina, he was terrorizing their defenders and put pressure on the keeper to create his goal. Last year, he was a head case. After the comments he made, I would not want a cancerous guy like him, despite his speed (when he actually elects to run). He is a head case.
Vs france some croatian portals are saying possible lineup of Livakovic Vrsaljko/Juranovic CC/Erlic Vida Barisic Jakic Modric Kovacic Majer Budimir Orsic.
after getting crushed 0-3 at home, if that actually is the lineup, then its disappointing to see dalic still didn’t learn anything again.
Everything matters, our depth has been exposed, we need to stop talking big and start playing like we give a shit, potential A listers should be playing their asses off, team always trumps indiv. Skills. The team synergy is always greater than the individual parts, we need to learn to play defence we need a great Italian coach to get the ball rolling, we aren’t looking good at this point. Perfect coach is ancelotti, I respect Dalic, we need analytics to get us to the next level.
Also stop talking about how good our guys are, your as good as your last game, I want us to focus on team defensive strategy and not on individual skill, like the portugese once you have an established defensive strategy you can be consistent regardless of individual Skill, offensive prowess comes and goes, given many intangibles, but anyone can play defence with the right strategy and tactics conditioning and mindset. Goalie and backline player development should be the priority.
It can’t be embarrassing if it doesn’t matter.
Croatia “is old” and can’t do anything at Euros or World Cups if they are expected to make some noise, they have to be the underdog because that’s really all we have to surprise the big teams and manipulate them into playing down to our level, that’s our 1 wood so to speak. That’s why I never watch friendlies, anyone that does is an idiot because these matches are for us to earn our underdog status because without our 1 wood we are nothing.
Ive said since the world cup that dalic is no good, now everyone says hes got to go! Pasalic, brekalo, have no business on the field, kramaric as well, play all the young guys in the nations league, gavridol, sosa, sucic, majer, etc, let them get use to each other they are the future
“Pasalic, brekalo, have no business on the field, kramaric as well”
I disagree, can’t be mad at the players when theyre not even playing their actual positions. Everything is unbalanced, sloppy, no width when attacking, we dont have the attacking players for a 4-3-3. Yesterday dalic started 5 central players and one winger. its idiotic. dalic keeps attempting to do the false 9 center forward thing with kramaric uptop and its failing miserably.
How many times do we have to see midget kramaric uptop alone before dalic realizes he just cant play that role. kramaric himself said in multiple interviews over the past few years that his best position is CAM.
Why is majer and other central players keep playing winger?? can we please see majer playing CM or CAM so we can properly gauge how he plays with brozo/modric.
Perisic, rebic, orsic, and brekalo are the only players who should be playing on the wings for us.
Dalic refuses to make tough decisions because he doesn’t want to hurt anyones feelings. As a result we’re wayy underperforming
I agree with everything you just said. Dalic hates making tough decisions. It’s got to stop, if Kramaric any handle not starting then fu$k him.
I didn’t like Kramaric and pasalic basically rotating each other roles. We didn’t play with a striker.
We haven’t played well since 2018.
We let in goals to easily we create few chances! Dalic needs to go you can say whatever you want but we’ve been blown out too many times and last euro we played poorly last qualifying round which wasn’t a hard group we played poor.
Lastly we have too much talent in our squad to play this poorly. Been saying this for a while time to stop playing names and make a starting 11 that works
Im not saying this is a good result but, just to be clear, it IS good to be relegated to group B or whatever isnt it in nations league? doesnt that mean easier potential paths to future WC/Euros?
We were lucky in the end that it was only 3 – 0. Defensively very poor with DCC in particular having a shocker. You can tell that most of the players have had a two week break and are not physically fit. Pasalic had a couple of chances in the first half to score and his misses cost us dearly.
I thought Majer, Kovacic and Brozovic were among our better players.
With three tough matches coming up against France and Denmark things will not get any better.
With Austria having 3 points, looks to me that we are firm favorites for relegation from the top tier of the NL and our FIFA ranking at the end of the month will also take a big hit.
I hope you are right. From my perspective, I hope we can agree on an acceptable goalie. Unfortunately, maybe our backline is not as good as we think, from a defensive perspective, albeit, they may provide decent offensive crosses.
When it comes to Nations League games – Dalic’s job is to pick the players who WANT to play.
…not the best players
Those who currently CARE the most.
Only one who stuck out like a sore thumb today that really wanted to be in the field was Lovro Majer.
Who cares….Italy went undefeated for what 40 games or something and then they fail to qualify. We lose meaningless games all the time but always go to the show. Our players probably lose on purpose and all their rodbina make money betting when we lose to heavy underdogs. Croatia has been doing this for years, easy money.
Also, I can almost guarantee everyone was out drinking the night before. Let everyone think we’re weak and then come WC time…it’s on.
Not worried at all.
Bog i Hrvati
Your last name must be Mamic.
I agree with most of what you have said, however we have not established a consistent defensive strategy that works when playing with most teams. Across all sports defence wins championships, so conditioning, hard work and effective tactical strategy is what makes champions consistently. Anyone can play defence regardless of individual skill level, just ask the Greeks. The best teams never have the best players individually, however they always have the best team chemistry and tactics.
The difference is France and Belgium lost to top opposition, unlike us. Still, i guess KDB was as good as his word, lol. Anyways, we do often start campaigns badly so i’ll wait and see what happens v France but i’m expecting to concede 4 goals again and lose tbh.
Olić, Ćorluka and Mandžo are gonna be our three-headed monster coaching staff of the future.
😉
France lost to a strong denmark team euro semifinalist should have been finalists.
Belgium got crushed by holland
We got crushed by the mighty austria.
Big difference to me atleast.
If croatia dont take this league of nations serious call hnl players or b players
Have a team that looks like
Rogic/Subaric- Mikanovic Skoric Sutalo Bockaj Misic Krovinovic Lovric Ivanusec/Muric Orsic Beljo. Let them play.
Rogic is extremely underrated, I love Sibenik but he definitely deserves better
I’m fine with players having bad games coming off a long season. But certain borderline players should be playing better/harder. Back line looked lazy when none of them are guaranteed starters. Same goes for krama, he should not start unless he’s playing with an actual striker (budimir or musa)
I agree Kramaric did not look good in this game, to be honest I am not sure if Budimir is that exceptional either. He didn’t have much time, mind you, so maybe the next game will be different.
We shall see I guess. I personally think that our front line is as bad as our backline right now. But maybe I am wrong.
I agree budimir is not some god send, however he plays like a striker, something kramaric and Pasalic don’t know how to do. Unless we have Phil fodenovic coming up the ranks, we don’t have a false 9 either