Photo: Ante Cizmic/Cropix
In a game that could have been won by either team, Croatia leave Brussels with a valuable point after a 1-1 draw with Belgium Tuesday night.
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ivan Perišić scored his first goal for Croatia in the sixth minute of play as a Mario Mandžukić cross from the right missed everyone in the box and Perišić one-timed low to put Croatia up early. The Vatreni looked to be in control of the game, thwarting Belgian attacks and adding some of their own. However, another goal would not come in the first half and an Ivan Strinić lapse on defense in first half injury time would lead to Belgium’s equalizer.
Ivan Perišić goal
Following a corner, Strinić headed the ball towards the center of the field, which lead to a Guillaume Gillet rocket from just outside the box, which goalie Stipe Pletikosa could do nothing about. The goal gave Belgium all the momentum going into halftime and they made sure it wouldn’t go to waste.
Gillet rocket
The Belgians roasted the Croatian defense for the first 20 minutes of the second half and could have easily put the game away. This was following a botched 2-on-1 Jelavić/Mandžukić breakaway attempt. Belgium looked like Spain for a few moments but couldn’t find a goal. Defender Josip Šimunić came up BIG for Croatia on two occasions, blocking an open net strike with Pletikosa out of position and tackling correctly on a shot attempt.
But the miss that will be remembered is Domagoj Vida’s header attempt following a corner in injury time with an open net and a victory on the line. The Dinamo Zagreb man headed the ball but missed his mark right of the post with no one in goal.
All in all, Croatia could have won if they would have finished their chances but they could have been demolished in the second half at the same time. They can be happy with a draw going into October qualifiers versus Wales and Macedonia.
18 year-old Hajduk midfielder Josip Radošević received his first senior start for Croatia and played decent at the holding midfielder position. There were glimpes of promise from the kid. Let’s see if Štimac keeps him there instead of Vukokević.
Croatia Starting XI: Pletikosa, Strinić, Šimunić, Schildenfeld, Vida, Srna, Radošević, Modrić, Perišić, Jelavić, Mandžukić
I’am the real Babic but no one will ever believe me!
@ Ante – Boksic underperformed for Croatia because he was always injured in his prime when it was time to play in big tournaments, When he did play for the repka he was already out of his prime.
How to win in Skoplje – that is the question. Holy shit.
This thread was f*cking hilarious.
@Ante…….by your logic of height being a factor for CDM, Niko Kovac should have never been on the field.
Nobody on the site is a Stimac fan, so I have no clue what you are talking about. Plus, you want to know why we played the way we did today….Belgium is better.
Why did Hrvatska outplay Macedonia on Friday???? Because we are a better team. Why did Belgium outplay us? Because they are slightly better.
FUK STIMAC and his Hajduk Split buddies, Fukn radosevic is as tall as modric, how the fuk is he gonna win headers in midfield, the kid has to prove himself in europe first not given this winning ticket by stimac, and Kalanic, that cunts for the tip. We showed nothing, 1 lucky goal . To all you Simunic baggers, fuck yourselves , he showed you cunts havnt got a clue about football. I hope stimac reads this next part. Igor stop fucking pretending to be some movie star mafia cunt on the sideline with your jacket and dalmo tan, If you wanna make a name for yourself , head slap boksic and ask him why he under performed for croatia. They are both gonna have to hang themselves if the tzigane beat us cause from what i saw today we played like dogs…
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles is Babic in disguise, im sure of it
No way Belgium finishes in the top 2 in our group without a striker. Lukaku is way overrated – signed by Chelsea, then loaned out and cannot even start above the second division looking Benteke. They will be very hard pressed to win in Zagreb, Belgrade, or even Skopje..
They have young talented individuals in midfield – but aren’t organized yet or have anyone to play the ball to.
Their backs, outside of Kompany, are better attackers than they are defenders. They won’t have the chance to continue to push up and score the goals for Belgium (as they have done so far) away from home. If they try, they will be caught out of position and punished.
Strinic and Vida are very similiar in that, throughout their recent matches for the Repka, they play pretty well and deserve to start, but each make one glaring error that affects the scoreline – same thing again today.
I say bring in Kovacic – if he’s not ready, fine, but at least give him a shot. I can see him and Modric in a few years tormenting teams.
I’m happy with the draw, I called a 2-2 result… close enough.
A lot of people are forgetting that Vertongen (sic?) missed an insta-goal shortly after Perisic’s opener. If he put that point blank free header in the game becomes a lot tougher.
Overall Cro played well, incredible individual defensive efforts. Strinic, Vida, Simunic, and Schifo all looked world class. At one point Strinic schooled two waffles in a deft dribble sprint combo move that almost lead to a late Mandzukic headed goal. As well, Vida was running rings around attacking Belgians meeting balls at the touchline after dribbling around them. A few months before Euro 2012 Cro’s D was its biggest failing today I saw proof that we have a solid “D” that can hold its own against any attacking threats in world football. I wa sslightly disappointed in some of Srna’s delivery which seems to be occuring more frequently and Jelavic was improperly utilized but overall Stimac used the correct tactics and Croatia is looking on course for Brazil. The key is not to drop points to Macedonia which is always a possbility and to gain maximum points from Wales/Scotland. I think we’ll beat the Macedons away, take 6 from Wales, 4 from Scotland, 3 from the Serbs and win at home against Belgium which should be enough to secure first place, correct me if I’m wrong.
@ Jack V
Perisic reads CroatianSports. I was just looking for a reaction from him…
Anybody watch the Macedonia vs Scotland game?
I just watched the extended highlights and, man, Macedonia should have won that game. They hit the post, had a couple of unlucky breakaways…Scotland does not look too good and will probably finish 5th in this group.
This next game in Skopje is going to be tough. Here’s hoping we get 6 points against Macedonia. Someone will lose points to them with the way they’ve been playing.
By the time Kovacic and Pamic (lol) ever make the repka, Pletikosa will no longer be starting for us.
fuck i must be tired, no more posting after reading what i just wrote. I sound like a fn fob lol
@stef dude take off the homer glasses, Belgium is full of class players, only issue I see is that most of the players on midfield are way too similar, Dembele, Hazard and Witsel could easily start for Croatia, not all three at the same time though, they will never really gel together. If they had Felaini in to begin the game, I think we might have lost, they crossed way too much today and thankfully they had no one to compete with a tall Simunic and sfeld.
They are very soft at the striker position, like they got no one. Lukaku needs to turn into the world class striker he was hyped up to be or they will never be elite, that is the only thing holding them back. they got solid defending, great midfielders (still think they need a work horse instead of witsel, edin, and dembele together) but the strikers do suck badly.
These guys were young and inexperienced, if they were smart they wouldnt cross the ball ever in this game and went through the middle, every time they did they looked like they could score. We got lucky the went wide as often as they did and tried to cross the ball.
4 out of 6 is good, but we need 6 out of 6 in october or id consider it a failure up to that point
A long way to go…..but I don’t think that lineup could work.. Who is the CDM or holding MF in the formation. Kovacic probably will be on the team, but there is nothing based on his play so far at Dinamo that indicates he will be a performer for the repka. Still young and long way to go, but he needs to show more in the creative playmaker role.
If we qualify for the WC, this is the starting lineup I would love to see:
Pletikosa, Pamic, Vida, Strinic, Lovren, Srna, Perisic, Kovacic, Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic
interesting……but, i am so sick of reading about another “slucaj Ibrahimovic: Ibra never was interested in Cro…..NEVER and that is a known fact. he is a fricken jugovic,
Hrgota, sorry.
http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/vijesti/branimir-ce-biti-bolji-ibrahimovica-clanak-451848
Branimir Hrgoti
Hmmm never heard of this kid before …
How we can only dream of having a player like Niko Kovac in the middle of midfield in the current squad.
If Radosevic can play with the passion and skill that Kovac had when he played for the national team, he can make us serious contenders
I don’t know what was more lackluster Croatia or this Belgian waffles ass clown attempt to be funny.
Olic and Kalinic was the strike force at one point. That should NEVER happen. Pretty poor performance but to get a point is huge.
@Stef……I stand by my comments. Belgium has better individual talent than we do. Time will tell how good they can be. Their ceiling is much higher than ours. I love their potential, but that does not mean anything right now. If you want to do a player comparison then go ahead. But, I would take their GK, two of their defenders (the two EPL guys), Hazard, Witsel. That is 5 right there and you can make an argument for one or two more. Question for them is if they can put all that talent together and build some chemistry. I liked what I saw from them today. They were the better team.
@Matesic Method……you should go re-watch that game against Germany in 1998 that youmentioned. We did not smack around Germany until we got the red card against Germany. Until that point in the game Germany was smacking us around and should have easily been up by a goal or two if not for some great work from Ladic. It was only after the red card that we did anything and Germany still had some chances until we scored the second and third goals very late in the match.
Good result, at the end of the day the result is what we needed and we got it. But after three games under stimac not sold on some of his visions in my opinion Croatia still lacks a real coach to go with the talent we have. Did i expect a win no, but i expect us to play better than we did. Belgium is a good team and on paper a real up and comer in Europe but it’s Belgium, they haven’t proved anything yet, you respect them, but we played at times like we were playing Spain that’s bullshit.
our best soccer in euro 12 was when we had five man mid second half against Italy and against Spain, stimac droped the ball today. I have no problem going for a tie but the tactics didn’t give us a chance to win. we were out maned in midfield and that was the game in a nut shell. I give him credit to play radosevic that took alot of confidence in himself to make that call and i thought the kid was better than vuko. All in all good result going forward, though down the road i think would like to see hrvatska look like this
pletikosa
srna corluka lovern strinic
Radosevic Modric
Ilicevic Rakitic perisic
Mandzo
Vida is not a right back, the sooner Cacic and Stimac realize this better
Golden draw in all honesty, people will rag on Vida for missing that header but in reality Belgium outplayed us and should have scored 3-4 goals
@Matesic Method
Nice examples of heart and hustle (Kovac, Olic) but Prso, for skill!?!
Is Matesic Method an alias for BelgianWaffles?
Whoops!
Sent myself that message 🙂
No hard feelings Allen…
@Poglavnik
BelgianWaffles makes Allen Steven look like Jose Mourinho.
@BelgianWaffles
Great players (even if they’re from Iowa) make shite coaches!
Belguim is the most talented team in this group? Are you f’n kidding?? Seriously? There is not one team in this group that has the players we have. Ziva that’s a joke bud. Think you need to compare every player. I give there defense a thumbs up over ours and that’s it!
Josip Skoblar, the way my Dad tells it, would run at you like Messi. I remember when we smacked Germany in ’98, we ran at them like they were standing in cement. For 2006 they hired Klinsman and he brought some American trainers to work their CORE power and explosiveness and started producing Thomas Mueller type athletes.
We need guys to either to have skill like Prso, run like a young Olic or have heart like the Kovac brothers.
That’s it!
Take the #9 ranking and shove it where the Sun don”t shine because it does it mean sranje.
Fellatio won’t fill the holes in your souls, people.
Respect to Vida-Schi-Simunic-Strinic for playing with heart and honoring our beloved Hrvatska! Say what you want, Simunic has given his best for our national team.
Can we deal with the Srna elephant in the room? We are lacking leadership on the field. We need to define who we are and how we are going to play going FORWARD?
Modric needs to become captain and he needs to be the straw that stirs the drink. That means we need a right winger and right back who can get forward and create space for our ONLY world class player to create some MAGIC!
Brazil 2014 is not Euro’s and in SA you better come with some young horses.
Can we hire Robert Jarni to come in and train these boys how to run like you mean it!
Why are our current players slower then our players from 20 years ago?
Boban, Boksic, Jarni, Vlaovic could run like deer and the skilled players like Suker and Prosinecki where other worldly.
There goes big headed Golden Child again thinking he’s bigger and smarter than everyone else.
@The Golden Child-I disagree,Vegas will be big,but Croatia V Belgian Waffles is the biggest thing to happen in recent times for the GLOBAL Croatian community.Please god,may he keep writing in.You can either really just shake your head about some Hrvati and wonder,or you can take the attitude of looking forward to the next post.
@Ziva,maybe you should update your 60s and 70s Playboy stash.The pages will be very stuck together by now.Get some new ones so you can see what a picka looks like in 2012:-)
Waffles makes Ziva look charming.
*good
Glad to see the result. Didn’t get to watch but after seeing highlights and reading comments from people on here who actually know a thing or two (instead of the meatheads like belgian waffle), it looks like we should walk away content with a point. Sure, vida could win us the game but it also looks like big joe simunic and company at the back saved our asses (wow, never thought our backline would save the day). A point in arguably our toughest game of the group is great. Come out of next month with 2 wins and we are looking goo
So many good one liners on here today…fricking zinger fest.
Qualifying is one thing tournament another, Stimacs croatia plays just like Bilics nothing has changed every coach we have had i saw change post 2000, Jozic Baric Cico Bilic all brought something new to the national team and all worked to find players and identity Stimac comes in Bilic left him a solid team and he thinks it will be easy for him. For 6 years he gave Bilic comments on how to play he talked and shitted on Bilic what now Stimac he is a kukavica and a mafija asshole i jebem mater tko mu je dao Posa da vodi Hrvatsku Cigani, Tumba Rogic goalkeeping coach thats all you need to know Clubs Rastane and nk zadar omg.
I expect to see you all out at Vegas 2013. It could be the best thing to happen to the Croatian community in the United States since Croatian Soccer Report.
I’m sorry I offended you hrvat#1 I didnt know you were a football expert! My apologies. No seriously I do apologize!
Ziva istina. Can you please teach me how to be funny?
@CroatiaVsBelgianWafffles
are you sure your not 10 years old? first of all you dont know shit all about soccer. not to mention your making yourself sound like a retard
I was voted Best Swimmer at my day camp in like 1996. Beat that you dirty gypsies!
dude, if you want to be funny….then try to be funny. right now, you are not funny.
Kranjcar is a good player and he come in and sometimes be a really good player and other times he can come in and be the total opposite. He is in Dynamo Kiev for a reason…his best days were at Tottenham and Portsmouth and he has had some great days for Croatia too but he also has been part of a lot of bad days. He is one of our better players but there is little room for him in the team because its not possible to play all of Modric, Kranjcar, and Rakitic.
He is slowly slipping back from his best days…good player but not consistent one bit.
I’m gonna go masturbate while I listen to hardcore dubstep…feel free to leave comments and question I wll check back later and answer them for you.
Whats your problem with Kranjcar?
Andrej, remember the name “CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles” before you leave….someday I will lead Croatia to wc glory 😉 ( as manager) cuz stimac has the IQ of a gold fish!
modric is top 10 quality in the world. The guy just moves different with the football. His passes are on point. He sees the field different. Luka el matador Modric
@Ante K:
I thought you said Perisic can only score on volleys.
Kranjcar is world class? LOL! Please go on and tell me more.
Well I can’t stand to read anymore on here. I always remember why it takes me 6 months to come back and then it takes me 20 minutes to leave.
Great site but I think we should just ban commenting and just enjoy articles.
They play soccer in Iowa?
Okay yeah, possesion is not important at all we should all kick the ball forward as far as we can! Good job Andrej!
Kranjcar is world class in my eyes, he is underrated! Holds the ball well, hard shot, precise passes! What more do you want?
Georga is a fucking bunker and you know that! Even when they played us they defended like their lives depended on it! What do you think they were trying with Spain!
Now I know for a fact that YOU have absolutely NO clue about football!
Ziva, at least I stand out between all those midgets, but u would blend right in with them
Iowa allstar means he had the best crop of corn in 2006
Never heard of the Iowa all stars…but I was once mvp of my AYSL league but I doubt you have heard of that either.
Iowa allstar???????????
That’s like saying you are the tallest person standing next to 20 midgets.
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles,
Spain beat Georgia 1-0 today! It’s not always going to be pretty! Get a reality check we are not Spain and last time I checked we don’t have the players to play the Spain tactics.
Kranjcar doesn’t start for Dynamo Kiev! Quit acting like he is some world class player. In no video game could you even play Rakitic, Modric, and Kranjcar. Actually yes you can….we did vs Georgia and WE LOST 1-0!
Possession is a meaningless statistic. Belgium kept it 60% today an didn’t win! It doesn’t matter how much possession you have if you don’t create chances from it. I find it really hard to beleive that if you have a clue about soccer that you actually think that.
I was Iowa Allstar in 2006 and play collegle footy…doubt i need free lessons, so yeah………..thank you for the offer though…
PS: sorry to hear about ur heart problems
I will take the point. At the end of the day we all agree Belgium is no push over! Getting a point on in their house is not bad. Lets move on past this game and focus on Macedonia which we had a tough time beating. Getting 3 point in Macedonia is a must!
@Vatrnena Cast and everyone who likes to bash Sammir. I always said if he is good enough and can help this team and give it some new life and energy, I say give him a checkered jersey
Wow. England ties Ukraine with a penalty at the end of the game. Didn’t see that coming, lol.
24, although I wish I was 12 again…good memories u know…Why do you assume I have no clue about football? Am i wrong to think that Pletikosa is an idiot for punting the ball EVERYTIME and giving possesion to the belgians. Good solid possesion is the key my friend, Spain doesn’t rape by luck last time I checked…and neather do they punt the ball forward everytime! Common sense….all footballers should use it once in a while EVEN coaches too….Stimac *coughs super hard*
@Andrej, yeah man the U13 age group must be tough lol. he’s a beast bro! lol
@CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles ill give you a free lesson just take a flight to oklahoma ill teach you a few things. I haven’t kicked the ball since july due to a bad heart, but hey come on over ill teach ya some things.
Totally answers my question and the reason for all the stupid things you have said.
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles well thats weird, how old are you? 11, 12? you got lots to learn about football. keep chiming in though, some of these guys actually know what they are talking about.
Andrej, have I ever played soccer? I’m a fucking beast! Does that answer ur question?!
Vatrena, i wish my dick was that large…i wouldnt be here commenting…i’d be in the porn business bustin on voluptuous titties instead
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles,
Have you ever even played soccer?
Simunic surprised me today. He made some strong plays without making stupid/reckless plays. Hope he can keep that form up for a little bit longer.
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles , please dont ever leave this site because you are really one of the funniest people i have ever heard.
I am going to call you my retarded brother bilo
Btw…why does Pletikosa have to punt the ball EVERYTIME? Thats like insta-possesion for the Belgs…*sigh*
no but you can just put that dick back in your butt.
Vatrena cast ur presence in this comment sections gives me anal leakage…do you have some toilet paper?
That last ditch tackle by Simunic today is exactly why he is still in this team. Schildenfeld came in with many great tackles today too. I don’t see anything that was wrong with how we played toady. You guys want to open up vs Belgium with the defenders that we have and that would be us getting sliced up like Swiss Cheese worse than 4-2. We could have played better but we took advantage of a few chances we created. The hold up play was weak on the day by Mandza and Jelly but we did enough.
The midfield worked hard on defense and we were organized. Radosevic came in and took his chances and he really showed that he can be relied upon because Vukojevic has never taken this position for his own. He has a ways to go but he really didn’t look too bad. Gutsy call but it was the right call.
Vida was our best player all game although he could use some tips about heading the ball from Rakitic. Although its never pretty, Schildenfeld gets the job done when called upon. Simunic looks lost and needs to hang them up. Lovren needs to get healthy. Belgium needs to stop doing steroids.
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles that post just gave me cancer.
Ziva u bet ur ass the scoreline should have been 3-0…it was Croatia vs Flani and Hazard…
This is a good result. Mandzukic worked hard and but in the end it was over. About Vida, you can say what you want, but this is something who plays with his heart. Radosevic impressed me today. He did great. But two men were outstanding today: Simunic and Schildenfield! I don’t understand people who are complaining about Hvratska today. Belgium has a splendid team, which teams are able to play 1-1 in Brussels against this belgian team?
lol no please get started on Perisic id love to hear it haha
A good result today – Belgium had their full squad and the home crowd behind them today – we played without I’d say 3 regular “should be” starters (Carli, Raka & Lovren) – we went there and didn’t give up 3 points, job well done
Kalinic is garbage…no disrespect of course… Better ods that Kranjcar will score if u stick him up front than Kalinic, and that’s a fact….please don’t let me get started on Peresic…no seriously please dont…
Do I need to show you kids the betting sites? I will be more than glad to because if you are willing to bet 10 dollars that we will 3-0 I am sure Vegas will be willing to pay you out 150 dollars on something like that.
I know you think you know it all but get over yourselves. The retarded criticism has past long ago. We just lost Bilic who wasn’t good enough and it would be hard for any coach to come in and do better. Bilic isn’t good enough, we suck, we should play like this, blah cry cty cry….we have 4.5m people and we are still a damn good force.
You don’t play pretty and win always. It’s only about the results and today we got one and so did we last game. We played possession vs Macedonia and barely got a win today we played counter and we got a tie. If you bet a buck on this result today you won 3 dollars….its on the road its vs a good team and we didnt lose…
a$$**
all in all we played really organized, we need to take more chances, but better than last game and definitely better than against the swiss.
@CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles id rather have Mesic coach us than your dumbs
With an exception of his nose-header, VIda played well. I’ve been pretty confident him for the repka as of late and he’s been great with dinamo (as much as that matters). But he’s a defender and not a natural goalscorer, and he’s doing well as a defender.
@CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles wow you are soccer challenged. got a good laugh out of ya though.
I’m usually not a vida fan but he played solid today. yeah he missed the sitter, but it happens to the best strikers in the world and no doubt it could happen to a back from dinamo. Schildo did fine, simunic best game I’ve seen from him in years. radosevic solid, wouldn’t have started him, gutsy move by stimac. perisic was non existent in the second half. strinic solid. modric played as usual modric. srna needs to play the simple ball more often. jelavic looked like kompanys b”%$h today. Mandza same shit as always just didn’t score. olic nothing, kalinic why? i would have brought on rakitic, and dudu.
Sammir can possess the ball? thats great for him let him possess it for brazil.
sammir is no dudu and definitely never will be a damir.
This site is full of retards…vida had a great game minus the miss…. Kalinic played for 5 min and had one good touch…cant really rate him….
Andrej, well said……some of these kids think all of our matches should have 3-0 scorelines and I am willing to bet they have never kicked a ball in their lives.
Lost all respect for Stimac…we play Neanderthal style football. I heard Stimac say when he takes over he will make our lads play like spain! Newsflash stimac, Spain has possesion and completes passes! No kick the ball farther up the field so talentless Kalinic can run after it! Geeese. I should be coach not even kidding!
@CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles………..please keep posting because we need some comic relief.
I just saw the serb highlights….good lord, comedy of defensive errors by Wales. Even Bog Joe Simunic would shkae his head in horror at the Wales defenders.
We kept ourselves in the game. Did you think we were going to win this with a 1-0 win? I sure didn’t but we stayed in it and in the final 30 minutes we pushed forward more aggresively and created a few chances and didn’t convert.
We have idiots on here saying to play Vukojevic as CB…he’s never played there nor is he tall enough. Let alone we didn’t lose because our defense played bad. They actually played well and the goal came from a wonderstrike.
Please I am no fan of Stimac but quit dreaming that we are miles ahead of every team. You are mostly a bunch of kids probably who have not spent 30 minutes watching most of these players play outside of the Croatia games here and there. Quit acting like you are a know it all. Ya we are stuck with Simunic still because there is nobody else we can use! We tied 1-1 to the betting odds favorites to win this group.
How did the 18 year old kid do?
@Jelic
I watched them long enough through out the years that I know for a fact they they suck donkey balls…
Srna played like absolute shit today and played whole game.
@IvicA
“but it won’t mean much if we lose points to MKD & SCO next month.”
Bingo! We “have” to win those two games! It is absolutely imperative!
@Franjo Tudjman
I like Vida, but you’re right. If that ball goes in we would have been in great shape! Even the goal Belgium scored should have been avoided.
Oh well, we are in good shape still!
what is the reason for taking out your two best and one of your tallest (mandzu & jela) in a 1-1 game that you could potentially end up shooting a corner kick but you diminish your chances of scoriing by taking out your two best offensive players.
this coach doesn’t know what hes doing. not a fan.
CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles, go play your FIFA game haha
Stimac is never going to win over the public (me included), but he did OK today with the roster. Only thing I would have done different is to bring in another MF instead of Olic.
Belgium is the more talented team and when the game was tied we chased them more than they chased us. They have better individual talent. That doesn’t always mean the team with more individual talent will win, but Belgium is the most talented team in this group.
Good result and the hardest game is now over. Quit acting like we should smash teams Georgia lost to Spain 1-0 in the 88th minute.
Babic? Go to sleep kid.
…………………..Eduardo….Olic
Darijo Srna….Modric….Niko Kranjcar….Rakitic
Corluka….Simunic………Vukojevic….Schildenfeld
How can you even grade Kalinic when he played less than 5 minutes?
Notwithstanding that missed header (that was downright pitiful) Vida defended well today, we watching the same game?
Mandzukic worked his socks off today, not the same results as recent club and repka games but I’ll take it.
Goes to show you people see these games very, very differently. Whatever.
Long campaign , great result against a potential top 5 euro team on there soil. Lookin good For Makismir
Kalinic ( garbage)
Mandukic ( inconsistent )
Vida ( Fugly and should be the waterboy )
Babic was raping england back in 2008…he had a badass touch and i’ve never seen him fuck up a pass…giovani rosso?…Babic over vida, and rakitic and Giovani rosso ANYDAY…
Vida is so bad, it not even funny. I think most folks here would have headed that on goal. Before the game, we’d all be happy to take a point, but it would have been nice to walk out with a win.
Good result with the toughest match under our belt.
We’re in the best position of all teams in the group so far, but it won’t mean much if we lose points to MKD & SCO next month.
Hopefully Stimac learned a thing or two today.
Srbs smash Wales 6-1! Scots and Makenonci tie 1-1 also.
The nice result is England losing to Ukraine 0-1 on 82 minutes….
this really is going to be a brutal group… i think we can squeeze out of it, just have to beat on the teams we should beat and we are good…
i guarantee belgium will lose points against one of the lesser teams in our group… they do play a bit unruly… i guess its their young age
good result…..we just tied the best team in our group on their home field. 1-1 is a good result.
we could have won but easily could have lost as well… im satisfied
Would love to know how Vida missed that?
wow
Vida! Vida! Vidaaaaaa!!! Did he head that with his nose?? I hope it hurt.
Rakitic thinks that was an awesome header by Vida.
What a terrible header by Vida! Wow, is he getting pointers from Raketa?!?!
oh boy and new header victim for ziva
i guess vida and rakitic have been hanging out
Come on Stipe get up buddy!
I really wish all our soccer players could watch a video of Chicago Blackhawks d-man Duncan Keith spitting out about 6 chiclets on the bench during their Stanley Cup Championship run and never once complaining or even thinking about coming out.
Soccer players God Bless them are such picke!
Kalinic in ahead of the brazilian-born hrvat…….the brazilian-born hrvat should quit international football
Just some poor decisions now in the last third. Decent possession, but not alot of support when we have the ball……guess the boys have blown their loads tonight.
Ivica’s failure to get rid of the ball almost costs us in the 88th mintue….shot just missed!
Serbs up 6-1 on Wales.
What is the over/under on the number of minutes it will take Vukojevic to get another yellow card?
From the 1960’s – 1970’s?!?! Jebote, I need a razor then and it’s 2012
Jurcic just showed Vukojevic drawing from his 5-yr old daughter on a notepad…..now I know we are in good shape
Hmm… so I guess Fellaini’s head may brings back some strange and arousing memories for middle aged men. Thanks for that though, ziva.
lol at ziva… ya thats a proper bush fo sho
@vlad….good point….I would have subbed in a MF (Kranjcar or Rakitic) instead of Olic.
you guys ever seen Playboy magazines from the 60s and 70s…..well, Fellaini’s head looks like the pubic hair of a women from the 60s and 70s
Not having five man mid is killing us for possesion were out maned in the mid!
hell, if that clown wants Babic, why not bring back Giovani Rossi
lol … Babic died in the great Babic fire of 2002. No, but he’s been seen having a few appearances at Osijek this yr still.
LMAO @ Babic – he still at Osijek?
I just saw Stimac give a nod to Olic……now I know we are in good shape.
If you replaced Mandza with olic you would not know the difference. All sorts of hustle and running around, but no skill today. Passing and dribbling is brutal.
Mandza’s passing is as bad as Schifo’s defending and Corluka’s choice in women.
@Colin………..you better believe Corluka was checking her out.
@CroatiaVSBelgianWaffles……..i guess you just woke up for the first time since 2004. Babic?????? Really??????? Babic??????
Just leave.
So anyone else see the cute belgian girl try to stick that giant thunder stick thing in her mouth during halftime? Worth admission right there.
Sports especially at this level is about perseverence and overcoming adversity. Suck it up bitches and lets move on.
Come out hard for the final 45 minutes boys, perhaps pop one on a counter but a tie I’ll take!
rakitic, kranjcar, srna, eduardo…we’ve seen them before with possesion. Where is babic, he couald also keep possession…who the hell is radedcic or whatever that 18 year olds name is…Samir can also keep possesion…and has a good touch. Wake up Stimac before I scissor kick u in the face…
no need to cry about the goal we gave up. Because the goal we scored took place in pretty much the same way.
Quit complaining about the ref……you play until the whistle. The ref was well in his right to extend play to include the corner kick. We see that all the time.
Damn, i didn’t know some hrvati with blind homers and cry babies.
giving up the goal obviously sucks. not sure if you can be that mad at it. it was a crazy shot that seemed to knock off two defenders. sometimes it jsut happens i guess
Keeping possesion requires players who are able to keep possesion. Outside of Modric, who in MF can keep possesion.
So mad I want to kill a hooker!
@Bobby V
Yep!
And to blame Strinic for that goal is not right. Shit like that happens on a second ball. Heck, our goal took place in the same manner. Mandza played a ball in the box. I think it was Kompany that cleared it, but it went right to Strinic. The second ball is always dangerous.
We have no possession and NO ONE CHECKS IN TO RECIEVE A PASS! We’re just making idiotic runs that the Belgs will intercept everytime! Atleast with bilic we had possesion….ughh so frustrating!!
@CroRupt…….why isn’t Modric invloved more????? give credit to Belgium. They know he is our only playmaker. You may dislike Stimac (and for reason), but Belgium is slightly a better side than we are. I’d take a 1-1 result as the final.
What game are you watching…..we are attacking when we have the ball. problem is we don’t have the ball enough…..and why is that???? because belgium has better talent.
1-1 is fair. Defense solid and nothing you can do about that goal. We have to take our chances 2nd half and we can win. This was never an easy game and we will create more chances in the 2nd. Can’t be to sad on the road in Belgium.
Hey boys, we’re tied at half time away in Brussels to a pretty good side. Regroup, come out for a strong second half and walk away with a minimum hard fought point away! I’d take it any day of the week, especially so early on in qualifying.
You will have gotten the toughest match of the qualifying out of the way.
was more then a minute extra time being cro and all i knew we would get fucked in those extra 20 seconds Fuk!!!!
Fucking Strinic, if he lets the ball go over his head, it goes out of bounds and the half is over….and the corner was taken well beyond the additional minute added.
Stimac awesome tactics! Lets just kick the ball forward! Pletikosa needs to stop being a pussy and posses the ball and pass it to his defenders instead of just booting it up!
Wow… turn on the match, and what do I see? Ugh… Maybe I should turn it back off.
Never clear the ball out the middle. I think I was taught that when I was 10 years old.
i really dislike stimac.
why isn’t modric involved with the ball more, and why are we sitting back and not attacking. Stupid tactic, it was just a matter of time before belgium scored.
One minute of stoppage time and they score in minute 47. F’ing BS.
wow………..what a goal from Belgium. Not much you can do, it was second ball
Jebemu mamicu picku they are running all over the Hrvati and it was just a matter of time they scored
those late ones are always killers… hopefully we can respond after the half
fuck. Just wanted to make it to half
Was that Simunic’s clearance?
Simunic actually made a beautiful tackle and saved a goal wow surprise
paznaj, paznja……………..Joe Simunic made a great defensive play………I repeat Joe Simunic made a great defensive play.
and Srna goes down again expected/trying to draw a foul….stand up
This Radosevic has a bit of Niko Kovac in him….radnik,
I like the hustle from Mandza but some of the passes he is giving are bad.
DAMN. Stream just died at work.
How’s ill’ Rados doing?
With a goal lead I like having Mandzo roving deeper disrupting their ability to get their offence started…..
its a 4-4-2…but with the goal it has become more of a 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1.
for those of you watching the game…..did you see that punt from Pletikosa that his Mandza in stride from 60 yards away and almsot gave us a counter……GPS Kelava cant do that. He has a week foot and terrible ball skills. That is why I am all over him.
jm apparently they are playing 4-4-1-1?
@nije bitno……..that header will never be forgiven or forgoten
what formation are they going with here? not sure if its the fomration or just bunkering now that they ahve the goal, but we seem to be getting dominated possession wise.
boksic just gave the thumbs up sign to the team…….I know all is well now.
We defending OK…..playing for the counter now with the goal lead. Still have a feeling that Simunic will do something to allow a goal.
@ziva you already beat the living shit out of rakitic and his header malo je postalo dosadno znas.
It’s painful to watch Vida attack. Poor guy doesn’t have a break move, doesnt have a good cross, and his vision is horrid. Hopefully he can work on getting any of those things better.
So how do we look boys, unfortunately at work and can only check out the periodic updates on SN! Zalost.
….and stupid cards at the most inopportune times!!!!!
Lovren is better than Simunic….no question.
three things in life are certain…..death, taxes and Simunic defensive blunders
is lovren a huge upgrade on our D when he is back?
lol on rakitic header… he says text book:)
Jelic…true.
dannyj….bogati.
Rakitic thinks that was a good header by that belgium player.
Simunic looking shaky on man marking. Would have been an easy goal.
Ziva, its ok for Radosevic to be “scared.” You and I both would be playing in a game like this at that age.
Once the nerves calm down, then let’s talk……nice start kockasti, idemo jos napunit mrezu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ziva my 22 inch monitor says they playing with heart.. better perspective then 19 inch
any idea how many croat fans are there?
hot damn….what a start
who predicted a perisic blast? not a blast but we’ll take it… way to counter, fuck those majmuns
GOOOOALLLLLL
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
PERISIC!
never mind nice save pleti
someone tell pleti to lay off the palacinke
how many majmuns on belgium? jesus if croatia ever gets that way, ill turn serbian
Just click you don’t have a facebook account, it should work.
Radosevic looks scared. He looks like he just shit his shorts.
The game is on ESPN3!!!!!!!!
I am broadcasting live Croatia vs Belgium at http://ustre.am/OsfP come and check it out!
what channel on darquo? it keeps asking me for my facebook 0.o
We’ll see what happens with this game….
Personally, I’m looking forward to the comments about how we are “not playing with heart” based on what people see on a 19-inch computer monitor.
http://oi50.tinypic.com/2yy5l5l.jpg
RADOSEVIC?!?!? Pa u ime Oca i Sina…
@Jim – Thanks man. They updated the site and ESPN3 is good to go.
Good stream here:
http://darquo.site90.net/
haha the story emerges. looks like vukojevic and dudu had too much fun out at night, which is leaving them on the sideline. didn’t read the story, just the title. link below
http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Nogomet/tabid/84/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/187110/Default.aspx
Pletikosa – Strinić, Šimunic, Schildenfield, Vida – Srna, Radošević, Modrić, Perišić – Jelavić, Mandžukić.
Saan.tv is not working on my pc, does anyone know what’s going on.
didn’t scroll up
@ARMADA87
Old news my friend.
According to SN – Corluka out for today
$200 on Croatia/England……screw it, experience will prevail and no dembele supposedly which is great news for us, He would make our D looks so bad.
@ seattlenate
they are showing it. are you sure your not looking at the livenow page rather than upcoming?
Looks like ESPN3 isn’t showing it. Other links??
Shitty lineup, vuko and krunchie in the middle to slow, hope I’m wrong but I see a loss upon us, should plug the mid with a five man mid and have speed on the wings, I’d rather have illicevic on the wing rather than krunchie hope stimac gets it right!
its a long qualifying campaign. though this game is important, having corluka healthy for next month’s games to guarantee 6 points in those 2 matches is a big deal. no need to risk a long term absence. our chance at a top 2 finish won’t be gone, even with a loss today (though i still think a draw is in the cards)
i am ok with olic if stimac is planning on sitting back in the first part of the match and simply have our strikers stir it up and counter attack…..thats what olic does well. then have jelavic come on for the last 30 minutes or so and give him his shot to make something happen. olic and mandzukic scored two big opening half goals in the playoff against turkey so they have the experience to do it. they need to withstand the opening pressure that the packed house and hungry belgium team will give them. can we see a repeat of olic, silencing the away crowd in a huge game?
ante k, you may have to print another shirt if that happens!! haha
simunic shit ;’ and srna stil on defense / not midf
if true on Corluka we will know is less than an hour.
Can you imagine Schifo and Simunic in the back. That may be the slowest pairing of CBs we have ever seen.
Good move on Corluka’s part to pull himself out. Dude has at least 5 more years ahead of himself at a high level so no need to risk further injury. I’m sure Bilic and the Lok. Moscow staff were putting pressure on him not to play and risk any more injury.
Shit! no Carli
ouch
Loša vijest iz Bruxellesa: Ćorluka zbog ozljede tetive ipak neće igrati protiv Belgije
http://www.jutarnji.hr/losa-vijest-iz-bruxellesa–vedran-corluka-zbog-ozljede-propusta-ogled-s-belgijom/1053216/
The Radosevic start doesn’t concern me that much as we are subbing out arguably our worst starter in these past few games in Vukojevic.
Simunic starting over Schifo makes me more nervous. Also, Olic over an in-form Jelavic could make Stimac look very stupid regardless of whether we’ll be on the counter attack all game or not.
stimac is an idiot. instead of building on the team from the euros he switches it around. koji kreten!
Radosevic in Vukoj out… i like it… i have no problem startign a young player in a big game..
The issue is not Radošević or Olić starting. The issue with this game will be the “idiot” Alberto Undiano Mallenco.
When I use the term “idiot” it is not a strong enough term to use to describe him. You have been warned.
But I agree with Bribir! Ajde HRVATSKA!!!!!!!!!!
let’s hope stimac’s faith in radosevic is better founded than his face in maloca
Bold move with Radosevic. Surprised to see this against this opponent.
I’m guessing Stimac wants to have some diversity with Olic’s speed and Mandzukic’s aerial ability. I guess Mandzo and Jelly are too similar in that regard.
Glad to see Corluka still able to play. Good move moving Srna up and Vida behind to cover. Like that move a lot! Rakitic shouldn’t be starting.
Ajde HRVATSKA!!!! Forget your pessimism, today is game day!!!
ESPN3 & atdhenet.tv are both showing the game.
Wow pretty cool giving the new guy a chance in a massive game. Its a major risk but honestly Vukojevic has no business playing after how awful he was against Macedonia.
Olic starting?!?!!? This is why Croatia will never fully achieve their full potential. They are hanging on to dead weight. How Jelavic isn’t getting a start is beyond me.
Oh, I forget the forgetable australian, Anthony Seric. He made his debut at 19. Rather, i should say he made his debut after his tata Marko paid Ciro to put him on the team.
TODAY WE DINE ON WAFFLES!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t recall an 18-yr old starting for the repka.
I was trying to figure this out and the youngest players to play for the repka are:
Tudor – 19
Rakitic – 19
Srna – 20
Kranjcar – 20
Corluka – 20
I may be missing someone.
{http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/radosevic-od-prve-u-bruxellesu-stimac-18godisnjaku-poklanja-debi-protiv-crvenih-vragova/636337.aspx}
Here’s a link to stimac giving radosevic some encouragement before today’s game
How good is Radosevic? He played for all Croatian youth teams, he’s only 18 and he’s already in the starting 11 of Hajduk Split. But can he do something on this level? If he steps up today, he could be our new defensive midfielder for years. I’m very curious.
anyone else recall an 18 year old starting for the nt?
@ARMADA87
Add the two games with Inter Milan to the list of big games he’s played in.
I just hope that Radosevic doesn’t shit the bed in this game. If you think about it, the biggest games he’s played in prior to this are the Jadranski derbi and Vjecni derbi lol and also I hope Stimac pulls the plug on Olic-Mandzukic if they aren’t gelling and gets Jelavic in there.
Anyone know a good link for the game plz share.
Here’s the link to the interview by the way….
http://www.hrt.hr/index.php?id=37&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=179460&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=34&cHash=83c3affeb9
I wouldn’t be surprised that Stimac was trying to throw a curve ball to the reporters. Saw an interview he did for HRT and he was pretty sarcastic referring to the media indicating they had already picked the line-up a couple of days ago.
Best bet is to wait and see when it is posted. Looking forward to seeing if this group has the jajce to step up on the road against a quality opponent and put their stamp on this group early.
Far be it from me to defend Stimac, but what he did against the Swiss should have no influence on how we judge him. Friendlies are pointless and used to try different formations and tactics that you would not try during an actual qualifier. He tried something against the Swiss that did not work.
I do agree with one of the earlier comments that it is much tougher for young players to play at home when they are considered the favorite. Plus, for an experienced team like Cro, being on the road will help these guys. There is a negative atmosphere around the team back in Cro, so going on the road to play a game is actually better for them.
Regarding Radosevic????? Interesting choice if it is true. You always worry about a young kid making his debut, especially when he has not played many big games at the club level.
Here’s the link I found about radosevic starting. along with the general starters
http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php?id=29555
Stipe Pletikosa; Domagoj Vida, Vedran Corluka, Josip Simunic, Ivan Strinic – Darijo Srna, Josip Radosevic, Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic – Mario Mandzukic, Ivica Olic.
To this I say, are you serious? Perhaps Stimac ends up looking like a hero and a genius and radosevic emerges as an anchor in our NT for a generation to come. That being said, is he really going to experiment and throw an 18 yr old in for the first time against croatia’s biggest opponent? Is he really going to tinker with the line-up that much and move srna up to midfield and vida back to right back and put olic upfront over both jelavic and eduardo? to me, it sounds like a coach doing too much coaching to try to be the star rather than the players. i hope i’m wrong and we can call stimac a tactical genius after this. all i know is his first tactical tinkering against the swiss didn’t work out too well
“11 hungry Hrvati is differerent than 10 Welshmen”
haha…indeed! i say its a draw….1-1 or 2-2. i would love to be wrong and see us pull off a win but i think it would be tough!
they need to withstand any early pressure, keep their cool and then wait for their spots to counter attack. in a lot of ways, i think this is the most challenging fixture on the schedule (i know going to belgrade is a different story but their team is not as good as belgium’s) so a draw here is nothing to sneeze at.
i will be away from a screen (damn you work!) for the game so will be relying on my blackberry for updates. hrvatska!!
@Bobby V
I just read that Radosevic is likely to start. Funny, cuz I just wrote yesterday how I’d rather see him thrown into the fire than see Ogi play again.
This is proof that Igor reads CroatianSports.com
Jelavic, Mandzukic, Olic: Upfront keeping their 1/3 busy. Modric sharp from the go in midfield. This will take pressure off our back line. Ilicevic on the right wing attacking. Vukojevic doing his best. Strinic-Vida-Corkuka-Srna, holding it down. Pletikosa plays solid.
2-1
Vatreni.
11 hungry Hrvati is differerent than 10 Welshmen.
I live in Belgium and what I read from the belgian papers, this will probably be their starting 11(a 4-3-3)
Courtois(Atletico Madrid)
Defense : Gillet(Anderlecht), Kompany(City), Vermaelen(Arsenal), Vertonghen(Tottenhem)
Defensive midfielder : Defour(Porto)
Midfield : Fellaini(Everton), Witsel(Zenith Petersburg)
Rigtht wing : Hazard(Chelsea)
Left wing : Mertens(Psv Eindhoven)
Striker : Benteke(Aston Villa, he played for Racing Genk this season)
One of their best players, Dembele(Tottenham), will probably on the bench for Defour(Porto) who will have to take care of Modric. Defour played this way against the Netherlands and he took care of Sneijeder(Inter) that game. Belgian coach Wilmots hopes he can do the same thing with Modric today.
Starting 11:
Pletikosa; Vida, Ćorluka, Šimunić, Strinić – Srna, Radošević, Modrić, Perišić – Mandžukić, Olić
Noticed that Spain is going through qualifying as well. No more automatic birth for the defending champions?
Those ‘Nucks jerseys are absolute beauties!
That stripe across the front of their jersey just makes me think of one thing:
Ketchup and Mustard in the same bottle.
Ok, that’s enough from me making fun of their jerseys for one day.
Belgium’s jerseys are brutal.
They look like the old red, yallow, and black jerseys of the Vancouver Canucks.
Check it out:
http://shirtofacanuck.blogspot.ca/2012/07/fan-concept-friday.html
I would be happy with a draw here, and a win when we play them in Croatia. Just do not give up the 3 points. Our back 4 is going to have a horrible time against Hazard and Dembele, too much pace if the midfield won’t help the cause. The strikers absolutely blow on this squad and the defenders are overrated….yes they can score, but Vermaelen tends to fuck up quite a bit when defending 1 on 1, and Vertonghen is hyped up a bit.
id be happy with a 1-1 draw, but will bet on a win, pays 4.00………good value. We got the experience, they got the younger talent…..idk if Belgium will make the leap tomorrow, they might be in full force a little too late next year, but right in time for a playoff match
Belgium would not have given Spain a good game like Croatia and Portugal did. Hazard is their only true star – the rest are hype. Young players playing at home are under more pressure.
1-1
Anyone else think Belgium’s jerseys are crap? They look like something a German team wore at the olympics 20 years ago.