Osijek are up first. They enter the first round of Europa League qualifying on Thursday against Andorran champions, FC Santa Coloma.
I know, not the most prestigious matches on earth, the opening round of a less tournament, but this is crucial for Croatia’s growth of the Prva Liga.
Osijek will be facing a familiar opponent. The two clubs met each other under similar circumstances in 2012, ending in a 4-1 aggregate win for the Osijek club.
This Osijek club is far stronger than its 2012 version, keeping only Zvonimir Mikulic and Antonio Perošević from that team, while adding the likes of Aljoša Vojnović, Muzafer Ejupi, Gabrijel Boban, and Josip Knežević. Osijek is currently ranked 242 in UEFA, 109 spots higher than its opponent.
Coloma’s roster includes four players nearing 40 years old.
Santa Coloma does not have a promising record in European play, having won only a single match (1-0) against Tel-Aviv in 2007. The return match saw Israeli revenge with a 4-0 thrashing. Osijek, by contrast, has twice made it through three rounds of the UEFA Cup, as well as making it to the second qualifying round in 2012 before losing in a big way to Sweden’s Kalmar FF.
Osijek may have an easy road ahead of the, but a tougher opponent lies behind the first round. FC Luzern await the winner of Osijek-Coloma in the second round.
The club has been taking part in preseason training in Slovenia. They most recently defeated Slovene champions, NK Maribor 2-1 with Ejupi scoring both goals in the friendly.
The match kicks off at 1 pm EST on Thursday away to Santa Coloma. The return leg is scheduled for July 6 in the Garden City.
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…only a Serbian pedophile would post something like that
Its time to shut this website down and go find some croatian girlfriends I think, or just let some 10 year olds run it.
@ Manminjo
Barca rumors aside.
Kovačić is the real deal.
He has performed well at Inter and has held down a meaningful role on the greatest squad on the planet.
He finds the right situation where he can express his attacking talents then he become a super star.
We all under estimate the challenge of fighting for minutes at Real Madrid.
Young 23 yr old who can play anywhere in the midfield.
He can play 4 years some place and make another big transfer.
He is a worthy investment for many top clubs.
Barca wants Kovacic, but Real won’t deal with them…so Barca wants to trigger the 50 Million Euro release clause in his contract.
Real would rather sell him for less money to a Premiership club, and teams like Spurs and Arsenal are interested. Kovacic would also rather avoid the transfer to Barca as he might not want to deal with the drama of transferring over from Real to Barca.
Personally, I’m surprised Barcelona want Kovacic. I like him, but I don’t think he’s good enough to start at Barca or Real. Hopefully he proves me wrong.
Good luck to Osijek, Davor Suker’s first club.
I’m going over this summer to buy Zadar and build a new stadium. 🙂
In transfer rumor news, Barcelona is interested in Mateo Kovacic – that would be a shock move.
Bayern Munich and both Manchester clubs interested in Ivan Rakitic.
Manchester United has asked Inter Milan to lower the $50 Million buyout clasue for Ivan Perisic or they will move on.
…and Galatasaray is intersted in signing Alen Halilovic. He would join Domagoj Vida, who signed for Besiktas, in Turkey for two years.