Croatia have one foot in the World Cup door after their 4-1 spanking of Greece Thursday night in Zagreb. And if things hold the way they should, here is how the December 1st World Cup draw would look. ESPNFC has already calculated World Cup pots should all the “favorite” playoff teams win.
As of now, and if Croatia progress, they would be put in Pot 3 in a restructured World Cup seeding format based on FIFA ranking instead of geography; as it was in previous years.
Why does any of this matter?
Croatia can receive a much kinder road at the World Cup if one of three things happen.
Croatians are rooting for Italy, Switzerland or Peru to lose their playoff tie and miss out on the World Cup. Should that happen, Croatia would be the next team to be bumped up to Pot 2.
As it stands with Croatia in Pot 3 (if they qualify), Croatia could be grouped with Brazil and Spain, France and Colombia or even England and Argentina. The goal is for Croatia to qualify and hope one of Italy, Switzerland or Peru fail to make the WC. If not, it will be a tough road for Croatia to get out of group in Russia.
The Vatreni play again on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some joy from some scoreboard watching the next few days.
So remember, Croatian fans are rooting against Italy, Switzerland or Peru. Pick your poison.
Switzerland played alongside Croatia Thursday night and defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 on the road on a controversial penalty call which saw the ball hit the defender’s back more than anything. The return leg in Switzerland is Sunday.
Sweden host Italy Friday, November 10th with he return leg back in Italy on the 13th. Peru take on New Zealand in an inter-continental playoff. The first leg in New Zealand will be played on the 11th with the return leg in Peru on the 15th.
To be clear, my problem is not with differences of opinion in discussing sports topics etc.. I do not think we should all have the same opinion.
My problem is the allowing of certain individuals to continually and repeatedly post here with obvious intent of nothing else than provoking people in a negative way.
Let’s again review just a few of Ziva’s highlights posted above:
Mocking the death of various Croatians, including Dražen.
Mocking the Virgin Mary
Constant childish derogatory nicknames for croatian players and coaches.
Attacking of croatians from various cities or regions.
On the day Gotovina was released, and all croatians everywhere were celebrating, there was this site featuring Ziva going on and on about what a despicable human the general is.
Etc…
What part of such druvel is a legitimate and uniting discorse about croatian sports and topics? Yet this website gladly provided Ziva a voice and forum here, and continues to do so for others of his ilk.
I will also post this in the other thread, as the topic has been crossing over.
I think so too. Soul champ.
@ Poglavnik,
Well said.
The website was created to unite people to “discuss” Croatian sports topics and build a platform for the Diaspora. Not to rangle up people who had the same opinion. Where’s the fun in that?
Actally everyone having the same opinions and being united in thought is much more Yugo.
Oh shut up that Ziva knew his shit. Typical Jugo attitude. Divide the community. He had an agenda and when everyone called out his bs the moron left. Maybe back to his failed business in Hrv.
http://app.football-italia.net/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2F112615%2Fnapoli-make-first-vrsaljko-contact#article/footballitalia-112615
This kid is the goods.
Assuming we qualify and if we get pot 2 (come on Sweden and New Zealand!) I would like Portugal Cro Senegal Panama
NZ and Peru was 0-0 in NZ for the first leg so there’s a small outside chance NZ could knock them off if they can pinch an away goal in the return leg
Ziva is a good guy, we listend to some cajke the other day in my moms basement too
True pog
The truth is pretty nice to come here from his rich and fabulous life style and school us on all things Croatian
And for petes sake what would we do without his Xbox on steroids giving us tactics and results
Maybe everyone is just excited and we will implode but let us have our time
Heck we could be in Italy’s position right now
I’m darn thankful right now
Pretty sure none of these new fools here are Ziva.
As much of a dick as he was, he actually knew his shit.
yeah but that is a kinda funny outcome
i mean i got a huge laugh at the anon guys posting under “Ante Kvartuch” after we beat Greece 4-1 and saying we need to protest and walk off the pitch in the return leg, lol
Hmm you do make a good argument there, lol
Ziva’s step tata was the ONLY funny part of Ziva turning this place into Ziva.com, which lead to it becoming the present croatiantrollsandconspiracytheories.com (dividing Croatians worldwide)
Great? At what? Once a year (maybe), he said something mildly amusing. Then he repeated it 5 times a day forevermore. Otherwise , he was a troll that spewed anti Croat crap and divisive bs. Let’s see, a couple highlights;
Mocking Dražen Petrović’s death.
Mocking the death of many others, often within minutes of the news.
Mocking the Virgin Mary.
The General Gotovina was released, and all Croats everywhere were celebrating, Ziva was on here yapping about what a terrible person Gotovina is.
Calling for the “cleansing” of thousands of ethnic Croats but non Purgeri from Zagreb.
Stupid childish derogatory nicknames for anyone and everyone in croatian sports.
Calling Luka Modrić a bust at Real.
Etc.
This would have been (maybe) fine, if ANY of it was actually funny… but no, he was just being a troll, and repeating himself a thousand times
You can start paying his mama’s internet bill? 😉
It’s true.
Euro 2012 is a perfect example.
We were probably a top-4 team in that tournament, but were grouped with the tournament winners and runners up in Spain and Italy.
We got robbed by the refs in both games with the phantom foul on Balotelli that led to Pirlo’s free kick goal, and the obvious non penalty calls against Spain. Those would not have happened against lesser names.
You have to beat the best, sure, but you don’t have to beat ALL of them, in every game, in every round, lol.
Even the tournament Champs get a few gimmie games along the way.
Zivas step tata was prob one of the best characters ever
Cmonn Ziva was great, lol
Want Ziva back?
What the F is wrong with you? First iggy days he’s a communist, and now this?!
Yes but i would like Ziva back
i never wanted him to disappear! i always appreciated Ziva on this site. Plus think of the good things: Ziva was always a prick when we lost, yes, but the best thing was him HAVING to deal with good performances. I spose he would make up some shit like cunttruth above but still would be good to have Ziva back.
Is there some way to bring him back like repeating his name 5 times in front of a mirror or something?
😉
Iggy stop feeding the trolls
Everyone knows it’s the site mods. I really hope so
No sane person would spend years trolling except the late great Živa
Hard work pays off. You did not fear the the greeks bearing gifts also.
Also, you don’t have to beat the best to be the best
would you rather play Brazil and Germany in successive knockout rounds or have them play each other so we only need to face one? A kind draw ALWAYS helps because it reduces how many great teams you have to play.
I’m so sick of hearing “it doesn’t matter who we draw”.. “We can beat anyone”.. “to be the best you have to beat the best” which is all complete bullfuck.
Of course it matters who you draw, it matters HUGELY. We could’ve drawn Sweden or Italy in this playoff and be fucked, who knows? Similarly, we want a kind draw in the WC – none of this “it doesnt matter”. it doesnt matter? DOESNT MATTER? What the fuck?
I’m all In for big games
We come to play for those for the most part
The only thing that scares me like someone said is soith American teams and playing big boys cause any questionable call prob won’t go our way
At least Luka demand the respect of refs and shouldn’t be mauled like years past
He ain’t Ronaldo but his name is well respected for quality and sportsmanship
The first and last goals were Greek errors for sure but it’s a bit ridiculous to say Perisic was unmarked so that’s just Greece’s fault lmao..
also Kalinic was unmarked for 10 seconds? huh?
Both of those were excellent crosses (particularly Sime’s) which any team would struggle to defend.
That was the big diff – Sime and Strinic played (and crossed) reasonably well, and that’s what puts pressure on the opposing team. You don’t know how a team is going to react until you put them under pressure, Greece cracked – particularly on the 4th goal, cos we brought the pressure.
The result is 99.99% due to the pressure we put them under so it’s just total cuntery to say oh well it’s all cos Greece is shit so they would’ve lost to anyone, you kinky little furball truth
who cares about what group we get, to be the best you need to beat the best. in the past we got easy groups and we still messed up lets go all out this torunament
I hear you Dannyj. Can’t wait for Sunday to be over is do true!
Agree the swedes will have to battle Italy and the refs to get in that’s for sure
Will be an interesting game no doubt
I have a feeling dalic won’t let them get too confident
i feel modric with all his big game experience now knows what to say and is leading on the field and in club house
U can’t tell me modric rakitic mandzukic don’t know what’s up winning and losing in big games
Can’t wait till Sunday is over. So we can all relax for a bit
Sorry for the delays, i know how much people on the site rely on me for me my truthful analysis
But let’s face it, it was a long night. Rented out a restaurant for friends and family to watch the game. Great time celebrating with some true domoljubs. Talking things Croatian. Sharing stories about the war. A little singing… The usual
As usual as well, the site is way too excited and proclaiming dalic a coaching maestro is laughable.
I was spot on that taking mandzukic out and putting up kramaric, kalinic, perisic would be much better
I was wrong to go against my model though and believing there would be a really high chance of a tie cause of Greek bunkering
And there lies the problem. This game was more about Greece’s total incompetence than Croatias ability
Let’s recount how Greece gave away four goals.
Stupid foul by goalie. Modric scores (despite taking a bad penalty kick)
Atrocious marking by Greece allowing kalinic to score who was unmarked in the box for ten seconds right in front of goal
Third goal was another absolute defensive atrocity with no one marking perisic
Fourth goal had to be one of the dumbest plays we’ve seen with the Greek defender passing off the chest to the goalie rather than clearing it
Ultimately Croatia did not score one goal that a good defense would ve given up so don’t go believing dalic has solved all the offensive problems
Finally, i will tip my hat to modric. It is a gift to be Croatian and watch him play. I truly believe he bleeds for the checkers like myself. Ultimately though, he is still not a messi that he can carry a team himself. He needs great players around him to be truly great and Croatia does not give that to him
Italy will be at the World Cup even if the refs have to award penalty i see a 1-0 score till late for Italy then they get some help and win 2-0. Might be controversial but they will be in Russia.
Where is @Turkey… his namesake is out and the Italians (adopted team) have all they can handle with Sweden… no playing for the draw in Italy… I love it!
now im off to watch the Aussies vs Honduras, i want Aussies to get in and draw Croatia in the WC! : )
good news, Sweden defeated ITaly 1-0
Mile I agree!
Guys, the points don’t matter in these games. The World Cup seeds are based on the October FIFA rankings. So Croatia would need Switzerland, Italy or Peru to lose their playoff to move to a #2 seed. First things first though. And again I have to laugh at how some people on this board feared Greece in the playoff draw. My fear was Sweden. Do you think Italy would prefer Greece right now?
sweden up 1-0 !
I want Italy and Rep. Ireland to win!
Who was the retard arguing with me that Strinic has no offense in his game and shouldnt be called up to the team ?
Now I remember why I stopped talking to Croatians about Croatian soccer…
watching sweden v italy now
here’s a good stream if anyone cares:
http://www.navixsport.com/sport.php?id=3269&page=xhslklylslklpsslklkn
remember we want sweden to win
@Marko, I’m in HRV every June so the greedy part of me loves watching games over there in that atmosphere. I really think this team can do some damage in Russia!
If everyone stays healthy come Russia, this could be the best Croatian team ever!
To early to say anything about Dalic yet, however, he has made some very positive decisions so far.
Hey. So I used the FIFA rankings calculator. If we win in Greece, I think we are guaranteed of pot 2 regardless. Even if if the 3 teams above us in pot 2- Mexico, Columbia, and Uruguay won ALL their remaining games this weekend, our 2 wins agains Greece give us 1081 points, which wld be above all of their point levels.
Denmark and Sweden who are behind us could potentially pass us even if we win again on Sunday, since their opponents are stronger. But that’s ok, cuz we’d pass 3 teams, and only 2 wld pass us. So I think we control our own destiny.
@jimmycro Lets not get too high on ourselves because of one good result. We always do this, We beat Cameroon 4-0 and lose to Mexico we beat Spain and lose to Portugal. We have a good result against Greece and im certain we will qualify but beating Greece 4-1 does not mean we will win the world cup.
I’m with Slavonic and Toronto, bring on whoever. Lets get there first then play all comers, you think those guys want anything to do with us???
I liked the quote that the outside of Modric’s foot is like a magic wand.
Our midfield is one of the best in the world on paper and we seem to be finally playing like it over the last two games. We need to find a way to firm up the back line, but no one is going to want to draw us in Russia if we can take care of business tomorrow.
Coaching matters because the 11 best players are not always the best 11. The manager needs to put the players into a formation and system that gets the most out of them. When we played Kosovo, Iceland, Turkey and Finland recently everyone was playing below their ability (possible exception being Modric). In the last two matches we’re seeing good performances from so many with just a few mental areas from a couple players.
A lot of it is psychology, but it’s also not just about putting in a motivational speaker. I hope Dalic can keep it up and continue to develop. My guess is that he has the job barring a let down tomorrow.
Of course coaching matters. People who say like wise never played any type of organizing sport
Ever work for a jack ass boss???
A leader leads with encouragement correcting when correcting is due but always takes charge. Dalic looks so far to be putting out his lineup not someone else’s The way he speaks inspires confidence. Seems calm and in control on the sidelines in press conference.
Ya he coached in Saudi Arabia but from what wiki has to say he did some good things there. He payed his dues. He is getting his chance and he has great tools at his disposal. It’s only some idiots on here saying we aren’t good. Show me how many international teams are perfect in every position??
We are for sure not but we are above average at most combine it with a proper leader Remember u not going to teach these guys much at this point but u can ask them to play a role and if u have their respect they will do it
Anyways I’m just ranting. Thanks for the usual positive people and let’s get rid of all the annoymous posts please. It really discredits the site
There are lot of great minds on here dumbed down with crap
Though if i saw a post from ziva step dad I would chuckle
I’ll let the soccer minds tell us how to play Sunday. But it ain’t over till it’s over
I would think it’s up to our midfield to try to control the possession for first little while and keep em scoreless then we are ok. The opposite of last game is true. The longer it goes scoreless the better for us
Mandzukic to do his job with constant pestering and running back for the first 45
We will get chances on the counter U would think we should be able to bag at least one to negate their away goal
Modric on another level Even the English commentator on Canadian feed at one point when he made one of his outside boot passes. Says there is only one person in the whole stadium who saw that pass and that was Luka Modric!
I read so many postings about coaching doesn’t matter- ?? We’ll we saw that coaching does matter and man did our guys step up with old school Croatian soccer- players crossing from every direction- attack, attack and attack some more- not as pretty but it had the show of Croatia vs Germany in 1998 when we were driving forward every chance we could get-
Great to see and give some love to Dalic for seeing the light and turning the electricity on.
Let’s just get to Russia and then do our World Cup games and get to the 2nd round- that is the goal and after that anything can happpen-
Let’s hope those gayreek cocksuckers suck each other dry in the locker room before the match on Sunday. That way they will be even more docile and lethargic than they were in Zagreb….Dalic da man. Give us your masterplan and stick to it. Zlat-ko. Zlat-ko. Zlat-ko.
U boj u boj and ZDS.
@Slavonac from Canada “Anyone else notice what I was saying about Brozovic? The guy always looks like he’s off balance. He’s somewhat clumsy and the ball gets stuck between his feet a lot.”
Totally agree, I think Brozobitch looks like a clumsy animal with intertwining legs fumbling about. Actually he reminds me a bit of Peregrin Took from LOTR. “Next time, throw yourself in, you fool of a Took”…!
@ Soul Champ
Your right. The first 25 mins of the game is going to be nerve wrecking for us to watch. But if Mandzo only plays the first half and its 0-0 going into the second half. Bench Mandzo and put Rog in. Because then The Greeks are just going to be praying if they don’t score early and its 0-0 at half time
I would put Rog in. I am not sold on Rebic. I think Rebic thinks he is better than he actually is. I don’t like his body language on the pitch. I like Rog. I would go with him
@ Souls Champ
I agree with you. We should start Mandzo the first 45 mins. And he should be told by the coach ” Mario, you are only playing the first 45 mins. So I need you to run like a fuckin mad man. Run as if it’s your last game your ever playing. Play a support roll. Run back and forth from defense to offense then to counter. ” cause if Mandzo knows he is only playing the first half he doesn’t have to worry about conserving energy. Run like the wind.
And then I would remind him how he got red carded against Iceland and missed the first game against Brazil.
And I know I’m going to get shit over this comment but I’m happy Serbia qualified straight though to the World Cup. Good for them. I would love to see Croatia play Serbia in World Cup round of sixteen match or maybe a group stage if we are lucky. But the chances of us being in a group with them in slim. Yea we took care of business against them in 2013 in Zagreb and beat them. The game in Belgrade, I don’t know what happened there. All I remember was Serbia securing possession in the first half as if they were Spain. Yea in the second half Srna made a beautiful pass to Mandzukic to get the first goal. Tied 1-1. Serbia needed to win that game to even have a chance to go to the World Cup and we ended it!!!!
But we are tied with Serbia……..
We ended their hopes for them qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. And we got a win in Zagreb. But in 1999. That shit broke my heart. Even though we tied both games. They didn’t allow us to qualify for Euro 2000. Makes me so sad remembering how fuckin Mihajlovic set up both goals for “Yugoslavia” in Zagreb. After we’re up 1-0 with a Boksic goal. But I do remember if we had beaten Makedonija instead of tying them that one game. We would have went thru.
@ Stipe
Point well made.
Need to insert Rog or Rebić into starting 11.
First 20 minutes will be on fire.
If Mandžukić is healthy I would start him for the first 45 minutes.
He is a big time player and away to Greece will be added value.
Definitely need a focused start.
Then we hit them on the counter.
I understand we all excited because we got a awesome result against Greece. But what we are not in the World Cup yet. What happens if we lose to Greece on Sunday 2-0? Obviously we still go on to the World Cup but is that something to be proud of? We have to play Greece on Sunday as if we lost to them yesterday.
Greeks are proud people with a good football history. They are not going to lay down and be like ” hey, come into our country and take a shit on us please ”
Because if Greece scores a goal within the first 15 mins of the game on Sunday. Then we’re going to be the ones shitting in our pants. It’s not over. I really hope we win in Greece. Hopefully we play a solid game all around and get through to Russia nice and clean with a win. WE CANNOT BE CELEBRATING YET. THESE GREEK COCKSUCKERS ARE TO STUBBORN AND PROUD
If you think about it…when we get guys like Kovacic, Pjaca, Corluka back and thrown into the mix then our bench is getting some great depth.
We beat Greece 4-1 with Mandzukic on the bench afterall. Imagine having a decent game then bringing on a fresh Mandzukic or Kovacic in the last 15 mins …other teams would feel the pressure.
@ Zidane
Thanks for resting Luka the last match before international break.
He looked fresh and had the spring in his step.
Dobro jutro VATRENI !!!!
Vrati se ljubavi moja …
Toooooooooooooooooooooooo …
@ Ukraine and Greece play off challenges has finally stoked the fire that blazes in the hearts of svi Hrvati .
Dalić has brought sanity and sense to our beloved vatreni.
I knew Greece would be scouting the scrub qualifying campaign pre Ukraine match. They had know idea the ZDS welcome that was waiting for them at a packed Maksimir.
U boj , U boj … was chanted through the tv screen!
From this point forward I am happy to see us compete and play our brand of football.
Scoreboard is for the non believers.
World Cup is a show case for who we are and what we bring to life. The bigger the footballing country the better it is for Croatia.
I am happy for our elite players. They should take this opportunity in Greece and beyond tto express their individual talents and collectively create magic at the World Cup.
Kovačić and Pjaca will bounce back and add even more dynamic attacking depth.
Shout out to Strinic for coming back from Siberia to support us in making to Russia.
Just pair him with a strong CB and let him glide down the left flank.
Comparing him to Pivaric/Pranjić or a right footed Vrsaljko is lunacy.
Rakitić is PLUS ONE in my book for CDM master piece last night.
His range passing and field awareness is quite impressive.
I’d drop Brozovic for away match.
Need to add a bit more power and speed to with stand the first 20 minutes of Greece and to unleash the counter attacks.
Rog or Rebić to start depending on how you line up?
I would like to see waves of counter attacks.
We score two goals and we are in.
…one more thing – that Mandzukic injury story is bullshit. I’m sure Dalic did not want him in the lineup but offered a cover story to not embarrass a star who gave so much in the past.
It’s what a good coach does and it has been done before.
Just a feeling.
Like I agreed with Bobby V, you don’t need an Ancelotti or a similar club mastermind coach to get results.
It’s a big waste of money.
Subasic, Rakitic and a few of the players have already stated that Dalic has them pumped up and is saying all the right things.
That’s a national teams managers main job and he’s doing it well so far.
The Greeks will try and provoke our players into a red card – you can be sure of it.
We don’t need our two biggest targets, Mandzukic and Lovren, to be on the field and potentially pull a Stjepan Tomas to fuck us over.
The only team we should be going for is our own. It’s only half time ffs!!! We should feel confident to go through but there’s never a sure thing when it comes to sport.
No team managed to qualify after losing #WCQ play-off 1st leg at home.
– No team came back from 4-1 defeat.
– One team overcame a defeat in the first leg of #WCQ play-offs: FRA beat UKR 3-0 at home after 2-0 away defeat in 2013.
I don’t really care who we draw against either. I rather be in a group with Germany Spain Italy. I know that’s impossible because only so many European teams can be in a group. But what really scares me is being grouped with South American countries such as Mexico even though they are (North America). We have a hard time playing and South American countries. And the 2002 World Cup we lost to Ecuador. We really do have a hard time again South American countries, those are the ones that scare the hell out of me
I was wishing that we were in pot 4 so we could have a chance of getting portugal england croatia iceland. I would be confident of topping that group. Portugal the Euro champs could not beat iceland.
Kume, i wanna see the best teams. Italy swiss denmark. Yes its fine that iceland qualified but u wont be seeing joga bonito from them.
Man you guys love the gossip, so his wife is an adulterous whore why should that effect his game, she’s the one that should be ashamed of herself? If they’re still married then that makes Lovren look like a forgiving individual and a good man.
I don’t follow the private lives of the players, couldn’t give a shit, everything I know about their private lives is from you girls.
Anyway once you cross that white line there’s no excuses.
idemo
it’s not the players who are the issue, it’s the fans. Im sure the players are professional but that’s beside the point. Serbs are trained to hate Croats the way jihadis are raised and trained to hate the west, you can never ever trust a serb!
Now, on the actual game, that was the positive thing – some of the guys we were bashing kinda started to turn a new leaf. I mean the english commentator i had even said he would picked Vrsalkjo for MOTM, now that might be stretching but the point is he was much better, as was Strinic.
So whatever Dalic is doing seems to be going good for now. I liked his body language when he was talking to the players, he seemed more assertive and in control, less passive than Cacic was. Obviously it’s early days but it would almost be a pity to replace him (even with an Ancelotti) before tourney proper now since he’s done everything right so far.
OVerall just very encouraging and u can see from our comments, all of our spirits have been lifted a lot. Today’s a great day for us Hrvati and hopefully so will Sunday be.
It’s only fitting we go through the playoffs, that’s just the Croatian way, do it the hardest way possible at the last possible moment, lol
but it’s always nice to beat them
We’ve played Serbia and nothing happen….the reaction on the simunic foul would happen against anyone
Some Serbia Albania shit won’t happen between cro Serbia
The players don’t let the “past” or war get into them 95 percent of players want to have good tournaments to up their price, all that fighting only hurts that they all know
You can see teams who fight some players get crazy maf because they’re losing opportunity
And if anything were to happen it would be directly linked to the war even though it highly has nothing to do with it
Brazil England Croatia Serbia LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO
How about revenge against Brazil? 😀
I said this earlier but wanted some thoughts.
I really liked how Rakitic played today. He made some really good passes and defended well also. He looked very comfortable back there and offers a lot of skill and composure.
How would we fit him and Badelj together? Move Brozovic on the bench?
Anyone else notice what I was saying about Brozovic? The guy always looks like he’s off balance. He’s somewhat clumsy and the ball gets stuck between his feet a lot. I thought he did alright today, better than as an offensive option.
I kinda feel bad for Lovren. His life is in a shambles and I’m sure he’s dealing with a lot. I can’t imagine how the guy must feel walking onto the field feeling like 30,000 people know his wife cheated on him, with his friend. Add the embarrassment, hurt and personal things he’s dealing with plus his injury and the guy has every reason to feel bad…all of us would! For his sake, I hope he rises in soccer and overcomes some of these hard times. People in his shoes can slide down a deep and dark hole mentally…and that’s a very scary place for someone…I hope he gets help!
Yeah i wouldn’t mind to fuck England up either, good call.
There’s so many teams i want our guys to royally belt the living shit out of! Can we just smash them all please? 😀
When I said that “we can easily beat any team in Pot A and Pot B”, I was exaggerating a bit.
Brazil and Germany are the tournament favorites and I would be surprised if they didn’t top their groups (despite us always getting the better of Germany).
Argentina are right behind them and will step up this tournament, despite their crappy qualification campaign.
Belgium and France are next, but I think we would beat Belgium if we were paired with them. Croatia always does well in revenge games to teams we lost big games to. We always seem to ‘get them back’. We did it to Germany, England, Turkey, Ukraine and now Greece. I think we’d beat Belgium. We would probably tie France.
However, we shouldn’t really be looking at the Pot A teams. It’s the Pot B teams that matter. Most of them are not too strong.
The only ones that would concern me from Pot B are:
– England,
– Spain,
– Italy,
– Uruguay
But I still don’t think any of these guys would beat us. We all know Italy can’t. I think Croatia would step up big against England. Uruguay is probably a tough one. Spain will probably be broken up by the time the World Cup begins, lol.
I’m not too concerned either.
If we continue to play like this, we can easily beat any team in Pot A or Pot B.
Not only have we unleashed Modric…we have excellent midfielders and wingers. It will only get better when Pjaca comes back, and when guys like Vlasic and Rebic get to train with the team longer.
As much as we knock our strikers, we have a lot of options. Kramaric is a Godsend for this team and compliments our midfielders extremely well. He should have been starting a long time ago. Mandzo and Kalinic give us different options too.
Our weaknesses in defense are not too bad…
Strinic is having a good season and can be a capable LB for us at this tournament. Vida is Vida. Vrsaljko is out of form, but this out of form version got us two assists. He was amazing when he was in form at the beginning of qualifying. Once he’s back to 100%, we’ll be great at RB.
It’s just Lovren.
We NEED to start Corluka over him. Lovren is, by far, our worst player. I think Dalic only started him because of Corluka being injured and Mitrovic not playing first team football, but both those guys are better than Lovren.
If Lovren doesn’t play in Russia, we can go far.
Yes Iggy it would, I call it the group of life.
Looks like 18 to 20c temps in Athens on Sunday.. perfect for our team ..thank God no rain.We will be in Russia next year ..mother of all Slavs.. Russia and Putin is waiting for us to spice up the world cup.
lmao that would be an awesome group! ahahah
If we win Sunday though, that’s 2 wins. If Uruguay ties a friendly game, or if Italy ties twice and advances for example, maybe that wld give us enough points to jump into pot 2 with the 2 wins anyway?
If the pots turned out like that, Poland, Peru, Croatia and Panama is what I’m hoping for! I like easy groups.
To be honest I dont care who we play if/when we get to the World Cup.
The Vatreni are a whole other beast when we’re in big tournaments. We’ve beaten teams like Germany, Italy and Spain in big tournaments ..so why fear being grouped with anyone?
You know what else FIFA has to do, change that stupid home team in pot 1 non sense, it should be enough that a shit team like Russia can host the WC and make it without having to qualify.
Russia in pot 1 brings the WC into disrepute!
Also how the fuck is Peru in a higher pot than us???
Well i dont think any of those teams are gonna lose.
Swiss are looking good, and Peru and NZ? I mean i spose u never know but i can’t see NZ winning, so we’d need italy to lose a playoff, highly unlikely.
The only shit thing about those pots if we are in pot 3 is we can’t draw Iceland. I would personally like to draw them again and kick the living snot out of them. Obviously smashing Serbs is always good too – altho the game being in Russia, they’ll obviously have all the support and there could be fan problems.
I’d also like to draw Australia but tbh i think they will lose to Honduras.
If we remain in pot 3 though, give us Portugal or Belgium, Mexico and Serbia
hehe, agree with the revenge tour Maminjo espoused above! 😀
marko shut up. idiot
great performance…still way off the best we can do. vrsaljko still needs a brain transplant, and strinic is my grandmother (baka) on a weiji board. but w
i’ll take it. god damn
looking forward to the game in Athens. hoping Achilles don’t turn up. u boj
I would like to avoid Serbia this game at a high event like the world cup would bring out way to much pressure and tension as it would be a high risk match. Even though we are the better team they are unpredictable when playing against us.
To be honest, I never hope for any outcome. I never wish we get a particular team or avoid them…I always go with the attitude that we can beat anyone if we are prepared.
Yes we have.
I would like to complete this revenge tour, remain in Pot 3, and draw Portugal and Mexico.
i hate when we do these topics…we haven’t won yet.