Ukraine
Kalinić scores in Dnipro debut, sees red
Nikola Kalinić made his Dnipro debut in dramatic fashion Saturday as he came off the bench against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 59′ with his side already down 3-0. Kalinić quickly picked up a yellow card in the 69′ before heading home Dnipro’s loan goal of the game in the 81st off a set piece. Two minutes later, Kalinić threw a bit of an elbow while backing down a Shakhtar defender and was given a straight red card. It seemed like a flop job, but nonetheless, Kale was sent to the locker room for an early shower in his debut. Shakhtar defeated Dnipro 3-1.
“I feel bad that Kalinić received a red card, especially in his debut where he scored a nice goal, but he did deserve it.” -Darijo Srna
Ivan Strinić played the full 90 minutes for Dnipro and was not at fault for any of the three Shakhtar goals. With former Hajduk striker Nikola Kalinić joining Strinić at Dnipro, there are now five clubs across Europe with multiple Croatian internationals on the roster: Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dnipro.
KALINIĆ GOAL (3:55) RED CARD (4:20)
Srna (33) celebrates opening goal with Adriano
Darijo Srna played the full match in Shakhtar’s 3-1 victory over Dnipro. Srna wasn’t part of the scoring on the day but did receive a yellow card in the 53′. Eduardo was left on the bench as an unused substitute. It looks as if Shakhtar manager Mircea Lucescu will keep Eduardo well-rested for their Champions League campaign.
Ognjen Vukojević was left off of Dynamo Kyiv’s squad in their 2-0 victory over city rivals Arsenal Kyiv. It is not known if Vukojević picked up a knock or is just being rested before Dynamo’s Europa League playoff round match with Bulgarian side Litex Lovech on Thursday.
Scotland
SNS SCOTLAND: JELAVIĆ (center) LEADING RANGERS’ FLYIN’-V FORMATION
It took Rangers until the second half Saturday to get anything going against home side Inverness. In the 59′ of the scoreless match, Inverness’ Ross Tokely received a red card after taking down Rangers’ Naismith in the box. After at least three bad decisions against Rangers in the first half, it was the incorrect decision against Inverness, which led to the opening goal. The referee however awarded the penalty, and to rub salt into the wounds, the big defender was sent off for his troubles.
Nikica Jelavić stepped up confidently to take the penalty and duly converted it making it 1-0 Rangers. Moments later, another Inverness foul in the box gave Jelavic one more opportunity from the spot. The Croatian striker stepped up, went the same way and had it blocked. Luckily, the ball headed straight to teammate Maurice Edu, who tapped in the ball to make it 2-0 Rangers. The match would end that way, but it appears that Croatians around Europe are still having trouble from the spot.
JELAVIĆ BATTING .500 FROM THE SPOT
England
REUTERS/ Klasnić scores twisted goal vs. QPR
Ivan Klasnić got the start for the Bolton Wanderers in their season debut vs. QPR. Killer did not disappoint in the 4-0 Bolton win as he scored from a ridiculous,
Cirque Du Soleil trapeze artist position in the 70′. The shot was deflected by a QPR defender, but nonetheless, it’s still incredible that Klasnić could even get the shot off with that much strength being behind the ball like that. For an encore, Klasnić fed a perfect ball to Fabrice Muamba in the 79′ to cap off a fantastic season debut. Klasnić was finally subbed out in the 86′.
Hopefully, Klasnić keeps this up. And if he does, he MUST be put on the Croatian national team roster. The man is a finisher and clearly still has gas left in his tank.
KLASNIĆ GOAL (2:05) ASSIST (3:00)
TWO WEEKS AND COUNTING ON MODRIĆ AND THE TRANSFER WINDOW
Luka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar and Vedran Ćorluka had their season debut postponed due to the riots in North London. The FA almost cancelled the entire first week but felt it was safe to move on with every match except the Tottenham-Everton game, which was supposed to be played at White Hart Lane on Saturday. In other news, Soccernet.com has reported that Chelsea might pass on Modrić this transfer window.
This is purely a business move on Chelsea’s part. Chelsea are now saying that they are not interested in Modrić which puts the ball in Tottenham’s court. If Spurs chairman Levy did have a number in his head to sell Modrić, we expect him to make a public statement this week along the lines of, “Modrić is a world-class player and if Chelsea really wanted him, they would have to make a world-class offer.” Otherwise, Levy and Tottenham really did have no intention of selling Modrić this offseason.
Germany
Photo: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen; Mladen Petrić(right) takes a shot against Hertha Berlin in Hamburg
In what will surely go down as one of the most entertaining Bundesliga games of the season, Hertha Berlin came from behind twice to stun HSV in Hamburg on Saturday. HSV struck first in the 25th minute after Andre Mijatović brought down Mladen Petrić in the box with a “friendly” little tug of the shirt. Mladen stepped up to the spot and blasted the ball straight down the middle as Berlin keeper, Thomas Kraft, dove to the left. Berlin came close to an equalizer in the 34th after Christian Lell tried to chip the keeper but the ball came off the crossbar. Raffael was there to clean up the garbage, but his shot was saved off the post by HSV keeper Jaroslav Drobny. Hertha’ persistence would pay off as they would equalize through Tunay Torun to make it eins-eins at the half.
Photo: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen; Mladen Petrić celebrates after scoring a penalty against Hertha Berlin
Hertha continued to press in the second half as Adrián Ramos hit the bar with a right footed shot just outside the box, minutes after the whistle. 19-year-old, Heung-Min Son, would put Hamburg up for a second time with a nice run and powerful strike just out of the keeper’s reach in the 63rd minute. Just when Hamburg thought they had the three points sealed, Andre Mijatović completes the comeback with a nice header off a Raffael corner to steal a valuable away point.
Hertha Berlin 2-2 Hamburg
After riding the bench for Croatia in a 0-0 draw in Dublin on Wednesday, Mladen Petrić started and played 67 minutes for Hamburg in the draw. The 30 year old, Croatian international, remains a valuable piece for HSV this season but is yet to negotiate a contract extension for next season. TuttoMercato is reporting that HSV are ready to sell Mladen to Valencia for €10 million. We will keep you posted as this story further develops.
PHOTO: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen; Andre Mijatović(left) celebrates game tying goal against Hamburg
Hertha Berlin captain Andre Mijatović also started and played the full 90 minutes, picking up a yellow card after giving up a penalty kick to Petrić. Andre would later redeem himself with a late game equalizer. Hamburg will be kicking themselves for letting this one slip away.
Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch; Mario Mandžukić(left) goes up with Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger(right) on Saturday
A Luis Gustavo Dias injury time goal was all that Bayern Munich needed in a lucky 1-0 win over Wolfsburg at Volkswagen Arena on Saturday. In a very physical match without plenty of chances on goal, Bayern Munich were fortunate enough not to fall behind right before the half after a goal from Patrick Helmes had been disallowed. Video replays showed that Helmes wasn’t offside and Wolfsburg manager, Felix Magath, pleaded his case to the fourth official. However, the call remained the same as both teams entered the break scoreless. Wolfsburg were unfortunate to not come away with at least a point.
Croatian international, Mario Mandžukić, started and played the full 90 minutes for Wolfsburg. His first shot at goal came in injury time right after Bayern scored as his right footed shot from the right side of the box just sailed over the bar.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Wolfsburg
“If four referees are not able to assess the situation properly, then it’s time for television referees.”
~Wolfsburg manager, Felix Magath, after replays showed Helmes was not offside.
Photo: Bayern; Ivica Olić(right) celebrates Bayern goal
Srdjan Lakić finally made his Bundesliga debut for Wolfsburg on Saturday since signing a four year contract on January 27, 2011. The 27-year-old striker came on for Patrick Helmes in the 88th minute of play. After coming on in the second half for Croatia in Dublin on Wednesday, Ivica Olić, made his Bundesliga season debut for Bayern Munich, coming on for Toni Kroos in the 86th minute. Ivica had just enough time to help set up the game winner. With Croatia still fresh on Danijel Pranjić’ mind, Bayern Munich manager, Jupp Heynckes, decided to sit the former Dinamo Zagreb winger.
PHOTO: AFP PHOTO/DANIEL ROLAND ; Ivan Perišić(left) in action against Hoffenheim on Saturday
A ninth minute free kick from Bosnian international, Sejad Salihović, was all Hoffenheim needed to stun the Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund, 1-0 at Wirsol Rhein Neckar Arena. Croatian international Ivan Perišić came off the bench for Borussia in the 56th minute for Ilkay Gündogan. Ivan had multiple opportunities to score an equalizer, his best chance coming with a header off the post, but it just wasn’t his day in the end as the champs suffer a rare defeat.
(2:30) Ivan Perišić came close multiple times for Dortmund against Hoffenheim on Saturday
“Hoffenheim got the victory because they showed greater passion. In spite of that, we still could have still managed to win the game. Over 40 to 50 minutes, we played well and created a number of chances to score. The defeat feels really bad as I didn’t have the feeling we couldn’t have picked up anything here in terms of points.”
~Borussia Dortmund manager, Jurgen Klopp, after the match
After starting for Croatia in Dublin, Josip Šimunić was left off the squad by Hoffenheim in the win.
PHOTO: AP/Martin Meissner; Mato Jajalo(right) challenges Schalke’s Lewis Holtby on Saturday
A hat trick by Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar helped Shalke 04 sink Köln 5-1 on Saturday. After taking an early lead through Lukas Podolski in the 12th minute, Schalke would score four goals in 17 minutes to put the game out of reach. Mato Jajalo started the game for Köln and couldn’t get anything going as the Billy Goats finished the game with only 32% possession. Mato came off for Adam Matuschyk in the 75th minute of play. With the loss, Köln find themselves at the bottom of the Bundesliga table as the only pointless team.
“I know that there will be a great deal of pressure on me before our next game. But I have faith in my work. I did not make a good start in Copenhagen either. Maybe my concept is a bit difficult for the players to grasp, but I am convinced by this concept which we as a whole team are working on. All hell has broken loose inside of me. The problem is not the pressure from outside – my pride has been hurt and that is painful. I know that this was a poor performance and it is hard for the players to take anything from this game to build upon, and it is hard for me too.”
~Cologne manager, Stale Solbakken, told goal.com
Photo: Bild; Ivo Iličević(left) pleads his case to Ndjeng(right) after a bad challenge on Verhaegh
Kaiserslautern needed a late equalizer from Itay Shechter to draw 1-1 and deny Augsburg its first ever Bundesliga win. Augsburg are playing in the Bundesliga for the first time in their 104 year history. German born Croatian international, Ivo Iličević, started and played the full 90 minutes for Kaiserslautern in the draw. Ivo played well for the Red Devils, controlled most of the possession and swung in a half dozen quality crosses. However, Kaiserslautern only reached the back of the net once off of seven shots on target. Stiven Rivić was left off the squad by Kaiserslautern. Augsburg will be happy with the draw as the undefeated side showed that they are here to stay.
“We made a glaring mistake and were uncertain after it. We were too disheartened and failed to take the initiative.”
~Kaiserslautern coach Marco Kurz
France
PHOTO: olweb.fr; Dejan Lovren
Olympique Lyonnais dropped 25 shots on AC Ajaccio but only managed to get one in the back of the net to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw at Stade de Gerland. AC Ajaccio would strike first through Frederic Sammaritano in the 59th minute of play. Lyon would hit the post three times before Lisandro López finally stopped the bleeding and equalized in the 83rd minute to save a point. Croatian international.Dejan Lovren, played the full 90 minutes for Lyon in the draw. Lovren was partly at fault for the AC Ajaccio goal after getting burned by Christian Kinkela down the right flank.
4:42 Dejan Lovren gets burned for the opening goal
Russia
Stipe Pletikosa was given his first start for Rostov as they took on Kuban Krasnodar. Although they controlled possession, their finishing was poor and they were a bit unlucky as they lost 2-1. Stipe was able to get a hand on the first goal, but there was nothing he could do as Zelao was completely unmarked and scored off of Vargas free kick in the 23′. The second goal was from just outside the six-yard box and once again Pleti had no chance. Other than the goals, Kuban’s only other shot on goal was from a 40-yard free kick easily caught by Pletikosa.
“We had a poor day. We played an average game and made lots of dumb mistakes; mistakes Kuban knew how to take advantage of. Now we have to fight for survival, but I believe our dignity will help us out of this tough situation. Next Sunday we play Terek; where we must find all three points. We need to put more heart in our play and work harder. If we can string two or three good games together, everything will be better.”
-Pletikosa after Kuban debut
PLETIKOSA LEFT AND DRY BY HIS DEFENSE
Tomislav Dujmović continued his stay on the Dynamo Moscow bench as they defeated Terek Grozny 6-2. Dynamo currently sit in third place on the Russian table.
Spain
RAKITIĆ (R) DURING MEDIA DAY FOR SEVILLA LAST SEASON
La Liga was originally supposed to start next weekend but the players have decided to strike the first two scheduled fixtures. The players are angry about 50 million Euros in unpaid wages, of which the league is only willing to guarantee seven million. If the strike goes as planned and nothing is resolved, the season will start on September 10th. This is great news as Ivan Rakitić is expected to be back between late August and early September. He began training with the ball on Wednesday afternoon and is a couple of weeks away from training with the team.
Despite starting only three games last year (0 Goals) with interest from Hercules and a few other teams, Mate Bilić (above) has announced in an interview with La Nueva España that he plans on staying at Sporting Gijon.
“It’s not new for me because every year, two or three teams have interest in me since I started. It is a compliment that other teams are interested, but I’ve always said that my head is here. I’m in a city that I love like crazy. Sporting came to fight and I’ll show my commitment and loyalty to the club.”
-Mate Bilić on upcoming season
Portugal
Nacional kicked off their season this weekend against Feirense. Although Feirense went down a man after 60 minutes, Nacional was unable to capitalize and the match ended 0-0. Dejan Školnik (above) started and recieved a yellow card in the 43rd minute. He was subbed off in the 67th minute for winger Daniel Candeias as Nacional were looking to break the deadlock.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 8/16
Rubin Kazan at Olympique Lyon(Champions League),
Wednesday, 8/17
Zürich at Bayern München(Champions League), Malmö FF at Dinamo Zagreb(Champions League)
Thursday, 8/18
Rangers at Maribor(Europa League), Tottenham Hotspur at Heart of Midlothian(Europa League), Birmingham City at Nacional(Europa League), Dynamo Kyiv at Lovech(Europa League), Dnipro at Fulham(Europa League),
Friday, 8/19
Wolfsburg at Borussia M’gladbach, Rostov at Terek Grozny
Saturday, 8/20
Hamburger SV at Bayern München, Nürnberg at Borussia Dortmund, Hoffenheim at Augsburg, Kaiserslautern at Köln, Olympique Lyon at Brest, Dinamo Moskva at Anzhi Makhachkala
Sunday, 8/21
Manchester City at Bolton, Schalke 04 at Mainz, Hertha BSC at Hannover 96, Rangers at Motherwell, Illychivets at Shakhtar Donetsk, Dnipro at Vorskla
Monday, 8/22
Tottenham Hotspur at Manchester United
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
Knezevic is back in Serie A and will return to Croatians Around Europe starting next week. He might be an option. Krizanac has retired from the national team a long time ago. No way he comes out of retirement.
Check out that link I posted a few comments back on that Swedish blogger. Tons of pictures from Maksimir and Zagreb leading up to the game. Good stuff, brings back memories of Zagreb.
i still miss the time when we have tudor kovac simic jarni…all from top clubs
Knezevic is no upgrade over anything we already have. Krizanac's best days are behind him.
Dario knezeivc can be backup???
Recall ivica krizanac? He can be short term solution till euro 2012.He has experience in CL and big matches at zenit in the past.
Mijatovic is an average defender, probably not much of an improvement over Schildenfeld. He is the captain of a Bundesliga side, but remember this guy was a career 2. Bundesliga player who happened to play for a side promoted. At Dinamo he wasn't that great
A NT backup? Sure, but not necessarily a guy I would be comfortable starting.
Croatia have little depth at CB. You can add Vida though to your list if you trust him in big matches
-maybe mijatovic can be the central backup in croatian NT.
-KLASNIC should be @ NT.
what good central defenderes do we have?
(lovren, simunic, shildenfeld)???
We all know Maksimir, like most of the stadiums in Cro are garbage.
I'm sure the reporters from EU countries shake their heads when they come to countries like cro and see the sports stadiums and where the media is forced to work in Maksimir. I don't know how many of ou guys have ever had the chance to walk around and underneath Maksimir, but if it was in the US the place would be closed by health and safety officials.
Srna, a notorious diver, should recognize a dive when he sees one and his teammate's dive ultimately took Kalinic out of the game. Anyway, good for Kalinic, scoring in his debut.
The swedish reporter took pictures of the locker rooms and underground walkways which he said "stunk".
Croatian media left out pictures of locker rooms, facility, and walkways.
I dont get the swedish reporter thing, i looked at the pictures they look fine…. what did the sweidsh reporter expect? the country to be filled with Golden rainbows with unicorns flying around?
Perisic trying a bit too hard. Unlucky.
Yes, he missed all of pre-season due to an injury. He is back in Zagreb now after rehab in Chile, not sure when he will be ready
what's the deal with pedro morales, how come he doesn't play regulary for dinamo anymore.
is he injured?
Guys check out this blog by a Swedish reporter working the Dinamo-Malmo match. Scroll down to see the pictures. He was given a tour of Maksimir and he wasnt too impressed.
Dinamo-Malmo
I agree. Klasnic should be the first striker off the bench for Croatia. Now that Elmander is gone, Klasnic might become a regular starter at Bolton. If he continues to impress, Klasnic should start against the Zidovi.
Ivan "The Killer" Klasnic had I think a hand in 3 of the 4 goals on Saturday. Hopefully Bilic pulls his out of his behind and put him on the NT.
I got what you intend, thankyou for posting .Woh I am delighted to find this website through google. “Since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent.” by Heinrich Heine.
I dont know if its criminal that Klasnic isn't starting but he should be on every match for the final 30 minutes.
Klasnic is class! Bilic compalins that we dont have any quality strikers! Klasnic is oure quality! Its criminal not to have him starting every game for the NT!
I woke up at 7:00 on Saturday hoping to see some good football in the Wolfsburg/Bayern match: Pranjic, Olic, Mandzukic, Lakic..but only Mandzukic started. Wolfsburg had a legitimate goal taken back from a bad offside call. Bayern played very well defensively all over the pitch.
That Pranjic story in the NT is shocking.