Germany
MANDŽUKIĆ VS. RIBERY
Mario Mandžukić made his German debut on Friday night as his new Wolfsburg club opened up the German Bundesliga season in Bavaria against reigning champions Bayern Munich. Mandza had a fantastic match, getting the start and popping three shots on goal; one of them hitting the right post. He was subbed out in the 88′. It seems the ex-Dinamo striker is fitting in well in Germany and feels comfortable. Already knowing the German language and being able to mess around with Bosnian teammates Edin Džeko and Zvjezdan Misimović should make Mandžukić feel right at home.
Mandžukić was not enough for Wolfsburg to grab a point as Bastian Schweinsteiger (the best name in German history) scored an injury time winner to make Allianz Arena erupt in celebration. Danijel Pranjić (above) came off the bench in the 73′ for Bayern. He managed one shot on goal but couldn’t get much going in the 20 minutes he was on the field. Should Danijel Pranjić be looking for a new club? Ivica Olić was not on Bayern’s squad list as he nurses an injured knee that he received in the friendly against Slovakia.
RAKITIĆ D’S UP
Ivan Rakitic played the full 90 and assisted on Schalke’s lone goal as The Royal Blues lost to Hamburg 2-1 to open up their Bundesliga campaign. Rakitić played well and took many shots on goal from long range. It’s going to be fun watching him play Champions League ball this season. That has to be what Schalke are looking forward to because they looked absolutely flat-footed in this match against Hamburg. They looked nothing like last year’s team; even with the addition of Raul.
RAKITIĆ ASSISTS FARFAN GOAL
PETRIĆ: GOOD ELBOW ‘BIMBO CHECK’
Mladen Petrić got the start for Hamburg against Schalke in their 2-1 opening season win. Petrić had the right ideas mentally but looked flat physically. His shots had no spice on them and he had a good header chance that sailed over the crossbar in the 70 minutes he played. GolTv was saying that Petrić would be transferred sometime this season as Hamburg doesn’t have a European Cup to play for. Stay tuned.
It was the Srđjan Lakić (above) show on Saturday as the 26 year-old Croatian scored two goals for Kaiserslautern to help beat Cologne 3-1. Lakić ripped one from outside the box for the first and then got some help off a deflection for the double. We can only hope he is on Bilić’ radar for the October qualifiers. This guy looks much better than Pokrivač.
SRĐJAN LAKIĆ RIPS A SHOT FOR GOAL
LAKIĆ ADDS ANOTHER…
Fellow Croatian and Kaiserslautern teammate to Lakić, Ivo Iličević, scored the insurance goal to put the game away for the German Red Devils. The only 23 year-old Ivo Iličević should have a run at the national team if he keeps up the good form in Germany. Stiven Rivić was not part of the Kaiserslautern squad for this match.
Mato Jajalo got his first taste of the German Bundesliga as he played the entire match in Cologne’s 3-1 defeat. Seems like his Croatian coach, Zvonimir Soldo, is big on the young Jajalo.
IVO ILIČEVIĆ ADDS SOME INSURANCE
Josip Šimunić (above) and Hoffenheim got off to a great start as they beat Werder Bremen 4-1 on Saturday to open up the season. After conceding a 3′ penalty, Hoffenheim scored four unanswered goals in the first half to lock up the game. Crazy Joe played the full 90 minutes in central defense and looks to be in good spirits. How much longer will he have a starting spot with the Croatian national team though?
Ivica Banović remained on the bench as an unused sub on Saturday as Freiburg lost their season opener to newly promoted club St. Pauli. Freiburg took the lead in the 78′ but lost composure late, letting St. Pauli score three goals in the last seven minutes of the game, to lose 3-1. 19 year-old Zvonko Pamić was not called up for this Freiburg game.
Domagoj Vida was not called into the squad as his Bayer Leverkusen club beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on Sunday. Hopefully Vida starts getting some playing time soon, so we can begin talking about his place in the national team.
England
ĆORLUKA WATCHES THE MAYHEM IN FRONT OF HIS NET
Vedran Ćorluka was the only Croatian to play for Tottenham on Saturday as the Spurs held on to a 2-1 victory against Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium. Niko Kranjčar remained on the bench as an unused sub as manager Harry Redknapp prepares his club for a critical Champions League second leg match this Wednesday against Young Boys for a spot in the group stage. Luka Modrić was not part of the squad as he rests a minor knock he received this past Tuesday against those same Young Boys from Switzerland.
Ćorluka had a solid game as usual; not making any mistakes in the back. However, with Spurs up 2-1, Stoke City pressed for the last 30 minutes of the match putting Tottenham in a bunker defense to preserve the three points. It worked, but not without controversy. An injury time shot appeared to cross the line as Peter Crouch dove on the goal line to block the ball with his chest; only to have the referee signal no goal. Tottenham escape Stoke City with a win, as Gareth Bale scored the goal of the Premiership thus far- a left-footed volley from inside the box that was perfectly placed inside the far post upper-V.
Nikola Kalinić (pictured above) started for the Blackburn Rovers and played 84 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Birmingham. Kalinić managed four shots on goal, including a hit right post with a header from close range off a set piece. His own teammate and captain, Samba, impeded Kalinić on the play and could have cost the Rovers a goal. Morten Gamst Pedersen missed a penalty for Blackburn in the 50′ that would have opened the scoring. Nonetheless, Kalinić is playing well and looks hungry for more goals this season. Expect a big season from the ex-Hajduk striker!
Ivan Klasnić remained on the bench as an unused sub as the Bolton Wanderers defeated West Ham United 3-1.
Ukraine
Eduardo came off the bench for Shakhtar in the 56′ to score the lone goal of the game in the 73rd against Volyn Lutsk. It was a ‘right place at the right time’ Ivica Olić header right in front of the net. Although Croatian papers are calling the goal: Vraća se u staru formu (He’s returning to old form), CSR is anything but impressed by the goal. Great to see Eduardo on the scoresheet, but he needs to do more in order to get our attention.
EDUARDO SCORES AN IVICA OLIĆ GOAL
Darijo Srna (above) played the full match against Volyn and crossed the ball into the box which lead to Eduardo’s second goal in a Shakhtar shirt. All talks of Srna going to Chelsea have cooled down and it doesn’t look like he will be moving anywhere until winter at the soonest.
Ognjen Vukojević played the full match for Dynamo Kyiv as they played out a scoreless draw with Dnipro on Sunday. Vuki received a yellow card in the 43′, but it was not eye gouging related. Dynamo’s Champions League qualifying is taking a tole on their Ukrainian season as they have dropped five points in the past two weeks.
Mladen Bartulović scored the opening goal for Arsenal Kyiv in their 2-2 draw against Illitchivets Mariupol. The 24 year-old is on loan from Ukrainian club Dnipro.
France
RUNJE HAD A ROUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE
Vedran Runje was shell-shocked on Saturday as he let Monaco’s only two shots on goal get by him. It appeared the sun was in his eyes on the first one, but he still stood frozen on both goals. Luckily Lens scored two late goals to earn a point. Should we be worried about Runje or is this just early season woes?
RUNJE FROZEN IN HIS OWN BOOTS
Dejan Lovren got the start for Lyon and played the full match on Saturday as the French giants squeaked out a slim 1-0 win over Brest. Brest managed three shots on goal and hit the post once but couldn’t get past the Lyon defense. Lovren has a big season in front of him as he will be defending against some of Europe’s best strikers when Lyon begin their Champions League run in September.
Scotland
Newely acquired transfer for Rangers, Nikica Jelavić signed with the Protestant giants on Friday. However, he did not play in the Rangers 3-0 drumming of Hibernian on Sunday. Nikica looks to make his debut against St. Johnstone at Ibrox on August 28th. Jelavić will try to emulate another Croat who went to Ibrox, Dado Pršo.
“I spoke to Dado and he told me, “Look, if you have a chance to go to Rangers it is something unbelievable and you must go,” said Jelavić.” ~ The BBC
Pršo scored 31 goals in 94 appearances for the Blues and Nikica knows the success he had there,
“I know Dado was a huge favorite of the Rangers fans and if I come even close to him then it will be good.”
Austria
The match between Red Bull Salzburg and Sturm Graz was suspended on Sunday due to both teams having a game this past week in Europe. The Croat duo of Gordan Schildenfeld and Nikola Pokrivač (above) matching up against one another will have to wait as both of their sides face off in European play this week.
Furthermore, because Pokrivač did score a fantastic goal for his side in the Champions League this week, we will not show his djevojka. Perhaps this attempt on our part motivated Nikola? Stay tuned, this is a fluid situation.
Belgium
Ivan Perišić (right) was the waterboy for Club Brugge on Sunday since he received a red card in last weekend’s game. Brugge lost to KV Mechelen 2-1 without the help of their young Croatian. Perišić returns to action this Thursday when Brugge takes on Dinamo Minsk in the Europa League Playoff Round.
Russia
Tomislav Dujmović (above) was subbed out of the game in the 90th minute as his new squad Dinamo Moskva beat his old side Lokomotiv Moskva 3-0 at Noviye Khimki. Dujmović played well not picking up any cards as his team preserved a shutout at home.
Zenit St. Petersburg were off as they prepare for their Champions League draw with Auxerre of Ligue 1. Will Ivica Križanac finally get some playing time for his side?
Turkey
Hrvoje Čale (above) and Trabzonspor keep on rolling to start the season in Turkey as they defeated Fenerbahce 3-2 on Monday. Čale played the full match in a game that had missed penalties and own goals. Trabzonspor could compete for the title this year. Drago Gabrić still has not returned to the team. There are no reports in English or Croatian, but we thinks it’s an injury.
Jerko Leko helped earn his Bucaspor club their first point in the Turkish top flight as they played out a scoreless draw with Kasimpasa on Monday night. Leko received a yellow in the 75′, making it his second caution in as many games to start the season.
Spain
The La Liga campaign starts August 30th. Mate Bilić and his Sporting Gijon side will take on perennial Top 4 candidates Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital. Mate tallied 5 goals in 17 starts last season for Sporting.
Mate Bilić was not featured on Slaven Bilić’ 23 man squad for the qualifiers against Latvia and Greece. Presumibly, Slaven did this because by the time the qualifiers come up, Mate would have only played in one competitive game for his club Sporting Gijon.
Prva and Druga Generacija, did Slaven make the right call? Any other snubs?
Italy
Serie A is on summer break until August 28th
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 8/24
Norwich City at Blackburn(Carling Cup), Bolton at Southampton(Carling Cup), Red Bull at Hapoel Tel-Aviv(Champions League Playoff)
Wednesday, 8/25
Young Boys at Tottenham(Champions League Playoff), Zenit St. Petersburg at AJ Auxerre(Champions League playoff), Dynamo Kyiv at Ajax(Champions League playoff)
Thursday, 8/26
Bayer Leverkusen at Tavriya Symferopol(Europa League), Sturm at Juventus(Europa League), Rapid Wien at Aston Villa(Europa League), Club Brugge at Dinamo Minsk(Europa League), Liverpool at Trabzonspor(Europa League)
Friday, 8/27
Bayern Munich at Kaiserslautern
Saturday, 8/28
Arsenal at Blackburn Rovers, Lyon at Lorient, Lens at St Etienne, Köln at Werder Bremen, Hoffenheim at St Pauli, Hannover 96 at Schalke 04, Hamburg at Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg at Nurnberg, Mainz at Wolfsburg, Wigan Athletic at Tottenham Hotspur, Club Brugge at KVC Westerlo, Dinamo Moskva at Tom Tomsk, Zenit St. Petersburg at Lokomotiv Moskva
Sunday, 8/29
Birmingham at Bolton, Borussia Monchengladbach at Bayer Leverkusen, FC Magna Wr. Neustadt at Sturm, Rapid Wien at LASK Linz, Red Bull at SV Mattersburg, Trabzonspor at Antalyaspor, Dynamo Kyiv at Kryvbas, Illychivets at Shakhtar Donetsk
~Ante Kvartuč and Dennis Fistonić reporting from sunny Southern California while Denis Svirčić scouts new talent for CSR in Bogota, Columbia
LOL CSR isnt impressed with eduardo's goal? Umm, dont you guys care that he is scoring and gaining valuable confidence…Doesn't matter how the goal looked like, its important for edi to get back on track, and as its going so far for him, it looks like he is slowly getting there.
Lakic has learned the proper way. He hasn't been lavished by Croat media and Zdravko Mamic like Manddzukic has. Mandzo is over hyped.
Lakic learned his way. In Croatia his record at Kamen Ingrad and Dragvoljac is much better than Mandzo's in the best Croatian team. Then he got the move to Hertha, but never got a chance. He did well in Holland on loan for a season at Heracles and at Kaiserslautern he's been excellant. Kaiserslautern are a sleeping giant and transferring down there has cost him a year as people can just say he's in Bundesliga 2. But once you get a big team promoted its a lot better than being at a Koln or a Frieburg. Lakic's playing style compares to Tomislav Maric. I'd expect Lakic to score more than Mandzo this season.
This season i just say Slaven Bilic should be fair, but he's not being fair. He's proving he is corrupt and can be thrown amongst to Mamic, Stimac, Sivonic crowd. There is no justification for this favoritism to Mandzo. Mandzo has done nothing better that Kalinic, Gavranovic, Cesarec, Lakic have not already done. All those guys proved themselves in small league. He sure ain't even close to being an Ivan Klasnic or Mate Bilic yet. All i say is that okay
DARIO KNEZEVIC
DOMAGOJ VIDA
DEJAN LOVREN
MANUEL PAMIC
HJORVE CALE
IVO ILICEVIC
MATO JAJALO
IVAN PERISIC
JERKO LEKO
NIKOLA POKRIVAC
SRDJAN LAKIC
MATE BILIC
IVAN KLASNIC
MARIO GAVRANOVIC
MARIO MANDZUKIC
NIKOLA KALINIC
NIKICA JELAVIC
DANIEL CESAREC
ANDREJ KERIC
your all at the same level now so lets have a fair battle for a place and see whose stats look the best when the national team matches come around. But Bilic will not do it. He just plays his friends. We all surely remember Dino Drpic, Hjorve Vejic – well where are they now? Now we have Pokrivac who can afford not only not play well for Salzburg, but be benched by them and still get in the squad.
There is three slots up for grabs at the moment. The 5th striker slot and the last midfield slot. At the moment Strinic, Jelavic and Schildenfeld deserve their calls based on the national team performances. Really Mate Bilic also should never have dropped out based on his displays as well.
I also still have time for Ivan Klasnic, but he scored then dropped out game after 45 mins last night which shows theres still fitness issues. If Klasnic was the standard which the others had to reach, i'd understand it and then one overtook him cos they were scoring like 8 by late October fair enough. But Mandzo being front of the queue is a joke.
I prefer Rukavina to Mandzo. In my opinion Mandzo is only slightly better than Mario Budimir. That's how far down the pecking order he should be.
1. EDUARDO
2. OLIC
3. PETRIC
4. M BILIC
5. JELAVIC
6. KLASNIC
7. LAKIC
8. KALINIC
9. KERIC
10. CESAREC
11. GAVRANOVIC
12. RUKAVINA
13. MANDZUKIC
14. BUDIMIR
15. VRUCINA
i'd pitch Lakic only slightly ahead of Kalinic at moment cos Lakic has a bit more experience. Kalinic is also needed in Under 21's at moment. I'm impressed by Kalinic's start and he should be under close observation.
Runje is our guy until Pletikosa gets back in the game. Simple as that. Everyone else is still way too young,.
However, he was frozen on those two shots. A great goalie once told me, "If you get scored on, you're ass better be on the ground before that ball hits the net."
Didn't like the effort this week.
But how bout this Lakic guy. I think Stewey (DF) has been praising him for the past year just like he did for Dujmovic before he got called up. Looks like our team can become competitive if Bilic allows it.
When are Spurs gonna tie up this Pletikosa signing.. The guy should have gone to Celtic.. I don't think players should moan when they don't get there deals done by deadline. They spend most of the time messing around. Look at Knezevic – had about 7 offers and can't pick one. It would seem to me to make more sense to stay with Livorno and go up with Livorno rather than jumping from one small Italian club to another.
Mario Galinovic has gone to Kavala so he'll at least be playing first team football. He's not an option no more though. Even Croatia's fourth choice Matej Delac has not played 1 game this season for Zapresic.
Runje, Subasic, Antolovic and Ivesa are the only keepers actually playing regularly at moment.. Ivesa has done enough to deserve a look in a friendly, but not sure if he's national team material.
RE: Goalkeeper crisis…
Daniel Subasic has certainly not boosted his prospects as of late. He gave up another awful goal yesterday, essentially dropping a shot from 25m into the goal. I had hoped, for Hajduk's sake, that he had worked out the kinks after his weak performance in Bucharest a few weeks ago. Now I worry that he may be a liability heading into the EL group stage.
excellent work gentlemen. Im still not to worried about Runje…sun was in his eye for the first goal, and the second goal was right in front of his face…no chance.. Do I think we have a keeper crisis? Yes, however, Runje is still our #1..
pozdrav iz Bogote!
Like I always say… Vedran Runje is complete garbage. We might as well play for 2014 World Cup and hopefully have someone else wearing the gloves by then if he is to be our goalie for Euro '12 qualifiers.