Belgium
ClubBrugge/ Perišić heads home his first of four
Headers, hustle and toe-punts. All things that Ivan Perišić showed us on Wednesday as he scored four goals and assisted in Club Brugge’s 5-0 thumping of last place Charleroi. The 21 year-old Croatian closed out 2010 on one of the hottest streaks a player can have: scoring eight goals in five games; three of which were game-winners. The young man has hit his stride at the perfect time. With Club Brugge already eliminated from Europa and Belgian Cup competition, will they sell their young Croatian stud during the winter transfer window in January? The work ethic Perišić shows at such a young age is inspiring, granted he isn’t playing in a top league yet, he’s doing some special things. The highlights speak for themselves.
ClubBrugge/ Perišić can ride his bike with no handle bars
Perišić will turn 22 this February. With his Croatia U-21 days over with, Slaven Bilić has some thinking to do when he should bring up Perišić. Croatia has a friendly with Czech Republic in February; wouldn’t that be a great birthday present for the kid? Let him play 60 minutes in a no-pressure situation and see how he does. We shouldn’t have to wait until Perišić gets into a top-4 league to call him up to the senior side. Prep him now for a long and successful Croatian international career.
PERIŠIĆ STEALS THE HIGHLIGHT REEL
England
AFP/ Ćorluka (white) playing tough against Fulham
Vedran Ćorluka got his first real action in months as he was substituted into Tottenham’s match against Fulham in the 27′ due to an injury sustained by defender Alan Hutton. Ćorluka made the best of this surprise opportunity; helping Tottenham post a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over their London neighbors. Ćorluka received a 7.4 rating from SkySports.com for ‘getting forward well’. The Hutton injury situation can see Ćorluka back into the starting XI. Tottenham’s next game is against a struggling Everton side on Wednesday. Will Ćarli see action in back-to-back games?
AFP/ Modrić (L) shutting down Fulham’s Dempsey
Luka Modrić played the full match on Wednesday, helping Spurs defeat Fulham 1-0. Tottenham have now won three games in a row and haven’t lost since November 6th. Modrić has been in spectacular form and looks to have answered all questions regarding his form after starting the season off slow. He received a 7.7 grade from SkySports.com for ‘neat touches’.
Niko Kranjčar remained on the bench as an unused sub once again. The Daily Star, as well as multiple Croatian media outlets have reported that Kranjčar will be moved this winter transfer window, however, he will stay in London in order to be close to Croatian teammates Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka and Stipe Pletikosa. Fulham and West Ham would be the ideal bidders for Kranjčar’s services.
Stipe Pletikosa backed up Tottenham #1 Gomes for a second straight game this week. With double weeks about to begin with Premiership and FA Cup matches, look for Pletikosa to get a start soon, possibly against Charlton United in the FA Cup 3rd Round on Sunday.
AFP/ Klasnić (R) in action vs. Liverpool
Ivan Klasnić has been in a dry spell lately, not being able to help Bolton find those late goals they need. On Wednesday, Klasnić was inserted off the bench in the 72′ in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Saturday saw more of the same as Klasnić entered a tied match against Liverpool in the 70′. Killer managed three shots on target, however, it wasn’t enough as Joe Cole stole the show at Anfield, scoring an injury time winner to beat Bolton 2-1 in dramatic fashion. Klasnić is getting the time he needs, he just isn’t producing at the moment.
Nikola Kalinić had to sit out Blackburn’s 3-0 loss to Sunderland due to the red card he picked up against West Brom on Tuesday. Emotions got to the young Croatian striker after he scored two goals to help Rovers win 3-1 earlier in the week.
Scotland
CELTIC WIN 2-0 TO WIN THE OLD FIRM
Nikica Jelavić was not able to return from injury in time for the Old Firm match between Rangers and Celtic on Sunday. The derby matches between the two Scottish clubs is one of the most hated rivalries in all of Europe- in the same ranks as Dinamo and Hajduk. Rangers could have used a healthy Jelavić, as they were shutout 2-0 at Ibrox with a double from Celtic’s Samaras. Jelavić should return in the next two weeks.
~Ante Kvartuč reporting on behalf of Denis Svirčić and Dennis Fistonić. TEAM CSR is back from a Canadian New Year’s and is ready for more great things in 2011!
@Andrej,
I agree 100% with your last comment. People here are so quick to point the finger and come up with problems without an answer.
@JerseyCro
"I also blame Olic for his pathetic finishing"
"I blame Bilic more for the Ukraine matches than Turkey"
"Ivan Rakitic like a bonehead decides to play the ball forward to an offside player rather than keep the ball and get fouled"
You would be a perfect Croatian reporter.
What are your solutions to these problems? Who would you have played over Olic? over Rakitic? Someone out there better than Bilic willing to coach for peanuts?
Also, wins over Ghana(best team in Africa, playing at home) and Uruguay(most underrated team in the world cup) are by no means a cake walk.
You can't judge players on skill by the time they get to the national team. A few younger players might improve slightly and will definitely pick up knowledge of the game as well as leadership etc, but skill is pretty much set in stone.
As for Bilic, he beat England twice! and remember, we didn't need that game at Wembley, they did. He's fun to watch on the sidelines and has lots of energy. At the end of the day, we all love Bilic. Throw results out the window. He'll be missed when he's gone. The Turkey game was the players fault. They were in shock after the Klasnic goal and lost their composure.
A Ukraine loss at home is all that kept us from a WC playoff spot. You gotta win that game. Instead of playing blame game, hopefully all the players matured and learned a lesson from all the above events.
I can point and blame every player on our squad too. Point at Olic and wish he was better finisher, better passer…I could point to Kranjcar and wish his was faster…point to Runje and wish he was better…ect but guess what these are the players we have! We are not Spain nor are we Brazil…realistically we are a pretty damn good for the size of our country. I expect to qualify…we probably should have…but mistakes happen..was i furious..yes! But is it forgivable considering what was accomplished prior…i would say so.
I am not trying to defend Bilic because I do sometimes wonder what he is doing but the man has done plenty for us.
As for Ukraine…we DOMINATED! We pretty much destroyed them the entire match but hit the post like 3 times….Ukraine scored off both chances their only chances of the game. We should have won but it just didnt happen…we had injuries and a lot of blame could go on that…we just didnt play well consistently in the end. We lost our captain our leader in the beginning of qualifying and just never recovered. I still think we need a leader who is better then Srna….
I also blame Olic for his pathetic finishing….nothing new unfortunately 😉
I'm not a big US fanboy, but if you told them before the tournament to make the semi's you have to beat Ghana&Uruguay they would sign it in a heartbeat, not that those teams are easy beats but its certainly manageable
I blame Bilic more for the Ukraine matches than Turkey, but he still deserves a hit for that, for the entire second half they showed little desire to go forward, in fact our goal came from nothing really and Ivan Rakitic like a bonehead decides to play the ball forward to an offside player rather than keep the ball and get fouled…oh well
Blaming Bilic for the the loss to Turkey is like relying on a blind man for directions.
We did everything in that game, but score.
How many world class, elite players do we have……none, you can argue about Modric.
Our game against Turkey was a fluke ending and that represented our only really chance we will probably ever get to make it to another semifinal.
Easy to be the general after the war.
Jerseycro, I hope you can see that all those teams you have named are 2nd and 3rd tier teams. I can tell you the obvious reason why they beat Greece and it is because they didnt play their park the bus tactics because they felt those were teams they can play with and get results. Do you think we would play the same way we play vs Malta as we would vs Spain? No. You go out and you play for what you think you can get and they opened up and they failed just like we have many times…just like any other team has.
As for the Turkey game Croatia was playing like it was the QF…like they have something to lose yes…that is true they were cautious but when have we ever played like we were Brazil or Spain? Never! I dont know what Croatia you guys remember watching over your years but we have never been a team that just attack attack attack….We have always tried to balance until recently we have pushed a lot more for an attacking game. I just want to live in this fantasy world because if I recall before Bilic we were not as attractive to watch. Bilic has plenty of weaknesses but there is nobody better at this moment in time.
As far as the US argument…what did you expect from the US in the WC? They overachieved as it is…they are awful and they just dont have the players. You want them to play attacking but who on the team is a playmaker? Donovan is a wideman and dempsey is a wideman to who attacks? I was shocked they got as far as they did with 0 strikers and 2 decent midfielders…no defense and a good goalkeeper. But outside dempsey, donovan, and howard what do you expect?
About the Turkey game, I honestly don't think you can blame Bilic on that one. That goal at the end that Turkey scored was nothing but pure luck combined with a complete mental breakdown from our boys.
and add to the fact Turkey had so many players suspended and injured, doing a quick search, 6 guys were unavailable for them…that was a missed opportunity, like the US in this recent World Cup, it will be rare to get that opportunity again (easy group + manageable route to semifinals)
The Turkey game was the worst of Bilic…his cautious mentality which hurt us against Ukraine away and Greece at home.
While Greece is tough to break down, I've seen so many teams do it in the past 2-3 years (Sweden, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland of all teams). It's just that Bilic tends to lean towards the cautious approach
If we can't get first in this group then its a debacle, even Bilic said it
I am not a fan of everything Bilic does and yes he has made mistakes but we dont have many better coaches then Bilic and that is simply the truth. Bilic made mistakes vs England but he also made England look like idiots! What is a bigger downer in football history? Croatia not making WC because of England? Or… England not making EC because of Croatia? Not many people will look back and say Croatia didnt make a competition but many will say that about England…
What Bilic did for us is basically spoil us into thinking we were far more superior then we are. When healthy we are a top 10 team in the world(bottom end of that). When we are not healthy we are maybe top 25…we just dont have the depth. We are capable of beating the best teams in the world but we are also prone to losing to mediocre sides far more.
Russia got very luck that we didnt take 6 points from them or at least 4. We beat Germany…once again and got very unlucky vs Turkey. We outclassed England 2 times and they got us 2 times. We preform well vs the best teams…that choose to play football and not park the bus. While in Bilics tenure teams have feared us far more then before and are satisfied with 1 point and not 3. While for us it has been opposite and some expect 1st in group and not just qualifying.
I dont think you understand that breaking down Greece is not that easy. They are the masters of organized play if you didn't know that I would just like to remind you not to many teams go and take a win from the Greeks. I am not a fan of their style of play but they are effective while playing it….they may get outplayed 90% of the time but they get the results that "they" are looking for.
EXACTLY…Bilic's teams cannot break a bunker, look at Greece, other than that Eduardo chance we wouldn't have scored if the game was 500 minutes.
It's not all his fault, other than pre-injury Eduardo and hopefully Lakic, Croatia do not have one killer striker. As I have said before, Bilic deserves to take a hit at playing Olic up front on his own
They cannot break organized defenses, they can have all the possession but they lack the final pass. I feel we don't utilize the wing enough, but then again we have nobody who can cross the ball effectively (hello Srna, its about time one of your crosses actually goes above ground!)
Hiddink did not outcoach Bilic both times…. The fricken Russians played behind the ball and were saved by the post, so how is that outcoaching. Actually, we outplayed Russia in Russia. So, I can say Bilic outcoached Hiddink. The game in ZG from what I remember was us playing a bad first half (gave up a goal on a free kick) and then outplaying Russia in the second. So, by your logic, would that not mean Bilic made adjustments in the 2nd half.
Russia did not dominate us in either match.
This whole shit about one coach outcoaching another does not apply for every single game. Sometimes the players don't get the job done, sometimes we are unlucky, sometimes we get outplayed, sometimes the opponent is better, and sometimes the coach does get outcoached.
Holland beat us in the friendly for one simple reason……they are better than us. Look at their roster then and look at their current roster, still better than us.
I can go either way on Bilic, he has had him great moments (go back to Euro 08 and how he outcoached Low and shocking Germany with Pranjic's play at left back) and he has had his bad moments (at England).
Some of you guys are inept when it comes to soccer and have revisionist history.
Holland destroyed us in Poljud, but we made up for it with super strong friendly matches against Moldova and Hungary to get that ranking back up..(sigh)
Not even that, Guus Hiddink outcoached Bilic twice with Russia. While it was two 0:0 draws, neither game we really dominated if I remember correctly and Hiddink got what he want
Unless he's talking about Holland in that friendly before Euro 2008?
we've been outclassed two times by top 10 opposition (it was the same team) for one simple reason, that team (Eng) was better than us and we are not a top 10 team.
I know England outclassed us twice, but who was the third team?
@ JP,
Thanks for the mention, however, your 'bones' line in Vancouver has to be LOY thus far.
Edmonton Trucker girls…that's where it's at!
PS Poutine=BOMB! All I got is chips 'n Salsa to work with.
FIFA rankings might be a joke, but as Nate says, they are used to determine seeding
It's still an important friendly in my eyes because if Croatia get spanked 3-0 it shows me not much has improved. Its one thing beating Malta and Latvia, even if its a friendly lets beat some "bigger" teams…I'm not content with July 2008-December 2010 in all honesty when it comes to the NT. When playing "top 10" opposition, Bilic has been outclassed 3 times
Kranjcar finally gets some playing time, subbed in for an injured Bale.
FIFA rankings are absolute BS but unfortunately they are something we need to work with. To simply not care could be seriously damaging.
Does anyone remember World Cup 2006 when Mexico out ranked the US? Mexico played Iran, Portugal, and Angola; while the US got Champions Italy, Ghana, and the Czechs.
I agree fully that FIFA's system is a joke, but all internationals should be considered must wins. They all count towards getting a better seed in the tournament.
there are many examples of young kids 16 – 18 that have made a huge success, not all of the are superstars but here a a few, Jack Wilshire, Fabregas, Bojan Krkic, Theo Walcott, Rooney,Michael Owen, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki…there are many more but not necessarily playing in the EPL! 12 years old still may be too young but at 16 I think a kid is either a player or not…there are always odd cases where they are late bloomers.
France is definitely a respected team, no question about it. French soccer is exciting and creative and most of their players play in the top leagues of Europe…their team is good they just have too many individuals who are head cases!
France Croatia sounds good, as I have a good friend thats a huge France fan. I hate that it's after a qualifier, but I am interested to see the new young talent. France isn't a world power so I expect something good barring any injuries. As for Corluka, he was fantastic and I do think he's better than Hutton. Hutton is still a liability but still has a much better shot/ moves than Corluka. I know it doesn't matter, but for Corluka he needs to prove that he is their top guy. Hutton will be out tomorrow most likely, so I will keep my eye on Charlie.
As for Niko, well I would hate a move that stays in London. Fulham/West Ham are terrible squads and I don't think it be a good move. Niko should stick to mid table, but Harry still continues to preach how much he needs Niko but will see. With so many games for Spurs, they will need a bench but I doubt Niko stays. It should be fun, anyway Dzeko went to Man City so now it's Manzdukic's time to step up or sit down.
Freddy Adu, prime example of young talent underachieving.
@Anonymous
Pick those knuckles up off the ground. With your twisted logic, a 100 ranked team can beat a first ranked team..since it's all meaningless. Almost every sport has a ranking system in place.
College football has a ranking system too, and year after year we see how much that is flawed. Just because there is a ranking system in place, doesn't mean it's an accurate one.
what other sport, besides invidual sports have a ranking system.
They are all based on wins and losses, not arbitrary point assignments for a victory over certain teams. Again, the FIFA rankings mean nothing. Have yet to see anyone celebrate the FIFA rankings.
I could care less if Cro is 9 or 19 or 29 in the rankings.
Some weak points there, ziva istina. They're more like rant-orientated opinions with no meaningful basis.
Pick those knuckles up off the ground. With your twisted logic, a 100 ranked team can beat a first ranked team..since it's all meaningless. Almost every sport has a ranking system in place.
most young prodigies never develop and make it so I never put much stock into any around a 12 year old. If theyare to make it, they will become a name before they turn 20.
@Ante
Haha, lol … your response to our Kralj Bronk is the line of the new year so far!!!! 🙂
12 year old superstars… ma daj… someone's got to stop hitting the crack pipe.
True, friendlies are friendlies, but a game against France in Paris is better than a match against Lithuania, Estonia, Wales, Hungary etc. This is a step forward regarding scheduling games if you ask me. Teams like England, Brazil, Argentina, Spain and France are global teams. People all around the world tune in to watch their games. Sure, France might be in shambles, but our younger players should start anyways. If they don't, what's the point? Start Subasic, Perisic, Ilicevic, Lakic, Kalinic…like Ziva said, most of these guys (Srna, Edurdo, Modric, Corluka, Rakitic, Lovren) should still be in CL at that time.
@Bronk,
Ante Coric, really? When is scouting too early? When the kid's balls haven't even dropped yet. That's when.
16-17 should be minimum. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
#1 Friendly with France would have been way more relevant and exciting when their team was good. As you guys have seen for the past year, it's been nothing but a joke of a team. Their last win was against an England team, that didn't show much during the WC either.
On a more positive note, it will definitely be a good experiment for us. If nothing else, coach Bilic can use the extra game to figure out how to properly assemble his force. I feel like we have A LOT of work to do still. We have a lot of great and exciting players, but they all need to work together(and be placed correctly on the field) to accomplish a successful season. As we've seen in many other sports, a bunch of great/good individuals does not = wins.
#2 FIFA rankings are BS. Somehow the US is #18. =P
I think we have a bright soccer future.
Our team is going to be a power house with all these talented young players coming up the ranks meshed with our current good crop of players which for the most part are young too.
We have a young superstar in Austria who is 12 years old Ante Coric that will be coming up the ranks. The good u21 players the u17 players. We will be very strong team for years to come. The problem is with the corrupt HNS. We need investment into soccer infrastructure and a new national stadium….How about a training camp so we don't have to train in Slovenia. They can't even construct a decent web site. It's a disgrace really when you think about it. Where has all the soccer revenue the HNS generated over the years gone too? Why has nothing been built? Really it's a testament to the great soccer genes that Croatians have, that we do as well as we do. There is no organization to speak of at the federation level. Imagine what could be achieved if we had competent leadership at the top.
Friendlies are a place to experiment and see new things. As bad as France may have been recently they are still as talented as most top teams in the world. Either way outside of Slovakia and Greece who are on a similar level as us we have played no top teams like France and it would be a nice match to see how we fair. Even without making the tournament we are still one of the better teams in the world (not saying Brazil and Spain good more like Uruguay and Russia talented).
What I would like to see most is a new stadium though. Maksimir is a disgrace to Croatians! For a team who is as strong as us we need 1 nice stadium in the country in our number 1 sport! A pitch like that on a rainy day will cost us a against a team we should/could beat. I dont care where its located Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Varazdin…ect(even though we know it will be Zagreb) as long as its a nice 45-60k stadium. With a new stadium I also think this would help increase attendance for a good period of time vs even lower seeded teams. Maksimir being the piece of shit it is…is a lot of the reason nobody cares to go there anymore…we just need something to reignite the NT and the fans this is becoming ridiculous for us. I understand we are limited in funding ect…but this was something we knew had to come eventually and we are at the point of how much longer can we actually play at Maksimir. It does not have to be Wembley or San Siro…but it does have to be 2nd or 3rd tier at worst stadium. If we plan of ever hosting a tournament with a joint bid might as well make a stadium that can turn a head or two. That whole Volcano? Not really my style…but anything is better then Maksimir.
@Anonymous poster………Yes, the FIFA ranking are meaningless. They are worthless. Only reason they were even created is for FIFA to make some cash from the presenting sponsor of those rankings. Do I need the FIFA rankings to tell me Spain is the best team in the world? Do I need the FIFA rankings to tell me Libya stinks?
To the France friendly…..a few reasons why it is meaningless. It is scheduled to take palce late March. What else is going on at that time??? The Champions League. Lets say Modric and his english-based club team that is supported by jewish fans (otherwise known as Tottenham) is still alive at that point in the Champions League. Do you think a freindly with France will be at the top of his mind or do you think he will try to save himself and avoid injury so he can continue to play in the Champions League. A freindly like that is good for younger, unproven player to come up and show what they have. Players like Modric, Srna, Simunic, Pranjic, etc can miss that game. Veteran players dont need a friendly. It is for the younger guys or other guys ebing introduced to the national team.
I've never met a soccer fan who lived and died by the results of a freindly.
zivia istina: At least to me, Croatia need to prove themselves. I have not been impressed with this team at all since Euro 2008. It's one thing to beat Norway at home or beat Wales' C team at home, for once the HNS actually scheduled a friendly. Croatia rarely test themselves and usually it hurts us at the tournaments.
Before Euro 2008 Bilic received a lecture from Holland in Poljud, it was a reality check. I'm afraid the players/coaching staff are blowing smoke up their own asses by complimenting themselves on an unbeaten 2010, where in reality they didn't play one good team (solid teams like Greece and Slovakia, but nothing special) and missed the World Cup
Why would a friendly, especially against a decent up and coming club, be meaningless? Also, the results of friendlies count towards FIFA ranking points. Would you also argue FIFA rankings are meaningless? What reasoning do you have, if any, for your opinion of whether some games have more meaning over others?
Scheduling France is OK, but it does not show if we are "the real deal" or not. Win 5-0 or lose 5-0, the game means nothing.
Perisic just made my day. The Croatian youth pipeline continues to impress.
by the way: it is reported Croatia will play France in Paris for a friendly match on March 29 (days after the Georgia qualifier). If true, for once a strong qualifier and a game which will potentially show if Croatia is the "the real deal". Yes, we can continually brag that we are top 10 but let's be real, we have beaten nobody in two years now and have dropped way too many points at home which used to be a fortress. I'm afraid Croatia might get the Dinamo syndrome where they fear playing at home because of the immense pressure
Perisic should have been on the NT months ago, I know he had U21 committments but there was no reason he was not in the Malta squad. Though, I would like to see him go to a better league in the summer
I watched the Bolton match at Liverpool and Klasnic had 2-3 good chances which he did not convert, he seems low on confidence, I always considered him one of the better Croatian finishers but this season has been disappointing. While he only plays 15-20 minutes a game he should have scored at least 5 goals by now
Latest rumors for Kranjcar are loans to Celtic, West Ham or Fulham. As long as they are only loans I think these would be ok, the latter two are in relegation trouble but he will at least play. But in reality I believe Kranjcar will stay until the summer and then leave
Corluka this weekend showed why he deserves to be 1st choice RB at Tottenham within 15 minutes of coming on. He was just a smarter player then Hutton will ever be. Smart passes that release Lennon and he was easily the Man of the Match on that day. In all honesty though I would like him to lose some weight…maybe 20 lbs or so just so he can be slightly faster as I know he will never been anything pacey.
I hope this was the confirmation that Kranjcar needs to leave Tottenham. They are winning and they are winning without him and he should not wait for injuries to be an "option" in the team. I will lose respect to Kranjcar if he rides the bench of Tottenham for to long. He is better then most the garbage bench at Tottenham and once Modric or VdV are injured good luck to them replacing creativity with Jenas, Palacios, Sandro, or Hudd if Kranjcar is gone.
Perisic is on fire right now and he is playing the best in a long time if not his career. He is very talented and can bring plenty to the national team. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on in the summer. I will be very shocked if he does not get a call up to the senior squad very soon as he has to be a better option not then a player like Madzukic.