EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a ‘lite’ edition of ‘Croatians Around Europe’ as Denis Svirčić covers Ivan Ljubičić in Indian Wells and Ante Kvartuč finalizes the Andrew Bogut interview for Monday night. Ivica Peroš has the weekend off.
England
KRANJČAR GETS PUMPED UP AFTER HIS WINNER
All three Tottenham Croatians (Luka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar, Vedran Ćorluka) started and played 90 minutes for the Spurs on Saturday as they travelled to Stoke City to take on the Potters. The first half ended 0-0 with Kranjčar having the best chance at goal with a strike from outside the box. Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen put Crottenham in front moments after halftime only to have an out-of-control (foreshadowing) Benoit Assou-Ekotto concede a penalty to Stoke City which levelled the game in the 64′.
It was Niko Kranjčar who supplied the game winner in the 77′ as he absolutely destroyed a ball from 18 yards out after Gudjohnsen beautifully played a ‘dummy’ to him. Tottenham remain in the fourth place position with this win and should challenge for the last Champions League spot as the season reaches crunch time.
Luka Modrić had an average game as Kranjčar and Ćorluka stole the headlines.
KRANJČAR LIGHTS ONE UP!
ĆORLUKA HAD A ROUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE
Ćorluka and fellow Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto got into a verbal sparing match early in the second half after Assou-Ekotto shanked a shot wide for a corner kick. Assou-Ekotto shoved Ćorluka in the chest while yelling ‘Fuck off!’ at the Croatian. No cards were given out and both players finished the match without further incident. Does anyone know if there is any bad blood between these two?
“…Assou-Ekotto trudged towards the tunnel on his own, though. Maybe he was thinking about his challenge on Dave Kitson that gave away the penalty or his shoving match with Vedran Ćorluka over marking.
Redknapp said: ‘Charlie (Ćorluka) was upset that he didn’t come back and do his job. Benoit is a strange boy. He’s a bit highly strung and hardly speaks English. If you say something to him he’s hard work. He hasn’t improved his English in the couple of years he’s been here.’
Asked why the player had walked off on his own, Redknapp replied: ‘He didn’t know the result! He probably thought we’d drawn.
‘He’ll turn up Wednesday and play great, but he won’t know we’re playing Fulham until someone tells him. That’s how he is. He’s unreal. He walks off and he’s thinking about the music he’s going to play when he puts his headphones on.’…” -Thanks for the info Adrien
ĆORLUKA AND ASSOU-EKOTTO GO AT IT!
Germany
RAKITIĆ(R) IN ACTION FOR SCHALKE
Ivan Rakitić once again played the full 90 for Schalke as they travelled up north to take on Mladen Petrić and Hamburg. Rakitić stepped up to the penalty spot in the 68′ to put Schalke up 2-1. However, an equalizer in the 77′ by Jonathan Pitroipa earned Hamburg a 2-2 draw that keeps Schalke one point behind Bayern Munich for the time being.
Mladen Petrić played the full match and only had an 88′ full kick to his name that could have won the match for Hamburg. HSV are currently one point out of a Europa League spot with only seven games left in the Bundesliga season.
RAKITIĆ PUTS SCHALKE IN FRONT AT 2:03
Danijel Pranjić got the start for Bayern Munich and played the first 65 minutes in a shocking 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern scored in the first 10 minutes and took their foot off the pedal as Frankfurt scored twice (87′,89′) to stun the Bavarian giants. Ivica Olić was not listed on the squad for the trip. Bayern have drawn Manchester United in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Josip Šimunić helped Hoffenheim get the clean sheet against Nurnberg as he played the entire game. He also received a yellow card in the scoreless draw.
Ivica Banović was an unused sub in Freiburg’s 1-0 win over Mainz.
Ukraine
Darijo Srna secured a 2-0 away victory for Shakhtar Donetsk as he struck a beautiful free kick over the wall in the 57′ against Zorya. The win puts Shakhtar on top of the Ukrainian League table by two points with Dynamo Kyiv having a game in hand.
SRNA SEES NO WALL AS AN OBSTACLE
Ognjen Vukojević played the full match in Dynamo’s 1-1 draw with Metalurh Donetsk.
OTHER KEY CROATIAN PERFORMANCES ON THE WEEKEND…
Vedran Runje posted five saves and a shutout for Lens in a scoreless draw vs. Sochaux.
Nikica Jelavić scored a late equalizing goal that earned Rapid Vienna a 1-1 draw against Sturm Graz.
Ivan Perišić added the second goal in Brugge’s 4-1 win over Beerschot.
~Ante Kvartuč NOT reporting from Indian Wells,CA. I should have gone.
Yes, I couldn't resist that one. What can I say? I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for a shot at Dinamo's infamous Bad Blue Boys:)
Okay, so… what do you think about a role for the IMF in the Greek debt crisis?
Tom,
Good one but the 3rd grade called, they want their joke back.
Mine is at least from the second grade.
He's a what? An ass-purger?
That too…
It's because he is an ass-burger.
Sounds like Assou-Ekotto's got Ausbergers syndrome (autism). If so, he wouldn't be the first pro athlete to have it.
I'm inclined agree. There isn't even a case for it at the moment. None of those guys – Etto, Sammir, Ramon Fernandez, Dodo, Ibanez etc are good enough anyway to represent Croatia. They are Croatian league stars and that's all they proven so far. Ibanez is on the same level as Callelo. Yeah he's had some good games in HNL1, but he needs to go up at least 2 more levels yet. Only thing i'd say about Ibanez is he could get better. I think Etto and Sammir have hit their ceiling of potential, but Ibanez and Callelo can still be better than what they are. I like them as Dinamo players, but not as Croatia players.
In these circumstances i respect guys like Mathias Chago and Pedro Morales who also could have Croatian citizanship but strive to play for their own countries. Even if you look at Croat's that played for other countries like Igor Tomasic, Branko Strupar, Ivica Vastic should really have been wanting to play for Croatia. With Sertic – i'm inclined to think at the moment whats he done so far. Last season there may have been a case of selection, but this season he's done nothing and been constantly injured. He's not even a topic at the moment till he starts performing.
From the form this season i think rather than Sertic, Perisic deserves recognition, Badelj, Ilicevic also have had decent seasons. Got to look to guys who are putting it in, not ones doing nothing. If we went buy quality of player then Goran Sablic, Marko Babic, Igor Budan and Jerko Leko would never be out the squad, but if they don't put it in or appear enough on the field how can they possibly be looked at. Regardless of nationality that's the first thing i think of with Sertic at the moment
I'm with Ziva Istina on this one…
no on Ibanez
I don't care if Ibanez develops into the next superstar. No way should he play for Cro. Da Silva was a different story having been in Croatia since his teen years. I want my players to be croatian, have croatian blood, speak croatian and consider themself croatian. Ivanez fits none of the above and neither does Sertic in France. Last thing we need is a bunch of muts running around under the flag.
I don't fit Ibanez in, I just mentioned that as news. He mentioned before he gained citizenship that he would like to play for Bilic's squad.
He got his citizenship. Obviously the first goal is to build from within, not look to outside sources.
I don't see where you fit midget Ibanez in. He's not a solid left back. I still remember Mujanovic looking like Cristano Ronaldo against him in the Varteks match. Apparently Cufre has done a lot for Ibanez, but too soon to even think about international football whether its for Croatia or anyone else.
He's supposed to be pretty chummy with a Croatian girl and been taken into her family, but i think Croatia fans may take a lot more time warming to Ibanez than they did to Eduardo. Ibanez may qualify for Svircic's old term of sloppy seconds. I'd look at Simunic first, Cale, Knezevic, Strinic, Pamic, Bartulovic before thinking about Ibanez. You can't give favoritism to an Argentine..
Good post and right to the point. I don’t know if this is in fact the best place to ask but do you guys have any ideea where to get some professional writers? Thanks in advance 🙂
Mate Bilic scored in the 30' for Sporting Gijon in their game against Deportivo. The match is now 1-0 in the 60'.
a Depor player received a straight red before Bilic scored.
I'll do what I can to add in whatever I can find. I agree about the Greece spot, but figure I would throw it in as well.
If anything, it can make for interesting debate 🙂
Also, I think I read Luis Ibanez has received his Croatian citizenship. I know he has mentioned that he would like to play for Croatia if given the chance.
@ Adrien,
Thank you for all that BAE info. I'll add it to the post later.
@ Michael,
Thanks for the info. I only had a few hours to put this together and I felt we had enough videos to entertain you guys for the weekend, not to mention the Corluka situation.
Kalinic played the first 60 without a shot. Klasnic didn't feature and Eduardo made a 6 minute cameo appearance for Arsenal. Mate Bilic came in late vs. Real Madrid in a 3-1 defeat and we've given up on Greece alltogether for the mean time. All of this is hardly newsworthy.
Thanks for being on top of it. We can always use you in the future if you are up for it.
I don't think they will take the final CL spot, they'll go to Europa League.
I still maintain that Pool/City will take it.
This is the first time I have seen video of the Assou-Ekotto push. Really bad idea to start trouble with a teammate considering how late it is in the season and Spurs' reputation for dropping off at the end. Remember, they still have to face ARSENAL, CHELSEA, and MANCHESTER UNITED back-to-back-to-back in April.
Next month will make or break their shot at the Champions League.
Assou-Ekotto almost cost Tottenham the game. At least he made the nice pass for the go-ahead goal.
I heard that Corluka and BAE were tied together in training today lol 🙂 …Now they are fine again. I highly doubt if there is something personal between them, BAE has a poor temper and even tried to hit a fan before.
Olic took a knock in training, and will be out for a bit to rest before Bayern's next set of matches.
Kalinic played 63 minutes in a 1-1 draw vs Chelsea. Diouf got the equalizer in the 70'. Kalinic got a rating of 6 via SkySports (6.5 user rating) and the comment was "Subbed off to annoyance of home fans"
Galinovic was not featured in Panathinaikos vs Olympiacos. He has been left off the squad since allowing 3 goals vs Standard Leige. Rukavina came in the 80'.
More details on the Corluka/ Assou-Ekotto clash:
"…Assou-Ekotto trudged towards the tunnel on his own, though. Maybe he was thinking about his challenge on Dave Kitson that gave away the penalty or his shoving match with Vedran Corluka over marking.
Redknapp said: ‘Charlie (Corluka) was upset that he didn’t come back and do his job. Benoit is a strange boy. He’s a bit highly strung and hardly speaks English. If you say something to him he’s hard work. He hasn’t improved his English in the couple of years he’s been here.’
Asked why the player had walked off on his own, Redknapp replied: ‘He didn’t know the result! He probably thought we’d drawn.
‘He’ll turn up Wednesday and play great, but he won’t know we’re playing Fulham until someone tells him. That’s how he is. He’s unreal. He walks off and he’s thinking about the music he’s going to play when he puts his headphones on.’…"
taken from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1259661/Stoke-City-1-Tottenham-2-Ice-cool-Eidur-Gudjohnsen-wont-feel-heat-Spurs.html#ixzz0iu06U3S1