Marin Pongračić has arrived!
The 22 year-old Wolfsburg central defender scored two goals with his head Tuesday in a 4-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. This was only his fourth game for Wolfsburg since coming over in the winter transfer from Red Bull Salzburg. Pongračić has already been capped by the U21 Croatia side three times and will surely get some attention from both the Croatian federation and the Germans; where he was born.
Pongračić was composed at defense in the Leverkusen match and has shown that he can finish off set pieces with his big frame and header combo. This can only mean good things moving forward as Croatia has always been soft defensively with an already world-class midfield.
Josip Brekalo got the start for Wolfsburg and played 65 minutes in the win. He played well but should have scored right after halftime.
Ivan Perišić came off the bench for Bayern Munich in the 75th minute and had little to do. Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund and now have a staggering 7-point lead in the Bundesliga with only six matches remaining. The title is all but Bayern’s.
Pongračić Header 1:45, Brekalo Miss 2:25
@Anon – It’s a Cro Sports site. What the hell does your post have to do with Croats in Germany ?
Crnkovic don’t bite, I know it’s hard not to sometimes.
The dead horse being beaten is antiwhite “crnkovic”.
@”crnkovic”, so Croatians and Serbians should be integrated to live in peace??
God you’re a freaking moron. And a traitor to boot.
Man….this is getting really old…see dead horse …find stick…beat horse …wash…rinse…repeat!!
i think people want to be integrated because they want to live in peace. just to get on with life in a good way
what are you worried about anon? tell me
i said no such thing. i said that you should respect people no matter where they are from, as your heroes indeed do
What’s my point moron? Do blacks not claim to be oppressed by whites and want to be integrated with whites at the same time??
@crnkovic, you’re such a TRAITOR moron. You basically said that Modric and Rakitic respecting the talent of non-white players somehow equates to Modric and Rakitic not caring if a horde of “talented” non-whites were allowed to immigrate to Croatia. But I wouldn’t expect a TRAITOR to be able to understand that a white man can respect a non-white person and STILL be loyal to his own kind.
the serbs were oppressing croats in jugoslavija. that’s correct. what’s your point?
@anon huh?
@maminjo, I think gvardiol has got a tough look about him like kolasinac does, and he’s left footed, beyond that i don’t see the comparison. gvardiol is taller like you say, but for me he has real poise and class, which i never saw in kolasinac. not that he is a bad player. he’s decent. but gvardiol is on a different level in terms of potential. yes it’s only potential. not proven. but i actually think gvardiol is a player who could move to an elite club now and breakthrough within months, he’s that good
What would you say about a Croatian man in old Yugoslavia who complained that Serbians were oppressing Croatians and demanded the government force integrate Croatians with Serbians?
That he be put in a straight jacket and be given medication?
I’d say that aggression is a mindset and not necessarily a physical attribute. Thats something that can’t be taught…you either have it or you don’t!
Gvardiol looks identical to Sead Kolasinac from Arsenal.
Both his face and physique.
Fast and strong, but Gvardiol is actually a bit taller (and 9 years his junior).
@Crnkovic
Gvardiol, without a doubt, is our biggest defensive prospect right now.
But he’s still so incredibly young. He just turned 18 this year!
We gotta wait another four years before we can really confirm if he’s the real deal.
Hopefully he nails a starting spot down at Dinamo and stays there for four more years. I really don’t wanna see Dinamo “Jedvaj” him and send him off to some bigger Western club prior to the age of 22.
‘Bulk up’ is just American talk for all our National sports.
With Brekalo, he’s kinda like Kramaric in that he’s not physical at all.
Trying to have him focus on ‘gaining strength’ so he can play physical may not be the best route to take.
You want him to press on defence, but at the same time continue to be effective on offence (which he is). He’s unique in that he is extremely creative and quick on the wing, constantly creating chances. He could be elite in this area.
I’d rather we give him time than trying to change his game or try to have him focus on one area over another. He’s been absolutely incredible for us, considering the minimal and inconsistent amount of minutes he gets with the national team.
We have quality on the wing with Rebic and Perisic already there, so we have the luxury of taking a wait-and-see approach.
Razbijac, you mentioned “Remember, when Corluka was 32 and was happy to step aside to allow Lovren and Vida (both in their 20s), who were fitter and younger to start in the WC? The move paid off in the end”
Well, in my opinion Corluka was a better player positionally and technically than Lovren is but I think even he knows he lacked speed and thats something we have all talked about here. I was never too worried about Corluka, even though he was slow and I was also happy when he slowly stepped aside but that was only because he went from slow to even slower…not because he lacked in any other area. Lovren has made many bonehead plays, so have many of our players over the years and I just don’t think he’s gotten worse. Again, my opinion only, he will lose his spot when someone proves they’re a starter on their club team and has proven to be reliable. I can’t imagine why anyone would just walk away…just to walk away and say give my job to this guy or that guy, even if they haven’t proved they can take that position from him.
Who is currently ready? I don’t have anyone in my mind that is 100% ready to take his spot. I there was, I would be happy!
haha…ok now I’m confused…and this time even with you Maminjo!
What the heck is with this “bulk up” talk again? I’m not just baffled but I’m also in disbelief! I have never ever in my life heard that a player needs to or should bulk up…NOT ONCE…it only happens here in this chat and its insane!
For as long as I can remember, soccer players work on strength and conditioning amongst many other things (calisthenics and plyometrics, endurance, stamina…). They work a helluva a lot on gaining strength while doing everything possible to stay lean…I just cannot imagine that bulking up is a benefit and I have to say that you guys are making this shit up!
During practices you have several drills to learn how to hold your ground and maintain possession while fighting off the opponent. Many players would rather flop anyways..and we often see them flopping…it happens far more than we want it to so I think you guys are turning this into a North American sport and claiming bulk will help when I’m 100% sure this is false! Building strength yes, building bulk, no. Most guys bulk up with age anyways…their body changes.
i think gvardiol is the guy. he’s really young. but looks like an amazing prospect to me
Least we actually have some defenders up and coming
We have come along way then just a handful of years ago
We are not talking so much about true foreigners and such
We have multiple options for multiple positions
We just need them to play now!
Just think we would be buzzing now for euros
Fak corona
Domagoj Vida has a lot of heart and plays hard every game.
He rarely makes mistakes and is pretty disciplined in and around our net.
This is what makes him so good.
However, he’s not talented offensively. Because he work so hard, he gets in there to try and score, and is often rewarded.
But he definitely misses a lot of key chances. He missed a wide open net header in Belgium in a key qualifier for WC2014, He missed a header against Portugal at the end of the game in Euro2016 which could have tied it, He missed chances at this past World Cup too.
His goal against Russia was great, but that was definitely not a good header, lol. It was a very weak one, that caught everyone off guard as it lightly bounced into the net.
I won’t fault him for these misses. However, I always wonder what would have been if we had a skilled CB with these chances, who has a good header.
More importantly to note…Vida never makes forward passes, as he does not have that skillset. That is a weakness that I wish he didn’t have.
It would be very interesting to see how well our National Team could play if we had a CB who could spring forward some beautiful long passes on a quick counter attack. We’ve never had that. Our midfielders can do this (mainly Modric and Brozovic, but never our defenders. Having BOTH our midfielders and defenders be able to gain possession of the ball and INSTANTLY put the opposing team in a position of having to reel back quickly to defend (due to the threat of a dangerous pass forward) would be amazing. This is why we are excited every time we see a young CB with this kind of potential.
Overall, Vida gets a pass because he does all the fundamental things a defender should do (plays hard, makes few mistakes in our box, etc).
However, the hope that we can get a player with his same skillset….but with some technical and offensive skills too would be incredible for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORp3q1Oaezw&t=907s
this pongracic looks a serious player. I like him.
I’m on half term break from my job in a school. just been surfing the internet today and found a couple of things that will make you laugh and cry. There are some people on this site in particular who I’m sure will enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSH5EY-W5oM
Suba
I think you’re right about Brekalo.
His slender build does not allow him to play the physical way that Dalic probably wants him to play.
However, he should not be bulking up just to add that element to his game, especially if it takes away from his speed and currently abilities.
Give him some time. He’ll get better.
I hope someone from the savez is reading this stuff and implementing some of these great insights
@ BZ
Now we have to be factual .. lol.
That is probably the point with Vida who I love and has always competed at his best for Croatia.
It is when he attacks that header with courage and then the accuracy is just off.
There are many times when another player has a better angle to actually score he blocks them.
When that happened with Mandžukić it is almost a travesty given how legend Super Mario is with banging those in.
Remember I saw Manđukić with a ball on the string practicing his headers while walking around.
There is an art to it.
Lovren in his heart wanted to play midfield and shoot from 40 meters.
I honestly feel CB is not inspiring to him and that is why he mucks it up from time to time.
He stays in Germany and I believe he would have been a box to box midfielder.
He comes back to Zagreb and you have to be world class at 13 to play midfield.
The way he attacks the ball he could be a good CDM.
Also could score the occasional bomb as well.
He is just a tad small to be a dominant CB?
But as a CDM he would be physically great.
Jebi ga .. just campfire talk.
I wonder if Brekalo is not taking that next step due to his lack of physicality especially when you compare him to Rebic and Perisic or Vlasic
Does he need to bulk up without sacrificing his raw talent
I suppose it’s a fine balance but something I suspect he needs to get right
I remember his misses well. He has missed some sitters, but so has pretty much everybody. I think Vida’s stand out so much more is because how animated he gets after a miss.
I still like the fact that he gets to the ball. I equate it to a good rebounder in basketball, or a good strong safety in american football; those guys just get to the ball better.
to be factual, Lovren actually has a slightly better goal per game than Vida. The site I originally looked at had Vida with less appearances than my guy at the savez says he has.
But bz u gotta weight it up against the glaring misses that vida has done in front
In fact I remember he stole a header of mandzukic once and he missed it right in front
Fark u should have seen the look on Mario’s face fuck it was funny if it was not such a serious moment in the game
Geez, you guys are a tough crowd.
May I remind you that Vida has a better goals per game for Croatia than both Lovren and Corluka. If Vida is so bad at scoring, what does that say about Corluka and Lovren?
Vida scored a huge goal in the World Cup knockout stages.
I like that he gets to the ball, which is an essential skill. Some guys just can’t get to the ball.
Brekalo misses a sitter 1 on 1 with a goalie YESTERDAY=the single most important player for Croatian soccer’s future.
Vida misses a header 4 YEARS AGO=he sucks
@Raz-agree, a good time to experiment with CBs, but the job is Vida and Lovren’s to lose.
Wasn’t that when his wife was banging his friend or something??
Lovren would not step aside for anyone.
Didn’t he bail on the Euros because he wasn’t starting ahead of Schifo?
I think it was Euro 2012.
He wasn’t on the squad.
Lovren is not going anywhere he is too vain to walk away and vida is around for the next tourneys
Unfortunately the others will have to wait their turn or warm the benches or in Caletas case take a summer break and bang your hot girlfriend
I know what I would do
Ćorluka stepped aside because his body was declining rapidly.
Not sure why Vida is beyond inept at scoring wide open headers for goals?
It’s like subconsciously he just doesn’t believe he can actually score?
Mandžukić should have a heading clinic for HNS.
His heading accuracies were legend.
I love Vida and Lovren as people and athletes but they are both missing a screw?
They play much better with a stabilizer next to them.
They are good athletes that know how to be fit.
I don’t see their decline physically anytime soon.
Could one of these kids put pressure on them?
Bekalo = the goods.
Unfair to compare Vida to lovren.Vida is the better player with far less bone headed gaffes on the pitch.
Then when he does get beat, immediately after the ball is in the net he’s pointing trying to deflect blame on someone else!! BOZO!
I get nervous anytime Lovren or Vida are anywhere near the ball, especially in the 16 yard box.
Remember, when Corluka was 32 and was happy to step aside to allow Lovren and Vida (both in their 20s), who were fitter and younger to start in the WC? The move paid off in the end.
My only hope is Lovren and Vida are willing to return the favor to younger players. I’d hate to see them use WC ’22 to impress some oil rich Middle Eastern club, for one final pay day at the age of 33.
Regarding the Euros, I still see it taking place. But now all this talk of a second wave coming in the Fall, it might be played with limited or even no fans. To early to tell, maybe they come out with a vaccine by then.
Olmo fitting in well with Leipzig
Well that soccer withdrawl will be well rewarded with some serious Nations League opponents in France, Portugal and Sweden.
Those are some serious games to jump back into, lol.
At least no stupid games against Georgia and Estonia to waste our time (and players’ health) with.
Being in League A again pretty much guarantees us a spot for World Cup 2022, so that’s good.
We all bashed having a winter World Cup in Qatar, but it looks like it’s the best possible time and venue, considering the delays that COVID has caused (and Qatar is an isolated and heavily controlled state as it is).
I’m not against a transition Razbijac, I’m just stating that your initial comments weren’t really valid. Neither Vida nor Lovren has demonstrated they’ve declined in performance, which was what your comments insinuated.
anyways, I’d also like to see some new kids coming through.
Caleta Car pisses me right off and I just can’t see myself ever cheering for him. That arrogant prick chose a vacation over the country…what an entitled little prick!
I just want to see our guys back on the field…I’m having some serious soccer withdrawal!
I’m a little concerned about Lovren too.
He has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career, and then suddenly managed to put it all together right before the World Cup. Perfect timing for us. It would be terrible if he regressed back to how he was prior to 2018.
Vida has always been steady.
The only problem with Vida is that he won’t be able to give you anything on the offensive end. His headers are usually way off or mistimed, and I don’t recall ever seeing him make a forward pass. Very solid defending though.
They both deserve to start, but I would keep a close eye on them as it seems we may have some serious talent on the bench. Would be a shame to keep them on the bench, simply because we are waiting for Lovren and Vida to retire first.
@ Slavonac.
The demands of tournament play are such that–especially when going into the knock out rounds and extra time, at 32 and 33 a defender’s body can’t handle it as well as someone in their mid 20s.
Vida has had attention from English clubs, but has that materialized into anything so far? And playing in Ligue 1 and Bundesliga is a helluva lot more competitive, than some Ottoman league.
Don’t get me wrong, Lovren and Vida have been serviceable, but nothing so spectacular that they should be a “lock starters” in ’21 and ’22. Remember Vida’s poor header that lead to dangerous corner, which resulted in Croatia receiving a penalty–in the Final?
Also, I’d argue Lovren is on the decline. He lost his starting spot for Liverpool and is especially error prone.
I’d rather see us transition now, in central defense, the dividends will pay off in the long run in the WC 22. Because I don’t see us winning the Euros or WC with a Vida-Lovren partnership.
@Slavonac and Razbijac
Yea, Lovren and will be 32 and 33 for the next two tournaments. Not bad, but I wouldn’t try to push it beyond age 34 with either of them, and would want to transition after these next two tournaments at the absolute latest.
They are a decent CB pairing. Much better (and A LOT more mobile) than some of the decent but slow and lumbering defenders we’ve had in the recent past with guys like Simunic, Schifo, and Corluka. We’ve had too many opposing strikers blow by these players which we no are no longer experiencing anymore with Vida and Lovren.
Vida and (more recently) Lovren have not been making too many mistakes these past couple years too.
However, what makes Pongracic, Caleta-Car and Benkovic so interesting is that they seem to have ALL of the positive traits of our defenders from the past.
They have the size of guys like Schifo, Corluka, and Simunic…but they have the speed and mobility of guys like Lovren and Vida.
Lovren and Vida are solid, but that’s due to their experience. Their defensive awareness is something that can probably be matched by these youngsters, someday…so it would be interesting to see how they fare if they were given some minutes off the bench in our next matches.
If Lovren or Vida do end up declining over the next couple of years, we need to have these kids ready.
@Slavonac
Yea, I used to talk about Fran Tudor on this site as a likely replacement for Vrsaljko down the road. I thought he was really good.
Not sure what happened to his career.
Fallout with Hajduk maybe?
Since he is a distant relative of Igor Tudor, who is also pretty unstable when it comes to these things, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fran pulled and Igor and botched his playing career like how Igor did his coaching career.
Very unfortunate for us because Fran was a very solid young RB.
@BZ
Nah. Nothing wrong with Brekalo.
It’s typical for Croats to plateau in their early 20s before taking that next step. Same thing happened to Rakitic, Vrsaljko, Brozovic, and few other players of ours. Even Modric at 21 was just a benchwarmer on our National Team until he blew up a year or two later.
Germans are also a very weird and stubborn group to play under. They like to crush your individualism in favor of the Deutschland hive mind.
Brekalo is a loud outspoken Croat. For example, it takes a lot of balls at age 20 to tell everyone that he’s not wearing a rainbow armband, lol.
Ze Deutch don’t like that. Not the armband part, but the ‘you having an opinion’ part.
Brekalo always does well when he plays for us (both Senior and U21 sides). So, IMO, he is on the right path. He will leave Wolfsburg and he will blow up from there.
Vlasic’s development path is more linear, but my guess is that it’s due to his very well developed physical conditioning (largely thanks to his father).
Because of this, Vlasic is more likely to max out on his potential, but I think Brekalo’s ceiling is higher.
I don’t really think 32 and 33 is too old an age for any defender unless you’re super slow. Its usually a blessing to have smart and experienced defenders as long as they aren’t visibly declining as players.
Razbijac, what are you talking about man? Vida has had recent attention from English teams and playing in Turkey is not less than playing in Ukraine, you make no sense man! Lovren has always been scrutinized by everyone and yet he has almost always proven to be a great defender for us…again, not sure what your concern is?
does anyone know what happened to Fran Tudor? I remember watching him when our kids beat Mexico a few years back and he was actually quite electrifying.
I know he was in Poland but I’m more interested to know if he’s someone we might see making a name for himself or is he just not that good?
Right now I think Caleta-Car is a head of Benkovic and Borekovic in the pecking order.
And really should be given a shot to partner Pongracic. I also think we should be transitioning away from Vida-Lovren.
I’m mean we can’t honestly expect them to be our starters at Euro ’21 and WC ’22, where they will both be 32 and 33 respectively, for each tournament. And don’t get me started on the fact that Lovren is not even a starter, and Vida plays in a weaker league.
I say Caleta-Car-Pongracic should be broken in, in the nations league, in the fall. Getting them ready for the Euros, and then finally the World Cup ’22 where they will reach full maturation.
Now if Benkovic or Borekovic, take the bull by horns, and become outstanding, then either one of them can go first in the pecking order.
@Maminjo-
Just stating a fact. It isn’t a fake stat. Something is wrong with Brekalo. Way too good to produce as little as he does. Needs to develop more, and I am hopeful he will.
Vlasic and Brekalo have same amount of NT appearances, & are roughly the same age. I’d say Vlasic is by far our most valuable prospect, especially when you consider value added over alternative players in his same position.
I love Brekalo, and I know when Perisic gets old, we will be blessed to have him. I just want to hold his feet to the fire before we annoint him.
Yea, Salzburg has a good development program.
I don’t like Caleta-Car’s attitute (bailing on our U21 team to go on vacation) and I don’t like the fact that he isn’t particulary fast…but he’s still young and it’s not like I watch French League often enough to assess him well enough.
I’m still holding out for a good Benkovic loan move that can get him playing.
Having a FAST 6’3″ Pongracic and a FAST 6’4″ Benkovic (also both of them being very offensively capable) would be a dream CB pairing.
Did someone say quality CB pairing?
Both Caleta-Car and Pongracic cut their teeth at Red Bull Salzburg, where they formed a formidable CB partnership. Both have a solid understanding between each other, so the pairing is worth trying out in the upcoming national team games.
Yea, after seeing that interview for RTL…I don’t think anyone has to worry about Pongracic playing for Germany.
@BZ
Come on. Brekalo is still our most valuable prospect by a landslide.
Offensively creative midfielders and forwards are much more valuable than defenders. The proof is in the fact that we (Croatia) have been qualifying and doing pretty well in tournaments, despite not really having world class defenders. Whereas teams that are built the opposite (like Serbia) fail to even qualify.
This is not a knock on Pongracic, nor do I think defenders are not valuable. Just wanna stick to the reality that guys like Brekalo, Vlasic and the multitude of other midfielders and forward will be the ones who continue our tradition of beating up on elite teams in tournaments.
However, if we EVER get a quality CB pairing (along with an AVERAGE goalkeeper)…we win the World Cup.
Who would have seen this coming, except maybe me?
Pongracic had more goals vs top Bundesliga teams TODAY than Brekalo has had in 2 YEARS. I’ll take Perisic and Rebic as my starters, you know, the guys who got us to the World Cup final.
Dalic, Bust a cap in Pongracic’s ass! A national team cap that is.
Let’s hope this kid is the goods playing with brekalo will help to go where he needs to go.
Fuck pumpernickel. This kid has cevapi in his blood
https://sportnet.rtl.hr/vijesti/538917/rtl-video/video-pongracic-djecacki-san-mi-je-zaigrati-za-hrvatsku-a-preko-brekala-sam-se-cuo-i-s-izbornikom-dalicem/
Wolfsburg’s Austrian goalkeeper (Pavao Pervan) is a Croat born in Livno.
Why was he never on our National Team radar?
The video didn’t show his second goal
Anyway god it’s fantastic to watch soccer again and Hrvati banging in goals
Nice it’s like the break did some of them good
Reset and ready to go
Just imagine having this guy on set pieces with the likes of Brozovic, Barisic, or Raketa providing the service.
Both of those headers were well taken as he used his speed and agility to get the ball. And both were perfectly placed in the far corner.