It is now 100% obvious to me that the Croatian National football team has entered its darkest time in history – and that they must allow themselves to hit rock bottom as a way to protest the situation.
Croatia has guys that not only play regular Champions League ball, but also play for the best football teams in the world: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan; to name a few.
And when they play for their club teams, they play with pride, grace, and with a certain je ne sais quoi that we haven’t seen this year when they put the checkers on.
I feel this team has been silently protesting the HNS and it’s puppet master Zdravko Mamić with half-effort performances in 2017.
They are silently protesting because there is a cancer in the HNS that must be defeated before the team can take advantage of the talent they currently have.
The hardcore fans in Croatia, including BBB, Torcida and Armada, have known this for years. They have known the HNS has been poisoned by a madman at the helm.
This madman is making villains out of our heroes.
Croatian footballing legend and current HNS President Davor Šuker went from hero to villain almost overnight after accepting the presidency. Captain Luka Modrić changed his testimony in court for Mamić and was immediately crucified by the public. Anything Mamić touches turns into a disaster.
While certain groups of fans have protested in the recent years including flares at San Siro vs. Italy in qualifying, flares and small explosives vs. Czech Republic at Euro 2016, a swastika on the field at Poljud, it is now my belief that Croatia’s “A” squad, the best Croatia has to offer, the guys recognized by football fans around the world need to walk off the field and not play against Ukraine.
Mamić has dragged too many of them through the mud, and this is how they can fire back and let the fans around the world know what the truth is.
The blame game needs to stop. The coaching carousel needs to stop. Our own fans throwing flares at our players at tournaments needs to stop. It’s embarrassing.
We can all agree that the 1-0 loss to Iceland in June started a snowball effect of negativity with the team which lasted through the summer. There is no excuse for a team of this caliber to lose 1-0 to both Iceland and Turkey, draw Finland at home and scrape by Kosovo 1-0. The players are not happy and not giving 100%. That is evident.
If our players are okay with losing, then they need to go all the way and walk off the pitch, midway through the match Monday in Kiev.
The entire world would see a team full of superstars walk off the field, just one win away from making the playoff round for a World Cup bid.
Walking off the pitch would illustrate Croatian pride and courage.
Modrić, Rakitić, Mandžukić and crew are professionals who have been around the block. They have all been part of clubs that are run successfully and know how to win; and they know the difference between good and bad business. The Croatian team is now run by bad business, which the players are aware of, but they still keep coming back because wearing the checkers means the same to them as it does to you and I.
A madman has kidnapped our checkers, our identity, our talent, and our hearts. And we must take it back from him in the same way General Gotovina was able to successfully reclaim land taken by our enemy during wartime.
Mamić will never give our checkers back. They have to be taken from him. Our players are the only ones with the leverage to stand their ground and not back down. If they do, they will empower everyone else necessary to reclaim our checkers and our pride.
So to you, Croatia’s most loyal fans, I say:
Separate yourselves emotionally from this team. For now. Because the players have already done so.
I just wish they would take one more giant leap and refuse to play on Monday.
and there you have it. Index.YU picked up on what ONE person from the diaspora wrote and made it out to sound like everyone from the diaspora wanted Croatia to lose or at least the players to walk off the field in protest. Guess Index.YU didn’t read the comment section of this article.
Index likes it: http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/dijaspora-porucuje-igracima-napustite-teren-veceras-protiv-ukrajine/999745.aspx
I love this site, even if Ante K wrote a stupid article!
I think he let his emotions get the better of him.
Just looking for excuses for why the boys were struggling is what I take from his article.
Man, Ante. This was tough to read. I can’t support this site anymore after reading your article. I think it is Croatiansports.com that has entered its darkest time in its history.
play to win. no matter what.
Beat it Kvartuc Holiga. Why were you even watching? You call for the tram to turn their backs on cro, yet you yourself still watch. As if your credibility wasn’t all gone as it is
Such an idiotic article, and offcourse it gets the attention it craves from other pollluting anty Cro NT web portas like index. I expected more from a progessional sports website, but i guess a diaspora hajdukovac is just as brainwashed a a domestic one, and thats sad as hell to see. infact i am pretty dosguisted by the call to walk off the field :yuck:
Haven’t read or posted anything here in a while … partly due to retarded articles & comments like the one posted above
You are a moron kvartuć
I did not expect that 2nd half today. The team showed up and proved me wrong.
Was Cacic the problem all along?!?!
Such an idiotic article, and offcourse it gets the attention it cravws from other pollluting anty Cro NT web portas like index. I expected more from a progessional sports website, but i guess a diaspora hajdukovac is just as brainwashed a a domestic one, and thats sad as hell to see. infact i am pretty dosguisted by the call to walk off the field :yuck:
@ Kvartuc
Dude how’s the walk-off? That’s for pansies and lily-livered types.
@ Ante Montana Yea but Spain Malta easier to fix than Sweden Holland.
I’m sorry , I know it’s frustrating that we can’t fucking score, but it’s not because the guys are not trying, they are. There is no goal scoring, other teams are improving. Every country is co
rrupt. Grow up.
@T Bone Netherlands could defeat Sweden 7:0 by match fixing kladionice . December 1983 Spain needed to win by 11 goals to qualify for Euro 1984 they defeated Malta 12:1 fishy.
Communist!! terrible article this is the type of shit all those Yugos want
Ante, terrible post my friend. No analysis, no strong argument or reason for why players should ‘walk off the field’ in protest. Where was your talk of protest when this same team beat Spain at the Euros after having three points stolen from them by anarchists tossing flares and firecracker bombs on the pitch? Dude you run this web site and I thought you might be a bit more educated on politics or do you treat this site like it’s a uk or croatian tabloid rag, trying to appeal to the lowest common d3nominator, i.e the uneducated illiterate segment of the population? I’m not saying you do I’m just saying the optics seem to indicate that. You do have people in the know reading this site so try to write something a bit more sophisticated and constructive? A walk off protest in Ukraine today? Come on man that is idiotic.
Do you really think that if someone replaced Mamic all of a sudden everything would be rainbows and unicorns? Better the devil you know then the devil you don’t which you could probably understand as an American.
I’ll tell Croatian fans out there it could be worse; look at the Dutch, third place in Brazil 2014 and now they have to beat Sweden by 7 goals just to make a playoff after mising the last Euro. Not gonna happen.
We just need a draw not a win.
Perisic will take over the game with a brace or hat trick and send us into the playoffs.
Lets be serious here we cant rely on Luka Modric anymore he is 32 now most likley he has 2 to 3 years left we need a new star who is it going to be. Kovacic,Rog,Coric,Brozovic,Halilovic looks like when Modric retires we will not qualify for any tournament.
Excellent point about Netherlands and Argentina who are struggling worse than Croatia and have more world class players. Argentina is scoring under a goal a game… Are Messi and Dybala and their slew of stars to blame or is their FA also corrupt?
We are still alive and still control our destiny. We’ve had dark times like this before but pulled it out on most occassions. Hopefully these guys can do it today.
But if we lose I guess we can just blame Mamic. Its all his fault. He wrote today. it’s a long read but worthwhile:
https://m.vecernji.hr/sport/mamic-otvoren-kao-nikad-progovorio-o-huliganima-izbornicima-politici-hns-u-dalic-nije-moj-odabir-1199829
Im in the Phoenix area visiting from Canada, any idea if any sports channel is showing the game here in the USA?
Listen! There is nothing going on here except a team of elite level players that play very specific roles for their elite club teams in every different top league, and they just can’t find a way to play together for Croatia and finish their attacks. They are so individually driven to succeed for Croatia that they are being selfish and shooting from 25 yards out but not even hitting the net. Back when we had worse talent but half the team played their club ball in Germany, they would play better as a team because they all played the same style in Germany. Croatia was always successful on counter attacks and now they are faced with the road block of trying to navigate through 10 defenders and just forcing low percentage shots from far out. Also, Čačić had to go, he couldn’t manage in game tactics and use subs properly. Hope to see proven coaches like Bilić or Kovač return one day.
Modric had a decent statement post game as well. Essentially saying look, we’re players. We didn’t pick the coach. We didn’t pick the people in the savez. I don’t play for them. Ja igram za hrvatsku
They are well aware of all the issues but playing for country is most important to some of these guys and they won’t let a corrupt savez take that away
Now aa always, the number of players who bleed for the colours is highly debatable
It might just be modric and corluka
Fake news!
I’m not sure I buy this “silent protest “ from the players. So many of them have spoken out about the negative fans and poor publicity. Even yesterday Vrsaljko said this:
‘Ne želim udarati po publici i našim navijačima, ali neke me stvari iskreno smetaju. A one su naša realnost. Mi ulazimo u drugo poluvrijeme, rezultat je 0:0, a znamo da nam je svima u interesu pobjeda, a dio navijača već tada viče ‘igrajte ped…’, već su odustali od podrške! Meni je to zabrinjavajuće. Ne kažem da su to bili svi ili većina navijača, svjestan sam kako je velika većina uz nas i živi uz reprezentaciju. No, svjestan sam kako postoje i oni kojima nije u interesu da Hrvatska ode na SP, a to me kao igrača čini žalosnim. Ja to ne mogu mijenjati, samo želim ukazati na te stvari.’
This tells me he’s not protesting and i highly doubt anyone else is.
Kvartuc, you tend to believe things that just aren’t true, just as you said Mamic probably shot himself and now you’re propagating another story line that you and your Hajduk fan base want to believe but it’s just never been proven!
Maybe these guys didn’t like Cacic but I highly doubt their lack of results is a protest to the savez…you think Modric, Mandzukic, Perisic, Kalinic, Badelj, Subasic, Corluka, Vida, Kovacic, Brozovic, Rakitic, Jedvaj, Pjaca…or anyone of them are protesting?
Explain this please!
I’m old enough to remember when we had no Croatia; country or repka. I’d rather give my heart and soul cheering for a Croatia that loses with a corrupt Savez (yes, corrupt, but nowhere near what the conspiracy theorists claim), than turn my back on it.
“Croatiansports uniting Croatian fans around the world” – my ass.
Wow, Croatian love of conspiracy theories never ends. It’s never our fault; always some conspiracy. Mamic shot himself, Mamic makes every tactical decision during the game… Mamic, Mamic, the freemasons and Jews, Mamic…
Please.
You should be ashamed of yourself for writing this crap and turning your back on your team. The one thing Truth Troll has ever been remotely right about is that this team isn’t as good as some thought (though he overstates how many thought they were elite); but it also isn’t as bad as it has been in recent months.
Not everything negative that happens is due to conspiracies.
To refuse to play tomorrow is ridiculus. Win!!!!
To refuse to play tomorrow is ridiculus. Like anonymous said put politics aside and win, give us what the majority of us want, a chance to go to the World Cup.
Put Politics aside and win the game. As others have said if we can’t beat teams like Ukraine, Iceland and Turkey then we don’t deserve to be in the World Cup. But don’t quit/give up as this article suggests.
We basically never look like scoring, which is an issue.. we rely on luka and perisic for goals since our strikers basically can’t do shit
@truth
against teams like kosovo and finland, we should be able to score more than one goal.
It’s funny that you guys continue To not understand
Croatia does not perform slightly above average only because of the coach or because of player passion
Croatia performs slightly above average because that is what their players are! I’ve tried to explain this a million times
Stop being fooled by club names and media hype
Let’s go through the list
Modric:. Elite
Perisic: high level talent
Rakitic: slow, passed prime
Mandzukic: can’t score, past prime
Bozo vic: can barely play for inter
Badelj: average for average team at best
Vrsaljko:. Spotty minutes at Madrid
Vida: plays in Ukraine!
Lovren:. Generally a disaster
Corluka: way past prime. Always hurt
Pivaric:. Hns
Explain to me why this team should dominate? Oh wait. They shouldn’t. Let’s get back to reality
Whole article reminds me of that kid in the neighborhood who sucked at sports and, before losing another game, would take his ball and go home. WTF
@Rads
“You blame Mamic for everything yet defend the terrorists who throw flares and made a swatika. Those aren’t hardcore fans… they are losers who shame Croatia.”
r u like trolling or??? Did u not read the write up by Ante? He never defended the “terrorists”. All he wrote in regards to that was:
“While certain groups of fans have protested in the recent years including flares…”
Then Ante wrote, “Our own fans throwing flares at our players at tournaments needs to stop. It’s embarrassing.”
Rads, ur twisting his words cuz u didnt bother reading the OP.
Nowadays I watch a shit ton of soccer. I see Krama playin for Hoff, Vrsaljko playin for Athletico, Mandz for Juve, Perisic for Inter, etc… and Im thinking these guys r pretty dam good, but when they all come together to play for Croatia against teams that are crappier than the teams they play against for their clubs every week, they play like shit and look like shit. So obviously something is wrong.
Problem with Croatia it has been riding a high wave with making most tournaments and really setting high expectations for a country of 5 million, I think we are at a point where a change of generation is happening sooner then we think. Being always competitive is not easy again for a country it’s size . I Really do hope this shit can be overcome and Croatia somehow gets into the World Cup. Its not that we are necessarly not that good its other teams are getting better. Iceland years ago were just a visit to Reykjavik to pick up 3 points today its not so easy . Then you have the teams of Holland Argentina and so on really struggling and the Orange set to miss another tournament. One thing that needs to be done in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and so on is money needs to be invested to build new stadiums , We all play in shit hole stadiums that the best option for a renovation is a wrecking ball.
@ Poglavnik,
I like the attitude. Very business man of you.
I’m just saying, if there is any time by the players to make a statement, it’s tomorrow.
I just want a united front: amongst team, fans and management. We don’t have that.
We can’t have another tournament where 20 rogue fans start throwing flares and explosives all over the place. We know it’s just a couple of rogue individuals, but when the world’s watching, they can’t tell the difference.
On top of that, we’re going to be in Russia….Isuse.
^ ^
Me
BOOOOOO!
I don’t like this..
We’re one game away from the 2 leg playoff and 3 games away from Russia.
Lets get through this “darkest time in our history(?)” and then we’ll have 6 months to try and get our shit together.
Rads, excellent post. I think most of us know who made the swastika on Poljud and it wasn’t any fans that did it since it was a closed stadium and secured. The person that did it was Ostojic and his gang and to defend the idiots who threw the flares in Euros is wrong as well and as Rads said, those people are not hardcore fans, they are people who want Croatia to fail in every way and I’m not talking about the National Team. You have to ask, why haven’t they caught anyone involved in the swastika controversy nor have they really caught the people behind the flares either. If you have problems with the HNS, then don’t follow them as a protest, don’t go to games like you did in Los Angeles this past summer and don’t report on them. No one is happy with the results so far and no one is happy that the team which had the group won suddenly gave the group away and now are in a battle for their playoff lives. We’re a national team that has only missed one World Cup and one Euro since Independence and we’re a country of only 4.5 million people, not many other countries can say that, look at the Dutch and look at the French who have missed their fair share of World Cups, Portugal went a long time between World Cup appearances, and yet they all figured out ways to get back, hell Argentina could be on the verge of missing the World Cup. What we need to do is the same thing these countries have done and that is simply figure out what went wrong and fix the problem. The talent is there, but its time to figure out how to make that talent better and develop not only a strong midfield but develop better finishers up front and better defenders in the back. I’d also like to see a quality coach take over the national team, even if that coach is a foreigner. Heck, why not the Rijeka coach?
@Rads
Very good point made.
Ante K never gives credit to Mamic for how good the team played against Turkey, Czechs and Spain at the last Euros, but when we can’t beat Finland at HOME it’s Mamic’s fault!
We got 1pt out of a possible 6 against Turkey.
Iceland (QF’s at the last Euros) beat Turkey in Turkey.
Iceland was the best TEAM in our group, and we’re fighting for second spot, that’s exactly what I expected at the start of this qualifying campaign.
@anonymous. Who cares we gotta win. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
Rads,
I don’t know if you watch the games or not, but our guys do not give a shit when they play for Croatia. Not in the past year. They are a shell of themselves compared to club play.
I’m not talking about points and destiny or any of that…I’m talking about the future well being of the the HNS…
If we somehow manage to beat Ukraine, who will we play in playoffs?
We gonna ok. Don’t fret.
Rads, great post!!
In 1997 our NT was in worse shape entering our final group game. We didn’t control our destiny. We didn’t qualify in 2000 or 2010 yet this is the darkest time?
You blame Mamic for everything yet defend the terrorists who throw flares and made a swatika. Those aren’t hardcore fans… they are losers who shame Croatia.
Your post is shameful and stupid. I don’t even know where to begin. Silent protests… give me a break.
Like I said, we were in worse shape 20 years ago and that World Cup turned out pretty OK for us.
Either cheer or boycott. If the players walk off it wouldn’t be to protest Mamic who made most of them reach but to protest against the hooligans who call them shit.
I think we need to realize the talent we have – midfield talent. The players that we have playing for the best clubs in the world are all midfielders. Aside for mandzukic, who lets be honest gets his minutes for his work rate and not his threat in front of goal, we have zero attack. That is why you’ll see us holding all possession but squeezing by by a goal or draw. When do u see modric or rakitic or kova adding to the shoreline of their Madrid and Barca games directly? You don’t. They give service to the two best players to ever play the sport. Granted the savez is corrupt af but we don’t talk about that ever when we win do we? Only when we lose or draw do we look for reasons. I personally think that having a strong midfield is great but without players that can finish…this is all we get. We’ll beat Ukraine tmrw and then see what happens in Russia..
imagine if they were winning 2-0 or something and walked off at halftime, lol that would be a statement! Anyway, here we are again i guess, with this perennial issue. I’d be for it if i thought it’d make a difference to the way things are run but im not sure. As it is, im hoping we can win and get in but i know it’s a longshot and definitely not _expecting_ a win tomorrow, that’s for sure