Head coach Robert Jarni and the HNS blew a huge opportunity to bring home a medal at the U-17 Euro during the past month. The squad was knocked out of the tournament in the group stages after losing 1-0 to England, 2-1 to Switzerland, and drawing the Netherlands 1-1 in their final match.
After the upsetting group stage performance, many supporters have been quick to criticize Croatia’s talent pool and their lackluster showing on the pitch. However, the last people we should blame for this disappointing outcome are the players.
Head coach Robert Jarni, and likely other members of the HNS, pretty much blew this team’s chance at a medal before the first match even kicked off. One of CroatianSport’s Hajduk insiders pointed out that the HNS only selected three members of Hajduk’s UEFA Youth League silver medal-winning squad, and four players from Osijek’s first-place academy in the Prva Liga youth table. Those are the top two academies in Croatia at the moment.
Now, how many players did the coaching staff select from Dinamo’s third-place youth side with zero trophies to their name this season? Seven!
Around 1/3 of Croatia’s U-17 squad is coming through Dinamo’s ranks, which would have made sense 2-3 years ago. But with Hajduk’s recent European success and Osijek’s climb to the top, it’s hard to find logical reasoning behind this controversial selection. It would be wrong to place any criticism onto Dinamo’s academy, as they’ve been widely recognized as one of the top youth fields in all of Europe, but there are simply better options at this moment in time. It would be easier to understand if Hajduk and Osijek had even just a few more players competing in the tournament, but it’s starting to get out of hand.
I’ll make it loud and clear. The HNS must let go of politics when it comes to the youth. Digging even deeper into the issue, is it really Jarni making these calls? I mean, he made 128 appearances for Hajduk during his time as a player, so this evident bias doesn’t add up, right? The guys at the top must stay out of youth football and leave it to the coaches – the guys who watch these players every day and monitor their stat lines. Until we discover the real reason as to why players like Brajković and Vušković were left out of the squad, we can only point fingers in one direction. With those additions to the starting lineup, Croatia would have been a top contender in the U-17 Euro and could have very easily won their tight matches against England, Switzerland, and the Netherlands – three of Europe’s strongest sides. How do you reach your full potential without your best performers on the pitch?
Fix it, guys.
I have no idea how we would be able to discern such a bias. There would have to be some kind of insider info in order to confirm that.
If the squad comprised of 1/2 to 3/4s Dinamo players, then I would think this argument might have a leg to stand on, otherwise I don’t know if I personally buy it. There are a lot of other players on the squad list that are from teams other than Dinamo, as such I am not so sure I follow this one.
I would be interested in understanding the qualifications of these different players on the list and what their current stats are. This could give rise to discussions about why they may or not be good choices at this time or moving forward. Then if there is a better choice on another respective team we can talk about why they weren’t chosen.
I always thought this was the frame of discussion we chose here.
Dude shut up. The Hajduk players that made that run to the Youth finals refused to play for the national team earlier this year because of their run. They thought they were hot stuff and Hajduk was more important. So in turn…Jarni did not call them up for the Euros. Simple. Stop the division you hajduk cuck
In regards to our under 17 side, I watched all their matches during the group stage against Slovenia, Belgium and Sweden. We were very lucky to win the group and make it to EURO’S in Hungary. At the EUROS’s all three countries England, Swiss and Holland were better than us.
I did not see any talented midfielders or forwards in this group of players.
Brajkovic is too old and cannot play for the U17. Vuskovic did not play because Hajduk did not let him. This is not the first time that Hajduk has not allowed their juniors to represent Croatia at youth level. Vuskovic being injured ?? is bullshit, he played for Hajduk when our U17 were playing against Slovenia, Belgium and Sweden at the group stage.
Brajkovic is NOT too old. He is still 17. Qualifying process began awhile ago.
Yup, Brajkovic might be too old. Still getting conflicting information. Nonetheless, he wouldn’t make the team anyways
Couldn’t it simply be because Jarni (like Šimunić) is known for being a shit coach?
I’ve never been a fan of this boys club mentality where the HNS give former players positions they haven’t proven to be qualified for.
Jarni has been a complete failure as a coach so far in his career, so it’s not at all surprising that the U17 team he coached didn’t meet expectations.
I think the whole Dinamo vs Hajduk vs Osijek thing is reaching at this point.
None of us even knew of these talented junior Hajduk players before this recent Youth League achievement and it’s likely Jarni just stuck with the squad he has been playing since the beginning of the cycle.
If we’re really interested in achieving anything at junior level, then we can’t hire coaching buffoons like Jarni and Šimunić.
HNS just hired an experienced coach in Dragan Skočić as our U21 coach, so that’s at least a nice move away from hiring former players who have proven nothing.
Well done Slavonac. This site has gone to shit with this constant Dinamo bias. I sort of wish Hajduk could win the title just once to give Tocida some piece. Has to be a difficult life always blaming others and crying Bias. Ah jebiga what the hell do I know. 🙂
Other than a few defenders, we aren’t seeing any youngsters with “huge” potential like we have had in the past.
Is it just me or have we seen a decline in the quality of young Croatian talents?
https://bleacherreport.com/post/world-football/e4ed0e26-eec3-4621-a952-56267260bc0f
Most underrated nogometaš of all time!!
Rakitic champion DNA captains Sevilla EL title and CL football next season.
All this arguing between you 2 will be a moot point in a year or 2 when Dinamo poaches the best players from Osijek and hajduk.
https://bleacherreport.com/post/croatia-international-football/cdb33210-5868-42c3-99b7-f53202f51205
Kovačić roaming free in the middle with all the attention given to DeBruyne and Haaland.
He has earned this move.
Prime 4 years coming 29-33.
Now I pray Brozovic and Inter win the CL this year and Kov city win it next year.
My God some of the ignorance here. Brajković recently played for the under 19 team with Šimunić in qualifying. Brajković is too old. Vuskovic was injured and has not been in the Hajduk squad until the cup final. Do your research people.
Brajković is 17 years old. Same age as many of the other players on the team
Similar to many prospects in the past, he could have easily played down for a tournament as big as the U17 Euro. Why not this time?
My God are you dumb. Brajković is2005 birth year. 2006 and younger is the eligible birth year
Brajkovic was 17 when the qualifying process began.
He still is nevermind his birth year, that’s my understanding of it
Speaking of late bloomers ..
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2023/5/31/23744167/manchester-city-open-concrete-talks-to-sign-mateo-kovacic-from-chelsea-report
Don’t follow U17 so pardon my ignorance . Are any of these kids good? Is there a pipeline coming that would be names we will see on HNS? I’m sure it’s hard to predict but once in awhile you get a kid that everyone just knows is special .
The kid that everyone knows will be special is Luka Vušković from Hajduk. Being looked at by PSG, City, and Real Madrid.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t chosen for the tournament for some odd reason…
here’s a quick question for you.
who were the two centre backs for the U17 team? I’ll help you with this
Marino Skelin who’s the captain, he’s from Hajduk and he’s a fantastic player
Ljubo Puljic, from Osijek and just signed with Bayern Munich and a phenomenal player
if you’re the coach and your two centre backs are these two guys that got you to the big tournament do you remove one of them for Vuskovic? was the coach 100% certain Vuskovic would have been available?
you’re assuming this decision was done with malice intent…Puljic is considered to be a phenomenal player and he has been followed by Barcelona, Bayern, Dortmund…its not like Puljic is some shitty player and Vuskovic was overlooked…I’m sure there’s more to this than your conspiracy theory!
If you checked our socials, you’d see we were loud about how Puljić actually joined Bayern this morning.
You’re relaying the same information that we are. We don’t know why these guys weren’t chosen. Same boat my friend!
so maybe it had to do more with the fact that Vuskovic was not sure he could commit than it does some conspiracy? or maybe Jarni wasn’t sure he could count on Vuskovic? there soo many different reasons why he wasn’t included…I don’t believe this was malicious…Vuskovic is a stud, who wouldn’t want him in the lineup but you’re suggesting the HNS has something to do with this situation and I don’t believe that…they love the kid and want the best for him!
Me, you, and the HNS want the same thing then. Vuskovic has a higher ceiling than Gvardiol did at this age.
I think we’d be good friends 😉
at this age you’re probably right but kids keep changing and we will see the results in a few more years!
BTW you completely dodged the facts in my comment. in your initial comments you said “Until we discover the real reason as to why players like Brajković and Vušković were left out of the squad, we can only point fingers in one direction”.
I gave you a fair and logical response and I guess from what I just saw above you’re agreeing with me? so now you understand why they may have not brought Vuskovic and Brajkovic (Brajkovic was not very relevant in the two games he played)…what are you assuming when you say “real reason”? are you suggesting there’s a covert reason to keep Brajkovic out because of some malice? is it possible he’s just not preferred by Jarni?
you are suggesting some conspiracy…as if someone is against Hajduk players when the coach is a respectable man thats not ever looked like anyone’s puppet!
Like I said in my comment earlier today, your opinions are just as valid. You could very well be correct, so why do I have any reason to argue that?
Maybe you and me are both wrong. Maybe you’re right and I’m wrong.
As a writer, it’s my job to speculate based on the small sample size of the inside information we receive. I do it so we can have conversations like this. It’s not a conspiracy theory, but more of an educated prediction and call to action. If I’m right, then it could do something. If I’m not, hey, we got to talk some good footy
If you want to go further, reach out to Ante for my info. I genuinely think we agree much more than we don’t. But it’s my job here to get SOMETHING started, and this could very well be an issue at hand in the HNS. Who knows?
Robert Jarni is 54 years old, he played for teams like Juventus and Real Madrid and you’re gonna accuse him of being a whipping boy to someone at the HNS? Are you saying he doesn’t take pride in representing Croatia but instead he’s there to represent Dinamo kids? Is there any proof other than your laughable Hajduk source (who is probably Ante Zoric)…I am shocked at the allegations here but not surprised. You never gave 1 single relevant fact that would get us readers to want to look at suspicions…no example of specific players, who should have played in place of the Dinamo guy…NOTHING…just ACCUSATIONS, ALLEGATIONS, SPECULATIONS…because the only BIAS here is YOU!
Do you know why Jarni chose the way he did? Could there have been something behind the scenes that you or Zoric don’t know about? You’re conspiracy theory is exactly like those Torcida guys that say anything and everything just as long as its to hurt Dinamo…truth/facts don’t matter.
Nobody in Croatia has the key to the vault and leave off the best players just because they don’t want them. Jarni would never OMIT a Hajduk player just because someone told him to add a Dinamo player…I think you have Dinamo deranged syndrome…you’re part of those that divide Croatians by stating shit like this…”Dinamo Bias Must End In Croatian Youth Football”
you haven’t identified any clear reasons why 1 player might have been better than the next guy…you just spew garbage for us to believe there’s a Hajduk Boogeyman thats not allowing them to advance!
you say something you can’t prove…your comments are very divisive and BIASED!
Game 1 vs England we lost 0-1
formation 4-2-3-1
Hlapcic (keeper) – OsijeK
Zebic (r back) – Dinamo
Skelin (captain) (c back) – Hajduk
Puljic (c back) – Osijek
Susak (l back) – Dinamo
Levak (midfield) – Roma
Pavic (midfield) – Dinamo
Lalic (attack) – Red Bull
Skoko (attack) – Hajduk
Majic (attack) – Dinamo
Matkovic (forward) – Osijek
4 Dinamo players, 2 Hajduk players
Game 2 vs Switzerland we lost 1-2
formation 4-4-2
Hlapcic (keeper) – OsijeK
Zebic (r back) – Dinamo
Skelin (captain) (c back) – Hajduk
Puljic (c back) – Osijek
Utrobicic (l back) – Lokomotiva
Lalic (attack) – Red Bull
Levak (midfield) – Roma
Pavic (midfield) – Dinamo
Majic (attack) – Dinamo
Matkovic (forward) – Osijek
Skoko (attack) – Hajduk
Dinamo 3 players, Hajduk 2 players
Game 3 vs Netherlands we tied 1-1
formation 4-2-3-1
Cundekovic (keeper) – Gorica
Susak (l back) – Dinamo
Puljic (c back) – Osijek
Skelin (captain) (c back) – Hajduk
Pavic (midfield) – Dinamo
Calusic (midfield) – Hajduk
Matkovic (forward) – Osijek
Kujundzic (midfield) – Dinamo
Zivkovic (attacker) – Osijek
Rimac (attack) – Dinamo
4 Dinamo players, 2 Hajduk players
100% agree.
@Slavonac
“Until we discover the real reason as to why players like Brajković and Vušković were left out of the squad, we can only point fingers in one direction. With those additions to the starting lineup, Croatia would have been a top contender in the U-17 Euro and could have very easily won their tight matches against England, Switzerland, and the Netherlands – three of Europe’s strongest sides. How do you reach your full potential without your best performers on the pitch?”
Read this part again. I gave you something to speculate my friend. You’re telling me it’s not fishy that the HNS decided to leave out 3 of Croatia’s TOP U17 performers for Dinamo players who have many fewer accolades and a worse stat line? That’s the evidence right there…
Can YOU explain to me why 8 Dinamo players were chosen (while Hajduk had 2, Osijek 1) even though their entire team performed much worse this season? I logically can’t, and based on recent history, we all know where to point the fingers on this one.
It’s an opinion piece for a reason. You can keep believing that there’s no fishy activity behind the scenes. I won’t. The evidence is right there. I would recommend reading again and giving me a solid reason why else the selection went this way. You don’t know the power a footballing organization can have over a manager’s selections.
You said “no example of specific players, who should have played in place of the Dinamo guy…NOTHING…just ACCUSATIONS, ALLEGATIONS, SPECULATIONS…because the only BIAS here is YOU!”
Ha. You’re funny man. Again I am quoting the exact same lines…
“Until we discover the real reason as to why players like Brajković and Vušković were left out of the squad, we can only point fingers in one direction. With those additions to the starting lineup, Croatia would have been a top contender in the U-17 Euro and could have very easily won their tight matches against England, Switzerland, and the Netherlands – three of Europe’s strongest sides”.
You must’ve misread this part, no surprise though because it seems to be a common theme.
If you have a better explanation behind all this, feel free to write about it, and send it in to Ante. But you don’t. And this is why we’re talking in the comment section.
And by the way Slavonac, I am a Dinamo fan too. I’m not the biased one. Just speaking the facts you will refuse to acknowledge.
I’ll start here and then work through your comments.
first and foremost…based on what I can clearly identify from the line-ups posted and the subs on the bench I will clarify your “accidental” error!
I count 20 players…7 from Dinamo, 4 from Osijek, 3 from Hajduk, 3 from Lokomotiva and so on….so right away your facts are NOT facts, they’re made up! you clearly made a false statement by saying “Can YOU explain to me why 8 Dinamo players were chosen (while Hajduk had 2, Osijek ” when in fact that comment you made is not a fact!
you post something online without verifying it!
Now I will answer this: “Can YOU explain to me why 8 Dinamo players were chosen (while Hajduk had 2, Osijek 1)”.
each coach has their own approach to the game, some are more defensive, some are more attacking…they look at their rosters and see what they can do based on the quality and strengths of their players. some coaches refuse to play offensive because of the risks involved, others prefer to attack and many times these coaches don’t take into consideration what their teams true strengths and weaknesses are…so they end up failing. In this case, I don’t truly know what the strategy was, but I can tell you its not based on how many players come from a certain club…people like Jarni have integrity, they look at the overall picture and sometimes there are other factors involved that we don’t know about. ie…for example Vuskovic. He just signed his first professional contract right after he turned 16, he’s been playing with the Hajduk U19 team as well as playing for the Hajduk senior team. You have somehow automatically assumed there’s some act of conspiracy but what if the coach made a decision based off feeling more confident that his player is in tune with his teammates. for example…Vuskovic plays centre back at Hajduk, Skelin is a Hajduk player and he also plays centre back for the U17’s, his centre back partner is Puljic, an excellent player that just signed his first contract with Bayern Munich…Ljubo Puljic is also highly touted, Jarni knows he has two phenomenal centre backs and he’s not even sure Vuskovic will be available…would you risk bringing in Vuskovic at the last moment when your defensive pair are both extremely good and have been playing together?
does this still look like a conspiracy theory to you?
as per your Brajkovic curiosity…he’s had 2 U17 caps, both times a sub and both times irrelevant. you can’t expect a coach to choose his team based on how many Hajduk players he should include, they have requirements they need to fulfill and it happens all the time. Maybe Jarni felt Brajkovic didn’t offer him what he was looking for or maybe now after they got knocked out Jarni is asking himself why he didn’t include Brajkovic…but not everything is a conspiracy against Hajduk!
Hlapcic (keeper) – OsijeK
Zebic (r back) – Dinamo
Skelin (captain) (c back) – Hajduk
Puljic (c back) – Osijek
Susak (l back) – Dinamo
Levak (midfield) – Roma
Pavic (midfield) – Dinamo
Lalic (attack) – Red Bull
Skoko (attack) – Hajduk
Majic (attack) – Dinamo
Matkovic (forward) – Osijek
Kardum (attack) – Lokomotiva
Kujundzic (attack) – Dinamo
Zivkovic (attack) – Osijek
Calusic (midfield) – Hajduk
Rimac (attack) – Dinamo
Mikic (defender) – Dinamo
Cundekovic (keeper) – Gorica
Utrobicic (l back) – Lokomotiva
Ivancic (midfield) – Lokomotiva
you have a lot to learn kid!
I’ll have to change the numbers, thank you for correcting the misinformation we read.
Your opinion on this is just as much valid as mine, but I’d love to hear another essay on how Dinamo hasn’t received bias in their youth academies in the past. Please feel free. Even if my numbers were just slightly off, it still doesn’t give me the logical explanation I’m looking for. You didn’t change the fact that there was a heavy favor towards Dinamo in this selection, with no statistical reasoning behind it. Guess we gotta wait for a response from Jarni?
Of course I’ve got a lot to learn as a kid, but I’m doing it by putting myself out there and writing these articles. What are you doing?
Slavonac, your stats are updated. By the way, you counted wrong – 23 players.
Does the article look any different even with those numbers? Not really.
my numbers are based on lineups and bench!
Agree to disagree. I did it on squad 🙂