Hajduk Split have advanced to the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League with a 3-2 aggregate win over Žilina. Away in Slovakia, “Bili” lost 2-1, but the result was enough to see out the two-goal cushion they had from the first leg at Poljud.
Next up in the second qualifying round is Cypriot side Pafos FC. The first leg will be played on the 23rd of July at Poljud, with the return leg in Cyprus on the 30th.
The Match
The first half was pretty dull for a long period, with a lot of fouls from both sides. Dario Melnjak had a chance in the 26th minute after a brilliant play by Rokas Pukštas; however, Hajduk’s captain shot straight at the Žilina goalkeeper. With the last kick of the first half, Hrgović crossed the ball into the box from a free-kick and found Alec Van Hoorenbeeck, who was unmarked. The Belgian rose and headed the ball into the goal to make it 0-3 on aggregate after a poor first 45.
The second half began quickly, and in the 53rd minute, Marko Roginić was sent through and beat Toni Silić as the Croatian forward made it 1-3 on aggregate, giving Žilina belief as the hosts started going all out. Roginić had another clear goal chance just minutes later, but he blazed it over the bar from inside the box. Hajduk were then able to somewhat keep the hosts under control and even had a chance to put the game to bed in the 82nd minute as young Adam Huram’s shot was saved.
The Slovaks still weren’t giving up, and at the start of stoppage time, Timotej Hranica shot from the left side of the box. Silić saved it, but the save deflected off Dario Melnjak straight into the goal, as Žilina took the lead of the match but needed another goal to send the game into extra time. And they almost got it; with a minute left, Florea got a good look but sent his header just wide of the mark. The final whistle blew, and Hajduk let out a sigh of relief after escaping another European disaster.
A Look at Pafos
Hajduk will be a massive underdog in the next round of qualifying as they face off against Pafos, who played in the Champions League last season and had a good run in the competition, finishing 26th in the league stage in their first-ever competition appearance. The value of the reigning Cypriot Cup winners is just under €24M, according to Transfermarkt. Hajduk’s is €37M. Despite Hajduk being worth more, Pafos has been far more consistent in Europe over the last two years and achieved far more than Hajduk has since 2010.
Just to put things into perspective, Hajduk’s last win away in Europe was against Renova in 2020, when the qualifying rounds were just a single tie due to the COVID pandemic. And you have to go even further back to find the last time Hajduk won both ties in a single qualifying round, which was against Slavia Sofia back in 2018. If Hajduk can squeeze in a signing or two before the first or second leg vs. Pafos, it will massively help, as the team severely lacks players for the system Gonzalo Garcia wants to play.
@Crnkovic
Did you see the report today that Verela is really 22 ? lol
How does your assessment of his potential now fair ??
Once again – Anonymous can smell a fraud a billion miles away – told all the MORONS he is crap – Anonymous 1000% eye test hit rate remains !!!!!!
Dinamo U17 won some cup
Vajda posted it
Also saw Kai Christopher Nesfield
Born in Fort Myers
But grandfather from Pozega
Anyone know him ?
Does anyone know anything about the Bassi brothers Luka and Mate in U9 and U8 ? Both Croat names but born in Congo
Luiz Santos U14 born in Zagreb ?
Kristijan Behanovic U15 ?
Future looks bright !
https://gnkdinamo.hr/en/dinamo-academy/teams
I find it strange that we have a sudden influx of Congolese born players in our youth ranks. These guys aren’t even from mixed marriages. It seems like they’re full blown Congolese who are imported specifically for football purposes only.
I would prefer we that we no longer call these kids up, as they are not Croatian.
My guess is some Croatian agent spotted them and brought them over to Croatia, and is using our National Team youth ranks to sell them.
Vrbanek, Vajda i Bradamante are all teenagers who play on our U15 teams and all are born in Congo.
Now, I am hearing about two more guys (Bassi brothers) from Congo as well?
What are the odds of having five kids on our youth National team, all born in DR Congo?
Something sketchy is going on here.
Great minds think alike
I was thinking the same when I saw Bassi brothers place of birth Kinshasa
https://semafor.hns.family/en/players/1201291/luka-bassi/
It’s too coincidental – can’t find any of these Congolese players agent listed anywhere – which might suggest it’s the same obscure firm/guy representing them all ?
The REALLY weird thing is where did they get their Croatian names ? lol Vajda can be a Croatian surname. Mate and Luka are Croatian first names. Bassi is Italian or Indian origins? Unless their name was Mbassi and it got “Europeanized” to Bassi when they took Luka and Mate.
Definetely fishy stuff.
– Tristan Grace Vrbanek
– Emmanuel Vajda
– Thomas Bradamante
All three of them roughly the exact same age and all three of them born in Lubumbashi, Congo.
It seems like all three were brought into Croatia at the exact same time. My guess is it was the same agent or agency that brought them in, and set them up with housing in Croatia, and likely took care of their citizenship (so they could leverage our youth teams).
It’s hard to find much info on them (exact arrival in Croatia, who represents them, adoption, etc)…even if you use ChatGPT.
However, the AI does suggest that Vrbanek and Vajda are Croatian surnames that likely replaced their birth names.
It looks like “Greenfield Agency” represents Vajda. There is no information on who represents the other two, but I would take a guess that it is also this “Greenfield Agency”.
Greenfield Agency is based in Croatia and the founder is Tomislav “Tomi” Puljić (FIFA License No. 202405-5968).
It’s looking like whoever brought these three, are doing this same thing again with these much younger Bassi brothers (who are also from Congo).
These kids are 8 years old and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some law being broken (especially since children in Croatia cannot have agents).
On top of this, it seems like they are fast tracked onto our youth National Teams despite barely being in Croatia…pushing out our own Croatian talent from our youth setup. It’s just an abuse of the system.
This should be probably be investigated.
Modric to retire from international football following the October 6 Nations League match against Spain in Split on October 6
Torino sign 19 y/o left-footed CB Luka Tomic
It’s getting a bit ridiculous how many CBs we have
Can’t one of these 1.95m guys go in net and become a keeper ?
…and yet we’re one of the worst defending National Teams in the last three years.
Thank God Ćorluka is gone (despite Bilić pretending he wanted to retain him).
Hopefully we can tighten the ship
If liva can give us 4 more good years
Maybe our offense starts to flow more and more with a bit more speed coming up
Anonymous gets his dream and jaga becomes world class
Hopefully we don’t struggle as much as we expected with Luka leaving
Perisic and vlasic will captain us going forward
. . . or move up front and become a big, Haaland-like striker?
That’s a lot Bati for not helping Ivan cover Pedro Neto 2 v 1
Now Tttenham buying him and Anonymous is going to have to watch his stupid Portuguese ass
Argh
Guys
Great news
Jaga is now #8
https://paofc.gr/en/pao-χ-adidas/home-kit/54301001-en-fanela-entos-andriki-2026-27#/1-size-s/15-color-green
Sorry if u purchased last year’s jersey when he wore #88
I guess you can just rip one of the 8s off ?
But the reason – is due to shortage last year – bc there were not enough 8s to put on a jersey for him – and hence he couldn’t play – they are playing it safe and going with a single 8 this season
Seems like a prudent and sensible approach, all things considered
His 1.5 billion fans in China will be happy either way . . .
Sirius 3-1 win
David Celic 4 saves vs. 1 goal allowed
Still 9 point lead in 1st place
Shoutout to Bernard Tomic for winning his first ATP title in eight years.
Challenger or not, we should still love to see it!
Bernard Tomic, lol. Like anyone cares.
I think ”Chopper” is Eric Bana’s burner account
😉
Great f*kin movie!
I watched that movie when it came out without knowing who Eric Bana was, and I told my friend that this actor for sure is at least part Croatian. He has that face.
Then when he became a big Hollywood celebrity, imagine my (non) surprise when I found out his last name was Banadinovic.
Glad to see Spain win in what was an awful match to watch as a neutral.
It has to go down as one of the worst WC finals on record, slightly better than the 1990 final in Italy when Germany beat Argentina 1 – 0 from a penalty spot and the 1994 0 – 0 draw in USA when Brazil beat Italy on penalties.
Argentina like most South American teams resorting to all sorts of antics in an effort to win. At the end of the match when they lose, instead of congratulating the winning team they instead want to fight.
What is kind of weird is that neither team seemed enthusiastic. Spanish fans were not that euphoric, it’s almost like the history meant nothing.
If that was Croatia, for example, all the players and fans would have been in tears.
Even the game between England and France they stated how much they didn’t care that they were there.
Just goes to show you how little that final and 3rd place game really meant in this tournament.
Unfortunately, Spain is a little bit like what Yugoslavia was.
Catalonians and Basque see themselves as something different. If times were not as comfortable, these two states would have long separated.
The other states are not as united as they seem as well.
I don’t believe the Spanish constitution allows for these states to vote to separate, and even if they wanted to, the population in urban areas has been diluted with many outsiders who don’t really care.
Who mentioned Sergej Levak 2 weeks ago ??
2 goals in 2nd half today (came on at HT) Atalanta vs U23
He’s impressed the manager during pre-season and he wants to keep him with first team this season
He hasn’t played for Croatia for two years with U19
Of course Olic completely missed him for the U21s not calling him what a MORON
And he’s a giant 1.95m (vs Vuskovic 1.93m) – he does need to bulk up a bit also his legs – but stature in the mold of Lolo Bentancur
Newcastle offered €10 million for Levak last month, but Atalanta turned them down.
Levak was 16 years old when he left Osijek without playing for their senior team. The only player who left as a kadet or junior that worked out was Perisic. Maybe Levak finally breaks that trend as he seems to be highly rated at Atalanta.
Enough that they turned down €10 million for an unproven teenager, yea
Frigan Parma played today
He posted he’s emotional to play first time in a long time
So he’s alive – now time to cook
Crnac still AWOL though – hope he’s back soon
Hopefully Bilic has something more up his sleeve than 38 y/o Perisic defending Lamal twice in the NL, right ?
WTH is going on with this game? Spain players have been dragged to the ground all game and no fouls. Messi runs into a guy and crumples; gets a free kick.
Finally! Second yellow…a red card!!!!
And Fernandez still isn’t leaving the field.
No WC final post, so posting here: https://x.com/mil0sevic/status/2078256308520730667?s=42
“Nothing to see here officer, I only came for the cevapi lunch… Not the hooker’s and blow”
Slavko Vincic in my observation has always been fair… But let’s see today if his bank account gets fatter.
Apparently a lot of interest in Baturina after WC 2026. Como does not want to give him up, has turned down some big offers, and has now set a price of 80 million.
So far Aston Villa 55 million and Tottenham 50 million turned down.
The Aston Villa offer came before the World Cup too.
Interesting to see if his price has gone up after that beautiful goal against England and guys solid play throughout the tournament.
Villa could be an option as they just sold Morgan Rogers
Ttyenham zero percent chance imo as they signed Savinho for LW – and only signed players with 2+ years of PL experience this window
But
Bati should stay at Como and play CL this year with Paz
100% agree. Bati should stay put for the coming season.
Baturina will stay at Como for at least one (maybe two) years.
His value will increase further and his contract will only have two years left at that point (expiring in 2030).
Como will take 80 million+ for him at that point, as they should.
Baturina will hopefully make his way to Real Madrid alongside Petar Sucic, Gvardiol and Vuskovic in preparation for our deep 2030 World Cup run.
😜
Pero reposted Spain WC cele photo with a heart – since 2/3 of the team is Barca that’s basically sending a heart to them
Always Be Closing
That would really be something!
Maybe Cesc will be the manager at Real by then. So far he has done well coaching Croatian players. . . .
Sandro Kulenović scored four goals in Torino’s 13-0 victory over ACD Pinzolo Valrendena.
Kulenović started the match on the bench but came on at the beginning of the second half.
In addition to his four goals, he also provided one assist.
Gvardiol sub on / Vlasic sub off
Think Dalic did this to give the team a morale boost for the end
The thing is Vlasic was helping Stani 2 v 1 Laeo
No Vlasic and it became 1 v 1
If u look at the cross that was a goal – Modric and Mario covering the same Portugal player
Mario should have been tasked (or figured out) that he needs to help Stani with Leao
In the previous Laeo possession 30 seconds earlier he was there w Stani but then there was a mix up with Modric or something and left Stani with Lawo 1 v 1
Really dumb
Of course the 3 Croats covering 2 Portugals players in the box and Pong and Josko not jumping – Sutalo again hiding on the field – he was doing nothing / serving no purpose – but goal goes in and he looks waving arms at Pong and Josko
Honestly completely annoyed with Sutalo – he just hides on the field over and over again the whole game – hopefully Bilic notices it and takes corrective action on
Exactly right. Stanisic asked Vlasic to help hil in the first half. It was very effective. Did Dalic notice? Took Vlasic off and Laeo then had way too much space.
ET 0:50
Corner
Again terrible defending
There was some jumping but just terrible Portugal player clean head on it
86:35 corner
Pong doesn’t jump high enough
Igor jumps late
Sutalo just stands there and hides
Portugal heads it no problem but bad hit and goes wide
Every corner we really suck
I think I’ve seen one properly defended corner the whole game
Completely unacceptable, but relatively easy to fix by Bilic
84:20 cross in from Leoa – Mario didn’t bother jumping for the cross either – u got to jump – lucky it went over the Portugal guys head
Did Pero do the ball under shirt baby celebration the 2nd time Portugal 80’ disallowed bc he’s expecting twins ?
Geez, what an astonishing bronze medal game that was. And then you have ppl saying they should scrap it. Only entitled wankers say that.
Wild game. At 4-3, I was thinking that it might be “Deja vu all over again” for England.
You got it right, Iggy. The bronze medal game is still a big game. And we have two winning bronze medal games to remember, 1998 and 2022.
Well that is a surprising half time score in the bronze medal game…
Fabrizio !!!
🚨🇭🇷 Alen Halilović, close to signing for Persepolis with negotiations underway.
Talks are advancing with former Barcelona player, free agent after leaving Fortuna Sittard.
Josko Vlasic gassing Mario Vuskovic up that not only will he be ready for Bundesliga BUT also to be called up to the NT
This is crazy speak – even if true – why put so so so much pressure on Mario with creating such exceptions ?
I mean let him come back and kick on
While he can start playing again in November – I think he can start practising in September with HSV
Will say this
If Mario Vuskovic is as ready as Josko Vlasic says – after sitting out for 4 years and stewing – he will be a MENTALITY MONSTER which will make Romero and they entire Argentina team COMBINED look like Snow White
That’s a massive IF – but imagine getting up and training 6-7 hours every single day for 4 years – that’s a LOT OF RESENTMENT he needs to get out of his system
It would be beyond ironic if Croatia win Euro 2028 or WC 2030 – with Mario and Luka in defence – and the reason they both are who they are today/then – is precisely bc Mario got screwed by the system – and if he didn’t neither would be as they are today/then – sometimes strange/bad things happen in life but in the end it all works out
Crobar: get urself un-dishearten – Mario needs ur support
The sad thing about Mario’s case is that he used recombinant EPO (erythropoietin) which clears out of your bloodstream within two weeks easily.
This PED increases your red blood cell count and increases your endurance. The great thing about this PED is that you can take it, get off it for two weeks and let it clear from your system, then you can pass any blood test…but the benefits are still there for you due to the red blood cell count being boosted.
My hope is that he continued to take this PED during his four years of training and just worked his way into becoming a machine, then get off it and start the season.
I’m guessing there are scientists that are 100% focused on adding molecule here adding molecule there to keep slightly changing the composition of the PED so as not to be detected by testing
The testing is ever changing/catching up to this – so Mario just had bad luck taking something that could be detected in his system vs taking something slightly different that couldn’t
Failing that he should just buy some clean pee – I’m sure many of the samples aren’t even from the actual players – I know they “watch” the pee come out but I mean there are ways around it
Watching our beloved national team to talking about hajduk in a matter of 2 weeks is beyond disheartening
Enjoy your summer.
This September is a bloodbath of Nations League games.
What about Jaga’s upcoming Conference League qualifiers the next two Thursdays ??????
Why did Liva guess/dive early on Ronaldo penalty
I know he usually shoots to keepers right but should have been more calm in the situation and not flinch
If he just stands there there is no goal
Chelsea want Kerim
Told u MORONS he’s top top
Listen next time
Any MORON watching Istra MK Dons ?
Istra 2 goals but no clue if Saranic
involved
Please advise – the suspense is k@long Anonymous !!!
Spain wins based on in-place tactical system, teamwork, discipline and ego-less players, like Dani Olmo and others. Norway, seemed to have a few big egos that ruined their run, like Alex Sorloth. Would loved to have had a Spain Norway final.
France is more about raw talent, ego-full stars, and therefore the system details and discipline, sometimes go out the window, while playing if cool.
Petar Sucic, Baturina and those who are currently developing, hopefully dyed in the same cloth are our future, who seem humble and team oriented.
Unfortunately, Modric’s relatively lack of injury in his career is more of an anomaly, so we need a few more of their kind to develop, for when the injuries eventually do come.
Agree with your observations, in regard to Petar Sucic in particular.
He will be an important leader on the NT for the next ten years.
Portugal 2nd half
Sutalo sleeping Laeo cut inside and shot off the bar 57’ – he should have stepped up and got in front of it – and in 61’ Sutalo sleeping as ball over his head to Ronaldo for the goal called back offside
Terrible sleepy defending both plays
Sutalo has stalled in the last 12 months. He had made great strides after a crummy 2023-24, and was excellent in the Eredivisie in 2024-25 for Ajax, but fell off again in 2025-26. I have been a defender of Sutalo, as I followed Ajax closely in 2024-25 when he played very well, he was very confident with the ball, a good passer, and effective at interceptions and breaking up plays. But he dropped off, was not stellar at WC, and will have to step it up this season if he wants to get his career on track. Three years ago he was projected to be an elite defender, the Premier League was considered the natural the next step after Ajax. His transfer value has been cut about in half, from over 20 million to 12 million. I think the ability is there, but a change of scenery seems necessary and the sooner the better.
I was very hopeful for Zvonarek as it seemed Bayern rated him highly 30 months ago. He arrived to Sturm Graz on loan with considerable fanfare two years ago. It looked like an excellent opportunity and everything seemed on track. But he never really got off the ground there. I don’t know what exactly went awry. But he just never seemed to get lift off, and showed little, aside from the odd spark here or there.
He was steady in stretches but didn’t set the world on fire at Grasshopper in the Swiss league, so hopefully this move can be positive for him. It is said, I read somewhere, that he has a very high quality character, he is something of a team leader . . . let’s hope this is a breakthrough year. Zvonarek will give us another reason to follow the Portuguese league. Prpic at Porto is said to have a higher ceiling and excellent potential, but didn’t get as many minutes as hoped this past season. Hopefully he gets more playing time this year.
Yes it seems like none of Šutalo, Zvonarek or even Prpić are going to be anything special. Maybe depth players, but not stars.
This is why I like that Croatia always has young guys pushing through the ranks every year. If you go sideways in your career, then you get immediately passed by the Luka Vušković, Petar Sučić and Filip Pavić types.
Porto has Champions League guaranteed this year and will be trying to repeat in Portugal. They will play a lot of tough games. Hopefully last year was an adjustment year, and Prpic will receive a number of starts and get serious minutes this year. At a high quality team with an excellent coach, Prpic is in a very good place for his development . . . . let’s see what this season brings. I’m optimistic that he will have something of a breakout year.
Pavic looks like the real deal but it is early days. He can play at right back or as as a central defender. Right now, if we are projecting, he is the consensus candidate to debut as a defender for the NT at WC 2030.
If he is as good as they say he might be, that would leave you with a good problem to sort out, Maminjo. You could finally have Gvardiol in the middle with Vuskovic, move Stanisic to the left back where he has played well for Bayern, and slot Pavic on the right. That would work.
OR . . . you might be tempted to opt for the twin towers in the middle, leave Stani on the right and finally become a big cheerleader for moving Gvardiol to left back, so he can join the attack up the left side. 😉
Anyway, it would be a good problem to have. But we have to wait to see how Pavic develops, can’t get too far over our skis.
I think the Hajduk fans need to leave their coach alone. There is a lot of flack they continuously give him for making decisions.
I know this happens at many clubs. But the guy is winning games, leave it be.
Marko Livaja cannot play in every match.
Guess Niko Kovac isn’t much of a talent spotter
Nicolas Jover – the #1 set piece coach in the World at Arsenal who single-handedly won them the league – joined the Croatia NT in 2013 under Niko Kovac as an pimply analyst
Too bad Niko didn’t keep him by his side all these years – instead of that cajoined brother of his Robert who should stop suckling from Niko’s nipple – fly little birdie
metro.co.uk/2024/02/24/meet-arsenals-set-piece-coach-nicolas-jover-secret-dead-ball-guru-20341678/
Yesterday Anonymous praises Zvonarek for wanting to prove/fight in Portugal (as opposed to running back to the HNL for the easy route like Vidovic and too too many others)
Today SN says the same
It’s wonderful having a 100% prediction/hit rate
https://www.jutarnji.hr/sportske/nogomet/lovro-zvonarek-estrela-amadora-riskantan-potez-minutaza-portugal-15728922
I’ve got a Portuguese friend who is the self proclaimed #1 Benfica supporter. He is really knowledgeable about all things related to Portuguese soccer. According to him, they have some player agent (kinda like Mamic) who controls the vast majority of what goes on in Portugal and pushes extremely hard for players he represents. Players with different agents really struggle. Apparently on the Portuguese National Team, he represents 23 out of the 26 guys. There have been players that turned down call ups knowing that they will never see the pitch due to having the wrong player agent. This might explain why young Croatians never really develop over there.
First half Hajduk looked OK and were the better team, however second half was a different story. Over the two legs Hajduk was the better team and deserved to go to the next round.
Sego up front is doing a lot of running as a lone striker but is not converting any chances that come his way like in the first leg in Split where Hajduk should have won by a bigger margin.
Never was a big fan of Livaja but I think for Hajduk he is still their best player up front and Garcia needs to be giving him more playing time despite recent disciplinary issues.
Pafos are strong favorites, but you never know anything is possible especially at this time of the year when teams are still in pre-season with most domestic leagues yet to KO.