This blog is setting an ambitious goal: To bring the Croatian
National Soccer Team to play an exhibition game at the Home Depot
Center in Carson, Ca- and hopefully three other locations in the
United States and Canada (possibly San Jose, Columbus,New York and Toronto).
We are working on the logistics of this project, but would like to
ask you to reply to the following question to help us create evidence
that in fact we Croatians can SELL OUT SOCCER STADIUMS in the U.S!
Please feel free to donate to this cause by clicking our DONATE
button on the right to make a secure online donation using your
credit card or PayPal account.
We will give a banner link to the top 20 donators and give links to
everyone that donates $25 or more.
If you can’t donate money, please leave a comment on this blog and
tell us: What would you do to get the Croatian National Team to play
games in the United States.
The more responses and comments we get, the more evidence we will
have to help this actually happen- SO LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
Toronto BMO field for sure! there are so many croatians in toronto and in the greater toronto area the stadium would be sold out! I could sell, tickets and get some of the croatian promoters that i know on it and we'd turn this shit out! to the croatian national team we love you! so come see the scores of fans you have in toronto!
Gotta try for Chicago guys. Love the site…love it.
The writer of http://www.croatiansoccerreport.com has written a superior article. I got your point and there is nothing to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not disagree with: A lie comes from intention, not from action I will be back.
Very ambisous…..But asking people to contribute is not the way to do it. Get some big time sposnors who are willing to sign a contract to pay for all expenses. Without that, you have nothing.
To an earlier post about the crowds in 94 during the World Basketball Championships…..That was during the war when everyone was a patriot. No chance those crowds could happen again. A few thousand would show up and that is it. Assimilation has set in for N. Americans.
You have a better chance of organizing a trip overseas to a game or get a big time opponent that will draw a crowd. Schedule a friendly with the US in Chicago at Toyota Park and you might get 2,000 – 3,000 of the croatians in Chicago to show up. The rest of the attendance would be covered by the US fans.
the truth hurts..grow up guys…there is noooo money to be made in bringing them here, n the sad thing is if no one is making big money…no one will do this..I THINK IT WOULD BE EASYER IF WE ALL FLEW TO CROATIA AS A GROUP TO WATCH THE GAME..ORGANIZE THAT
Policajac,
I like where you head is at. On the outside, the odds are against us. However, we are in this for the long haul. If it takes us 20 years, then it was worth it.
Do we realistically see this happening? No… Is there at least a little light at the end of that tunnel? Yes… Have Ante and I at least “sparked” the interest of a few people? Yes… “Can’t start a fire without a spark”… then its just BURN BABY BURN!!!
You might as well close this blog because this game will NOT happen. We have tried to bring the Repka here and it did/will not work.
First off, when the U21 team came here in 2005, there wasn’t 1000 people at the game in Chicago and even less in Toronto and Hamilton.
And whoever posted that Cleveland would be a good place to host a game, you have to be a little out of it. Browns Stadium can fit 65,000 people. Even Celtic-Boca in 2004 could only draw 10,000.
Toronto would be your best bet, but the Repka won’t be coming here anytime soon.
You can book that.
Anonymous Yes, Chicago would be an excellent place to bring the Croatian national team. I visited Chicago last month and stopped by the Croatian Cultural Center of Chicago.
“It also would be helpful for all of the other sites write their info in English in additon to Croatian.”
Are you talking about us, or just Croatian websites in gerneral?
personally, I feel that its up to the individual to find a way to learn Croatian. Here in Los Angeles, San Pedro has a Croatian Cultural Center, Dalmatian Hall, and Croatian Hall. The Croatian Cultural Center offers Croatian language classes(beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes).
Unfortunately, each class has about ten students. I was in the intermediate class last year for a session, before they came out with an advanced session. you will find this hard to believe, but out of ten students, half had no Croatian ties whatsoever(1 Chinese dude, 2 Germans, and 3 Americans)… Also, the Chinese dude spoke Croatian like he was born there..
How many American born, Australian born, and Canadian born Croatians visit the motherland, year in year out? When do they visit Croatia? I will go out on a limb and say 90% in the summer. Why? To party, drink, swim…etc… Why not go and learn the language? Because they don’t have to. Croatians cater to the English because most of the country speaks English.
“You would get a lot more support.”I agree with you. If we wrote every article in both English and Croatian. However, Ante and I spend roughly 20-25 hours a week a piece on this website. Also, this website was made for “the English speaking world” cause as we know, English is the universal language.
Thanks for the comment, next time, add a name so we know who you are. Looking forward to more of your comments and suggestions.
If you want to bring the Croatian Team to the the US then you should think of Chicago. There are over 250,000 Croatians in the Chicagoland area. It also would be helpful for all of the other sites write their info in English in additon to Croatian. There are a lot of Croatians who were born in the US but don’t read or speak Croatian. You would get a lot more support.
Anonymous
Cleveland is without a doubt a prime location for the Croatian national team. The last time I was in Cleveland a few summers ago and I snuck into the Cleveland Browns Stadium and walked over the grass. What a venue! If Croatia played in Cleveland you can count me there.
thanks for the comment. In the future, please come up with a name for future references
If your going to bring the Cro national team to Ohio the better place is Cleveand Browns Stadium…Clevelands Croatian population is known throughout the USA with its world known American-Croataian Lodge….USA played Venezuela in 2006 for a WC qualifier and it was sold out…Something to think About….Cleveand would be more central for all visitors from that part of the region
what about Columbus Crew stadium? its literally next door to Ohio State University and I’m sure that venue can draw a huge crowd.
I think we should make one of those petition things when everyone puts their name in so we can bring Hrvatska to the U.S or Canada
Josip-
Thanks for posting, I appreciate it. Our goal here at CroatianSoccerReport.com is to bring in all the Croatian fans around the world and especially North America. If I can get 50,000 supporters behind this site I would have no problem getting major financial funding for such a tournament where Croatia could play the likes of Italy, Argentina, US, etc etc etc at different venues….we must remember the US wants soccer to explode and it is cheap to try right now….so I hope you stay on board as this is a very realistic dream…-ante
I would agree there are a number of great Croatian communities across North America and Toronto would be one. A good example of that was when Croatian basketball team was in the World Basketball Championships held in Toronto in 1994 at Maple Leaf Gardens (18,000)and Skydome (55,000)most games were completley sold out and in the semi-final and bronze medal games atleast 20-25,000 croats were there. Recentley Dinamo played Rangers at Skydome there were 25,000 and that was a midweek game. The only thing i would recomend would be to have the game on the weekend because its not only Toronto that has a lot of Croats it is southern Ontario and to drive into downtown Toronto during the week is crazy. Also if Croatia were to play Portugal, Italy, Greece or Poland easily it would be a sell out but i would rather have the game at Rogers Centre and not BMO only because of the capacity. About 2 years ago we had Roma/Celtic/AC Milan/Liverpool come and the Friday/Saturday games 58,000 both games sold out.
Go Hrvatska!!!!
Thanks
Josip.
Hvala puno Damir!. I know it will be very difficult. That is why I started the blog. I want the support of all the Croatians in America. I know I can get it and I know I can fill staduims with our fans..I just need to prove it to the US Soccer Federation and Nike/Adidas so they can finance the trip. I don’t want to just bring them over for one game…I want to bring them over for an EVENT in which they are starring in. If I can accomplish this within 5 years it will be a successful mission. Plus I am easily educating our fans that can only follow the team so much. They can be caught in 4 minutes of reading. Hope to hear from you again Damir. -Ante
It will be very difficult to bring Bilic and co to North America because the uefa set the schedules in advance. That can only happen during summer brake when the players are restin from long season. Maybe you can bring under 21 squad or players who are not in starting eleven.
Of course that Hrvati iz Amerike deserve to see best team in Europe right now.
pozdrav svima u dijaspori
Damir iz Zagreba
What would be the sickest venue???
I think the writer of this post failed to mention Canada in any of our plans. Just like in most of American sports leagues, the Canadian teams feel like they are American. (Toronto Raptors, BlueJays,…. Besides hockey, we know hockey is Canadian). I’ve visited Toronto and all the other “big” Canadian cities. The Croatian church in Toronto is in my opinion the most attractive church this side of the pond. Attending a TorontoFC-Galaxy game, I forget the supporters names, the 100 or so “red patch boys” were louder than the “galaxians”. Also, the 6X20ft flag reminded me of Croatia’98. Since we are based in Los Angeles, we will try to sell out the home Depot Center. However, Toronto is right up there with New York and Columbus. Welcome aboard Toronto! We appreciate the feedback. Hopefully, you will become a regular!
Toronto is actually one on my list after L.A. It has a large Croatian population and a perfect venue for the game. This blog is brand new and we’ve just started on the logistics of how to get them here but when they do come- Toronto will be a stop for them. Thanks for the comment and I hope to hear from you again- you have some great input! -Ante Kvartuć
Why not try for a game in Toronto at BMO field? I think Toronto would have a great chance of selling out, not only with the Croatian population in the GTA and Southwestern Ontario but from the huge soccer fans in the area? Check out a TFC game…the stadium and fans are amazing!!! Good Luck, I’d love to see them anywhere in North America!!!!!