The twenty-second installment of Croatia’s Prva Liga has come to a thrilling end during the final week of May.
Twelve teams contested for the privilege to be called best in Croatia, but only one was awarded that title, and it was GNK Dinamo Zagreb, who have won their eight title in a row, and 15 overall since the league’s inception in 1992.
After 198 matches, and 489 goals in the 2012/13 season, the league will take a break while the teams recuperate from the long season, sign new players to strengthen, and prepare for next year’s campaign, where 10 teams will compete for the championship.
GNK DINAMO ZAGREB
Champions
Dinamo has won their eight title in a row. Lead by team captain, Josip Simunić, Dinamo won the league by 20 points, and only saw defeat in four league matches. They scored 68 goals, the most in the league, and allowed only 20, the least in the league.
They were lead by leading goal scorer, Sammir, who tallied 13 goals.
Alen Halilović made his debut for the club at 16 years old. He became the youngest Prva Liga player ever at the age of 16 years, 101 days. He also became the youngest Prva Liga goal scorer ever at the age of 16 years, 112 days.
Dinamo will hope to use their talents that lead them to be champions in next season’s Champion’s League, where they will enter in the second qualifying round.
NK LOKOMOTIVA
The Lokosi finished their stunning season in second place, and for the first time ever, qualified for a European tournament.
Twenty-one-year-old Andrej Kramarić scored 15 goals in his effort to bring his team to the top.
This season marks their best-ever finish. They finished 20 points behind first-place Dinamo, and four points ahead of Rijkea.
HNK RIJEKA
Rijeka started the season off with a lot of hype on their side — or was the hype against them –?
Italian oil mogul, Gabriele Volpi, injected the club with life that was expected to make them rise to the top, but they fell terribly short during the first half of the season.
Unable to win a match until September, Rijeka turned themselves around and became the formidable opponent that they were meant to be.
Lead by league-leading goal scorer, Leon Benko, the club was able to fight their way up to third place, where they will enjoy competing in the Europa League.
Will Benko’s performance this year catch the eye of Igor Stimač? Should he be given a second chance to represent Croatia on a national level? The 29-year-old striker hasn’t played an international match since 2006.
HNK HAJDUK SPLIT
National Cup winners
Hajduk barely squeaked into the top four this year, beating out the fifth place team only on goal differential, but ended in their worst position on the table since 2009, when they finished in fifth place.
Hajduk fought many battles this season, on and off the field. They faced never-ending debt, the selling of two of their best players, and all around incompetency in their organization’s front office, they still managed to field a tough, and very young team. They will now take this time to rebuild and prepare themselves for their time in Europa league, and next season’s Croatian Championship.
The club was also able to obtain a trophy, beating NK Lokomotiva over two legs to win the Croatian Cup, which also would have solidified a spot in Europe for them.
RNK SPLIT
Split showed that they are a team that will be able to compete with any team in the league.
Split built a strong offense that consisted of Ante Rebić, Henri Belle, and Ante Erceg, who all scored a total of 24 goals on the season.
The club will certainly have much to build on next season.
NK ISTRA 1961
Istra coach, Igor Pamić, coached his team to a respectable sixth place.
Goran Roce scored 11 goals, but it is unclear whether he will stick around Pula to score 11 more for his club. The forward was in talks with Dinamo Zagreb, but the two parties could not come to an agreement, and Italian Serie A clubs are giving the player strong consideration.
Istra will continue to use the likes of Sandi Križman and Stipe Bacelić-Grgić, who scored five goals a piece, to ensure Istra will finish in strong position next year.
NK OSIJEK
Osijek started the season off with the strongest defense in the league, giving up the fewest goals through the winter break. But tough defense was crippled by an offense with an inability to score goals, and the team began to spiral after their shocking win over Dinamo Zagreb at the restart of the season.
Striker, Ivan Miličević, left the club midway through the season to head to America, dashing the clubs hopes of producing a strong offense.
A coaching change at the end of the season will hopefully put the club back on the right track.
NK SLAVEN BELUPO
Slaven was slated to make a strong run for the top of the league this year, and certainly showed it in the early matches of the season.
The club stayed nearly point-for-point with Dinamo for the majority of the summer, but began to decline after the winter. Plagued by injuries, the team was fielding reserve and youth players to try to fill the voids left by first-team members. The club was on such a decline, they sacked manager Roy Ferenčina in the spring, and was replaced by Roman Sović, who was able to do little to stop the bleeding of his team. Slaven ended the season only four points ahead of the relegation zone.
The team was lead by 38-year-old Davor Vugrinec. Vugrinec scored a team-high goals.
NK ZADAR
Zadar hung on to life by a thread, beating out relegation by only one point on the final Sunday of the season. The likes of Stipe Perica, Josip Ivanović, and Antonio Mršić did all they could to stay afloat, and succeeded.
Zadar struggled constantly throughout the season, but managed to get points when they needed them the most, while narrowly avoiding relegation.
NK INTER ZAPREŠIĆ
Inter was relegated on the final Sunday of the season, even after a 2-0 victory over Slaven Belupo. The club will now spend the 2013/14 season in the Druga Liga, and hope to climb out of the hole the dug for themselves.
HNK CIBALIA
Cibalia was another club that had little hope of making any impact on the league and will be relegated to the second division.
Cibalia broke the record of youngest Prva Liga player, set by Alen Halilović of Dinamo, by fielding Marko Dabro, who is several weeks younger than Halilović. Dabro was unable to score a goal in the short amount of time he was given to play at the end of the season, but the club have high hopes for development, and will like to give him plenty of playing time in the Druga Liga.
NK ZAGREB
NK Zagreb finished as the worst team in the league.
Former Croatian Champions of 2002, they were the first team to be relegated this season, despite promises from their coach, Ćiro Blažević.
The team saw a carousel of coaches come in and out of the doors this season, with four changes made in that department before finally settling on Blažević.
Zagreb ended with an abysmal seven wins and 20 losses. They were able to tally 28 goals in the season, 12 of which came from Besart Abdurahimi.
TOP SCORERS:
Leon Benko – 19 Rijeka
Andrej Kramarić – 15 Lokomotiva
Sammir – 13 Dinamo Zagreb
Besart Abdurahimi – 12 NK Zagreb
Mislav Oršić – 12 NK Inter Zapresic
TOP ASSISTS:
Josip Brezovec – 9 Rijeka
Sammir – 8 Dinamo Zagreb
Ivan Vuković – 8 Hajduk Split
Mijo Caktaš – 6 Hajduk Split
Danijel Cesarec – 6 Rijeka
BIGGEST SURPRISE:
NK Lokomotiva – Lokomotiva finished in eighth place last season, and shocked nation by finishing in second place this year. Will the club be able to compete for a top spot again next year, or will Dinamo recall their top players, leaving them with nothing? Will they have their top players when they compete in the Europa League?
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:
NK Zagreb – Zagreb had a solid season last year, finishing in sixth place. They signed several reinforcements and were coached by the great Ciro Blažević, That would seem like a recipe for success, but the team struggled all season and will be competing the the Druga Liga next year.
Inter Zapresic looks like they’re taking the desicion to court. I don’t blame them. Hrvatski Dragovoljac has very little funds, can’t pay many of their players, who aren’t “professionals” anyway, have kids on their team who are playing on scholorship, and the team will be the third club to play at Maksimir next season. How will you share a stadium between three teams? I would still rather have this team be promoted, but they have a lot of work to do before they should be considered a first division team.
@bobby v
Don’t forget Crottenham!
Will be harder to cheer for Benfica with the boys at the Portuguese Club in Gloucester, Ma. with them signing three more Serbs to go along with Nemanja Matic – Filip Djuricic,
Miralem Sulejmani and Lazar Markovic
I always wondered why clubs didn’t do this more often. AC Milan were one of the first when they signed Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard. Good for chemistry?
Awesome work this year Colin!
You are appreciated.
Italy will be one of the countries who will raid the HNL come Croatia entering the EU, rather than guys like Kovacic and Halilovic playing 1-3 years in the HNL, guys of their quality will be lucky to get a full year in the HNL before being plucked.
I’m sure the big italian clubs with money will be lining up for Halilovic. Come July 1 croatians are not longer considered non-EU players.
Colin for the win!
Nevermind, no one wants Sammir.
Another Rumor: A men’s league team in Odessa, Texas is interested in the services of Sammir, as they are looking to add depth to their bench.
Rumor is that AC Milan is preparing to make a 15M Euro offer for Halilovic this summer.
@Colin
Thank you for all your work past season.
I know that Prva Liga is not the greatest, but it is still my Liga and Hajduk is my team and I read everything that you write.
Please keep writing.
@Colin great writeup! thanks for your hard work this season
@ Ziva
Less teams, but the quality still sucks. It’s not like other 10 team leagues (Slovenia, Czech Rep.) where there isn’t a lot of disparity between the teams and 3-4 teams could take the title. In the HNL, the disparity between Dinamo and say Istra/Slaven/etc. is huge. In our miserable league, it’s:
-Dinamo
-Hajduk/Rijeka/RNK Split/Lokomotiva fighting for Euro spots
-Everyone else
the only thing this past year and I’m sure for the upcoming year will be which teams out of Hajduk/Rijeka/RNK Split/Lokomotiva make it to Europe. Aside from that, there ain’t a whole lot going on in this league…
Dinamo can win this league blindfolded. You don’t need a crystal ball to tell you it’ll be 9 in a row this season, then 10, 11, 12,…
Dinamo will win the title by 12-14 points this year. You might say the league is catching up since in previous years they have won the title by 20 points, but that would be wrong. Remember, there are less teams in the league this coming season.
My jadan Hajduk will compete for 2nd place and probably fire Tudor around the winter break.
Its total BS that Dragovoljac is allowed back in. I guess some rules don’t apply to some teams.
so what’s the over/under on Dinamo winning the the 1. HNL by double digits for 2013-2014?
Gotta get early up to keep you guys updated on all the latest news! 😉 Plus, It’s only 9 am. CSR doesn’t pay the bills. Gotta get to my REAL job unfortunately. haha.
@Colin O’Haravić
Thanks for the update Colin!
What the heck are you doing up so early?
This working for a living is really for the birds.
🙂
It is official: Hrvatski Dragovoljac had been granted a first league license and will be playing in the Prva Liga next year, while Inter will be in th3 Druga Liga. Also, Sibenik will be dropped the the third division.
@ Dr. Colin , Thank U for all the updates ,& scores during the year ! @ Marko , & Davor Beautiful Words from Our HAJDUK Brothers ! KUP JE NAŠ !! Naprid Bili !! Bog , Hrvati , Hajduk , i HNS !!!
@Colin
Thanks for the great reporting, even if Hajduk is miserable it is always good to know what’s happening with the Bili.
I kad gubu i kad tuku, uvjek vjerni svom Hajduku.
Let’s hope the running of the club improves this year, we Hajduk fans have great hope and blind faith in our team but i am getting tired of the people who run the club taking advantage of that. If run properly Hajduk should be a sustainable club that should at least be making Europa league group stages year in and year out with the occasional Champions League appearance.
Hope Dragovoljac make it up.
2013-14 Champions 😉
……………….Maglica……………….
……Kouassi…..Kis…….Basic……
……Andjelkovic…..Susic………….
.Jozinovic.Milic.Jonjic.Mikanovic.
………………..Kalinic………………..
@Batman
Beqiraj and Krstanovic are supposed to be sold, so that’ll open up room for the Lokomotiv players. A few other players are supposed to go as well, how much of that is true, I’m not sure. Ibanez is a name on that list.
I agree with you about Fernandes and Soudani; you’d expect for them to start, but knowing croatian soccer I wouldn’t count on it. Hajduk brought over I think three players, two brazilians and that african during the winter transfer window. I believe the two brazilians are going home, but I’m not 100% sure about that. So, just saying it’s not definite although stupid to pay that much then sit them.
@Colin O’Haravić
“I like the line up in the back. Would also add Ibanez in there sometimes or maybe on the wing. Not sure how much time Leko will see this year. The dude is like 35. I’d love to see a midfield of Pamic, Halilovic, Brozovic, Husejinovic, and Ademi. As for striker, Cop will do just fine until Dinamo finds a better striker somewhere else. I can see them getting Andrej Kramaric and having him start up top. There’s also Spehar to keep an eye out for.”
Dude, Leko is shit, take him out if you want… But you know Jurcic will play him that is why I added him beside Pamic.
That should be the lineup but who knows what Jurcic will do. However, they did not bring Junior Fernándes and El Arbi Hillel Soudani in not to start them. Ibanez will get his play time and we have to work Halilovic in slowly. He is still quite fragile but he will get play time. Brozovic will get play time as well.
Who knows, maybe now we can finally get rid of Beqiraj, Krstanovic and Rukavina.
Colin, I gotta say, I like that lineup man!
and no, leading the HNL in scoring does not warrant a call-up to the NT. Benko, Knenzevic or anyone else on Rijeka doesn’t deserve a call-up to the NT.
@Bobby V – You’re a Zadar fan? Good to know. I always try to put more focus on teams in my reports when I know someone is a fan of that team on the site. I’m hoping to catch an HNL game late July/early August too.
@ SišmiššĆovjek
I like the line up in the back. Would also add Ibanez in there sometimes or maybe on the wing. Not sure how much time Leko will see this year. The dude is like 35. I’d love to see a midfield of Pamic, Halilovic, Brozovic, Husejinovic, and Ademi. As for striker, Cop will do just fine until Dinamo finds a better striker somewhere else. I can see them getting Andrej Kramaric and having him start up top. There’s also Spehar to keep an eye out for.
@Luka – I’ll post an update on Dragovoljac as soon as they figure out that mess. I’m not even sure what to expect with all of that.
Cico you must be delusional. Most loved team in Croatia is GNK Dinamo. 1st place once again. Bog, Hrvati, Dinamo I HNS.
Not a good year for Our Bili , but we are Still ,and ALWAYS will be the Most Loved Team in Croatia , & The KUP JE NAŠ !! HAJDUK ŽIVI VJEČNO ! Bog , Hrvati , Hajduk , i HNS !!!
@Colin
Thank you for the excellent reporting throughout the season. Keep us up to date on any Dragovoljac news.
@Colin O’Haravić
What do you think?
————–Migliore
Vrsaljko Simunic Addy/Jedvaj Pivaric
————Ademi Leko/Pamic
——–Fernandes Sammir/Said Soudani
————–Cop
There’s also Halilovic, Brozovic, Antolic and the rest of the forwards. And yes I realize who we have as a coach.
LOL!
@Colin – great job with the HNL reports – thanks! Looking forward to a Zadar match early August.
Still waiting to hear on Dragovoljac status. Either they go up, or Inter stays up. See? The league provides some thrilling entertainment even when the season is over.
Roce to Split is a pretty good move for him. They’ll be able to pay him, and they might go places next year.
goran roce went to rnk split
and there is still much confusion on the teams that will make up the league next season. Half the teams cant pay their players on time.