Results for September 28 – 30, 2012
GNK DINAMO ZAGREB 3 – 1 HNK HAJDUK
Photo: gnkdinamo.hr
The vječni derbi ended in favor of the home side at Maksimir on Saturday as Dinamo Zagreb defeated their their heated rivals from the south, Hajduk Split. Dinamo is now eight points ahead of Hajduk on the league table and shows no signs of slowing down.
With the Champions League and a slew of fines for poor behavior from players, Dinamo has had a lot of distractions in the past week, but today, there was only one thing allowed to be on their minds, and that was Hajduk Split.
Hajduk has not had a league win against Dinamo since October of 2009, and have not won at Maksimir since 2004. The young Split club had everything to gain with a win, and fielded a strong and motivated team to face their mighty opponents.
Prior to the match, strict security measures were taken to ensure the safety of this season’s biggest crowd at Maksimir. Police attempted to separate the BBB and the visiting Torcida outside the stadium and file them inside in an orderly manner, but where people expected violence, they found peace. The BBB and the Torcida came together on Saturday to combat a common enemy. The Boys and Torcida were hand in hand for the whole match and voiced their concerns over Mamic, the HNS, and Sammir. Nothing like this has been seen before since the HNL was created over 20 years ago. It surly was a special site. That night, the north and south were together. Many of the 10,000 fans were late to their seats due long waits to enter the stadium, and missed the opening goal.
Despite the delay for fans, the action on the field began as scheduled. In only the second minute, Mijo Caktaš gave Dinamo a shocking greeting as he netted the first goal of the game to take the lead over the Croatian champions. A low and well placed cross from the left side ended at Caktaš’ feet and he easily tapped it home for the score. Zagreb defenders were left helplessly watching as they could do nothing to stop the inevitable.
For over 30 more minutes, the boys from Split held the lead, but had few chances to extend it.
Dinamo’s open style and 4-2-3-1 formation put a lot of pressure on the Hajduk defense. They were bound to crack, but held strong longer than anyone expected.
It wasn’t until the 37th minute of play when Ante Rukavina chipped a cross over the Hajduk defense and was met by the newest member of the Croatian national soccer team, Sammir. Sammir jumped and hit it off the volley and sent the ball into the top right corner where keeper, Goran Blazević had no chance of reaching to get his ninth goal in 10 league appearances.
“There was a lot of pressure on me and I could not disappoint my teammates and the fans who were there today, however, this was something more. This was a great evening for all of us and we are very happy. The past few days, I have followed the media, but what I saw was very negative and I really had a lot of motivation. Anyway, to me this is my best goal of my career even though I scored similarly at Poljud two years ago,” Sammir said.
Split born striker and former Hajduk player, Duje Čop, doubled Dinamo’s score and put his team in the lead just before the half expired. A perfectly weighted ball from youngster Mateo Kovačić, gave Čop the opportunity to put the ball across the keeper’s body and into the net, past the far post.
Dinamo flexed their muscles in the second half and controlled the majority of the match. Hajduk’s chances to tie the game were few and far between, and their young and talented team proved to be inexperienced and gave up balls in the midfield.
The teams took a break in the 50th minute while the fans in Zagreb put on a pyrotechnic display on the field. The referee declared it was safe to continue the game, and kept the players on the field. Nothing unusual in a Croatian derby.
Both coaches used the final minutes of the match as an opportunity to showcase some of their new and young talent. Josip Bašić made an appearance for Hajduk and fit in the match with no problem. Cacic sent in his new phenom wunderboy, Alen Halilović in the dying minutes of the match. The 16-year-old made an immediate impact in his professional debut by dribbling the ball into the box and sending it to Ivan Krstanović to put it away for a goal, but was called offsides. The future is bright for both young players, and they are bringing a lot of attention to Croatian soccer.
Dinamo finished the game with a well taken PK by Sammir. Vida was tripped in the box, which gave Sammir another chance to silence his critics and put in his 10th goal in 10 appearances. He did just that to give Dinamo a 3-1 win of Hajduk.
Čačić was pleased with the win, and was a fine way to celebrate his 59th birthday.
“Thanks to my lovely football players for the show. Hajduk had an early lead, but we did not lose our heads. We played his 90 minutes. This win means a lot to us,” Čačić said.
Dinamo will now be able to use this win as a confidence boost as the travel to Kiev to play Dynamo in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Dinamo: Kelava – Vida, Tonel, Šimunić, Pivarić – Ademi, Kovačić (od 75. Krstanović) – Čop, Sammir (od 83. Halilović), Rukavina – Beqiraj (od 70. Brozović)
Hajduk: Blažević – Vršajević, Maloča, Milović, Milić, Stojanović (od 34. Jonjić) – Radošević, Oremuš (od 89. Lustica), Caktaš, Vuković – Bencun (od 57. Bašić)
NK INTER ZAPREŠIĆ 2 – 2 NK SLAVEN BELUPO
Photo: Duje Bonačić-hrsports.net
A disappointing result for Slaven on Saturday as they drop points for the third week in a row, this time to Zaprešić in a 2-2 draw.
Slaven has been trying to keep pace with Dinamo all season, but have seen the gap widen just a little bit to four points this weekend. Slaven has also recently struggled to take advantage of points dropped by the league leaders. Two weeks in a row, both clubs failed to obtain all three points and Slaven has yet to have been able to take the first place spot.
Inter has been struggling in the points department this season as well. Picking up their 10th point on Saturday, they are on pace for only 33 points this season.
Slaven arrived in Zaprešić with several key players out of the lineup. Several defenders were unable to play, leaving coach Roy Ferencina with little options on the field.
Both teams started the match missing several good opportunities, but it was Inter that came out on top first.
A free kick awarded to Inter in the 30th minute turned out to be harmful to the away team. Tomislav Šarić stepped up and too the kick from 18 yards out and bent it around the wall to put it in the goal.
The beginning of the second half is where both teams came to life. Slaven’s Davor Vugrenec scored an impressive goal in the 55th minute to tie the match, but the score was short lived. Three minutes later, Ante Budimir beat Slaven keeper, Sivio Rodić, to regain the lead. Dejan Glavica wasted no time tying the game again when he scored his goal in the 62nd minute.
The scoring frenzy ended there. Both teams finished the match and were awarded a single point for the draw.
“I would say we are, except for the first 25 minutes were great,” Inter coach, Borimir Perković said. “After 2-2 against Slaven Belupo should be happy, but I must say that I regret that we did not win.”
Inter: Santini, Plaznić, Batur, Bagaric, Kramaric Milardovic, Miller, Matko (from 79th Juric), Saric, Oršić, Budimir.
Slaven Belupo: Rodic, Baric, Grgic, Eardrum, Geng (from 82 Brlek) Batarelo, Gregurina (from 74th Pilipović) Čanađija, Glavica (from 90 Kuprešak) Vugrinec, Busic.
HNK CIBALIA 4 – 1 HNK RIJEKA
A flurry of goals sent Rijeka packing after Cibalia took down the surging Rijeka side with a score of 4-1 in Vinkovci. Rijeka is coming off a three-game win streak, which included beating Dinamo Zagreb, Slaven Belupo, and Hajduk Split. Cibalia has now won three of their last four matches.
It just was not Rijeka’s afternoon. From the opening whistle, nothing went their way. Just two minutes into the match, Cibalia midfielder Petar Mišić sent in a cross into the Rijeka box, but was met by Rijeka defender Mato Neretljak who put it in his own net.
A fantastic individual effort by Marin Matoš helped Cibalia double the lead. His goal was the 23-year-old’s first goal for his club.
The 24th minute made things worse for the visiting team. Captain Dario Knežević pulled down Mišić in the box and Cibalia was awarded a penalty kick that Matoš easily put it to make the score 3-0.
Rijeka dedicated the second half of the match to stop the bleeding and try to get back in the game.
Josip Brezović finally gave his team some life in the 57th minute when he let go a screamer from 25 yards out. The impressive goal is just what the team needed to regain their confidence.
Unfortunately for them, Cibalia was just the better team. Rijeka had few chances other than there lone goal to do anymore damage and Cibalia wasn’t done scoring.
Marko Terzić scored a howitzer himself in the 81st minute, taking a shot from the edge of the penalty area and placing the ball in an unreachable area.
Rijeka’s streak came to an end and they sit fifth in the league and Cibalia escape from the relegation zone by getting their 11th point of the season.
Cibalia: Paradžiković – Muženjak, Župarić, Mitrović, Rugašević – Čulić, Vitaić, Matoš – Terzić (Gegić 86′), Bartolović (Tokić 83′), Mišić (Koledić 70′)
Rijeka: Lisjak – Datković (Vranješ 81′), Knežević, Neretljak – Mujanović (Čulina 46′), Kreilach, Brezovec, Weitzer (Gabrić 46′), Čaval – Cesarec, Benko
NK ZADAR 4 – 0 NK ZAGREB
NK Zagreb are back to their losing ways after their new coach, Luka Bonačić, gave them a glimmer of hope since he joined the team this month.
After obtaining points in consecutive matches, and wining their first match of the season, Zagreb traveled to Zadar and were blanked 4-0 in front of a crowd of 300. Two goals from Ivan Curjurić and goals from Luka Begonja and Antonio Mršić kept Zagreb down in the league basement and handed them their eighth loss of the season.
Bonačić has his work cut out for him if he wants to stay in the Prva Liga next season. Is there any hope for the Pjesnici? All signs point to no, but anything is possible, right? Its tough for a team that is struggling as much as Zagreb to lose to the one team that is struggling as much as they are.
With the loss against Zadar, the Pjesnici are three points behind them and have the last place spot all to themselves. With the fewest goals scored and the most goals against in the league, where do you start with Zagreb? The little brothers of Zagreb need to figure that out quickly, or the are going to have even bigger problems on their hands soon.
NK ISTRA 1961 1 – 3 NK OSIJEK
Osijek is one of the toughest teams to defeat in the league this year. With only letting in five goals the entire season, their defense is more solid than any other team’s in the league.
Istra experienced that first hand this weekend, as they fell to the Garden City team 3-1 in Pula.
A tight first half left the two teams scoreless at the break, but Istra changed that quickly at the start of the second half. Osijek gave up the rare goal to Goran Roce in the 50th minute, but that is as close to victory as Istra would get this week.
Minutes after the home side took the lead, the visitors fought back. Ivan Miličević hammered one home to tie up the game in the 56th minute and Marko Lesković followed suit in the 71st minute.
Miličević put in a game-ender in the 93rd minute to wrap up the match for Osijek advanced to third place in the league standings with the win.
Istra coach Igor Pamić expects more from his players.
“Some players have to wake up, to be more concentrated. We’re Playing well, but sadly it wasn’t good enough,” Pamić said.
RNK SPLIT 1 -1 NK LOKOMOTIVA
Rnk Split’s 10-match home winning streak came to an end on Sunday as Lokomotiva came away with a 1-1 draw. Lokotmotiva started the match strong and nearly scored in the opening minutes of the game. Split controlled the rest of the first half but failed to capitalize on a late penalty call as Henri Belle missed from the spot.
Lokomotiva were first to get on the board in the 50th minute as Tomislav Martinac’ shot from 20 yards out took a deflection off Radeljić and into the back of the net. Split battled back as Mario Kvesić salvaged a point for the hosts with a powerful shot from just outside the box. Lokomotiva manager concluded that a draw was a fair result, while Split manager said that his team lost two points especially since missing from the spot in the first half.
KHL MEDVEŠČAK
KHL Medveščak welcomed the struggling Austrian team, Innsbruck, to Zagreb on Sunday and defeated them 5-2.
Innsbruck has yet to win a game, and the Bears made sure that their winless streak did not end.
It only took 11 minutes for Kyle Greentree to score his third goal in his six games for Medveščak. Adam Naglich wasted no time doubling the score when he beat the goaltender in the 12th minute of play to make it 2-0. That was the American’s third goal of the season.
The Bear’s defense stayed strong in the match, giving up only four shots on goal. Medveščak’s offense on the other hand was unstoppable.
Canadian, Curtis Fraser, made the score 3-0 with his shorthanded goal in the second period, his third of the year, and Canadian-born Croatian, Kenny MacAulay scored his first goal of the season in the third. Fellow Canadian-Croatian, Tom Zanosški capped the game off with his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Innsbruck finally awoke late in the game, scoring two goals in the final eight minutes of the match, but still failed to register their first win of the season.
Tuesday’s game against reigning champs Linz was expected to be tougher than their previous game, but the Bears didn’t give that a second thought and gave the Wings a defeat of 3-1.
Two goals by Brandon Buck, and a power play goal from Fraser helped the home side glide to a win. Medveščak is slated to join Russia’s KHL next season, and have been off to a strong streak since the news was announced, getting points in their last four out of five since the news broke.
The Bears currently sit in sixth place, five points behind league leaders EC VSV. Medveščak’s next game is on Friday against Graz ‘99ers.
Doris , how can you sleep at night ? { Sick } This subject is getting out of hand.
@ Doris
Ti si bolesna.
When I think of Samir, I think of him dressed in those Croatian kravat regiment guards in downtown Zagreb, marching, protecting Croatia and the Habsburg empire from the turks. LOL, seriously though, I hope him and his fluzy get aids and die a slow, horrible death, then send their kid back to rio,, joint the carnival parade or circus.
I’m ok with keeping those guys from playing for BiH 😉
@Colin
Horde everything that has even a chance at slipping away. The last thing I want to hear is BiH calling up Halilovic, Austria calling up Kovacic, and (to a much lesser extent) Macedonia calling up Ademi.
We’ve taken some Bosnian-born Croats away from BiH. I don’t want them to return the favour.
Though the BBB and Torcida were against the Mamic and friends, the truth comes out about their behavior at the match saturday – http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/vijesti/hho-kako-nitko-nije-cuo-hukanje-sammiru-clanak-459211
@IvicA – So we’re just hording Ademi “just in case?” Sounds good to me, but still isn’t much hope to fill that DM spot.
you think Stimac had a choice????/ Come on, this was part of the agreement.
@Davor
This is what makes Stimac so stupid for calling him up. We’re going to risk losing points for this hukanje, for an end of the bench caliber player.
Sammir is just not worth this trouble.
@Colin
Ademi is ok. Not national team material, but plays a position of need and is currently being pursued by Macedonia where his first cousin currently plays. He would likely rather play for Cro, but also likely won’t be a regular. I’d rather play it safe and give the guy a cap or two, to secure him in case he pans out in the future (or if Radosevic doesn’t).
@JerseyCro
Not that I don’t believe you, but I don’t think being capped in a friendly means as little as you’re making it out to be. FIFA has been tightening its rules, and I can’t seem to find anything in the rulebook that states a player can switch allegiances so easily
Either way, I would lose my mind if Halilovic ended up playing for BiH over us. Too big a talent to lose.
@ziva
Sorry, I didn’t access to the game. All I had to go on was the report above.
Monkey chants have no place, even if the guy shouldn’t be playing for Croatia
no friendly matches don’t matter when it comes to this Ivica. Its only official matches then he is locked up.
Technically, Croatia can book a friendly tomorrow and play a bunch of HNL players (non-FIFA date) kind of like what the USA does in January every year.
@CroatHrvat – yep, 100% volunteer reporting! And thanks
So where did this love fest of Ademi come from all of a sudden? He’s a decent player at Dinamo, but that’s about it. I haven’t been too impressed by him individually and haven’t seen anything worthy of noting of him as of late. I’ll keep my eye on him a little more maybe, but I personally don’t see too much of a reason to give him the call up. Maybe he’s done more at the U-21 level than I’m unaware of? If so, let me know.
@Davor…………..what are you talking about?? I would hardly call the behavior of the fans ideal on Saturday. Hajduk fans destroyed about 200 seats while Dinamo fans destroyed 50 or so. Both had their funny chants aimed at the savez leadership. Plus Hajduk fans were making moneky noises and had chants of “majmune, majmune” at Sammir. The public doesn’t give a shit anymore, look at the attendance for the game. Less than 10,000…enough said.
Regardng Halilovic……don’t be surprised if he were to get a call up for him to fake an injury. His old man is no idiot and would know Hrvatska is doing that tie him up. His old man already stated once that his kid wanted to play for Bosna. Now, who knows how true that is. The kid was born and raised in ZG and mother is Born and raised in ZG. But, remember this…..a few years ago Mamic used some strongarm tactics to keep the kid at Dinamo and would not let him and his dad take him to Real Madrid’s youth system. The elder Halilovic knows he cant do much or say much while his kid is at Dinamo and that is why I would be shocked if this kid is still at Dinamo by the age of 20. I think he has a 7 year contract, but there are out clauses in it.
Friendly match appearances do not commit a player to one country (though a player is usually able to switch to another national side only if he held the nationality of the second country at the time he represented his first choice national team); Jermaine Jones played several friendlies for Germany in 2008 but has played for the United States since 2010. A second instance is Belgium-born midfielder Mehdi Carcela-González, who has two caps for the Belgium in official friendly matches, but has played for Morocco since 2011. A FIFA Player’s Status Committee is responsible for making such judgements.
@JerseyCro
That’s very odd to see how Jermaine Jones could switch at the senior level. He probably received special permission from Germany though, since he didn’t figure into their future plans.
This wouldn’t be the case with Halilovic, and a callup to a meaningless friendly should be in the plan (along with Kovacic & Ademi).
Capping Halilovic in a friendly will not be enough to prevent him playing for BiH. Look at Jermaine Jones…he played for Germany in a friendly match but switched to the US
He would need to be capped in a qualifier
So nice to see Sammir break the Croatian penalty kick curse (please read with sarcasm).
Glad to see BBB and Torcida setting aside differences for the greater good. The first football match I ever went to was Hajduk v Dinamo preseason friendly in the late 80’s at the Poljud. Both sets of fans stood up together and sang “Mi Hrvati, Mi Hrvati”. Was awesome.
Neretjlak and Knezevic are bought for the experience but they both played like 17-years old kids. Perhaps this is a good lesson for all Croatian teams: develop your own talent instead of buying and paying expensive old players who are not good anymore. Anyway, if they still would be good, they never would have returned to Croatia.
Nice to see how Alen Halilovic made his debut. Stimac should cap both Halilovic and Ademi before they other countries will do.
@ IvicA & Anonymous,
I totally agree with the both of you… Cap prospects that are eligible to represent other countries immediately. Even, the Swiss are doing it, like how they already capped Drmic for example because he expressed interest in playing for Cro…
My internets are down. What was the derby score?
Dinamo = Puppet Champion
@IvicA
“Man, that Halilovic setup for Krstanovic was awesome.”
Fantastic!
Halilović’s father Sejad played one game for us in 94 and in 96 he went to play with Bosna i Hercegovina. There are rumors that he also wants his son to play for them as well. Note to self……. Cap Alen as soon as possible!
Ademi has been approached by Macedonia to play for them and I really like what I have seen from both Radošević and Ademi in the CDM role.
The weight distribution Kovačić puts on the ball for Čop to setup the second goal was very nicely done!
Doing alright, getting good grades, the futures’ so bright, I gotta wear shades.
🙂
Man, that Halilovic setup for Krstanovic was awesome.
I know the kid is born and raised in Cro, his mom is pure Cro, and his probably atheist Bosnjak dad represented Cro…but if I’m Stimac, I’m capping this kid in my next friendly just to make sure there is no chance of a BiH callup. Same goes for Ademi. I know we already have our future DM in Radosevic, but you never know how careers pan out and Ademi might be a decent DM player in the future.
Kovacic did well to keep the ball alive on that second goal for Dinamo. He deserves some praise too.
The future looks bright with some solid teenage prospects in Kovacic, Halilovic, and Radosevic already getting some valuable burn in the HNL.
Ante B = wrong again
Volim te Dinamo!
Ante BBB for Mayor i Colin O’Haravic je kralj!
Is this voluntary reporting? The level of detail is very good, very impressive.
Sampioni! Dinamo Zagreb