Not much has changed on the table from week 23, other than Istra leaping over Osijek thanks to their draw with Zagreb on Saturday.
The top of the table remains the same with Dinamo on top after a 1-0 win against RNK Split due in part to a stunning goal from Marko Pjaca from distance.
Rijeka held off and extended their lead over Hajduk Split on the table on Saturday with their 1-0 win at Rujevica.
Miral Samrdžić score the lone goal to give his team the ultimate lead, but it was not easy considering the impressive game Lovre Kalinić had. To make matters worse, Mate Maleš was sent off for his second yellow card infraction of the day in the 66th minute.
But teams will have an opportunity to make up points dropped over the weekend.
Midweek HNL action starts today with Slaven Belupo hosting NK Zagreb at 11 am EST while Hajduk Split play host to NK Osijek at 1 pm EST.
Action continues on Wednesday with NK Lokomotiva hosting NK Inter Zaprešic at 11 am EST and RNK Split hosting Rijeka at 1 pm EST.
Dinamo will travel to Pula to face off with NK Istra 1961 at noon on Thursday.
Be sure to catch all matches on CroatianSports.com’s live streaming service here.
you’re right ziva, have you got any gossip? i heard rakitic was having an affair with shakira…any news?
If we are only going to talk about the Xs and Os, then this would be a boring site.
…at the same time, i don’t really care how many women a player sleeps with…or men. or whether they have tattoos? who gives a shit? just do the business on the pitch, that is what it’s about…
@slavonac good point there, i like ziva’s jokes, but i think it is strange to always find fault with our sporting heroes. maybe one or two yes, but most of them are decent guys I’m sure. it can’t be good to always be mocking. i know diva doesn’t like what he calls jock sniffing, and that he wants to give us a little bit more of a realistic outlook sometimes. but too far the other way? thats not good either. about people ignoring what you say ziva….whats the point in talking to someone then tell them to ignore you? whats the point in winding some people up, then say “oh just ignore me”…why say anything then? it’s supposed to be discussion page. or should we all say stupid stuff, then say just ignore me. some discussion that would be!!!!
I can’t ignore posts about people I feel are good but we attack them in a “below the belt” type of way.
target the douche bags Ziva, everybody should have fair game on those that publicly make a shit head of themselves…we should be proud of many of our athletes!
@Slavonac………….fair enough. I don’t see it as an attack, I just see it as having some fun. But, I get your point. I will slow down on my nickname targets…………….but, let me add that it is also easy to completely ignore my posts.
Armada,
you most likely are right, I am very well known for my after the game comedy while drinking beer with the guys. its one thing to make fun of your buddy or people in general, I imitate people all the time but I just find it a bit odd that we here, refer to any and every player with a negative connotation….doesn’t that seem weird to you?
I may be having a brain fart so you tell me, when has Ziva (whom I actually like btw) ever mentioned a player in a positive way?
I am the first one to pick on a player that acts like an idiot. In some cases, I feel like Halilovic used to be a target, now I’m kinda on the fence about Coric (not his playing abilities, his online antics), I’m not a fan of Sammir nor was I ever (although I knew we were thin at the last WC), I dislike Livaja, I laugh at the Lovren jokes, I even laugh at the Kranjcar jokes but I feel there is no need to attack his personal life….
BUT…..
when we go after Pletikosa’s (hair-braid’s) choice in women or that his wife is suicidal….or that Petrovic made bad decisions in women, STD Corluka…I really have a hard time with those types of comments. maybe I’m too sensitive or maybe I just can’t take a joke but I respect the dead, I feel bad for anyone that has a mental illness (Hair-Braid’s wife) or that they have suicidal thoughts, I don’t think it’s fair to call someone an STD victim…most of us in his (Corluka’s) position would be the same…
I am proud to be Croatian, very proud! I accept our downfalls as a people and make fun of them also. my whole life I’ve been imitating not only my dad, but all our dad’s…ask anyone who knows me, I have always been the “comedy” of my community…but I also do not give low blows to those that don’t deserve it.
the people Ziva listed a few comments up…Livaja, Suker, Stimac….all questionable characters….I don’t see why Corluka, Pletikosa, Petrovic and many others get attacked…they are all good people we should feel proud of.
@andrej L. yes i just watched the whole game as well, Brozo was the best player on the pitch by far, really good to see
Nogomet – Euro 2016
Kosarkas – Olympic qualifying July 2016 – Turin – maybe Rio 2016
Finally a friendly this month to see all the young studs sprinting for a spot in France.
Spinning our way boys.
Once again we will establish our brand in the world of sport.
Olic is a Vatreni legend!! Much respect.
Brozovic was a beast yesterday. Watched the entire game when I got home. I used to think Badelj (when healthy) could slot in that spot. While he is good, Brozo scores and Badelj doesn’t. Kovacic has better dribbles and speed, but doesn’t score and can fade out of games. I like that Brozo is starting to be a little more cocky on the field too.
hehe
We’ve seen this before and then the guys get together for repka and shit the bed or suffer mental midget disease. Hopefully we see a change with that.
btw guys, lovren was superb against man city yesterday, with jedvaj getting plenty of minutes,I’m starting to believe our defence will be good. subasic looked good against nantes. watched napoli eufa cup match just to see strinic he played well until he got injured. rakitic scored a stunning goal for barca tonight. looks like we could have a few statues in the pipeline…hehe
I’m glad some of you get it.
@jm……….I wouldn’t go to crazy over Grobar Hezonja’s performance yesterday. It was after all against the Bulls and the Bulls have stunk up the gym in recent weeks. Stll good for him to get some minutes. The two rookies I wanted to watch the most this season are Grobar Hezonja and D. Russell with the Lakers. And both received less than ideal minutes from stubborn coaches.
nice line-up there milo. Ziva, i actually laughed out loud at your first two comments on this page, about tap ins and statues. lol :). kids take it easy on ziva, he’s twice your age
on a hoops note, hezona with the best game of his career. 21 pts in blow out win over bulls. he’s been getting start alteoly with fournier out
@ Slavonac
You take some of this stuff to heart too much.
It’s the internet, man. I think its safe to say all of us want to see our guys do well, but there is nothing wrong with poking fun at them.
In real life, I assume when you hang out with your buds, do you not bust balls? Tease? Pick on someone about something stupid? Bring back stupid memories from years ago.
Same shit here, in my book.
subasic
vrsaljko corluka vida strinic
rakitic modric
brozovic
halilovic mandzukic perisic
So, you think giving a stupid nickname is an attack? They all have some level of truth to them.
Look at Me Livaja
Puppet Suker
Strucnjak Stimac
Kum Kovac
Druga Liga Cacic
Doper Cilic
Can anyone really argue with the playful descriptions attached to each person?
and the others that have been suggested to me:
Grobar Hezonja
Cro Mall Cop
Shoes Bendar
This is nothing more than having some fun………….and honestly, most if this is an inside joke with a few guys that now has gained a life of its own.
Or, I was born with more – had trisomy – and survived.
What resentment??????
Also, what does it matter what type of player someone was when commenting about a sport…..None of us on this site played pro ball. So, only pros can comment about sports? Come on, you don’t believe that do you?
Some of the best pundits on tv are guys who were nothing as players.
when you go after Livaja, Sammir, Mamic, Suker….meatheads…I usually agree with you. I just think you attack too many of our good guys when we really don’t have that many of them to brag about!
^ ^
I’m pretty sure you were born with a few missing chromosomes too..
Tap-ins are a fine art.
Look at the careers of Michael Owen and Chicharito for example.
Also, Olic scored some screamers from outside the box but it’s no surprise that Ziva never acknowledges that…
With all of his underlying resentment towards our own I’d love to know what type of a shit player Ziva was.
Soft as a pillow and heartless would be my guess!
Remember Kranjcar was born with a bad gene thanks to his father……alcoholism
Slavonac…………relax man, I don’t attack any of our players. I joke a round a bit with some truthfulness. Olic scored a lot of tap in goals as a result of his instinct in being at the right place at the right time. I’m a big Olic fan; always have been. Some of you guys are too sensitive over online comments made about people you don’t even know.
yeah…Kranjcar, in my opinion, did not push his fitness level enough while Ola worked on trying to improve all parts of his game.
total difference in mentalities!
Sude Mi…if you ask these players about their dedication, they’d disagree with you. Kranjcar’s dedication may have been spent on a different part of the game. No two players have the same physical abilities or technical. Kranjcar didn’t depend on his lungs and work rate, he was skilled…Olic had to have something that kept him relevant, it wasn’t technique/skill.
I hear you and agree….every player at that level believes they are infinitely dedicated to the game and career….
My tribute to Ola was just that, a tribute and pie in the sky thinking obviously.
Ziva, I disagree that people are born with a work ethic. They are born with the genetic make-up to be a good athlete and all that goes with it but work ethic is learned from parents, family and good coaches….some guys get it, some don’t.
Ola got it, Krajncar didn’t. Ola got more out of the little technical skills he had because of it while Kranjcar relied on far superior technical skills but sub-par work ethic to derive a pretty successful career in his own right. Both of them have had successful careers and made a lot of money, both are no doubt proud of their accomplishments and good on them.
Ok I’ve beat this to death….
Subasic Kalinic Livakovic.
Srna Vrsaljko Corluka Vida Lovren Jedvaj Strinic Pranjic.
Modric Rakitic Brozovic Kovacic Badelj Pasalic Perisic.
Mandzukic Kalinic Kramaric Pjaca Halilovic 23 man roster imo looks ok on paper
Brozovic ran 17.118 km’s vs Juve yesterday…that boy can run!
re: Radosevic
He was getting minutes at Rijeka and was one of their top players prior to going back to Napoli and then being loaned back out to Eibar – has anyone kept tabs on him since he went to La Liga?
Brozovic, for the immediate future, has cemented that DMF spot. Not the proto-typical DMF’s we’ve had in the past (Kovac, Vukojevic, Soldo, etc.) who were more defensive focused, but he has a great motor (ran 7 km in his last game I read somewhere?) plays well with Rakitic/Modric/Perisic and can score some goals if given the chance.
…and this is why we have opinions and make our observations. as a player, I was taught at a young age to appreciate certain qualities or players because it is what has made them valuable to the overall team. I’ve played with so many different types of players, guys like Olic are unique and there are few like him. Often you will get that guy, who’s physically a beast, can run like a gazelle and may even have a decent shot, but they couldn’t hit the ocean off of a dock, they are selfish, can’t make a pass and have no vision.
Olic was special! I remember the days when Croatians used to break his balls…at one point early in his career, he felt like quitting because of the abuse he took…but thankfully, he kept on playing.
the tap-in joke is Ziva’s specialty…I’m really not sure why he attacks all of our players, there is something intrinsically that affects Ziva…he may be missing something in his life.
Sude Mi…if you ask these players about their dedication, they’d disagree with you. Kranjcar’s dedication may have been spent on a different part of the game. No two players have the same physical abilities or technical. Kranjcar didn’t depend on his lungs and work rate, he was skilled…Olic had to have something that kept him relevant, it wasn’t technique/skill.
at the end of the day its all about effectiveness! you can have a skilled player vs a physical specimen, its all about their results for the team and individuals that makes them relevant or not. Olic made a career out of utilizing his work rate, along with his speed, positioning, shooting…others rely on different things.
I get your point, but you can’t change someone’s DNA. Kranjcar had a good technical skill, but he was also taller than your average MF and heavier. I believe work ethic is something that you are born with and can’t manufacture. Same thing as being a leader on a team. Some people can lead and inspire a locker room, while other are followers.
I may have been exaggerating with multiple Euro’s but given our defeat of Germany in 2008 in the group stages we had a good shot at the finals that year; given Spain was trending up massively it probably would have been a stretch to beat them then.
At the same time, one example of preparation would be Niko Krajncar….imagine with his skill, if he prepared physically to play like Ivica Olic did throughout his career what kind of contribution he could have made to that 2008 team? Being able to win more duels, being able to get up and down the field with more speed and stamina? Anyone who watch Kranjcar play knew he had infinite skill but lacked the work ethic to be truly great.
My point was simply that if EVERY player brought the same level of dedication, work ethic and passion to their careers, that would have been the difference between victory and defeat.
I don’t recall saying how much I was betting. Maybe I mentioned a few parlays or futures that netted decent payouts.
You might not like my comments, but others do. And I don’t recall making any comments that is flat out stupid or over the top. Most of my points are all based in logic or will have reason minded people admitting the possibility.
And take it easy on President Trump. Those are proud Americans who are supporting him. They remind of the people who vote for HDZ in the Cro……wave the flag a few times and all is good.
not a issue for me, you used your bets as a way to back up your tap in goal rhetoric, please stay on topic and remember your positions as I don’t feel like reminding you
this is 2016 there’s ways to upload pictures, people who make 5-10k wagers on sport don’t go to small community websites and brag about it, your Twitter is unvetted, just like your moniker here, I couldn’t be paid to “fully embrace you on Twitter”
Everything is fair game? So are your “un-likable” comments and analytics which lack any resume, you say stupid things and constantly repeat idiotic jokes ( trump esque, idk what I hear more often we’re gonna make America great again or corluka has a std) you’re the guy in the room who makes his point by being the loudest, can’t be that guy then asked to be ignored.
Betting tips? Ne seri, pun si sebe
Actually I have made numerous bets with people on this site (not sure why that is an issue for you right now)……..And how should I post my online wagers???? you cant embed items on this page so its not like I can take a photo of it and paste it. As I have said many times, anyone who wants to view my bets or engage about betting tips and share feedback can do so by sending me a message on my twitter account. Now, I have yet to fully embrace twitter, but i will make every effort to respond.
As for critiquing and analyzing…….everything is fair game. Now, you may not like my comments (and that is fair). As I have posted numerous times, simply ignore what I post. Its not that hard.
@Croatia vs. Antwerp……Radosevic is a long, long way away from the repka. He needs minutes at the club level.
Regarding what level you should have played to regard someone as good or poor? You’re critiquing a PROFESSIONAL PAID MACHINE, your over 40 men’s league (that might be too advanced for you, idk) does not give you agency to critique any professional player, as your ceiling doesn’t allow for you to analyze someone else’s
@ Maminjo
The problem with Srna is that he actually plays well as a RB for Shaktar Donetsk, it’s just that he doesn’t play as hard/well for Repka. If he wants to focus on his club career, he really should retire from the national team.
And I just can’t see Pranjic gettin’ the nod ahead of Strinic. Strinic while not a starter at club level, does get minutes for Napoli–a CL calibre club where competition for spots is fierce. Plus, Strinic is a seasoned LB with Tourney experience. He was serviceable at Euro ’12 and is a better defensive option than Pranjic. Besides we don’t need Pranjic’s offensive “qualities” since we gotta enough FIREPOWER in midfield and attack ya know!
And guess who gotta start today? Remember that stocky kid from Dalmatia, strong as an Ox and moonlights as a free kick specialist? Yep, that’s Radosevic! Would like to see him develop into NT material. I mean it’s fine and dandy that we produce creative mids, but we need to throw in a coupla bulldogs into midfield to provide some steel. We haven’t had a bona-fide DM in ages!
A-ha, you can use that argument, but I don’t come here judging a player or applauding him….unlike you, can’t blame my curiosity regarding your credentials which you base your critiques off of
sarcasm isn’t a every day thing, if it is for you, idk weather to feel sorry for you or not, mandza kalinic and olic, constant sarcasm eh? Jokes? You play off that you want to make those bets and have been taken up multiple times, you haven’t made one bet on this site nor have you posted that bet slip, you don’t have to come here and validate yourself behind a screen name
First off, I can use the same argument on you…….What level of soccer have you played at – if any – to applaud someone and claim they were great, good, average or poor.
Second, you do understand what sarcasm is, right? You do understand the “tap in” comment has been thrown around here for years in a joking/kidding manner when describing goals, right? Shit, it was a running joke a year or so ago during every weekend with me betting anyone if any of our players could score out of the PK box and not a tap in.
Nobody has sang Tap in Olic’s qualities on this site more than I have over the years. He has been involved in some of the biggest goals in the country’s history.
But, some of the reaction to this news is over the top……”if the rest of our guys showed the same heart” we would have won a title. Umm, probably not. Show me a time when we were ever the best squad going into a tourney. Its as if some of you think opponent has no skill or no “heart” when we play them.
Prediction………when Olic dies, it will probably be the result of a bumper tap while driving.
@ ziva
What level have you played at that allows you to comment and criticize on a style of play that has earned someone millions of dollars? What style of play were you successful with in whatever level you played in? (If any)
Who are you to him to comment on his “tap ins”? When his tap ins have earned him money while you comment on the Internet about him behind a moniker. You’re clearly not a fan, or you would be as you call others “jock sniffers” just questioning the agency or status you have that’s allowed you to critique so eloquently
If Cacic told him to retire, then it gives me some faith in Cacic.
We won’t get a quality coach, but at least we can get someone who won’t make painfully obvious gaffes when it comes to player selection.
However, all this gets wiped clean if I ever see Pranjic play at LB (especially at the same time as Srna at RB).
If those two play at the same time, we’re toast.
Speaking of retirement, did anyone else catch Pletikosas cat like reflexes giving up 4 goals today. He looks slower than ever. He manages to throw himself on the ground (notice i didn’t call it a dive, because it actually isnt) a good 2 seconds after the ball hits the back of the net. Another one that can only hurt his image by attempting to play on.
It’s not an odd time to announce his retirement. He did right before the Squad was going to be announced for the Israel match. He wanted to preserve his dignity, and not be snubbed in the call up. Cacic prolly told him privately he doesn’t plan on calling him. So this was Ola’s way of protecting his honor.
And an honorable man he is! Olic with his work ethic and never-say-die attitude made the most of his talents. If All our players had that same fighting spirit we woulda won a tourney by now! Anyway, I would like to see Olic go into youth coaching so he can instill that work ethic into our lads.
What is your favorite Olic moment?
Mine just might be hiding in the back of a trunk to get out of ZG.
Odd time to suddenly announce your international retirement.
Olić was probably told that he wasn’t going to be called up.
Either way, great career. Glad he retired now than drag it out any further. Pranjić and Srna need to take note.
Good for Olic to go out before being forced out.
Is it possible to build a statue of Olic tapping in the ball or missing an open goal?
BTW…….statues in sports for people who are still alive is the biggest form of jock sniffing. Makes wearing a jersey with another man’s name on the back appear pedestrian.
Well said Side Mi.
Heart of a lion!
Svaka ti cast Ivica, ti si za mene uvjek bio pravi borac! Dal si sve od sebe uvjek bez obzira!
If every Repka player prepared the way this guy did and gave everything of themselves based on his example, Croatia would already own multiple Euro trophies and perhaps even a World Cup to their name….I truly believe this.
He got more out of his career than many more skilled players have….bravo Ivica bravo!
brozovic with 2 goals and perisic with 1 bring inter back from a 3-0 aggregate
Ivica Olic to retire from international duty
http://www.vecernji.hr/nogomet/ivica-olic-se-povukao-iz-hrvatske-reprezentacije-1065041
this should get its own thread
glad he did this before the Euro but man, he will be missed – a NT legend, no doubt
Olic retires
that 90th minute goal by Zagreb vs. Hajduk had Mamic written all over it… 😀
chin up, Tovari… you have the 3rd spot more or less locked up. you’ll get a Europa League game or two next summer and actually have meaningful games to cheer about.
Hajduk : Osijek 2:2
Jadan Hajduk……….
Bice bolje. Idemo dalje.
Osijek, time to stand up! Stick it up Hajduk.