Written by: Andrew R
Rudeš vs. Osijek (3-4)
Rudeš were battered last week by Rijeka and looked to right the wrongs of their disastrous debut back into the HNL top flight. At first they did just that, shocking all fans of Croatian soccer with an early 3:0 lead against title contenders, Osijek. Rudeš manager Robert Prosinečki looked to have his team back on track and cruising to their first win this campaign until Mierez grabbed a goal back to give Osijek a base to start their comeback just moments before halftime. Both teams returned to the pitch with the score 3-1 but only one stepped out ready to play in the 2nd half — Osijek. After relentless pressure, Mijo Caktaš scored three times in the last 15 minutes of the match to cap off a historic victory. Osijek became the first team since 1992 to come back and win following a 3:0 deficit. This result will surely give them the confidence for next week’s European second leg against ZTE. Rudeš’ loss this week will surely hurt knowing they had the win in the palm of their hand. For Prosinečki’s sake, he will hope the old saying “third time’s the charm” is right as his side looks to take on Slaven Belupo, who are much closer to their level.
Hajduk vs. Rijeka (1-0)
The Jadranski Derby became the next test for Hajduk in their clash with top-4 teams early in the campaign. Just like the Dinamo match last week, Hajduk found a way to get the job done. While Rijeka put up a fight, they were inevitably unable to get a goal or a shot on target. Hajduk put on a show for their fans at Poljud and are letting them know they are here to make noise this season. While Hajduk joins Osijek as the only two clubs with 100% records, they can be confident knowing they had a tougher first two games than the Slavonski side. It was 18 year-old American-Lithuanian Rokas Pukštas who scored the lone goal of the match in the 50th minute deflecting the ball right in front of the Rijeka net. Rijeka are definitely still a quality top-4 team but showed their offense can be stopped despite the 4-0 demolition of Rudeš last week.
Istra 1961 vs. Dinamo Zagreb (0-3)
After Dinamo’s defeat in the Eternal Derby last week, offense has been the only thing on last season’s champions minds. After a 3-0 victory over Istra, Dinamo have scored 7 goals in their last 2 games (4-0 win midweek vs. Astana). Ivanušec has been leading the charge for Dinamo scoring 4/7 goals. While Istra’s goalkeeper Lovro Majkić has been making a name for himself in the HNL, he was not able to stop Dinamo’s relentless attack. With many people questioning Dinamo’s ability to dominate the league, this will surely show the league they can be dangerous anytime during the season.
Varaždin vs Slaven Belupo (2-2)
Slaven came into the weekend looking for a chance to redeem themselves after last weeks thrashing at the hands off Osijek. While Varazdin got a point out of a fight with relegation escapists Gorica last week. Varaždin started the match off strong controlling the tempo and holding the possession in the game. In the 5th minute of the game Varaždin took the lead with a banger from Dimitar Mitrovski. Just before the 30th minute Fran Brodić got a goal to extend Varaždin’s lead to 2-0 at the half putting them in full control. Or so they thought. Arber Hoxha created late minute drama by netting Slaven a goal to make the deficit just one. Not even 5 minutes later Slaven earned themselves a PK and leveled the game to take a point from this comeback match against Varazdin.
Gorica vs. Lokomotiva (1-0)
Gorica tied Varaždin last week in late drama but were able to hold on this week and achieve a 1-0 win vs the Lokosi. Sven Blummel, a new signing, found a late winner for the Goričani in game that was a very sluggish match; scoring in injury time to grab all three points. Both sides only had six goals on target between them with the Lokosi contributing only one of them. While many people thought Gorica would struggle this season after last campaign’s low finish, they are managing to keep their undefeated streak alive. While they could very easily have two wins to their name right now, Gorica will be tested next week when they play Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb. Lokomotiva will look to rebound after another disappointing match by playing Varaždin.
I watched the second half of the Osijek match…WOW! What a comeback. If this is the HNL, then I’m hooked. I was also shocked to see “Veliki Zuti” in all his glory :0 (I mean he is HUGE). When Osijek scored their 4th goal, the commentator said “somebody please call a doctor for Robert Prosinecki”
Didn’t Ziva Istina once claim we bastardized the national team when we gave Da Silva croatian paperwork. This kid at Hajduk is American. I think he even captained the US at youth level.
What’s the chances of getting Pukštas to convert;)
I don’t think he can.
Similar to how Sosa was unable to play for Germany, you had to have already been a citizen before being capped by any youth team.
Pukštas was already capped by USA’s youth squad.
He may still be eligible to switch and play for Lithuania (if he had Lithuanian citizenship) but it’s unlikely that he had Croatian citizenship at the time.
Giving him Croatian citizenship now won’t allow him to switch.
Having played for the USA youth team does not count. You are not locked in until you play for the senior team in a competitive match.
He could still play for Croatia. However, the rule is that you need to spend 5 years in the country. As far as I know he has been at Hajduk for 2 years. He is 20 years of age, and I cannot see him waiting another 3 years to play international soccer for Croatia even if we asked him to switch. He has obviously chosen USA.
In regards to Sosa, from memory he was unable to play for Germany because he was slightly older than 23 years of age. Had he been younger than 23 he would have been allowed to play for Germany despite having played numerous games for the Croatian Youth teams including U21.
Yea, just looked it up on Wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_eligibility_rules
Must fulfill one of the conditions:
a) He was born on the territory of the relevant association;
b) His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association;
c) His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association;
d) He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association.
According to this, Sosa still wasn’t eligible since he wasn’t living in Germany for five years.
However, if his mom was born in Germany, then it’s all moot and he should have been able to play regardless.
Can we trade sosa for Pukštas?
Serious question
If Perišić plays the LB role
Then sosa will just be his back up?
Cause he doesn’t seem to fit anywhere else
He can’t play as a winger I imagine
But at least we have Ivanušec emerging as a legit forward now even tho orsic is probably done for us I imagine
Sosa has also played in the midfield at Stuttgart, and a backup of that caliber is important to have. Look at France or Brazil: they have world-class players sitting on the bench, which just means that they always field a very strong team. Croatia is one of the few teams in the world that fields a similarly deep squad.
Sosa is head and shoulders above the aforementioned guy. Get real