It was a routine outing for Croatia without Modrić, Rakitić or Pjaca in the lineup. Mandžukić scored a hat trick inside the first 35 minutes of the match with two headers and a right-footed chip to get it past the goalie. The second half was calm with Croatia scoring three more late goals from Mitrović, Perišić and Kalinić. Highlights to follow.
Next up: Finland.
CROATIA 6-0
CROATIA STARTING XI: (4-4-2): Subašić; Vrsaljko, Ćorluka, Vida, Pivarić; Kovačić, Badelj, Perišić, Brozović; Kramarić, Mandžukić
In Croatia’s first World Cup qualifier against Turkey last month in Zagreb, the Vatreni dominated the Turks on chances, hitting the post multiple times, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw. On Thursday, Croatia will face Kosovo in their first competitive home match; although the game will take place in Shkoder, Albania instead of Pristina.
Croatia will be without the services of Luka Modrić, who will need one month to recoup from knee surgery. Mateo Kovačić will surely take his Real Madrid teammates’ spot in the starting XI, but who else will be on board? Dejan Lovren picked up a minor groin injury this weekend against Swansea and Croatia’s striker situation is still up in the air. Juventus’ Marko Pjaca is also out with a fracture in his fibula.
Please list online feeds for the match in the comments section below.
Turkey, don’t be jealous…one day you will just accept defeat and that serbia is a shit hole…fucking refugees can’t wait to flee serbia lmao…it’s extremely poor for them.
Thanks Brkic!! Here’s to you as well!!
https://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Hvar/blog-417882.html
Kramarić can take them as well
Perišić can take them with right or left foot.
Surprisingly we didnt get any free kick chances from threatening positions, but who out of that lineup yesterday would be taking them? With Srna gone, Rakitic and Modric being hurt, who takes them? My guess would be Perisic or Kramaric. An option would be Brozovic. Hes scored goals from distance but none from set pieces that i can recall. Wouldve been interesting to see.
@ Svima
How did Kramaric and Kovacic play ?
They are the two that need to start going forward.
I hope they grow this year with Croatia and club.
Fins are gonna be crushed after that Iceland game. We’ll see what kind of response they’ll have playing back home.
as long as we get one more goal than finland im happy
Yea, with Rakitic and Modric playing there wouldn’t have been any of those backpass errors.
However, there probably would be a lot fewer goals. The issue with Modric and Rakitic is that they play a little too safe. It limits our chances on offense.
Kovacic played one of his better games for NT. He was physical, attempted several slide tackles, and managed to go on a few productive runs. Still not sure if he is a true number ten or box-to-box midfielder. Good stuff overall.
Besides Strinic for Pivaric, this should be the same starting lineup on Sunday. Rakitic and Modric are missed though. Back four isn’t quite as stable and they couldn’t control possession as you would expect. Some of the back passes were bizarre. I don’t know how they got out of that game with a clean sheet.
…………………………Subasic…………………………..
.………..Corluka………Lovren……….Vida……………..
Vrsaljko.…………Modric…..…Kovacic..…….….Perisic
……………..Pjaca…………………Rakitic……………….
…………………………Kramaric…………………………..
This one will bring you to victory vs a Big team
I don’t think to bench Rakitic for Brozovic. still, Rakitic is needed for 1-2 pass. Giving place to Kalinic and even Mandzukic will slow you down, they are both suck on running.
3 fullback will make sure you that Kovacic and Modric will help us for attacking with their piercing skills. and we need totally wing side who can run fast like Perisic and Vrsaljko (they are really dynimic).
Cacic has always had my support.
Rakitic, not so much..
We should try Vida at LB for next game.
We don’t need any offence from that position anyway, as Perisic dominates that left side all by himself.
Might give us some more stability there.
Rakitic has no place in starting 11 I’ve always been a big believer modric and rakitic shouldn’t be in starting 11 only one and modric is the obvious choice in my mind I agree with most kramaric should play behind mandzo
Subasic
Vrsaljko. Corluka. Lovren. Strinic (Jedvaj)
Pjaca. Brozovic. Modric. Perisic.
Kramaric.
Mandzukic
@Brkic-I am THE biggest Mandzukic supporter on this site–quit stealing my thunder.
Due to injuries we finally got to see the 442 that utilizes Mandzo’s skills so well, & I have been begging for.
Obviously this was only Kosovo, but 6-0 is great & Mandzo did well. Would love if we sat Badelj & play Kramaric when Rakitiv & Modric are back…but Cacic & fellows on this site have old school mindsets & don’t realize his position is not needed vs inferior competition.
You can call him “druga liga”, the puppet, blah blah blah, and yes some of his subs or lack there of have been questionable, but im gonna actually stick up for Cacic. Nobody gave him a chance once he was hired, but he has gotten these guys to play more attacking football than ANY coach we have ever had. Yes, we are more vulnerable defensively but it has been a pleasure to watch. Not the usual “friendly game” look every time. With that being said, wouldnt be surprised with a 0-0 draw come sunday.
@Turkey
Check this article out, you may find it helpful: http://www.mtv.com/news/2171353/why-girls-use-exclamation-points-bitchy/
Nice draw today against a superior team.
Like I said, give Mandzukic some opportunities and he’s solid. When you’re counting on Vida and Badelj to convert chances you’re going to be disappointed. Gotta stick with that pairing up top as long as it keeps working.
Its good to see us dominate a weaker side. Seems like an easy game in hindsight, but that’s how Azerbaijan and Norway looked at the tail end of the Euro qualifiers.
Cool ^_^
that video highlight was made from my link that I have suggested -> http://hdfree.tv/live-sports-streaming.php
watch right there for the next match of croatia . . OK “
Just so happy for you idiots that you made it through a whole game without throwing fire Bombs and flares!!! That’s the bigger celebration, than a win vs Kosovo!!!!
Hey dummy cabbage heads, are we starting the World Cup parade again!!! Yooz are going to win all the glory right!!! You beat Kosovo 6-0!!!! Crack the champagne!!!! Get the tamburas out!!!!!!!! Spit, lamb, pork, old village songs and Kolo!!!
Nobody does route one football like Iceland these days.
Iceland very fortunate the referee gave them an additional minute of injury time to score their winner.
Not sure if you’re allowed to even kick the ball out of the goaltender’s hands, but that’s how they scored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWqiAYJ-mQw
Surprised Mitrovic got in before Jedvaj. Wonder if Corluka is going to be fit on Sunday. Center back situation could get dicey.
Not worried about Iceland, turkey Ukraine result was great, if we can’t handle Iceland we don’t deserve to be in Russia.
The Iceland goal came late in injury time and it is a controversial one to say the least.
Iggy,
Even worse. Iceland made 3-2 against FInland. Iceland will be tough for us.
only thing that wouldve made tonight better was if finland and iceland also drew
turkey and ukraine drew which is good.. iceland came back to beat finland
to all the people who said that they would rather have pivaric over strinic, well, fuck you
If we beat Finland by three or more goals… do we keep Modrić and Rakitić on the bench for our future qualifiers?
😉
Rog continues to not impress.
Also looks like we’ll see Strinic back at left back against Finland. Kalinic has just been a beast all year what a f’n goal!!
lovely way to finish
UBIJ!!!
The points only get discounted to calculate who the best 2nd place team is.
We are competing for first in our group. I doubt Iceland, Ukraine or Turkey could beat Kosovo 5-0 on the road.
This is a great win. I’m just concerned about the “fascist” chants.
you only discount the worst team in the group if there are some 5 team groups and some 6 team groups afaik
wait.. what.. Cacic made 3 subs within 70 minutes? :O
Anti Serbs chants, beautiful!
The enemy of my enemy is my friend..
if Kosovo finish last everything gets dropped? Or does that not Applied since all groups are even?
Who is this kid
good for the goal diff, this
He just said it again “Mitrovic”
Did cosic just say Mitrovic twice
Back passes have been shaky tonight. Brozovic and Perisic nearly got caught. Good first half though. Kramaric’s movement is getting Kosovo problems.
All three of Manzo’s goals were well-taken. That is more important to recognize. Haven’t been gimmies.
Very disappointing to see Corluka come off with an injury. Could be a worry going into next game.
Back 4 needs to be Sime-Corluka-Lovren-Vida
who predicted 8-1 to the good guys? could nearly be close at this rate 😉
There’s no crowd trouble.
There are some anti Serb chants going on, that’s all.
finaldn beating iceland and turkey losing to ukraine too, prolly both good things
I bet Stupid Cacic will playing Mocinic later.. Mandzukic better for mediocre team, won’t never effective against big team!
oh fuck yeah i woke up just now and 3-0.. fuckn NOICE..
Coric brought up crowd trouble what’s being said????
HAT TRICK! MANZOOOO
Pivarić with a nice cross to Mandžo. Almost got a hat trick.
Awesome header by Mandzukic!
2-0 now.
Manzoooo again…2 to 0
Pivaric is a disaster waiting to happen. Looks lost out there.
Kramaric with another dangerous pass to Badelj, who stupidly kicked it over the bar.
Wow, two strikers… Cacic is a genius. Why has no one else thought of this?
Kramarić needs to start every game
That was Kramarić with the beautiful pass
mandzooooooooo
http://hdfree.tv/watch/23/kosovo-vs-croatia.html
believe me, this link really cool even you still keep adblocker on your browser. I usually watch right here for any sport game!
I’m a little more positive on Mandzukic than most here. Yes, his scoring rate is not good, but he does contribute in most games I watch for Juve which is why he’s still getting good minutes for them.
In the recent games for Croatia the chances are falling to different players (Vida, Pjaca etc.), but he tends to be pretty good when given a half chance or sitter. He certainly isn’t a good long term answer for us, but I like him starting alongside Kramaric.
Ravni, you rule!….thanks!
Fox soccer 2 go has it but you have to pay.
http://www.gletvuzivo.pw/2015/02/hrt-2-uzivo-stream.html
Free link here
hope Mandzukic will subs later and do not be late!
I don’t have any issues about our lines up today.
but placing Mandzukic there quite reckless since
He doesn’t have any contribute too much at Juve.
Good move by Čačić including Pivarić in the lineup, despite Strinić getting some regular minutes at Napoli. Pivarić is still better.
Also, good that he included both Kramarić and Kovačić in there as well. Two very in form players.
any luck on streaming sites by the way?
appears to be little interest in these games, but i’m quite focused!
the world cup is far from a guarantee!
if this is indeed the line up, i take no issue with it. in general, cacic has been ok with his selection for whatever i know. glad to see both kramaric and kovacic in there rather than kalinic and rog
LAknat,
That looks like a virus-ridden site. I hope I’m wrong 🙁
AJMO HRVATSKA !!!!!!!!!
Substitutes
Ivan VARGIC (GK)
Lovre KALINIC (GK)
Ivan STRINIC
Matej MITROVIC
Domagoj ANTOLIC
Tin JEDVAJ
Duje COP
Marko ROG
Nikola KALINIC
Line Up:
Danijel SUBAŠIC (GK)
Šime VRSALJKO
Ivan PERIŠIC
Vedran CORLUKA (C)
Mateo KOVACIC
Andrej KRAMARIC
Marcelo BROZOVIC
Mario MANDŽUKIC
Milan BADELJ
Domagoj VIDA
Josip PIVARIC
Kramaric and Manduzkic will start up top.
No kovacic?
i heard this is expected to be the startign line up
mandzukic kalinic
perisic brozovic
badelj rog
strinic jedvaj corluka vrasljko
subasic
http://hdfree.tv/live-sports-streaming.php
let’s hope it works ..
anyone have link suggestions for the game? disappointed no espn 3. all other games in the group are being covered
If we lose Cacic gets fired, even with the injuries.
@Mr Buljubasic- Not sure who Marko Horn is but he probably played better vs Spain than Marko Rog (cause Rog ducked)
It almost seems like people on this site use Google Translate to learn about our players.
This would be my lineup for tomorrow. A bit adventurous, but they don’t have enough midfielders that deserve to start.
Perisic-Kalinic-Kramaric
Kovacic- Badelj-Brozovic
Strinic-Vida-Corluka-Vrsajlko
Subasic
Expecting Manzo to start sadly. Pivaric might start, which wouldn’t be the worst thing.
I don’t think the execs at ESPN understand or care about the politics. Let’s face it, there is a fairly limited audience for this game.
Personally, I would love to watch some of our upcoming players get a run out. Any kind of win is good for us – it doesn’t need to be pretty, but we need to win these games.
word is game will not be televised or carried by stations such as espn3 because of lack of recognition of kosovo and the political implications of showing such a sporting event. important tv customers in countries such as russia might take offense
In Canada Sportsnet World will televise both matches live.
Most recent listing does NOT have ESPN3.com as televising this match.
Marko Horn played well for us at Euro 2016 against Spain. Have met some people from Kosovo they are corrupt still haven’t me anyone from Finland.
Mandzukic will ruin your day!
I think we just get 4 points. After Kosovo match in a draw,
stupid Cacic would learn to swap him for another striker,
also Cop only a joke subs player.
@ Maminjo
Kosovo existence in the region is strategic for us.
The match this Thursday is win for us all regardless of the score.
Actually, Kosovo has way more footballing talent than Albania proper.
The Albanians should get behind Kosovo.
As for us, all the players who have been on the fringe have the opportunity to shine.
All good.
My Squad and starting 11
Subasic
Vrsaljko Corluka Caleta-Car Jedvaj
Badelj
Halilovic Kovacic Perisic
Kramaric Colak
Subs: M. Pavlovic, N. Datkovic, D. Vida, H. Milic, J. Pivaric, D. Kreilach, M. Brozovic, J. Brekalo, M. Rog, A. Coric, M. Livaja, D. Cop.
So…Serbia has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against Kosovo being accepted as a member of UEFA.
The appeal hearing takes place on October 31.
Since Kosovo was barely recognized by UEFA in a 28-24 vote, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the recognition is overturned. It probably doesn’t help that the World Cup host is Russia who doesn’t even recognize Kosovo as a state.
Despite the constant Serbian lobby against its neighbors (which we all know is nauseating) it’s probably going to fail like it always does.
But still, there is a small chance that this game against Kosovo will mean nothing.
I don’t know but maybe we should have Brozovic on the pitch. The guy didn’t play a lot lately but he will sure be extremely motivated to show his coach at Inter how good he is.
http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/the-dawn-of-kosovo-s-football-nation/
good read on the birth of kosovo soccer
one of the most interesting things i found is how support for this national team is extremely mixed in kosovo according to the article. according to the article, to many ethnic albanians in kosovo, the idea of two nations interferes with a vision of a greater united albania
big concerns. any team would have a tough match in kosovo for their first ever match ever. it will be a very strong atmosphere.
big concerns for squad
a midfield of badelj kovacic brozovic on paper is good enough to beat kosovo and finalnd. but we knows that means nothing. pjaca out is big worry as well.
my starting XI
mandzu/kalinic
perisic brozo kovacic kramaric
badelj
strinic vida corlu vrsaljko
suba
Im worried about this match
someone hold me ! plz ! im scared !
Club level performances and injuries are at a major low right now. Could be a tight one.
2-0 Hrvatska is what my coffee cup says.
Kramaric
Halilovic
Have to be elevated and integrated into the fold.
We need dynamic movement up top.
Full faith in Rog to come in compete.
Badelj has been a steady up tick.
Great opportunity to see some fresh faces.
naprijed !
oh man. sounds like its finally kramaric time. crazy how it requires about 3 offensive players to get hurt for kramaric to fianlly, maybe get a shot….good chance he still won’t
in general, this line up croatia will put out can’t be described as overly in form
mandzukic – playing sporadically
perisic – surprisingly not playing as consistently as you would think (stupid coach)
brozovic – essentially off team
kovacic: – plays intermittingly
strinic: doesn’t really play
vrsaljko: doesn’t play
rog: doesn’t play
leaving the team regulars as
kramaric
badelj
corluka
subasic
time to call Halilovic
please let stubborn inside Cacic fade away! ‘
Cracked fibula for Pjaca
8-1 for the good guys.
Kale finishes with 4 goals.
You heard it hear first.
Pjaca is injured!