It’s official! Luka is staying at Real Madrid one more season and has signed a 1-year extension to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu until the summer of 2024. It was reported that Modrić was being courted very hard by the Saudi’s in a €200 million deal that would see Modrić leave Europe for the Middle East. Modrić turned down a boat load of cash to continue playing in Madrid while keeping his family in the Spanish capital.
So what does this mean for Croatia?
It means Modrić is 100% playing at EURO 2024 next summer.
Mark my words now…Real Madrid or not. Luka Modrić’s last professional football match will be in the red and white Croatian checkers. His story has to end that way and it could very well happen at EURO 2024. Hell, he if keeps playing like he has, why not 2026 in North America?
Are there any rumour mill posts coming? Osra to Trabzonspor
Its a challenging concept for us to accept because evolution has wired us to survive into future generations and to strive for immortality. As mortal humans, we achieve that through having children and also establishing culture such as ethnicity and religion that will last long after we’re gone. That gives us comfort, purpose, joy.
It is challenging for us to accept nowadays that our culture, our religion etc will all slowly dissolve away over the next 500 years and ultimately we are not some immortal beings but simply dots in history that won’t really register when we zoom out
I say just enjoy the moment now of being Croatian
The truth wrong again on so many things.
The only people and nations who dissolve away are those who don’t worship the true God.
All it would take for Croatia to grow and prosper is a few consecutive God fearing generations who follow the perennial teachings of His church (especially on sexual morality). It’s simple really.
How can it be that my grandparents with no electricity and no running water in the house, little to no education, no supermarkets or walmarts could have and raise 5 and 6 children but we, now with all our technology, university degrees, and worldly success choose to have at most two (if that)?
The media and the ‘experts’ have spent the last 50 years worrying about overpopulation meanwhile Europe and even China (with their failed one child policy) are in danger of going into a demographic death spiral.
The fruits of atheistic communism/socialism and scientism are Death, dissolution and eventually annihilation.
The fruits of a humble, trusting belief in God is joy, sanity and abundance.
Choose life!
The meek shall inherit the earth.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.
Bog i Hrvati
Stari, I hear what you are saying but, Do you really have more than 6 children? I don’t agree with you that the answer is to return to the past. When my great grandparents were having 8-10 kids per family, there was 4 million people an unpopulated California , now there are 40 million. My forefathers were all fishermen, and cannery workers, and probably had no more than a sixth grade formal education. Housing and land was rather affordable, and education was life itself. My grandfather built a house across from Mary Star for $10,000 , with a basement and big yard. There is no fishing fleet anymore. Overfishing killed the business. Times change, and people react to survive. My father was a high school teacher and had 7 childrens, and my mother never worked outside the house. There are more women in college now than men. My nephews/nieces are now doctors / engineers
/ nurses, but the average size of the families is 2 to 3 children as you state. 8 billion + people, adding 90 million a year , we are doing just fine in my opinion. I guess we should all follow north africa’s lead according to you. There is a winning model for sure.
The just built some homes in San Pedro, with no yards. There is no more land. God helps those, who help themselves is a life lesson we all learn .live have taught me.
Your arguments make sense on the surface level but the discussion was the dwindling of actual Croatians (both inside and outside of Croatia). Is it inevitable that we will fade away or can we have a resurgence?
You use California as an example for huge growth of population which causes scarcity when in actual fact it only appears to cause scarcity. Just like how we were going to run out of oil and natural gas… yet we keep finding reserves of this stuff everywhere.
Was it overfishing that killed the industry or did the industry just move to where it is more profitable to operate. Maybe the fish migrated to a more abundant habitat (just like people do). I’m willing to bet we eat more fish now worldwide than we did a generation ago. That fact shows that there are still plenty of fish out there. this narrative of scarcity is being pushed to increase fear because a people filled with fear are easy to manipulate (that and they’ll pay higher prices for goods that are ‘scarce’).
Look at all the empty villages of Croatia. If anything, there is an over abundance of land with no one willing to cultivate it. It’s all about ebb and flow. When there were too many in the selo we move to Canada, USA, Australia etc. now there’s too many in California move back to Croatia😊. If all those uneducated seljaki could do it why can’t we?
Yes, it seems like the population keeps growing but all it takes is one generation to not have kids and everything goes bust. Then we will see true scarcity. Not gonna be fish to eat with no one to catch them, clean them, package them transport them or sell them.
It would be the greatest tragedy if after a thousand years of survival under hostile conditions Croatians finally achieve independence only to slowly dwindle and fade away with no one to blame but themselves.
Near the end of your comment you sarcastically stated that North Africa is a winning model. The sad thing about it is that it IS the winning model. Look at Spain, France, Germany, Sweden packed to the gills with N. Africans, Turks, etc.
I have no hatred or resentment for any immigrant as I am the son of immigrants myself but I would hate to see all the beautiful and varied European cultures (especially our beloved Croatian) drown in a sea of multicultural-globalism which is sadly where they appear to be headed.
Why is this happening? That’s easy to answer. A people who have forgotten God and who think they have all the answers are destined for destruction. I’ve seen it in my own life and through reading history. If we value comfort and goods and ease of life more than God, family, sacrifice and service the writing is on the wall. We will be both doomed and damned.
So I’m not advocating any return to the past what I am advocating is for Croatians to stride fearlessly into the future. I couldn’t care less what the rest of the world is doing. My advice, don’t be afraid, trust that God will provide and have a ton of kids, the future of our soccer team depends on it😜
With God, everything. Without God, nothing.
To answer your opening question, no I don’t have over 6 kids…. yet. But we’re working on it.🇭🇷
Bog i Hrvati
Stari:
No disrespect to you, čujem te. You are a thoughtful person, and your ideas hold great merit. No disagreement here. God Bless.
Being Croatian becomes a luxury that many of your generation can no longer afford. You get three weeks of vacation a year and you’re going to burn two of those weeks each year and 6k to transport a family of 4 over to croatia? Try explaining that to your wife from Pennsylvania
Try teaching a kid Croatian when the other parent doesn’t know it. Teaching a kid Croatian is an immersive experience. It requires non stop effort and can become exclusionary to the spouse.
Try taking the kids to church when the spouse is non religious.
These are becoming the standard scenario rather than the exception.
In the End, all people are going to blend together so there will be no Croatian, eventually no black or white or anything in between. The world without doubt trends toward one ethnicity and one race and in 500 years the kids in school will be intrigued to learn about how we were once separate in certain ways
Speak for yourself.
You would’ve made quite the Turkish vassal during the Ottoman Empire years.
Plenty of people like you have existed in the past, and rightfully lose their culture and disappear.
Come on. It would be ignorant to fight this. It’s indisputable that we all trend toward a shared mixed ethnicity over time . The stats bear that out with mixed race growing the fastest.
This isn’t the Ottoman Empire. In todays World cultures mix much more quickly and in accepted fashion.
In 500 years, pretty much no one will be exclusively Croatian anymore. Even today what we say is Croatian is a mix of ethnicities but it’s less obvious because they are all mostly Caucasian ethnicities
Croatian is Croatian.
Last names can be all over the place, but that culture remains.
Lots of people like you are either self-hating or conformist or whatever, and will give up your culture for a few pieces of silver.
But there will always be someone to take your place.
It was actually alot easier to wipe out a small civilization in the past. I’m sure many thought just like you, and switched sides. Willingly gave up who they were for nothing.
You don’t have to do much either. It’s not that difficult to retain your culture and pass it on to your kids. Doesn’t have to be perfect, but even a small seed planted will grow inside them.
Unfortunately, laziness and shame are probably the biggest reasons to drop it. Which is fine, but there will be a lot of regret afterwards. I’ve seen it.
Well summer time has about officially started, which means its high season for watching diaspora croats try to order beer in croatia at the kafic
I actually feel bad for a lot of the diaspora croats nowadays because they will never be able to experience croatian summers in the selo like their parents did.
Back in the 90s to early 2000s, you had all the kids going back to croatia for the summer who were from two croatian parent households as a result of the mass croat migrations in the 60s and 70s to the US. The kids would hang with other disapora kids in croatia, see the grandparents, maybe even dabble in some croatian, and eat ice cream. Those experiences wove their way into the soul of diaspora croats, so much so that for people like Ante etc who started this site, large portions of their connection probably come from those experiences.
That migration of croats to the US has largely long stopped, so nowadays, the kids with croat roots in america have usually only one croatian parent. There croatian skills are non existent compared to the shaky skills of the previous two croat parent households. And their likelihood of returning regularly to croatia for summers is very low given one spouse will not want to spend that much time there, there are usually not grandparents to visit there like in the previous days, and the cost of moving a family back and forth on that trip has gotten extreme.
So whereas, in the 90s and early 2000s you’d see a lot of american diaspora kids who would all relocate to some Croatian town for the summer and formed a real group….you just won’t see that anymore. You’ll see a couple come back here or there for shorts trips, once every 5 to 10 years, and the detachment of the diaspora from the homeland will continue.
Well from my experience you aren’t wrong
Sad as it is You are definitely on the truthful path this time around
Even my folks are dieing for me to go back and take their diaspora apartment dream over but it’s not so easy with a North American partner
Besides tho
It’s sounds like the country is becoming more and more westernized anyway
And I’m sure it will all be sold away to foreigners soon enough
Can’t have a defeatist attitude like that. You absolutely should take over that apartment and turn it into a project that you leave for your kids to one day own.
I know a lot of two household Croat diaspora families who never go back.
I also know alot of one parent Croat families that go very often.
It doesn’t matter.
Croatia is a great country to live in (or at least travel to very often) but people just get comfortable and sell out, and would rather focus on other daily routine things (and visiting Croatia and having it engrained in your kids just…evaporates).
Everyone always regrets it though.
Every single person I know who just stopped having as much of a connection with it, regrets it badly.
Not all Jews speak Hebrew but you wouldn’t dare say that the ones that don’t weren’t
Dang. It looks like Broz is about to pull off a 100 million Euro heist.
3 years @ 33 million a year to play with Ronaldo.
Almost got them to double that initial offer.
Just keep his hands to his side otherwise, I here the penalty is quite severe
Hope this doesn’t effect his timing and such and fitness levels
Can’t blame him tho
100mill from a boy from Croatia
His great grandkids are gonna talk about dida epic and how he walked to Saudi Arabia with no shoes on up hill both ways with nothing to eat
Thank him for their Ferraris and tattoos;)
The deal just hit another hitch, ha ha
This is going to go on forever
Sounding good, as long as he is playing regularly, so that Dalic will play him.
Orsic is headed to Trabzonspor
Nenad Bjelica is the new coach. This is his first move. I read that he wants to bring Petkivić as well.
Surely he would rather be in Zagreb again rather than Turkey
Oh well
I’m sure he will have plenty of chances to play and hopefully catch his game back
Like others have said and I said like a broken record. We definitely could have used him as a super sub at least in Holland
I hope he can get his form and be there in Deutschland
I still don’t see how he got such little time in England?
Some say he didn’t have a good attitude to work
But who the heck knows
He obviously has skills
Maybe he just can’t do it day in and day out?
Just not the right fit??
If orsic, were in the game against Spain two weeks ago, it does even go to penalty kicks. And if it did, Croatian wins 5-4. What a shame.
Rumours are running rampant that Brozovic has accepted the Saudi offer🤬.
Orsic is officially moving to a club he can play at.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuFljdCtIR7/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
The opposite is also true, they are suggesting Broz is not serious about going to Saudi.. I for one was hoping he would go to Barca.
https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-midfielder-tempted-by-saudi-arabia-offer-decision-will-impact-brozovic-transfer/amp/
It’s not a guarantee but if Kessie goes to Saudi it’s a done deal!
Hajduk backup keeper Ivan Lučić, born and raised in Austria, is considering playing for the Vatreni. Does anyone know if he’s any good?
Nogometaš Hajduka na radaru Vatrenih: Bira Hrvatsku ispred rodne zemlje?
https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/hrvatska-reprezentacija/hrvatski-nogometni-savez-zeli-ivana-lucica—789158.html?itm_source=MiddleNews&itm_medium=Dnevnik&itm_campaign=Naslovnica&_gl=1*1ibdtko*_gcl_au*NTczODA2MDgxLjE2ODE5OTg0Nzg.
Big News in Croatia today!!
“Podignuta optužnica protiv Luke Modrića i Dejana Lovrena!”
Apparently there is an indictment against Modric and Lovren… how will this topic affect Croatians?
will we see Torcida embrace this (like they have in the recent past) while the rest of Croatians become agitated?
any thoughts?
Sve izgubili dabogda!!!
all the Livaja apologists coming together in full force on Twitter…this shows how dumb those Hajduk supporters truly are (however many that want Modric in jail) …they quickly jumped in joy, now saying we don’t need criminals in our National team.
when you really need to rely on anti Croatian comments, you can count on those people to divide us!
I find these comments interesting Slavonac, not that I am disagreeing with you I don’t think any of the fans from Hajduk should be saying this really. I think it’s unfortunate that this is happening to Modric a second time, I don’t know the specifics of the situation but I hope that this doesn’t effect Modric or even Lovren in a negative way. What Modric has done for Croatia is nothing short of deserving a heroic status in my eyes and I think everyone should feel the same and it’s very unfortunate that some people don’t see it this way. I guess we will have to see what transpires or if things go to court.
I dunno Slavonac a while back I made a comment, which was not meant to be over encompassing by the way. A comment which I suggested that some individuals believe or hold a divisive perspective between North and South and a few people jumped at me for me for even suggesting it, stating that I may be delusional or that it’s in my head… Which might be true who knows maybe I am.
But from what I can recall I think you argued that we shouldn’t focus on a few fanboys and assume that everyone feels the same way, in which I actually agreed with you. However, with these comments in mind, and how you say “Torcida will embrace it while the rest of Croatian’s get agitated” is almost as if to suggest that everyone from Split will feel the same as the people who posted or wrote what they wrote. How are you not being divisive in your own right one might ask??!! I don’t think everyone in the South feels the same way. I don’t n even think everyone in the Torcida fanbase feel the same way either. I think it’s as you say some dumb morons who just want to start shit and spew garbage personally who shouldn’t be given the time of day with such opinions. However, by commenting on it you are giving them just that
Am I to believe that you changed your perspective here?? I dunno…maybe I am misreading your comment.
Whoever these people are from the Hajduk fanbase are probably overzealous because the Livaja scenario, not that I think it’s right. In either case, doesn’t this prove my comments from before were somewhat justified?? Or are we just going to assume that it’s only Hajdukovci or Southerners that are capable of such comments???
To add to the last thought, I am not specifically referencing the comments regarding Modric per se, but comments meant to attack the other fanbase which is what these clowns are trying to do here. I think.
By clowns I am referring to those who have specifically posted the comments about Modric…
Hey Mate…you said:
But from what I can recall I think you argued that we shouldn’t focus on a few fanboys and assume that everyone feels the same way, in which I actually agreed with you. However, with these comments in mind, and how you say “Torcida will embrace it while the rest of Croatian’s get agitated”
I have never seen anyone outside of Torcida being as vocal about Modric getting sentenced…have you or has anyone else? Last night I saw the first article about Modric and Lovren being indicted but I wasn’t sure…then this morning it was all over the media…and then all over Twitter, only Hajduk fans expressed how they feel and that they expect Modric to get justice he so-called deserves…they’re asking him to step away from the National team.
“Jel krug navijača ZG – Dinamo – HDZ zaziva izbacivanje iz reprezentacije, zna li se šta ili je granica morala čvrsto postavljena na navijačke pjesmice na nogometnim utakmicama”
this one is directly commented towards Modric “kad zavrse u zatvoru sva trojica (+ brat mamic cetvrti) dobit cemo ono sto smo htjeli”…you see, they want him in jail!
….sooo many referrals between this and how Livaja left the National team…several Hajduk fans now saying “well Livaja left, Luka should leave”
the only reason why Livaja’s name is coming up is because Torcida stood behind him and behind Kalinic when each of them had their issues.
I’m sorry if you don’t see how delusional this is but most people do! Only Torcida has tried to sabotage the team so this is where I see the problem!
I though it was the Municipal State Office in Osijek that called for the indictment. Not sure what these particular Hajduk supporters have to do with the indictment. It is just hot air that these particular fans are passing really.
If you allow the comments to get to you then sure they can cause a problem, but I don’t see it as badly as you do. Look either way it is the court that has to make a decision about this issue, the fans don’t have any say in the process.
There will always be negative voices everywhere you go.
What I mean to say is the comments themselves maybe negative, but they will eventually wash over at some point
I think the Slavonci will be even happier about it than the Hajdukovci!!! 😉
…about the possibility of Modric going to jail? are you nuts? when did you ever see “sve izgubili dabogda” in Slavonija?
That comment was supposed to be funny given the wink emoji the other one above wasn’t lol.
Lock him up!!!!
After he wins us the Euros 😉
Speaking of sutalo
I’m seeing anywhere from 5 to 20 mill value on him
Even at 20. I feel like some team is going to get lucky with that buy
Makes me wonder why Leipzig didn’t scoop up. Or maybe they will for a year or two
The rumour is Arsenal but I really wouldn’t mind him making the bundesliga jump then somewhere else after
I just read a Croatian article that said RB Leipzig are interested in Sutalo to replace Gvardiol, but have to wait until the deal for Josko is done.
Maybe there is a deal with Dinamo. I think they get a solid kick back from gvardi deal right?
Then probably do something similar with sutalo….
It’s a good thing they have with gvardi and probably something from olmo too
Maybe sutalo doesn’t get gvardi money but a great season in Germany and a strong euro, Leipzig will make at least 30 mill in one year if it pans out
Dinamo Zagreb get 20% of the fee for Gvardiol going to City as per contract signed when he went to RB Leipzig is he get’s resold. Beautiful payout indeed. With Danny Olmo going from Dinamo to Leipzig it sets a very nice story of success. Sutalo going to Leipzig makes tremendous sense. With Olmo still there and Gvardiol as guiding factor with a phone call he will fit right in with little disruption in getting acclimated. Sutalo would be there for 2 years and then Leipzig would sell him as we all hope he fulfills his potential and Dinamo receive another 20% payment. Another Christmas Bonanza for Dinamo financially.
Going to RB Leipzig would be the best path for Šutalo if Gvardiol ends up at Man City
I like what I’ve seen of Niko Sigur in the U21 Euros. Dude is fast and strong in the duel, and it’s always nice to have a player who can play multiple positions. I hope he’ll stick around with us.
Has anyone from the dijaspora in North or South America ever represented Hrvatska at senior level? If not, Sigur might just be the first one!
Ya like I said on another post
Sigur Born in Burnaby, British Columbia Same as me and I’m sure some others here
Poglavnik I think was another one
Poglavnik, There’s a name I haven’t seen forever?!
I think he will stick with cro if he thinks he has a good shot
Someone said sigur has played rb at Hajduk but it’s not his natural spot
What is it? Obviously rb will be tough to crack for us
But who knows how the whole JJ/stanisic thing plays out
JJ could be pushed up to wing with stanisic behind and need another capable back up
3 at the back combo could be a gvardi, sutalo, stanisic combo
For some reason I really think this Back three would do wonderful
Probably cause they are all top grade players with even bigger potential;)
New Fifa rankings: Cro move up to 6th place
Seems like we are desperate for a Mandzukic/Kalinic solution.
If we had Olib otok Christian Pulisic on our team, we could play Perisic as a striker. He should of/could of, instead he is playing for the Corporation of United States. His blood runs green and white, rather than red and white.
Someday, someone will arise, hopefully before our awesome newfound backline ages out.
Don’t forget he used us to get Croatian citizenship.
Never forget.
Sorry, don’t know the story, just bummed he is not playing for Croatia. Maybe in US he figured he be more of a star, rather than just another Run of the Mill great Croatian player.
He’s human garbage. That’s it
He didn’t use us.
He is eligible for Citizenship. Any diaspora is.
He didn’t lie to the HNS or anything. They asked if he was interested in playing for us, but he was committed to playing for America (which is fine).
He took citizenship because it helped him in getting a work permit, but he is a diaspora Croat and Croatian citizenship is his right just as it is any of ours.
Please
Nema na čemu
SSG………………,Smijati se glasno. Next issue!
His application was fast tracked. It was done in hopes he would pick Hrvatska. He probably said he’d think about it. If not his application would still be processing.
Where is sutalo going? I’m surprised you don’t hear too too much about rumours
I know some in Croatia I’ve heard predict he can be even better then gvardi
The best thing is damn if they both pan out
That’s an insane pairing
He’s taller and less injury prone.
He doesn’t really use his height though, and Gvardiol is more physical than him despite Sutalo being a pretty big boy himself.
But offensively, he’s great at long balls, dribbling, passing. He’s pretty fast too.
Makes the odd mistake, but it’s outweighed by his pros.
He’s seem by a lot of EPL teams as a poor man’s Gvardiol, who could close the gap.
It’s why teams like Arsenal and Spurs are scouting him hard.
Would have been cool to see them pair together for a club team
Crazy chemistry potential
But it looks like gvardi is done deal for man city
I sure hope that price tag doesn’t put too much pressure on him….
So beljo shit the bed for maybe a variety of reasons
Maybe he was super unmotivated, still tho we can’t have poor effort He’s young and has no excuses to not go hard
Musa is next inline for proper minutes anyways
Maybe him and krama can team up or share mins
As much as we sometimes like bagging on krama. He has put much better efforts in for the repka the past year
Musa hopefully will be the decent balance of hard work and grinding with some obvious good scoring touch and making good with his opportunities
Hes what got into two matches for us ??
He has spent a lot more time with the repka now and I’m sure feels more at ease with his nerves and tactics
What are the chances of him starting matches this year in Portugal ?
Another thing about Musa. He’s just hitting the age where Croats start to mature traditionally
If he hits another level he can be good for at least a couple of tourneys
Then hopefully some kid will come along
Yea, he was decent but inconsistent up to the age 23, then got pretty good and consistent at 24, and now at 25 his goal rate shot up drastically (but still in limited minutes).
Curious to see what happens with him if Benfica ever sell Ramos and Musa’s minutes go up.
Maminjo, come on man… I think you should at least watch the U21 games if you’re gonna start defending Beljo. We all want our younger kids to play well but we can’t make things up to defend them! Everyone that watched Beljo said the same thing and yet you’re pulling another “Vlasic” scenario and seeing things that just aren’t there.
From Sportske Novosti:
Beljo 5 – kao da nije niti došao na ovaj Euro
Does this mean he is crap? NO…but he was crap at this tournament and showed ZERO value! The guy was terrible and showed very little work ethic at all! Maybe he was tired or bored or whatever his excuse might be…nevertheless, he didn’t do anything in any situation in the two games I watched and from the sound of it, Baturina was sending in good passes and nobody was good in the box, especially not Beljo.
I have seen his good days but man, good players learn to be consistent. I don’t want to over value our kids if they don’t deserve it. Last year we were all over Simic, then Ljubicic then Musa, then Colak (I know he’s older), now Beljo.
We tend to set the parade route over a few decent games and then dream up that these guys are some stars…they aren’t…at least not yet…Not Sucic, not Beljo, not Brekalo, not Vlasic…none of them are anything to write home about and we just need to be patient and wait for the next kid that can consistently play good games.
I think what you meant to say was that I pulled a “Gvardiol scenario”, and was upset when we chose to not integrate him earlier.
We did this with several young players at Euro2020 (capping them too late), and it cost us the tournament. It almost cost Dalic his job.
These three U21 games are a small sample (with the team looking disjointed overall due to lost players) and we should rather be using the club season to assess a player than this three-game stretch.
If the kid can start in the Bundesliga, then he deserves 15 minutes a game on the Senior team.
well Gvardiol is on another level, which is why he’s been standard with our National Team since the Euros.
Beljo hasn’t really proven much just yet.
Gvardiol wasn’t really that proven either.
He was not even in the Bundesliga yet abd still playing at Dinamo.
Beljo is actually been playing in the Bundesliga.
I’m not saying Beljo is better than Gvardiol, but in both cases we had no real good options at their positions…then Dalić realized it too late and tried to replace the gap too close to the tournament (which is why Gvardiol had a shakey Euro2020).
Dalić waited way too long to integrate Sosa, Gvardiol and Juranović (despite Strinić retiring and Vrsaljko being injured for three years).
I’m worried he’s going to do the same thing with his striker position, where he’s going to wait until Livaja hits rock bottom before panicking and just throwing Musa or Beljo into a tournament at the last minute.
I watch HNL and have seen all of these players play at club and under21 level. This generation is more talented than the last generation I feel. This generation we have several talented strikers even if they didn’t play well this tournament. Beljo surprised me the most as he’s a few good games at his club but looked nothing like the player at Augsburg. Frigan has a problem finishing but he gets himself into so many chances because he’s fast and agressive. His finishing was not nearly as bad at Rijeka. The main problem with this generation is wingers. With no Biuk or Pasalic this team severely lacked pace and guys who could beat players one on one. When Croatia beat Denmark in the playoffs both Biuk and Pasalic had big impacts off the bench. They changed our game and we took over the game after they came on. Unfortunately players like Vuskovic and Smolcic were not available. Smolcic was playing well at Frankfurt until his unfortunate injury. Vuskovic was Hamburg’s best defender and probably would have made a move to the first division if not for his suspension. Sigur is an interesting player. Never played right back before but did a really good job for Hajduk in his 8 games last believe at rightback. Sigur struggled the first game. Thought he played better against Spain. The goal looked offsides to me btw. Yesterday I thought Sigur was the best player besides Baturina. His crossing was not good but he was aggressive win lots of duels and is calm on the ball. Both goalies played well. Good with the feet and a couple of excellent reflex saves. There will be at least 6 players from this generation playing for the national team in my opinion.
Agree with your comments, except the last sentence. Six players ???
We’ll be lucky if one or two ever become permanent members of our senior team based on what we saw at the U21 EURO. I also watch a lot of HNL and watched all our U21 qualifiers. Some of the players that were missing at Euro such as Sucic has a chance of becoming a permanent member of the senior team.
He said six players from this generation, so maybe he’s including the ones who were either injured or unavailable.
This would include Gvardiol, Sutalo and Stanisic (who are already part of the senior setup).
Beljo and Sucic have been getting senior callups, and based on what I’ve seen, Baturina and Kotarski are going to be senior players for sure.
That’s seven right there, and there are always late bloomers.
Vidovic, Kacavenda, Roko Simic, Ljubicic, Frigan are all solid prospects. At least one of them will become a senior player.
Despite the poor Euro showing, this is a very talented generation.
For those criticizing Dalic for not playing Beljo vs. Netherlands / Spain
He played almost 200 minutes – and produced nothing in 3 games
Not sure if Petković or Livaja would do anything with the U21s either.
Give Beljo 15 minutes at the end of these qualifier games to see what he can do with guys like Sosa/Jura feeding him crosses or Modrić sending him passes.
I’m afraid we are in for a long wait to find adequate replacements for Petkovic and Livaja. Both Beljo and Frigan were disappointing, especially Beljo. Three matches and we did not score a goal.
We were better than Romania and created two or three good chances with Vidovic hitting the post in the first half.
Overall poor display from the team. Biscan leaving 3 months ago did not help, the new coach Skocic had very little time to work with the team. Even so, some of his team selections and tactics during the tournament were puzzling. We’ll see if he keeps his job?
That’s only half the argument though. Sure he’d be playing with a better midfield, but he’d also be playing against better defenders.
Fact still remains that Beljo starts and plays against better defenders every week in a top-4 league, and Livaja/Petković do not.
We don’t have a choice but to move forward with Beljo and Musa.
As someone here mentioned before, it’s not like Livaja and Petković are some irreplaceable superstars.
Any dropoff (if there is any) would likely be minimal and still benefit us long term.
Just curious if you watched either game? Beljo hasn’t looked like he’s interested to win a single ball! I saw him in situations in the box where he wouldn’t run 3 yards to challenge for a ball! I don’t care who’s sending in balls, sometimes you need to make your own chances….and…Baturina has definitely sent in some great passes and crosses!
You can put Sosa on his best day, Jarni, Srna, Modric and anyone else toy can think of…if someone can’t find an opening in two games…it’s not the service…it’s the player!
Well it’s either we run with Beljo or Fatkovic and Lardvaja, I know which one I’d be rolling with in the next NT games.
Good news is that apparently Broz turned down the Saudi offer of 20 mil. I just read an article. It looks like he will probably join Barcelona, more than likely it’s the best move for him I think.
Yeah he’s been trolling the Saudi news updates on Twitter.
Article stated that he wants 30, a fan retweeted that maybe he should ask for 40, and Broz responded to the fan saying that 50 will do.
I don’t think that someone who is serious about joining this Saudi team would be posting jokes online about the financial terms.
He might have already agreed to terms with Barcelona, and it’s probably just a matter of whether Inter will accept the lowball 18M transfer fee offer.
This was such a let down from the Under 21 side. We got one point in three games and not a goal scored. I understand Spain and Ukraine are tough sides but I was anticipating a better outcome. Our youth are promising but the tournaments aren’t. No nations league trophy after making a final and losing in all scenarios…penalties, disappointment at Under 21 Euros. Were secured to make it out of the group for sure with no losses. I can count the number of losses we had in qualifying on my hands but no way we drop an L to Turkey, Armenia, or Wales.
What are the chances of this Baturina kid becoming a star some day?
Impossible to say how good Baturina will become. He has a good head on his shoulders which is most important. He has the talent to play in a top club one day. Frigan I believe can be our next Olic. Great work rate and good pace. Lacking finishing and technique.
Watching the last 20 minutes of this U21 game. Dominated play and created so many quality chances but we can’t bury one.
Baturina looks the goods and created so many prime scoring chances.
We really need to find someone to score goals.
Yup Baturina best player on the field. Frigan can’t finish his chances neither could Beljo. Vidovic disappointing. Sigur had a good game as well.
I guess the bright side of not winning the nations league is that Modric is going to stick around for the euro 24… if they had won maybe he sails off into the sunset and that’s it? Who knows. Let’s hope we get a real striker for the Euro and give them a run for their money and win the damn thing!!!! Good luck
He never said he was going to leave.
I think when they made that Netflix documentary with him in it, there was some comment they took out of context and every media organization just ran with it (without doing their due diligence, as always).
Broz is now asking for more money from the Saudi’s. Apparently they offered 20 million euros per year, and he’s now demanding 30 mil. Good for him. If he sells out, he should at least cash-in. Hopefully they don’t want to pay, and he signs for Barca.
https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/nogomet/brozovic-postavio-uvjet-al-nassru-trazi-astronomsku-cifru-hoce-li-na-ovo-pristati—788801.html?itm_source=BottomNews&itm_medium=Dnevnik&itm_campaign=Naslovnica&_gl=1*3fj7us*_gcl_au*NTczODA2MDgxLjE2ODE5OTg0Nzg.
Good.
Use Kante as a baseline. If Kante is making 25 million, and Benzema is making 100 million…then Broz can be regarded as somewhere between that amount.
30 million is still low…but at least we’re getting into Saudi money territory. If they want to pump up their league and bribe their way into a World Cup, then make them pay for it.
I’ve said this before…Broz is known to be crazy. Hopefully he’s just dicking around these Saudi’s until he gets a good deal at Barca.
He probably already made the decision to sign with Barca a long time ago.
Probably just trying to see how high either side can go, lol.
Modrić is such an intelligent player that cares about that team that I feel he would be an elite head coach at some point.
Maybe he begins with the Real Madrid academy and gets all of his badges and enjoys Madrid and raising his family.
He has a nice finish and then we prep him for glavni trainer . It’s the role for him. He runs the show now so might as well give him the keys .
Not sure about this.
There are a lot of good players who make terrible coaches, and vice versa.
We had Bilic, Stimac, Kovac, Prosinecki, Tudor, Juric, Biscan, Olic, Simunic all take their crack at coaching…with very mixed results.
A few of the ones who did have good coaching seasons, still needed a lot of runway and experience first (with a lot of growing pains) before they got to that level.
For this reason, if Modric wants to coach, he can take on a role with the U21s or a club team in Croatia first (and for many years too)
It would be a big mistake to just try and groom him for the National Team position without really making sure that he won’t botch things like so many have done in the past.
maybe or coach Saudis for $200 Million and call the team LIV
Time will eventually catch up with him. Hopefully the NT see’s and acts before it fucks us.
Modrić will feel the closest thing to hosting a major tournament when he plays in front of thousands of Hrvati at Euro ‘24 in Germany.
He will be sharp and fresh as Ancelotti has to play his younger players.
It will be one of those game on game off seasons with a 60/30 split at Real Madrid.
Brozovic is a world class #6 and Kovačić is a quality #8 who can actually improve with Man city.
Our defense has become Italy at major tournaments.
We have produced world class forwards in the past and at some point will produce it again.
Modrić legacy is that these young kids across the globe believe that they can become the best of the best.
Lifting Euro ‘24 is for the first time ever within reach for real.
That UNL final may be more important than you think!
Hold your Cevapi, we don’t know who will be in our group yet.
Brilliant and incredible as modric is, I would argue that our dependency on him has capped the performance of some of our players. We have players who can and need to step up when he retires and when Luka does retire there will be nowhere for them to hide. This will inevitably bring the best out of some, others will shrink away. It will be a new era, our style will change a bit. No player is bigger than the vatreni
Yea, prime example is Kovacic.
We’ll see how he does without Modric.
The good news is we have a lot of depth in players like Brozovic, Majer, Pasalic, Vlasic, and Sucic, Baturina (as the young hopefuls).
We’ll have a good backline, goalkeeper, and still a good central midfield.
If we can develop some forwards, we’ll still be good.
I love everything about just this.
Do you guys think baturina will move this summer??
Where would be a good fit if so ?
Baturina should stay with Dinamo for another couple of years. Moving overseas at his age is risky i.e. sitting on the bench. For his development he needs to be playing regularly. He lacks a bit of speed, so England is definitely out of the question. Germany might be the best option in a year or two.
Nah. They’ll keep him for at least another year.
They’ll probably call him up to the senior team as a standby player for Euro2024 to give him a bit of exposure, and start giving him minutes after that (then sell him).
Luka bring us euro glory
And if we have to be just average for the next 10 years
So be it
But I feel we can still continue to compete close to top 10 if they all push together to fill the giant black hole of what is Luka’s eventual departure
I can see a dropoff with Luka’s retirement but not to the point of mediocrity. We should have one of the world’s best defensive lines, protected by Brozo, one of the world’s best defensive midfielders. I’m now on the Livakovic bandwagon and with a competent shot stopper who can make the occasional world class save, we should be so difficult to score against that no one will want to play us. It may be not be fun to watch but we can make deep runs for the next 2 tournaments post Luka, by which time a few more studs will emerge from our talent pool.
He has been a thrill to watch all these years, and the spectacle it is still not over.