There’s something much bigger brewing inside the Croatian national football team outside of Luka Modrić blocked penalties and frustrating Andrej Kramarić misses from point blank range.
With their 3-0 victory in Cyprus Friday night, the Vatreni posted their sixth straight clean sheet in a qualifying campaign for the first time in history. Croatia only conceded one time thus far in 2022 World Cup qualifying and it happened 15 minutes into their first match against Slovenia on March 24th. That means Croatia has not been scored on in 6 1/2 straight qualifying games, which spans 615 minutes (or 10 hours) of clean sheet football. (Friendlies and Euro 2020 results are not being included into these figures)
At the end of the day, defense wins championships. We can critique our beloved Vatreni for missed opportunities offensively, however, the defense has been on lock down for all of 2021. Even at EURO this past summer, Croatia conceded only one goal against home side England at Wembley before a horrible penalty kick call went against them in the Czech match. Croatia’s only outlier game this year has been against Spain when five goals hit the back of the net in 120 minutes of play in the Round of 16 at EURO 2020. With Sosa, Gvardiol, Ćaleta-Car, and Stanišić becoming more involved defensively moving forward, Croatia could become a fortress in front of net in the next decade.
The best defensive qualifying campaign to date for Croatia came in 2002 World Cup qualifying, when the Vatreni rattled off five straight clean sheets and only conceded twice in eight matches.
The 2021 team could very well keep Slovakia and Malta scoreless in their next two games before facing Russia in the group finale at Poljud November 14th.
Dalic is an idiot
I’m not too upset with Vida taking DCCs spot. DCC isn’t exactly in form, even though at this point in time he is a better player than Vida.
The Barisic for Sosa sub is horrible. It’s not like they are playing three games in a short span like the last group of games we had. Sosa should be playing hands down.
Subbing Pasalic in for Kova and having Luka play a little more withdrawn I’m also good with. Krama has been so snakebitten it’s his time…I hope. Lol.
Is Vida in form?
Vida played for Bešiktaš last week, but it was his first game in a long time. He last played a full game in August.
I think both Vida and Ćaleta-Car are in the same place when it comes to form.
I like Vida, but his lack of technical ability just hurts us too much.
Why not play Pongračić?
He plays for a much bigger club and he’s played more minutes than Vida in the past few rounds.
This will hurt our offense. Modrić will be alot more subdued this game.
Vida is always in form. He is a fucking warrior
Vida 🙌🏻
That France goal is blatant cheating. Nice to see VAR still being used to help them out as needed, absolute disgrace.
France was just given an offside goal. Of course no replays of it. Such bullshit
Barisic not even starting for rangers I believe
Wtf.
Sure sosa may be booed a bit but they will stop
It’s part of the hazing back to Croatia
Take your beats and later he will probably go down as a legend with crossing
I’m ok with vida but need Sosa
I couldn’t remember when krama scored for us last hasn’t Dalic heard of fuckin Google or listen to anyone for that matter …WTF is wrong with him – he better play kramaric where we all know he belongs – 62 senior national appearances and 14 goals – 12 appearances this year 0 goals for national team
Please don’t let Luka take any more PK’s damaging our hero’s mindset. He’s just not great at them. Credit to the keeper but I just don’t wanna it getting to his confidence in any way
Please see the truth’s post in the last thread about Luka’s penalty kick success percentage during games.
So tommorow watching Dalic press conference now he said following will play Livakovic Stanisic Vida Gvardiol Barisic Modric Broz Pasalic Vlasic/Brekalo Kramaric Perisic
Big mistake.
The idiot never learned anything after all.
I guess he accidentally played our most talented back four on Friday, because it lined up with the injuries and rest he needed to give to Vida.
Slovakia is a much better team than Cyprus, and having that technical ability in the back will allow us to keep possession longer and it releases Modrić and Kovačić in more advanced roles.
… And if “resting” players is the excuse, then why won’t he ever rest our oldest player in Modrić?
He doesn’t understand that playing guys like Vida, Lovren and Barišić takes a significant toll on Modrić, and it ruins our ability to comfortably maintain possession in our third without the overuse of our central midfield players.
I expect a lot of defending by Modrić tomorrow (who has lost a step in that area) AND him being expended too much as result (and will need to be subbed out sometime in the second half).
He said DCC does not have condition to play 2 games and he needs someone with speed and aggressiveness thats why vida will play on the barisic part i hope thats not true sosa is 23 and plays evergame for club and if at 23 you cant play every game or is Dalic saving him from getting booed haha.
Well see tommorow how things turn out
I know you are joking, but that’s an interesting question. Will our fans boo Sosa, or has he been forgiven because of his good play?
Barisic played very well against Slovenia, mind you. I agree that Sosa is a better player overall, but Barisic nearly scored on Oblak at least once, and we know that Slovakia’s goalkeeper is susceptible to being beaten by outside shots. Barisic also has the ability to finish corner kicks, which may be another reason to include him. Slovakia’s biggest weakness is defensive organization, and their greatest strength is attacking. It could be that Barisic is considered a superior defender to Sosa. I just don’t see these two changes as being all-or-nothing, and I believe that Dalic is trying to make sure we beat Slovakia decisively this time.
Keep Lovren on the bench as a backup and get Rebic back as a forward.
@ AZ
27 is entering your prime.
Kovačić may even improve on this level for the next 4-6 years.
Modrić Is still at his level through the World Cup at 37, especially with all these studs around him.
Brozovic at 28 will be at his World Class level for 4-6 years.
So our #6 and #8 are set for the next 3 major tournaments.
#10 – CAM, is open auditions for the rest of our talent pool.
We actually have a lot depth to choose from.
Curious to see who emerges to take the minutes after Modrić retires.
Who will be our #9?
We get our 10 and 9 sorted out we will be dominating for years.
This next World Cup is an opportunity to solidify yet another generation of elite footballers.
Mind blowing if you consider our HNS infrastructure is operating at ~20% of its potential!
Could you imagine if we could invest 60% more into developing our youth players across the entire country?
What would Croatia look at 80% functional HNS?
We would be title contenders every tournament at all age levels.
Our technical style and team approach is natural to our DNA and conducive to winning, our new found depth is allowing us new levels of consistency.
If we add more world class quality from a larger talent pool we will access that next level.
I LOVE this new aggressive diaspora recruiting by Pletikosa.
Sosa-Stanisic swoop from Germany, regardless of how it happened is a game changer.
I know Pulisic was capped by clever Klinsman at 17. But he was the 10 we have needed.
The next Pulisic needs to come home where he belongs.
Sometimes the prodigal son needs to be reminded where his roots are truly from.
This Cyprus match was impressive as I did not see any areas where the ball stalled.
Slovakia is going to be a battle as they are fighting for their lives.
We need to match that first 20 minutes.
Attackers have to be ready to finish from the jump.
It’s like let the midfield can be cool and find the game but a Vlasic has to be ready Olić style to score right away, like he did against Turkey.
Sadly for midfield, we do not have top class player below kovacic age. Kovacic is youngest midfielder playing for a big club. And he is alrdy 27.
Imagine pjaca balic coric rog brekalo halilovic radosevic muric are developed in right manner, our next generation of midfielders are secured.
Hey Slavonac
What’s that box you were talking about called?
Does it have all Serie A games?
I got used to watching Serie A on DAZN too. I looked into cable options and online…the best option that I found was FUBO TV. There’s a one month free trial. I reluctantly got the one year subscription for $99 per year. It works well, but I haven’t figured out how to download the app on my Samsung TV.
I got FUBO TV too, works way better than DAZN (at least here it does). And went splits, so pretty cheap.
Maminjo, yes it does. You can watch Italian league on Croatian tv with Croatian commentary or go to the Italian channels…or English channels. I never thought it would be this good. I was expecting constant outages snd stoppages but it’s really good.
I watch all Croatian league games and national team games with Croatian commentary…it’s jus a little better to listen to than listening in English.
What’s the name of the Croatian channel box?
Is there a number that I can call or be online?
Otherwise I’ll have to check out FUBO
It’s a box you can buy at Best Buy or Amazon. There’s two kinds… Nvidia or Mag Box then you need to buy an application for $7.50 (cheap) and then a guy from Toronto gives you a number to enter into the application.
Once it’s setup you have Croatian cable tv, Canadian cable tv, UK cable tv, US cable TV, Italy, Spain, German…you’ll never miss a game or UFC fight…you’ll have tons of channels.
Ask Kvartuc for my info and I’ll walk you through it, I did it for Stjepan on here. It literally takes 30 minutes to setup
https://twitter.com/HNS_CFF/status/1446874606334316547
The Luka effect !!
These kids are learning from a living legend.
I hope Sučić gets in Monday.
Kramaric actually has been playing well.
They should have him on penalties, he is our best taker and he needs to see that ball go through the back of the ol onion bag.
Brozovic is the main reason we do not concede goals.
He is a world class #6.
Does he even sweat?
His reading of the game is underrated.
Slovakia in Slavonia is going to be on fire.
I love these gradski vrt matches.
I like CC and Gvardiol to defend set pieces way more than Lovren and Vida.
Lovern has been a star for the national team for many years. Opinionated off the field but still a high end CB. DCC and Josko still need to show their quality against a high end team before we can talk about them taking the reins. This is the first time that Dalic has a pool of 23 plus players as before he only used 16 or 17. Kids for the future , exciting future
Lovren sucks
Very excited to see Sucic with first call up, we will look back on this day. Can anybody explain what’s happening with Culeta Car on transfer club level, there were indications to EPL with Wolverhampton or West Ham, possibly Valencia in La Liga, need to get him playing time
Duje blocked transfers to the EPL because he only wants to play on Champions League clubs (plus I think he wasn’t getting much of a bump in salary either).
So, why bother with a transfer to a non-Champions League club without even getting a bigger payout for it?
I kinda understand his position, but Marseilles is cash strapped, so he kinda fucked them by doing this. They’re pissed at him and are benching him as punishment (which is pretty stupid because it could tank his value).
SUCIC to replace KOVACIC who can’t play as he is on 2 yellows..
Love the move… great to see DALIC take on the young guns.. we need to see everything.. implementing SUCIC now will give us an idea of what the kid can do alongside MODRIC and Co… if he compliments him and the mid we have now a midfield without MODRIC looks to be coming together! I believe SUCIC and KOVACIC will be the future there.. MAJER and JAKIC are already in the folds things looking good… 2 spots left to figure out depth wise RB and CF/ST…
Stanišić has RB in the bag, and Juranović is a good backup.
Kramarić, with Budimir as his backup up top, and call up Rebić as a third option up there if he keeps playing ok in that position for Milan.
I just hope we try other keepers in the back, and that we stick with the younger CBs
Kramaric will start scoring. It’s just a matter of time.
Prediction, he will score 2 against the Ruskies!
Bog i Hrvati
Technically, Croatia is 12-0 in goal difference since a Croatian scored the only goal for Slovenia. And a fluke deflection at that. Side note: watching the Swiss vs N. Ireland game. First half, N. Ireland guy is on a yellow and takes a bit of time on a throw in. Slovenian ref gives him a second yellow, virtually handing the Swiss the game. Yet another example of the Swiss benefiting from a ridiculous call.
The next few years we will be a good team. Its amazing to me how we always find way to be cometative even with all the corruption in croatian football and infrastructure alwayd proud how we are always at he big tournaments and at times make great runs. At the 2026 world cup we will have another mini golden generation so much talent a diaspora are making a comeback to play for us its been while since a diaspora player chose croatia.
Damn right!
Good genes and good creative/skill based football culture.
Every youth player we have started out as a creative midfielder, which then creates technically gifted players in other areas of the field (for those who don’t end up being midfielders).
I have no doubt that Gvardiol started his youth as a midfielder… and now he’s a very technically gifted CB. Guys like Krama and even Mandžo were midfielders in their youth.
Even Rebić was a midfielder (believe it or not, lol).
I was just watching a Jakic highlight video
He seems to like to distribute long balls…I don’t see that much from broz or kova
Correct me if I’m wrong
He’s a good passer, and he likes to run alot.
I kinda see him as like an Arijan Ademi type of player, or what Marko Rog was supposed to be.
He’s a decent backup guy, but we’ve got sooo many midfielders coming up, it’s not even funny.
I feel sorry for guys like Moro and Bašić who will likely never have a role for us due to this insane depth in Central midfield with guys like Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić, Vlašić, Ivanušec, Majer, Sučić, and probably some youth players in the next couple of years.
I think Marin is on the come back as well and potentially could make repka
Fuck Lovren.
Vida is class. True leader
Hope he gets his 100 caps
Livakovic best!
Nature has taken its course with the Lovren situation and he’s really got no argument as to why he might be in the team. We’ve not got healthy and better options than him. He’s not a regular starter at his club. He’s hit his peak and quickly dropped from being relevant from his club and our National Team…I’m pretty sure it’s game over for him.
Maminjo’s comments must have been read to Dalic, all his wishes have come true. Lovren and Vida didn’t play, Gvardiol, Caleta Car, Sosa and Stanisic all got the start and played a great game…next we will see Sucic join the team snd finally get capped.
I’m looking forward to Monday’s game, I really hope we continue playing a motivated game like yesterday and I also hope Sucic gets on the field.
On that note, I wanna see either Brekalo (hopefully he can bring energy and create chances) or Ivanusec start on the right side. We need to create the environment where “the better man plays”, Vlasic needs to fight for a spot and based on his recent form with his club, I don’t understand why he started for us yesterday…it’s really mind boggling.
Based on the little I saw end from what I’ve read, I’m supporting Krama playing. He’s working and creating but just unlucky. He’ll start scoring for us if he keeps working hard, no need to replace him.
Maminjo made a good comment yesterday. Livaja scored and it was an open net goal that my baba could have scored. Let’s not get a false sense of his value. He’s good for Hajduk but he’s NOWHERE near national team quality. He’s been called because we are extremely thin at options up top and out of desperation, he’s been called.
Yea, Krama should have had two goals yesterday.
VAR robbed him of one, and he earned that PK by himself.
We must stick with him.
I’d rather call up Rebić and have him play backup for Krama up top, than to play Livaja any longer.
I also have warmed up to Budimir who adds a different element for us off the bench (curious to see how he looks at the end of Sosa’s crosses in the box).
We should be fine with this group as strikers, and I don’t think our situation up top is as dire as most of us think it is.
I prayed the krunica the day before the game for Dalić to play my dream back four. He did it, so we have Gospa to thank. Hopefully Lovren and Vida continue to remain on their club’s bench, and Pongračić gets more game time. I think he may be an even better fit alongside Gvardiol than Duje.
I agree about Jakic. I remember first seeing him at Dinamo for a champions league game and he looked really impressive.
I think he can be like a badelj like contributer but more
I agree, we got too many technical midfielders that are similar. Nothing wrong with having a Pit Bull in the roster. A Razbijač, so to speak!
A great sub to add some extra steel in front of the Fortress Hrvatska Defense.
I fear lovren will make a big stink even if he leaves the team
He just is that guy
He has made his contributions
But I’m down for gvardiol/ CC-pongarcic-vida even
Both gvardiol and CC can move the ball up nicely like has been pointed out
Now with the option of moving it to Sosa or stanisic/juranovic more
We Don’t need to burn out our midfield like before
How much more dangerous does our attack potentially get? Wing run,build up from midfield/kova run through the middle. Long ball pass(something we kind of miss since rakitic retirement)
Sucic with modric, to see that would be special
Love to see sucic spend time with modric to help possibly pass the torch
There was this one play sucic did yesterday, actually two. Top class. Kid has a cannon on him as well
Big expectations on him, but I do believe he can grow with them
This ain’t halilovic 2.0
Yup! They are calling this defense Fortress Hrvatska! And with 6 clean sheets this defense is more miserly than a Baba living off a pension!
And they could very well keep adding to the total, with Slovenia coming up at home, and Malta afterwards.
Gvardiol is a lock on LCB, one of Vida or Lovren will be out.
Luka Sucic called up, he must get capped. The question is who starts instead of Kova. I’d say Jakic to add stability next to Brozovic. And eventually Sucic should be called in as a sub for one of the midfielders.
Anyone here of this Aussie Croat player Deni Juric? Does he have potential?
Not really, think Budimir type potential. He could potentially be an asset if we’re struggling at striker, but with guys like Ljubicic, Simic, etc. I doubt he would play for us. Could be a very good HNL player in the future.
No
Qualifying games don’t mean anything when it comes to not conceding goals. We need better prep and performance at NL & other exhibition games. Our defence still needs to mature and develop if this is the group we’re investing in. (CC, Josko, Stanisic, Pongracic, Simic, Sucic, Brekalo, Jakic, Bradaric, Pasalic, Grbic, Sosa, Vlasic, Ivanusec, etc) it will take past 2022 well into 2024 next euro to really tell if this group can be our next up and coming generation. Possibly even 2026 until we know when they peek. There’s no team in the top 20 that we’ve beaten or a top contender in the world since Russia.
There’s a nickname circulating around on line. People are calling our defense Fortress Hrvatska.
Luka Sučić gets the call to the senior NT from Dalić for our game vs. Slovakia. Guessing due to Kova being out there it’s cards and Luka being in great form with the U-21’s.
The future is here, boys! Can’t remember when I was this excited about a youngster getting a call up. Let’s give him his first cap and start him alongside Modrić at Gradski vrt. Will be a game to remember! Maybe one of the few times these two line up next to each other.
The last time i wad exiceted for young player was kranjcar in 2004 and rakitic in 2007 long time haha.
I like that Dalic woke up and remembered you cant live in the past its not 2018 anymore could have done so much at euros if he had balls like he does now. How long it will last who knows. Mr lovren aka self proclaimed best cb in world apparently is angry he is losing his spot on team alot of reports.
I like the mixed movement its like 2008 euro when bilic put mix of vets and rookies it was good combo.
Hopefully he dont stop this trend.
I hope they cut Lovren from the team.
He’s a liability on and off the field.
He always was. He just (oddly) had a good year in 2018, but otherwise he’s been crap for us.