PERIŠIĆ (24) NEARLY GOT CROATIA ON THE BOARD
CROATIA 0-0 FRANCE
Croatia (4-4-1-1): Runje (Pletikosa, 46) – Ćorluka, Lovren, Šimunić, Pranjić (Strinić, 24, Rakitić, 46) – Srna (Vida, 79), Vukojević, Modrić, Kranjčar – Perišić (Petrić, 71) – Jelavić (Kalinić, 56).
In a weekend that saw Croatians worldwide ask for new tactics, a new formation and even a new coach, Slaven Bilić assured us all that change is on the way, walking onto the Stade de France pitch Tuesday night with a clean-shaven face. The Croatian commander-in-chief chopped off his ‘Santa Claus’ beard after the Georgia loss; but will it really symbolize a true clean slate for the team?
Bilić lived up to his message in France Tuesday, starting 22 year-old ‘wunderkind’ Ivan Perišić in the supporting striker’s role and Josip Šimunić in a hybrid defensive midfield position. Perišić showed his true grit during the match, nearly scoring a goal after being trampled on by a cleated Florent Malouda stomp. (Don’t worry guys, it was accidental.) Substitute Ivan Rakitić supplied some firepower in the second half, blasting a shot just inches to the outside of the post. Rakitić also supplied Mladen Petrić with a fantastic lob inside the box, but the Hamburg striker couldn’t get a foot on the ball.
STANDINGS AFTER 1-0 ISRAEL WIN OVER GEORGIA TUESDAY
The goalkeeping was superb on the day, both from starter Vedran Runje and second half sub Stipe Pletikosa. Runje pressured Menez just enough to force a wobbly pass to Benzema in the 37′, who shanked the shot over goal. The Real Madrid striker can blame the grass all he wants, but if Runje stays in net, Benzema gets a nice, easy pass to slot home.
CSR RECAP WITH ZAGREB LEGEND ANTE MEIĆ
Pletikosa looked like a man on a mission. He fit in well with the Croatian defense after a long hiatus and punched out any ball that remotely came close to frame. The only time he got tricked was a Rami shot from 21 yards out which grazed the outside of the post. Pletikosa also did well stopping a botched Remy break-away attempt late in the game, staying extremely aggressive.
France should have easily scored two goals on the day. The match went scoreless instead.
Observation of the Week: Luka Modrić cannot run this Croatian offense in its current state. Modrić needs space in the midfield to create his magic. How does Tottenham create space for their ‘Little Engine’? They use their speedy wingers, Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, to stretch the field all the way to the corner flags. This pulls defenders to the outside and gives Modrić plenty of room to work in the midfield. Not only are Croatia’s wingers not doing this, but they are actually jamming the midfield with their own presence. That is why a midfield of Luka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar and Ivan Rakitić can’t work as all try to be playmakers when we only need one.
CROATIA-FRANCE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
HOW THE FRENCH TRAINED FOR THIS MATCH
What’s up, I simply wished to tell you, you’re wrong. Your own article didn’t make any sense.
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@last anonymous
"ziva, so it's actually you who seems to have a reading comprehension problem because I never stated in one of my posts that the final result of a friendly game counted for anything"
You really need to sign in. Its not that difficult. Or try this, after your comment, hit enter and then type in a name.
Do you see now how silly this anonymous thing is?
fair enough..If I misread your post, then my bad. Tough to keep up with all the people who post under "anonymous."
@ziva, so it's actually you who seems to have a reading comprehension problem because I never stated in one of my posts that the final result of a friendly game counted for anything (other than FIFA ranking I guess). You are the one who extrapolates things from my posts that aren't there. Other than that, I've enjoyed reading your comments this past week – it's obvious you know the game on a level that is beyond the sheeples comprehension.
@Ziva istina, the last 'anonymous' post about 'Sir Alex' was not me. Yes your specific example about a summer exibition against an MLS team is correct. The only point I've been trying to make is taking the France-Croatia game as an example: you can't say said game wasn't competitive; both teams played most of their best players available and of course any athlete worth his salt is going to go all out in that game – which they did (did you see the bicycle kicker's neck snap?
Is Kalinic injured? Blackburn's top scorer, was not even listed as a sub this weekend. It appears that he's out of favor, despite scoring 5 goals with minimal game time. IMHO 5 EPL goals are equal to 15 Scottish league goals. Does anyone see him pairing up well with Jelavic or Perisic in the long term?
you continue to show people you are a fool…..Sir Alex or any coach coaches to win every meaningful game.
You must be under the age of 16, so I will explain to you in a way you can understand ……..I went to a Man U game when they were in the US and they played a bunch of guys who had no chance. Was he playing to win??? No, he was playing young kids to give them a chance to play.
………in the world of soccer, there are some things called big games (world, cup, euros, qualifiers, league games) and then there are some things called friendlies/exhibitions.
But, keep believing what you want and keep playing your CYO games, but make sure to continue taking it easy with the girls (you might impress them and get "lucky".
Why do you think Alex Fergusen is one of the best managers in the world??? Because he coaches with the mentality to win every single game…It is that simple and why he is the best.
I never said the effort does not matter…some of you people have selective reading ability. You only want to read what you THINK you see…..I said the result is what you throw out the window for a friendly. I agree that players are trying to make a name and play hard, but the final scoreline means very little. If some guy who would never be on the team during a legit game is playing, then that game's result is meaningless. If the score meant something, than these teams would be fielding their "A" lineups all the time.
that's cool dude, believe what you will. just keep it to yourself as I don't see a lot of takers here. nobody else here has an agenda other than soccer, and so lets keep it that way.
If you want to join, go to nationalsalvation.net and whitakeronline.org to get you started and give you a base – where you take it from there is up to you.
"There are no enemies, rather only humans who are potentially feeling things similar to you. Feelings such as scarcity."
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first, saying "there are no enemies" is naive to say the least; anti-whites are my mortal enemies. second, the only "scarcity" in this world is predominately or all white countries; there is no scarcity of all oriental, all black, all arab, etc countries. If instead you were implying that I'm scared, it's quite the contrary as I was born for this war.
@Vatreni PoLudilo
you don't refute what I say, you just call me a "complainer"; I'm just pointing out reality that most people are afraid to, especially the media. You don't know me, I am fighting white geNOcide, are you?
raptore: "so naturally they are going to work tirelessly and put it alot of effort"
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That's what I'm saying.
raptore: "friendly" means just that, it's a friendly match between 2 opposing teams, not competitive competition"
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So the Croatia – France game was not "competitive"?
Anonymous, get this thru your noggin, "friendly" means just that, it's a friendly match between 2 opposing teams, not competitive competition,
Sure the smaller teams get carried away at times , thats because they hardly ever get to play against quality opposition, even tho the well established team is usually fielding a B team, another fact is alot of those players are trying to get recognized, so naturally they are going to work tirelessly and put it alot of effort,
But to say larger respected teams care about friendlies is complete ludacris, absolutely insane, they are not going to risk life and lim & get injured for the sake of a friendly.. Hope that gets thru to u..
@"Arab anon"
You sure complain a lot. Why not do something about all of your complaints with the world?
The world can be an ugly place, and your views pretty much illustrate this. There are no enemies, rather only humans who are potentially feeling things similar to you. Feelings such as scarcity.
Get it? No move on.
"Have some of you guys ever played a sport in your life."
Yea I played alot of different sports, and what made it fun was playing to win. whether it was playing on the playground against friends or in an official game playing for CYO or highschool or my town – I always played all out to win. The only times I let up was when playing with/against girls in gym class – like volley ball or dodge ball or whatever. I'm sure just about everyone agrees and can relate.
@ziva istina
again my point is that the games are not meaningless. yes friendlies mean less to soccer super powers when matched up against minows. it's not like the players on the pitch are going half speed. and I didn't get the impression that the france – croatia game meant less to the french. remember the croatia – poland game in euro 08? technically the game was meaningless because Croatia had already advanced and Poland was out, croatia basically played it's reserve team – yet I didn't see anyone from either side playing half-ass, did you?
You think Capello and England are agonizing over the loss when they qualify for Euro 2012.
Friendlies are for experiments. You think England would have used that lineup if that was a World Cup game. Come on….For big nations, friendlies mean nothing.
Have some of you guys ever played a sport in your life.
There is advertisement on the bottom of this site called 'Arab Lounge, Connecting Arabs Worldwide' – it's an online dating site. There are exclusive Jewish dating sites, exclusive Black dating sites, exclusive Asian dating sites etc. However, when you try to google/find exclusive white dating sites, all you get is "inter-racial dating". WTF is that about???
ziva istina: "Now, to the idiot talking about Ghana's win over Engalnd and "the importance of friendlies." England used a B lineup, the match meant much more for Ghana because of their immigrant community in England. A game like that for Ghana is much like how we played against Spain in 1995. It meant more for us than the other country. Same thing here."
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You MISQUOTED me, all I stated was that friendlies aren't meaningless; the Croatia-France game proved that. You should have been able to comprehend that (my post was at 12:28pm yesterday). And by you stating (as I quoted above) that the game meant something to Ghana proves my point; and you think Capello and England were happy about losing victory in the late stages on their home turf?
I totally understand Denis, Im like that with alot of my collection to,I plan to post some more photos of my collection on Facebook , I told you last time about a Congo DPR national team shirt I have , it's made by a brand by the name of airmess, the shirts design is absolutely stunning, have to see to believe,
Yea really glad to finally get the 96 euro shirt tho, as you seen I was determined, my initial offer was to you was 200, my 2nd offer was 250 + shipping, mad happy to finally have 1, and good to get it cheaper then I was willing to pay..I'll let you know when I post those pics..
@ Anonymous
So if Bilic didn't say anything and you were the opposing coach, you WOULDN'T "do everything in your power" to beat his team?
Yes in a perfect world this should be the case. But as we all know that some sides, and their players, have off days, and not always is their heart in it 100% but sometimes when a coach, or player runs his mouth off, it can will you to perform just that little bit extra, even if it is just a small percentage, that small percentage can take you over the line.
I also have to thank ziva for replying to the anonymous idiot who thinks friendlies have plenty significance. Maybe to the minnows and smaller nations, but not to others who basiclly view them as practice runs.
I agree there are skilled players, but there are also average players on the team and players whose club form this season has been up-and-down.
I am aware emotions play a large part, but the better players are the ones who can keep those emotions in check. You don't get too high and you don't get too low. I've of the mind set that I prefer my coach and players to be bland and say nothing, but if they want to talk, then let them. We had the ultimate loud mouth coach in Ciro, and he never won or lost us any games because of his mouth.
Ziva i didnt say anything about beating the likes of spain,germany,france and so on, that wasnt what i was trying to say. My point is there are skilled players on the side, that should be beating the likes of gerogia and greece. But bilic is not utilising and taking advantage of what he has on offer. Other national sides do much more with much less talent. That is why it is bilics fault.. And as to your response to the the bilic insults before games, dont view everything as black and white. Emotion plays a huge part in football, and when something like that is said before a game, it can really spur the oppostion on, yes it can also disrupt them, it depends on the team. But why take that risk when its not necessaey. Its better to to win first then revel in the glory.
@Raptore,
Yes, I know its you, didn't want to throw your name out there. I am glad that you were able to find one online. I just couldnt part with mine.
Uniting Croatians around the world through soccer shirts!
Hey Denis It was me who offered $200 for the Soldo shirt & guess what, credit to Jordan I purchased it yesterday for $190 shipped, When Jordan stated their was 1 & it was expensive I quickly went looking around, I knew it would either be on Ebay or CFS & lucky for me i found it & purchased it with in minutes, finally I get the shirt thats been evading me, & the good thing is I could slap an offical number 9 Suker patch on the back.. woooo hooooo
thanks a million jordan, You helped out a true collector by posting that comment,It was the 1 shirt that kept evading me..
Any 1 interested in buying an OG Suker Real Madrid 96 Kelme shirt size XL, excellent condition, genuine offers only.. extremely hard to find ..
France beat Brazil and England recently. They have Benzema who is scoring for Real every game.He couldnt score. We were tired from our last game and the players left their hearts on the pitch just to prove how much they love playing for Hrvatska. Simunic said in an interview last year that he is only playing football because of the national side. I support these guys win lose or draw. I dont care if they come last or are ranked last in the world as long as Croatians arnt wearing yugoslav or should I say serbian shirts like they had to between 1945 and 1990.
@Ziva Istina, poserem ti u usta for what you said about Olic.
The Croatian golden generation from 1994-2000 had a 49.3% winning percentage 73 games played.
1996 euro quarter finals
1998 third place…barely qualified for the playoffs,Ukraine had two goals disallowed before the boksic goal.
2000 failed to qualify, lost to yugoslavia 2-2 at home.
so in six years the gloden team had a lot more failures then successes.
@BMK……semifinals…..you are insane. If we get to the semis it would be nice, but to sit here and say we should be in the semis or expect the semis, well you are delusional.
Holland, Spain, France (when mentally into it), Germany, England, Portugal are all squads that are better than us. I am not saying we cant beat them, we can (sans Spain). We fall in the next line of 5-6 teams where if we catch the right breaks, we might have a nice run.
you sure your name isn't bolimeglava.
A combo of talent, team-first individuals, intangibles and luck are needed.
We have been in 6 of the last 8 major tourneys and we have made it out of the group stage twice…..and you want to tell us semis….more like getting out of the group stage .
well said BMK, exactly!
It's not all about having a big name in Europe, our 98 team did not have all top players either but they tore it apart for the national team. Look at Asanovic, Vlaovic or even Bilic who did not play for great teams at all. Asanovic was one of our key players and he could never make a name for himself in Europe. When you play for the checkers you have a different mentality, and that goes for any nation. Well not any nation I don't think every country plays with the same amount of pride. Look at Germany for example, they have a much stronger team much stronger squad but the pride is missing since half of the squad are foreigners.
Also when you play for country it's a completely different ballgame because you start from scratch. You can have a bad season at club because your coach might not like you or whatever, but here you can be a key role for the team and that alone gives you more motivation.
If you go by the logic that having a squad full of stars is key to wining, well look no further than England. Best league in the world, they have one or two star players on each of those teams yet they can't do shit. They couldn't even beat the Yancks who are one of their biggest rivals historically.
I mean don't get me wrong obviously you do have to have a strong squad to compete, but with the quality we have and the goals we set for ourselves we are in pretty good shape. Realistically speaking we should be gunning for the semi finals in the Euro Cup, and hey if you make it that far anything is possible at that point.
Cheers
Anonymous #17….to create a name that keeps you anonymous without using your Google Account or Open ID, simply click on Name/URL choose any name. URL is optional, you may leave it blank. This is how you create a name while maintaing anonymity.
If the photo I saw is a U, then these fuckers need something else to complain about. I saw no U…
Back to the 1998 argument….we had talent, but we also got lucky. to win the WC you need talent and you need luck. We had it getting third place.
Our group in 1998 might have been the weakest group in world cup hsitory. Jamaica and Japapn, ike us, were at the WC for the first time. We beat jamaica and needed a late goal to beat Japan in that fricken heat on a sunny and very warm Saturday afternoon. We lost to Argentina. So, in the round of 16 we get Romania and struggled. Asanovic flops in the PK box and Suker makes both PKs. it was an ugly game.
Next up was germany and they kicked our ass for the first 25 minutes. It could have been 3-0 for germany if not for Ladic. Germany gets the red card, Jarni scores the goal right before the half and we are in the semis. But, that game we benefited from a red card – deserved – but, we were getting outplayed.
Semis we score in the second half and gave up two goals were Boban and Jarni made mistakes they never make. France deserved to win that one….
Now, to the idiot talking about Ghana's win over Engalnd and "the importance of friendlies." England used a B lineup, the match meant much more for Ghana because of their immigrant community in England. A game like that for Ghana is much like how we played against Spain in 1995. It meant more for us than the other country. Same thing here.
Next topic losers.
A lot of the Croatian yugo media is focusing on a supposed U the Croatians choreographed in Paris. Do any of you have any pictures? I have yet to see one.
@anonymous,
I agree, discipline is our downfall.
@Andrej,
I like Petric first option off the bench. However, wouldnt mind him starting side by side with Eduardo.
I agree with you on 98 team. The results were not fabulous. Barely qualified for WC98. Needed Schmiechel to shutout the Greeks in Athens on the last day of qualifiers. Japan and Jamaica are not world class. Romania? Easy second rounder. Germany, game was tied until red card. We had an all star squad. But we didnt dominate.
As far as USA-Canada game. We cant get 11 heads up to Toronto. I had to pull teeth to get 30 people at the Clippers-Bucks game. Took Ljubicic to get to the finals for 8 Croats to make a 1-2 hour drive from LA to Indian Wells on a Sunday. Fisto and I were at Indian Wells for the Dokovic-Nadal final, busloads of serbs at the match. Makes me sad to see how much more united the serbs are.
Didn't the 98 team struggle to beat Jamaica and Japan? Typical Croatian showboating where they play to their competition.
It's a team with no discipline. Disciplined teams give it 100% every game no matter who they play.
PS. JP, I like your posts. Kudos.
denis,
i also own that jersey. it's the white with checkers on the sleeve. pretty bad ass.
@ Svircic
Good line up. I still like Petric coming off the bench with Perisic and Ilicevic as well.
And are you guys coming to Toronto for this Canada vs USA pick game or what???? haha it would be epic
Often you see projection of peoples comments is really how they feel about themselves.
The '98 team was great but they barely beat Jamaica and Japan. Lost to Argentina. Made two terrible passes to lose to France. Not to mention everything went down hill after that world cup until after the '06 world cup. And in '96 they didn't go that far. Great team, but its not like they dominated for years and are untouchables. Definitely possible to come CLOSE to that team.
"orchestrated siege-craft?" hahah great line
Kranjcar will be out for the next qualifier against Georgia, serving a one game suspension because of yellow cards. This momentarily solves the problem of a Modric-Rakitic-Kranjcar midfield.
This is how I would lineup against Georgia:
Runje
Corluka, Lovren, Simunic, Strinic
Srna, Modric, Rakitic, Pranjic
Eduardo, Jelavic
No need for a defensive back in this one. Croatia will dominate from start to finish. Georgia will shit themselves in the tunnel of Poljud.
@wadever
hell of a name.
@jordanarmada
I picked up this Euro96 jacket 4 years ago on the net. I have an authentic Euro 96 Soldo shirt. Was offered $200, couldn't do it.
That's sissy talk. We will not come close to the 98 team…ever. Different system, different generation of players. No chance ever. Stop talking like losers at life.
Didn't the Greeks win Euro with Germanic orchestrated siege-craft?
Didn't we outplay and beat Germany less than three years ago in a game that really counted? Have we ever lost to Italy?
And if I'm not mistaken, Bilic doesn't really say anything that different from other European coaches. It seams to me European coaches and athletes are more honest compared to politically correct American coaches and athletes. And I'm not saying that honesty is ALWAYS the best policy, but if you compare Croatia's players to Georgia's, what do you expect him to say?
There is a lot of young potential on the team (Rakitic, Perisic, Ilicevic, Lovren, Strinic, Schildenfeld, Jelavic, and Kalinic) with Vida, Badelj, Sime and others next in line
With some solid experienced players who are in close to their prime (Modric, Srna, Kranjcar, Corluka, Pranjic and Petric) (Dudu always injury prone so really out of the mix)
Then you have the solid older experienced players (Simunic, Klasnic, Olic, Runje and Pletikosa)
Okay so we don't have a solid DMF or world class striker. But the talent and potential is there. Maybe we're not up there with Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Italy but we're definitely in the mix behind them.
Since the world cup we have had two disappointing matches which has happened to all the top teams in recent games. But we bet Denmark, Czech Rep and tied France at home. There is no reason to panic.
So going with Ziva Istina's comment, I am in agreement. We are a decent team, but if things get rolling we have the talent to beat them like we have in recent years.
So in response to Ante B; '98 team was very special but the blood in our bodies is proof that we COULD and WILL come close to that '98 team. Just maybe in 10-20 years.
In closing we're not 1-5 in the world but we are next in line and have the talent to be there.
Shinobi: "And bilic if your out there listening, no more of that "oh we are a far superior, we will win" talk. Becuase i know if i were still playing, and a rival coach said that shit, i would do everything in my power to proove him wrong. its added incentive."
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So if Bilic didn't say anything and you were the opposing coach, you WOULDN'T "do everything in your power" to beat his team?
Shinobi: "what does this prove? nothing it was a inconsequential match."
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Go tell the Ghanaians there match against England was "just a friendly". When you play for your country (especially against a world class team like France in Transalpine Gaul) it counts. Did you see the joy on the Ghanaians fans faces when they tied England? Oh, and how come the Ghana team is all black? What, they're not into "diversity"? Let's bring in a hundred million Chinese into Ghana so as to improve their economy and standard of living and have the Ghanaian goverment ENFORCE "integration" and "assimilation" so that Ghanaians eventually become minorities in Ghana – surely the Ghanaians wouldn't object to this, surely they aren't "racists".
never say never
AnteB: "We will NEVER get anywhere close to that 98 team."
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Why not?
We will NEVER get anywhere close to that 98 team.
your nuts…its no added incentive. It can backfire and usualy does. I've seen players so overhyped that they have taken themselves out of a game.
Man, reading some o your comments you guys seem to think Bilic is to blame for all of this. I am not absolving Bilic from blame, he deserves his fair share. Just how many star players are on this team. Who on the the current Cro team could start for France, Spain, Germany or Holland. We have decent talent, but outside of Modric, there is no stud on this squad.
Look at the flaws on the roster…..
GK…our #2 GK has not played in a year and everyone seems to hate our #1 GK
Corulka…was benched by his club team for large portion of the year
Lovren…nice young player, but is he a stud
Simunic……benched at the club level
Pranjic…..very good player, who can play multiple positions
Strinic….mid level team in Ukraine
Dujmovic…..ok, steady player.
Vukojevic….hard worker, steady player, not a stud at all
Rakitic….good player, the move to Sevilla looks good for him
Modric…..a class above everyone
Srna….very good player
Kranjcar…..benched at the club level
Petric….form at club level never translates to national level and has been the case way before Bilic became coach
Jelavic….wake me up when he plays in a good league
Kalinic….wake me up when he does something in Engalnd
Mandzukic……wake me up when he does something
Perisic…..nice player, but plays in belgium, lets see what the next step is in his career
Brazilian born hrvat…..will never be the same player again, always picking up minor injuries.
So, what do we have….a decent roster that in all honesty should qualify from the group we are in, but anything more than just making the Euros is asking for a bit luck. How many of these guys on the roster are the catalyst at their club….Not many.
Now, go back to the 1998 team, and look at how many of those guys were the leaders at their clubs.
what does this prove? nothing it was a inconsequential match. yes they played better, showed more heart, and bilics tactics were more on par. This may give some of you false hope for the future. But im not one of them. Let me put it to you,
can pletikosa stand his ground when the match has some importance?
can bilics tactics be more sound, when the chips are down? i cant see that happening. If we want anything close that resembles a team that we can be proud of, the axe must come down on bilics head. The guy is leaving a dynasty of govno.
And bilic if your out there listening, no more of that "oh we are a far superior, we will win" talk. Becuase i know if i were still playing, and a rival coach said that shit, i would do everything in my power to proove him wrong. its added incentive. And it really makes you and the team, look stupid when you loose. so save that shit for after the match.
Olic won't make too much of a difference, he played the Greece game remember and it was the same crap
While the result from the France match is decent, I don't think much changed, they still didn't create many chances, only thing was they actually played hard
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Dujmovic deserves to play. Perisic just shot the ball directly at the net minder. If he had a red bull before the game it would have been top shelf left side.
Shhhteeepeh must be getting in some good work on Totteringham's training ground, cuz he played like a fuckin BEAST in Gaul 🙂
I cant believe the way some of U are dogging Olic. Yes he does miss some chippies, but he also creates more chances. In other words, if he scores 1 goal out of 4 chances (chances he had a big part in creating) and Killer goes 1 for 1, the end result in both cases is 1 goal. Also, although it may not be the case w/ the NT, he was an inspirational hit-man with Bayern last year – they were simply a better team when Olic was in the battle.
Ivo on the left wing, Rakitic in the center, and Perisic on the right wing gives you the desired pace; while Modric acts as the offensive QB and Srna as the defensive QB/MLB. Corluka as left back and Pranjic as right back – Van Gaal style – this places their stronger side into defending the more dangerous in-cutting attack.
What you think of my 4-2-3-1 starting lineup:
M.P.
I.I. I.R. I.P.
L.M. D.S.
V.C. D.L. J.S. D.P.
S.P.
I never said anything about what Bilic tells the players. My comment is about your earlier statement on Bilic prviding bulletin board material. I say so what….I have never seen words said to the media having an impact the field of play. Bilic or any coach saying so-and-so team can and will be beaten is not going to win or lose a game.
Ciro said a bunch of dumb shit in the media and it had no impact.
1st, can some of you please clean up your comments and leave the vile imagery out?
2nd, the 1st time I ever posted on this site recently I used a google account and my real 1st name was shown instead of the screen name I chose, so I've gone the 'anonymous' route since. What's the best way to secure a screen name w/o using my email?
Pletikosa should be the first choice…he is 32..still have several years to offer..
I still prefer Corluka Simunic Lovren Strinic as back 4
@Ziva
I know that you're "Mr. Players", in the sense that it all comes down to the field in your opinion, but to say that what a coach says doesn't matter is just plain asinine… it's not just for the opposition or for the media where a coaches words matters, but it also matters in the mindset of his players…
does it matter what a coach says in training and in the lockerroom? Of course it does, and the press is an extension of this.
my major point here is to highlight that this "managing the perception" is Bilic's next major area of needed growth.
@Svircic
First off, that's a snazzy '98 warmup you got there in the video! Where did you pick that sucker up!? I found a white Euro '96 kit on the net, but they want a ridiculous amount of money for it..
In reference to the games:
Saw some improvement in the France game, but I feel like there is still something we should change. I don't know if it's formation, personnel, captaincy or the coach. I think Slaven can lead us to a deep run in the Euro's, but the mentality has to chage: no more of this playing for a tie bullshit or claiming we're a superior side. I don't know if this is just a 'Croatian' thing or a product of Slaven's tenure, but it has to change and if that means getting a new head coach, so be it. I don't think Darijo Srna is cut out to wear the armband anymore either…but if I had to chose from a group of Pletikosa, Modric, Corluka, Kranjcar, Runje, etc. and Srna, I would take the lesser of two evils and go with Darijo. No one else is really that qualified or has the right mindset to wear the armband. I wish Luka would step up, get a bit more vocal and lead this bunch…but I guess thats just not his type of personality.
I just hope this week was a mental kick in the ass for our boys. We can't take any game or opponent for granted for the rest of the quals. I hope we can come back in June, play some attack minded, hard nose football and give Georgia a good thumping in Poljud.
PLetikosa is legit. Modric sucks.
Tony m ,
These places in toronto to watch the game are where????
Zone one or the ipen cork? I dont know any places other than that.
@JP….bitch about Bilic's tactics and subs, those are all legit, but who cares what he says to the media and all this "bulletin board" material. I have yet to see a bulletin board score a goal, yet alone win a match. Who really cares what he says or what he does not say to the public. I learned a long tim ago to ignore what any of these guys say to the media or the general public, judge them on the product produced on the field.
@Andrej…..correct, correct, correct….Modric needs space to operate. We don't have the wingers with pace that allows his the space he needs. I see some people don't give Olic a lot of love, but when Olic is i the game, even as a winger and Pranjic is at left back, the middle has much more space. There are negatives to using that lineup, but the positive is the space it creates for the middle. People unfairly rip Redknapp for ignoring Kanjcar at Spurs, well one of the reasons he does not pay is because of his lack of speed. there is a place for Kranjcar and that is probably playing behind the forward, but him on the wing or wide does stunt our play at times.
@ Cro Rebel…..just curious as to what you consider top level soccer? Is playing in the Cro league top level?
naprijed hrvatska
If people wana go under anonymous its their prerogative ok branimir,get over it :-{{
get a life :-}}
@ZAP znam da te dovoljno briga da si morao komentirati. nisam nista loše rekao. kad si Anonym teže je pratiti.
bas me briga branimir..sto ti mislis ZAP
olic is govno.i hope he never comes back…so what if can last the whole game….80% of the time he misses or does somthing stupid infront of goal……his usless…..klasnic put olic to shame,hrvatska would alot stronger with dado & killer ……olic is a waste of space.serem na njega…now that is leg is stuffed,he will be even more clumsy….za dom spremni as klanic would say..bounce back croatia..u have before…
haha, awesome Brane!!! 🙂
To all the people that post as Anonymous. I want to let you know that when the conversation is long, its hard to follow when there are too many Anonymous posts, so I usually skip you because when you don't have a name you don't matter to me. Please choose a name, so i can get to know you, like I know who Ziva Istina is. I don't know him and I don't know his real name, but I do want to know what he has to say. Pick a name please. Heare are some examples of the kind of name you can pick.
!. Sibenik007
2. George Clooney
3. Mucko Djubre
4. 100100100
5. Ciganski Bosanac, but someone already took that one, so something like SmrdljiviSeljak, but you know what I mean.
@Cro Rebel
*golf clap*
So i was back and forth from work to the computer, trying to keep up with the game.
Simunic shat on my face this game, and proved me wrong.
@Andrej
No, definitely didn't think we were going to control the game. France is stacked, and our young guns are looking to mesh with the rest of the team. I get it.
In the end, I agree with you. Good tactics. I think my frustration was with the midfield in the first half. A lot of getting the ball out of the defense, starting to attack, and then we'd either make a mistake and lose the ball or switch it to a side that didn't have the momentum. I understand that there are ebbs and flows in the game though, and that you can't run down the field every time, and the French were putting on great pressure. But I was just frustrated with the sloppiness.
I think it was an attack when Lovren(if im not mistaken), was charging up the middle, we had three guys up, and he played a sloppy ball to Modric, and one of the French forwards came back and stole it. Even though we may not control the game, we're better than that. I feel like I saw a lot of that today.
Modric seemed a bit out of sorts. Everytime I looked back at my screen, I saw him losing the ball or giving out some bad passes that I wouldn't expect from the little guy. Can't win em all.
Pleti #1
In the end, it should have been 2-1 France. But, like Benzema said, the grass stole two goals from them =)
Better performance, lots of room to grow.
a non starter(in spurs) pletikosa is better than a starter(lens) runje…this shows why pletikosa is better
@JerseyCro
Haha, go figure… I'm trying to be nice to Bilic and you drop that one… anyway, I'll give the man credit where credit is due, he's resilient and I definitely respect him for that, he bounced back pretty well from the debacle on the weekend.
I also give him big credit for even putting France on the itinerary… he is changing and learning as a coach, now all that he has to do is work on is his demeanor on the sideline and with the press (ie don't supply bulletin board material to the opposition, don't shrug your shoulders, don't be in "sok", ever!).
Neither team played their best today, but both played very hard… Tell me a "friendly" where you've seen that many injuries, yellow cards, tackles period, and injuries. There's going to be a lot of pissed-off club team coaches come tomorrow.
In reality there's two major things that we need to do to improve… cut out the histrionics, and add and use more speed.
The Irish ref did us a favour today and let the boys play, and I noted at least 2 occasions where (Srna & Kranjcar I believe) were on the ground in the "Italian position" and quickly got up once they realized the ref would have none of it. We need that all the time… we need to be the bigger, badder, more physical team and let the other team prostrate itself to the ref. Bilic was this kind of player.
btw. all you who bag on Modric… Tottenham has the speed to give him more dangerous options that we don't have yet…
0-0 was a good result in France. Having not watched the Georgia game as I was at the Toronto FC MLS home opener I was deeply dissapointed at the 1-0 loss. Today's result (or yesterday's at time of writing) is a bit of a boost. I watched most of the game and was very unimpressed with Kranjcar who did look like a "debeli", he was very slow, lost the ball more than a couple times and simply did not offer anything to the team. Simunic had an outstanding game. Perisic is looking like a kid that should cement a place in the midfield. He's got a quick foot good touch and is always moving. Rakitic and Petric both looked world class on their introductions. Rakitic having a near goal and Petric almost latching on to a lob to poke through the keepers legs. Modric looked uninspired but did enough. Jelavic/Kalinic are good players but need wingers/wide play to get the best out of them. They were very subdued in the match. Overall as a team Cro gets a solid "B" for their performance.
I think we will qualify but it remains to be seen if we will do it as group winners or runners-up via playoffs.
P.S. I'm in Toronto Canada and I've heard talk of you guys coming to the Great White North to take in a qualifier with the Croatian community. Get in touch if you haven't already I know a few good places to watch.
Cheers,
Tony M.
As far as Olic goes I am a huge huge fan of his, but it is questionable how strong he will come back after his injury if at all. Those of you who actually play football know that an injury to the knee is the worst thing that can happen to a player, unfortunately Bayern is also skeptical of how Olic is going to recover from such an injury and if he will be able to go against his current competition at Bayern. I think our best forward at the time is Nikica Jelavic and he should be pushed to the maximum.
I also think that Perisic should start for us. If bilic is going to play that supporting striker role than Perisic is the man, or possibly Niko Kranjcar who is actually most comfortable at that position. I agree with most people that Modric, Kranjcar and Rakitic cannot play together at the same time because they are all naturally the type of player who needs to have the ball and who needs to be in control.
And even though, I am a Runje supporter Pletikosa impressed me today. Perhaps we should let them fight it out for the spot, keep them on their toes. And I will retract my previous statements on Simunic because I don't like Corluka at CB and we don't have anyone better to play next to Lovren at this time.
Here is the lineup I would go with.
4-4-1-1
Corluka Simunic Lovren Strinic
Vukojevic (he is still better than Dujmovic)
Srna Modric Perisic(Ilicevic)
Kranjcar
Jelavic
Okay! Hope everyone enjoyed Cro Rebel's love for himself there. Maybe this site should be dedicated to him and his awesomeness.
I just wanted to say, and I know it's been said before, that Bilic's undying loyalty to his favourites hurts the show the progress of the team. It's not his job to play players who aren't playing at their clubs so they get game time. And although Niko was the anomaly up until a month ago. You can't have a core of 8 or 10 players and have half of them not playing regularly.
Although I'm not a huge fan of Pranjic I would consider putting him on the left wing and let him attack and try and cross balls in. Same goes for Srna. Let him attack. They aren't awesome defenders so let the roam the flanks.
Too much accommodating of certain players and their one dimensional styles especially in midfield. It's like having 4 couches in a small living room. Amazing idea but not practical.
@ Cro Rebel
I also spent my first 6 years living beside Tudman, played high level soccer, watch Croatia on my laptop, got a degree in Kinesiology with a Coaching certificate and spent some time coaching before getting a real job…does my opinion count?? oh and I used to be bad ass in Pro Evolution lol
please don't call other people stupid unless they're throwing flares onto the field hahah
Why didn't he let Gordon play? hasn't he been okay in previous NT games??
One thing is for sure, very few players have a role that they play consistently for club and country which makes it hard to build chemistry. When everyone is constantly being switched around, we're not developing. I doubt this team will be ready for Euro Cup. I guess injuries don't really help either. At least we came out with a good result today and it shows their character. Plus a little bit of a coming out party for Perisic.
Most of the comments here made by the same idiots dont have a clue about FOOTBALL as they call it in 99% of the world.You cant play xbox or playstation than become a world football expert. Being a supporter of your national side means sticking with them through thick and thin. I am guessing you guys are probably born again cros/ yugos so you cant wait to crap all over the team and coach. BTW i played top level football watched croatia at the 06 world cup, lived in cro for 6 years 2 of which were spent on the front line. why do i even bother reacting to your stupid comments, well its like when you drive past a car accident and you cant help but look.
The 2nd guy in the interview is a donkey…saying he agrees with the fans who threw the flares and he would have done worse because it was a 0-0 match….this is soccer you monkey…games like this are a common occurrence…if you wanna see goals go watch some handball and stop contributing to the trend of poor Croatian fan behaviour.
^^^^^^
Actually from what I read Strinic had to be subbed because of injury lol
It was a decent draw but we still have to be concerned that we didn't create too many chances outside of long distance shots. There was one wrong offside decision on Kalinic which would have seen him go one on one but he still missed the chance
Both Jelavic and Kalinic don't do enough for me, I'd say Jelavic is slightly better but thats not saying much
I was mostly impressed with Pletikosa, both CB's and Perisic. Still disappointed with Modric and Srna frustrates me too much
Ps. Bilic actually made a disciplinary move too, which is the first I can remember in a long time (ever), by sending a message to Strinic by subbing him off after he carelessly gave the ball away.
This is what coaches do, there might be hope for him yet.
Some positives from this match:
– Pleti looked more agile than I've ever seen him, the time in England has done him some good for sure.
– Jelavic shows once and for all that he's a day late and a dollar short… he's useless to us, and furthermore proves how bad the Scottish league really is. He might be useful if crosses are coming to him all day long, but the way that we play, he's a wasted shirt. Kalinic is likewise a day late and a dollar short, but still light years better than Mandzukic.
– Perisic shows some heart and some quickness that we sorely need. He came back from that knee breaking tackle and played well.
– Our Croattenham left side showed some threats
– Raki and Petric showed some quickness and dangerousness as subs.
– Most importantly the team showed heart, effort and toughness, and stood up to every French challenge. It was a very rough game. I'm still not convinced that they showed this effort due to Bilic or perhaps more likely due to "le grande stage", but it at least shows that such effort it still is possible from our team. However we need effort like this when it matters, and Bilic hasn't shown that he can produce that. If we played like that against Georgia we win by at least 2 goals going away.
Overall though, it's obvious that we need more quick strike potential, and the speed that creates it.
Olic has a spot on the NT as long as he has the pace and he will for sometime. He is an engine and is ONLY striker in our lineup who can play in 442 and wide slot in a 433. He works from deep and he can cross and finish(not great but good enough)…while he is no technical skill world beater his work rate is on par with some of the hardest working players in the world which makes up for his lack of talent elsewhere.
Eduardo? What more needs to be said…he may not be the player of before but if you followed the player throughout his career he was amazing!! You sometimes couldn't believe how good he was before his injury and if he can regain most of that he is still one of 1st choice players up top.
Strnic played well defending…Pranjic even defended well for the short time but the problem is the free roaming Kranjcar infront will always leave LB exposed….do I mind? Not to much he makes up for it usually but we still need our LB to be solid defender.
Corluka didnt look bad in fact no french player could take the ball from him. I still consider giving him a run in CDM but he CANT play CB! He is what makes us look shaky but RB and LB as showed today he looked great.
I think Perisic can have a future…Its hard to judge this early but he is young and you can see he shows hard work and does have the skill to match with it.
It was hard work to try and support Jelavic vs a very good france side….but its nice to see another player who has pace.
Simunic no surprise he was MOM for me….he will have a spot on our team till he is 40 if he can play like that against the BEST and FASTEST players in the world…he just has the experience and Lovren can learn ALOT from him…
Srna looked great early on from more attacking role… i g2g but Bilic had right tactics today this is exactly how you play against a top team and like we didnt know how to break georgia down they could break us down either…it was a little bit of luck but we always looked like we could get a point or 3…
Like I said earlier we still need SOME just a LITTLE wing play to spread teams wide and put some crosses in. No team will play as wide as France and England….so all the teams that park the bus…these tactics will not work but we have what it takes to beat the best but we still have a lot of experimenting to do….
glad to see bilic giving youngsters runs 3 years ago he would have not used to many subs even in a friendly but you can see he is growing as a coach…i thnk even when he is done here he will come back at some point in his career again to coach us.
jebes olica…….he runs around like kokos without a head.his SHT…..bring back killer klasnic…who scoring & doing well for boltan in the epl…his knows how smash the ball in the net…olic will never make into the epl……..may he should go the russia…he looks like a rus lol
unlike most of you, i'm glad to see simunic back. him and lovren are a good combo. he played like he wanted to prove bilic wrong from the weekend.
don't like kalinic and strinic at any point.
can corluka be the answer at left back? vida might not be a bad option at right back, although, i'd like for tomecak to have a look see here. srna drives me nuts with his contstant struggle to gain a foul.
probably the two worst games kranjcar has played in a row in quite some time (or is he the problem on the left side due to his lack of speed and defensive abilities??). looks like daddyhood has made him tired.
not convinced with perisic. all you gotta do is put that ball on the ground and slide it by the gk. but, lots of you think he's the next robi. but, he plays in a crappy league. the hnl big two beat both belgian opponents in EL, so save your arguements.
fair result, decent performance, but still not good enough to beat a rated opponent when it counts. is there something in bilic's bible that says you can't hit a long ball? afterall, he loves english football.
malouda is cunt. if he did that against germany, he would have seen red after 30mins. just goes to show that cro is still a minnow in the world's game.
Denis…..agreed on Olic and the brazilian born hrvat. Olic has something that nobody else on roster has….speed. Olic's speed creates space for him and our midfield. The lack of space has been evident in these two games. This is why Olic was always in the line up, because of the space he creates and the pace he can play at.
And Da Silva provides something else none of our forward posses. He can move and create with the ball in tight situations. He can take defenders on one-on-one and one-on-two. We all know the brazilian born hrvat is not and never will be the same player pre-injury, but he still can contribute to this team.
Not much to say after this 0-0 tie. I was at a loss of words in the postgame. One of the most boring first halves in a long time. The second half was much more entertaining, easily could have ended 2-2. Sounded like they were playing behind closed doors. The only time the crowd got into it was to boo some of their players.
Simunic played well in the first half, then took a shit in the second. The post was his, and luckily Pletikosa was there for the breakaway. Besides these two plays, he was solid.
Perisic played well in the start. The french threw two defenders at him on multiple sideline plays.
I like this 2 DM formation against the "bigger" teams. For the most part we play well. However, this formation doesnt work against the Georgia's of the world.
I still didn't see wingplay. Not one quality cross all game.
Ultimately, we can see through the last two games that we miss Eduardo and Olic. Kalinic and Jelavic are not in the same league.
@Andrej
"WE ARE NOT MORE TALENTED THAN FRANCE"
I agree.
With no Olic and Eduardo, there is no legitimate forward on the team. Jelavic showed some things in previous exhibitions, but was invisible today.
Regarding Modric…he was invisible because the guys around him did nothing. We're dangerous when he has the ball and you could see him getting frustrated when balls were being played by the backline to the other team when he's open.
Can't complain about the results today I can say I am happy in many ways.
As a BiH born Croat I am happy to see the team hopefully get suspended and they can root for there real team Turkey 🙂
Nice to see Serbia tie to Estonia 🙂
And nice to see us tie France who are a top 10 team regardless of rankings in FIFA. Bilic got it right today played cautious and while we were on our back toe we always looked like we could counter and get a point or 3 🙂
Overall great day but still one thing to solve how we played today is how we play vs top tier teams and thats why we can beat anyone…the unresolved problem we countinously will remain to have is breaking down the bunker which is going to be a completely different game plan.
Bilic was a defender he knows how to counter and get the best out of the team there but the biggest puzzle is can have break down the bunker and he has yet to prove that. Love the guy but I am waiting for him to prove me that still…great coach
ill take it
Pleti!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's good that Bilic is making some changes. It will be even better if he gets a win.
corluka is our best player going forward. next captain.
Lets hope Vida can hold up haha this is hell of a game for him to get even as a friendly he only appeared in Wales game previously.
haha Krpan LOLzzzzzzz
Krpan….good call.
Josip Simic mifght fit into that club.
Ante, agreed re: Corluka.
We look far more solid without Corluka at CB it just looks more organized and Simunic is still looking like he can play…to me its always been Corluka who has brought the instability at CB regardless of who is next to him.
He is a RB…he looks good there and he knows how to attack…he may be slow but he is a great defender and Srna is a great RM to support him.
Ziva, I don't mean to be the One Upper but I almost have the ultimate captain: Petar Krpan.
No votes for Jurica Vranjes?
@Ante….I'll top your Vukojevic as captain comment with Giovanni Rossi. He should be captain for life. he is the zidovski dalmatinac.
@Andrej…..very god points. Don't let the peanut gallery get to you. Their knowledge of soccer consists of watching MLS.
Of course we have a chance thats why all we did was play it cautious for 45 minutes…its only logical to do that when you are on the road but I feel like some of you are watching your first match and expect us to just go for the win in the 1st half against a better side…
kurac
It just goes to show that there should only be one captain for Hrvatska. Two words, one name: Ognjen Vukojevic.
america is no where in sight, we have a chance to win this game guys!! haha
id always start rakitic
Ya, I guess so he has been played there before but as long as he isnt played at CB ever I am content
Me neither, strange sub…and Corluka seems to be starting the half at LB?
I dont understand why bring Rakitic on for Strnic….
A decent game so far, would like to see, Kranjcar LM, Modric LCM, Persic/Rakitic RCM and Srna on the right wing. Strinic is working well for our defense, though something is slightly lacking and cant figure out what but still thy arnt slacking.
Andrej,
Just wondering when someone said we should dominate them?!?
Sure, Croatia are playing better then in the Georgia match, but not like that is saying much.
Benzema missed a sitter…Ribery, Gourcuff and Evra are all sitting on the bench…sure things are improved from last game, but didn't we all expect that? Let's not make this out to be some grandiose performance…
i agree with someguy that this game is more exciting than the Georgia game, by far.
Actually, i think it s a pretty exciting game as far as friendlies go.
Is it just me or is Strinic a horrible ball passer?
When you can tell me when we used to dominate the world of football get at me…because I dont remember us just dominating teams like France on the road especially.
First off a 0-0 scoreline wouldnt be bad and secondly being scoreless at half is probably what Bilic wants. We are not the better team and we are not at home so why go out and play more open than you need to. They bag us a goal early and this game is over more than likely. I expect to see a bit more attack next half but if you went into this game thinking we would dominate them you are a joke.
Sub in Rakitic for Modric. Rakitic can also take the set pieces better than Srna.
Granted this game doesn't really mean anything, but it has definitely been more entertaining so far than the Georgia match….and unless my eyes deceive me I think Bilic finally got rid of that awful beard.
Perisic just had a pretty good strike…
well for one expectation it would be nice to have a shot on goal.
I dont know what some of you are complaining about…WE ARE NOT MORE TALENTED THAN FRANCE….get it through your head.
I don't think we look terrible but we can look better…were not at home and we sure as hell are playing much better than we have in a while….
I dont recall us beating a top team in a long time so I dont know what some of you have as expectations….
ma nasi grozno igraju
Modric is a great player, but more often then not he seems to have a minimal impact for the Repka, seeing as he's a "star" and supposed to be the fulcrum of our attack.
LOL BENZEMA MAKING EXCUSES FOR THAT MISS! LOL! WOW blame the grass but we should have conceded there…pathetic strike.
i know lets give them the ball right at midfield every time. modric? non existent
I'm not quite seeing what our formation is, correct me if Im wrong but it looks something like:
Jelavic
Kranjcar Modric Perisic
Vukojevic Srna
Pranjic (Strinic) Simunic Lovren Corluka
Runje
4-2-3-1?!?
For what it's worth, I think Croatia still looks pretty poor and lacking defined positions for their players…and one forward again???
France near goal as a I type, I believe Benzema duffed the shot…
Malouda could have ended Perisic season with that….ugh hes surprisingly not even on a yellow but Lovern is? Hmm
TGC,
What did you think this game would be controlled by us? We are in France against a top side in the world…
This is the ideal game we want to play right now…I think hitting them on the counter is perfect.
I think this lineup right now looks fairly good. We are getting them on the counter and we look dangerous but we are actually playing very organized in defense.
Croatia 3-1
One striker? Reminds me of the USA. Let's see if Bilic can figure out that it's not working. Game controlled by France right now.
I like this lineup. It is better then Georgia lineup.
Runje, Lovren, Šimunić, Ćorluka, Pranjić, Vukojević, Modrić, Srna, Kranjčar, Perišić, Jelavic
Lineups?
Bilic-Blanc II: Will Bilic go down and feign injury again? Blanc sent off with a red?
srna is a ATTACKING fullback…not a pure defender…should play as RM..not a RB…especially croatia has to deal an attacking french team with ribery…
Petric should play striker and not a supporting striker…
seriously, i really hope klasnic is in the squad..he is proven in epl…unlike kalinic who has not really proven his scoring potential in blackburn yet
I totally expect Croatia to play better in this match. Unfortunately that is pretty much irrelevant, as they already blew the relevant game they played last week.
I'm with Denis, I am more interested in seeing "improved" play rather then getting a result. But I'm not sure either means much in this contest anyway.
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reading what I read, there is no way Slaven gets sacked unless they get destroyed today.
Maybe I'm drinking the Kool-Aid, but I think they will play better (not that it matters in this match) and pull off a 1:1 draw. I think France might be giving some 'reserves' a chance in this one
I cant make a prediction before I see the lineups. If its the same lineup, I say 2-1 France.
If they lose, does Slaven actually get the boot?
Do any of the players want Slaven gone? If so, will they show it with a terrible performance tomorrow?
If Slaven gets the boot then what?
If we win, will we fall back into a mediocre/lackluster playing style down the road?
Do I actually want us to lose this game so hopefully some changes are made?
So many possibilities and questions.
Tie game:
Croatia 0 France 2
Originally, I thought tie. Scoring early and giving away the lead. But, I'm gonna go with my first thought. The team is going to give up on the coach.