“And we’re going to go and ‘F***’ Croatia.”-Canada manager, John Herdman, after their 1-0 loss to Belgium Wednesday. Bold statement, Canada. As if our boys didn’t need any more motivation this week. Croatia plays Canada Sunday at 11AM (ET).
- This is very un-Canadian like. I was under the impression Canadians are the nicest people on planet Earth. (although Herdman is English)
- Does this message motivate Canada or Croatia more? The answer is Croatia.
I would love to see the face of Modrić, Brozović, Lovren hearing this for the first time.
Lots of great points here.
Herdman is motivating his team as MN mentioned. They did well against Belgium and played above expectations. He said it in the huddle. Rookie mistake in telling the media what you actually said, he should learn from this.
Belgium missed some chances and I think they’re overrated as Maminjo and a few others mentioned.
Agreed with Canada Can’t win the world cup’s comment but I don’t think he is intentionally trying to rile Croatia up, I think he is just motivating his team and was naive in being too honest with his comments.
I will say, Canada will play African style Kamikaze football trying to pressure us. They have nothing to lose, first world cup in 40 years etc. CRO must be able to keep posession, not fall into the trap of playing their kick and run style of soccer and slice them with counter passes. Canada gives teams opportunities to counter and score. Canada is able to get away with their soccer vs Guatemala and Honduras but that’s not who they are playing and CRO needs to let them know they are stepping up to play the a country that in 20 years is a Silver and Bronze medalist with a population of 4 mill or just under.
If we can’t beat them, we don’t deserve to go further.
A conservative 3-5-2 might be the answer here as this will most likely be Croatias future formation as it can be interpreted many ways and we are developing players for this… I do think though that we have transformed our back line to be confident enough for this.. and like I and others have mentioned PERISIC is now given a more open role to attack and apply some pressure upfront where as SOSA Takes his creative and defensive role… Juranovic can now also apply more of his offensive nature as he is limited as a RB.. we can now deliver 3 monsters with speed height agility and able to play the ball the from the back and relieve our midfield which will provide us the possession we need to be dangerous
——-—PERISIC———-—-BUDIMIR—————
——————————————————————————————-—MODRIC——————————
————-KOVACIC—-—BROZOVIC—————
SOSA—————————————-JURANOVIC
———————————————————————
—–GVARDIOL—-ERLIC——STANISIC———
—————————————————————
——————–—LIVAKOVIC—————————
You want CROATIA to be balanced and a threat everywhere on the pitch this is what Dalic must do…
Perisic has got to start here as an attacker in this role.. now for the second striker I chose Budimir solely for his work rate and that he should get service from PERISIC/SOSA/JURANOVIC or our mids to knock some headers in.
Herdman, after Canada qualified for the WC mentioned how he travelled to Croatia to learn how the Croatians year in year out produce quality. Went there to learn a thing or two about coaching, just pissed his son was no good in Dinamos eyes
All coaches will make comments of this nature but they are usually privately done in the change room. It’s a bad idea to say this publicly and to give any ammunition to the opposing team. If it backfires and Canada gets smoked then Herdman will look like a gigantic donkey.
Honestly I am confident in Croatia going into this game. Yes, Canada played well, but they are offensively minded and give opponents a lot of room to counter attack. Croatia always plays better against teams that give them space as opposed to very defensively minded teams. If you watch the Canada game back you’ll see that Belgium actually had quite a few good counter attacks that they squandered. I feel that Belgium underestimated them and did not really game plan accordingly.
Belgium is also very overrated.
They have guys like Witsel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Hazard in their lineup. You can get away with one (maybe two) has-beens in your lineup, but not that many.
The rest of the team is okay, but nothing special. Guys like Batshuayi or Dendoncker aren’t World beaters.
Belgium barely held possession over Canada. With our central midfield, and more open space to work with, we should easily dominate possession and create more chances.
Despite the submissive game that we played against Morocco…we still created like 4 or 5 good chances. We should be able to create more on Sunday.
The Canada coach is playing us perfectly . He knows we are an emotional hot headed people.
Ante does a lot for all of us for free. Doesn’t make any money off it. Often gets picked on if he gives a hot take or if someone thinks he has too much Dalmatia bias. If Croatia makes the knock outs, who’s up for a fundraiser to send Ante to Qatar for the next game?
I’m in for $100 pledge. Very grateful for this site and his dedication in providing this true community building group.
Only if he wears a Croatian kit with rainbow color checkers to make a statement 😉
Done and done! 🙂
Dear Ante ,
Is it possible that you get can a interview with Romeo Jozak if that’s still possible. to get a feed on what’s going on in the Savez and if its possible . Also is there someone in the outfit that can get to dailc to make the changes needed ? Make him see reason . Is there anyone who he respects that can offer counsel to him ? Can that be asked of Romeo? Does Romeo have that influenced or the connections to learn what going on in the locker room .
Thank you
Croatian Inspector General
You’re a riot Mamijo! >D
Who knew leftovers could talk?
Funny!
Sunday is the day the Croatian team must rise up . That serb goal keeper said that Dalamatia is serb property ! Croats died there . That team should win and crush Canada for Luka and every Croat that was killed !, every woman that was raped. Children and elderly people were butchered. We can loose to Belgium and not advance who cares. This game is the game we must win. For our self respect and every Croatian that was killed by those serbs. Sunday is the final for us. We must win if not for ourselves but for the victims . If we loose then we have no respect for ourselves , and our country . Dalic needs to wake up. this is what he will be remembered for .
Go and F*** someone?
That is saying lie, cheat , and steel- do whatever it takes, the end justified the means!
What a disgrace Herman is to both Canada and England – completely wrong message and a display of poor sporstsmanlike conduct with his jailhouse language.
Win, lose or draw, In any of the games this World Cup, Herdman needs to go.
Even the lamest of commentators who knew shit about football could see it and were saying that when Croatia get the ball in the attacking 3rd of the field they have nothing/nobody there. Nobody to finish?????? How embarrassing! They exposed the fact that we have strong midfield but then no goal execution. Call the ghostbusters and get rid of Kramaric. He should not start or even play this game.
It doesn’t matter if you have the best guys ever to load a gun, if you don’t have a trigger man then it’s pointless.
I kept saying like many others bring a hungry Colak….?
Bring a hungry Musa…?
when Kramaric ghost 👻 does nothing then what???
Here we are……
Well I hope Dalick balls has a plan B or some kind of adjustments that will work because this is a must win game against Canada and WE NEED FIREPOWER FOR THE LAST TIME otherwise we might as well at least bring a condom when Canada fuck us eh????
Unbelievable !!!!!!!
Please someone find some goal scoring blueprints for dalic because that last showing can’t happen again or we are done. If we don’t get out of the group stage that will be such a waste of time and resources and reputation etc.
Yes we played uninspired and meek
But it’s decided on Sunday
Wake up or go home
We may not be as fast but there is no excuse for not running
Not using this an excuse however, we all knew Morocco was in fine form in qualifying
Japan Morocco Saudi
They all take points from each other but 9/10 times Morocco wins that group
Also throw Tunisia in there
I wonder if our solution at RW isn’t Perisic? We could allow Sosa to roam on the left, and keep Brozo and/or Kova to cover for him and set up the overlaps. They both have underrated defensive workrates. There were useful balls delivered from the left with no one running to the back post vs Morocco. Perisic would not let that happen from the right.
Defensively, I expect Dalic to bring Stanisic in to do the same job he did vs Mbappe on the right, which should keep Perisic fresh in front of him. Of course, I am also advocating for Erlic and Gvardiol to round out the lineup and deal with Canada’s speed, whilst expanding passing range when we play out.
That leaves Modric and Majer for creativity in the middle, with receiving solid service. That striker for me – for this game, is likely Budimir.
Depending on how the first 65 go, Sucic is the first off the bench, Perisic flips back to the left, and Jakic relieves either Kova or Brozo.
4-3-3:
…………………………………..Livaja………………………………..
Perisic……………………………………………………………Orsic
……………………………………………………………………………..
………………….Kova……………………….Modric……………….
…………………………………Brozo………………………………….
Sosa………………………………………………………….Stanisic
…………………..Gvardiol…………….Sutalo…………………….
……………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………..Livakovic……………………………..
If dalic starts lovren, kramaric, or pasalic, then dalic has no balls and fears canada.
I see nothing wrong here. I would have played the kids all over – I have been advocating for Orsic- if you watch the soccer now – there is no build up- it’s boot it and chase it down and then reset closer to the goal- play the fastest guys you have and hope for the best- we need to spread Canada out – their D is the weakest part of their team as Belgium exposed them
This would be the best shot for sure. Orsić and Livaja are a must IMO. Lovren was much better than I expected but Šutalo and Stanišić should get a shot. Whether Dalić shows that kind of courage remains to be seen
Being Croatian in Canada, frankly I thought the 24sata front page was a fucking embarrassment and not reflective of a mentally-tough nation like Hrvati truly are.
We are the World Cup runners-up who beat the reigning champions just a few months ago, and some coach’s pep talk is getting inside everyone’s heads? It’s not like it was being dismissed by world-beaters, so who cares? Some shitty Chetnik keeper shouldn’t have this much of an effect either, and that’s me speaking as a Lićan.
“Malo nas je al’ nas ima” indeed. Glad I’m not the only one who noticed Dalić looking dishevelled. Believe me when I say I hope Croatia pull it off, but I worry we’ve already lost the game if this is what the team needs to be motivated at the SP.
Mi smo Licani isto- and old enough to remember 1998 and being so proud of the vatreni post war we played with- maybe a little history lesson for these guys to see what soccer means to Croatians – let’s wake up guys and play your guts out- forget Dalic- Modric takes on coaching for this game and he’s going to be calling the shots.
Agree, like in 2020 these guys just don’t care anymore.
Different age, the war is far in the rearview but you’d think a few of them would say lets do it for Luka but that doesn’t seem to mean crap to these guys- I’m sure Luka will play his best and that might open it up for us. God willing.
John Herdman 165 cm LOL
Bertrand and Frenchman,
Herdman is classless – his desire / motivation and resultant frustration of again not even scoring a goal at the World Cup (despite having the where with all to do so), is no excuse to use that language and become a negative role model for the Canadian children.
I get that Herdman does not sound very sexy, probably came from ancestors that watched over a bunch of goats, but he needs to get over his low self-esteem, and realize that he has a responsibility to uphold Canadian standards- find respectful words to get his message accross.
Greeting from Canada , Against Belgium , we went to school and learned well. I agreed with Hedmand’s comment . There is nothing wrong about saying that our Maple Leafs (Canada )players will give more than 100 percent in order to beat one of the best team in the world . ( Croatia ) It will be a wonderful game to watch. Imagine what the canadian team will look like in 4 years when the world cup will be played here in North America ( Mexico , USA and Canada) Allez les rouges ! Bonne chance aux deux équipes que les meilleurs gagnent !
Les meilleurs ont gagné …! Allez la Croatie….!
hahah croats losing again! French winning again! Canada looked 50 times better than croatia did on Wednesday. Their coach wasn’t being arrogant. he was being correct! Canada will crush Croatia 3-0 on Sunday and this site will break down in tears like always. It is no surprise Canada crushes Croatia because Canada is actually french. Your players are pathetic, small and slow. You should be thankful you go out in the group stage and not have to be embarassed by france again down the road. We’ll let our little french brother canada do the easy work this time.
@frenchman cucked.
Cher Monsieur , je crois que vous revez en pensant que le Canada est un pays francophone et que notre équipe de foot va tabasser la Croatie. Premierement , a l’extérieur du Québec , il y a peu de gens qui s’expriment en francais. En ce qui a trait au foot, nous sommes comme des écoliers qui vont a la bonne école ( World Cup), nous sommes motivés et seront beaucoup plus aptes a compétitionner en 2026. Merci aux belges , croatiens et maroccains qui auront été des bons maitres.
Excuser les fautes de frappes je ne trouve pas les accents sur mon clavier.
Pour votre information il y a maintenant plus de 100,000 francais(France ) qui habite la région de Montréal. Également a chaque année ,des milliers de nouveaux venus provennant des pays francophones des pays africains et des immigrant illégaux arrivant par voie terrestre de Haiti en passant par les USA.
Pour votre information il y a plus de 250,000 Croates qui vivent au Canada, ils ont apprécié les 4 buts passés entre les jambes du gardien chetnik (fasciste serbe) de votre équipe, monsieur Bertrand. À trop tard.
smash this pathetic team _o)
see u again for the next world cup! |
without seniority and clumsy coach
In that interview Dalic looks so drained, depressed, worried. He is looking down, yawning, looking uninterested His expression and body language is exposing a man who has issues. This is rubbing off on the players. He also looked like this the day before the match too. Look at the Canadian coach. He is buzzing and full of energy even after the loss.
I never liked Dalic. A guy who credits God for wins is troublesome. Hes to humble and when he told the team not to complain after that world cup travesty it really irked me.
Croatia has been terrible since the worldcup. Yes we had a nice blip with those NL wins against France and Denmark but it hasnt carried over yet.
Hmm does seem a bit concerning now that you mention it… maybe it was early and he didn’t sleep well? What do the rest of you guys make of it (Dalic looking so drained at the interview)?
I don’t like Bartolec1912. We are in a lot of trouble . How many times do we need to be embarrassed before we learn. the whole team looks like dalic.
Ill be one of the 4 million couch izborniks my line up v canada livi Stanisic Gvardiol Erlic Sosa Modric Broz Kova Majer Livaja Perisic
I dont get how some pleople on this site say we will not be competitive for years to come wtf.
The d is looking great for future
We wont have Modric i know but ee will always produce players or steal that will do solid job.
Strikers and wingers are being Developed Pasalic Marco Vidovic
Strikers Beljo Musa Ljubicic Simic
Forget about future that will be a conversation for 2024.
Why are we not motivated i dont believe it why were we motivated fo NL i dont get it.
I have feeling broz perisic modric lovren vida will retire after wc from national team
u forgot the main player… luka sucic
I love the standard overreactions of everyone on this site. “We tied Morocco and didn’t look good! Ahhh quick change every player! Get rid of the old generation!”
Let’s all breathe. Lets remember
1) This is the combination of players that finished first in their qualifying group. Something that only happened one other time in the past 14 years for croatia.
2) This is the combination that topped nations league beating france , denmark and austria consistently
3) There have been many teams that struggled in opening. Argentina, Denmark, etc. These are good teams they are playing in an unfavorable environment. Do not expect a walk in the park
The bottom line is these are the horse we have and they have shown us a lot of promise. You need to continue on with them and tweak around the edges. Not do a massive makeover cause you tied 0-0 to a Morocco side that hadn’t concede a goal in the past 450 minutes.
Dear Mr truth . Is Dalic smart enough to make the tweak around the edges ? Can he make the adjustments that are going to work ? That the question. There is something lacking on the team . They need to find the hunger and desire to win . WE have chance if we get out of the group . but can we ?
That game against Morocco reminded me of Euro 2020, static, lazy, uninspired play. That attitude didn’t just go away after the first game then, and I fear it won’t in the coming games. We have held on too long to the older generation. They had their chance, went to the WC final and lost and I think they don’t have the motivation to try again. I love Modric, but at a certain point you need to let the youngsters play, lose, make mistakes and learn. Or you just keep one player like Modric and surround him with youth.
My biggest issue right now is Lovren, who represents a long tradition dating from Robert Kovac times of defensive players who are totally unable to make a creative or advancing pass. This held us back for years, lasted during the Vida Lovren era and seemed to be finally over with the new generation that we used for the Nations League. I don’t care if Lovren played well in the last game, the team played terribly and I am not watching this to be bored or to squeeze through at all costs playing like shit, sports is entertainment. Let the younger generation at least take over the defensive end and play Majer and or Sucic in midfield.
Here’s hoping that Dalic somehow sees the light, and puts out Gvardiol-Erlic or Gvardiol-Sutalo on Sunday vs Canada.
@ DanoS
Our squad is screaming for an Ante Rebić type.
It is almost surreal that we couldn’t work it out before the World Cup.
Ziyech was brought back in time for Morocco and he looked fantastic against us (despite benched at Chelsea).They actually fired the Bosanac to ensure he was in.
I understand team alignment and locker room peace. But we have a little TOO much comfort going on.
Luka is a legend but he can’t be GM, Coach and the best player all at once.
Now you start Kramaric. His slow lazy ass sucks the energy out of Modrić and Perišić.
Rebić provides power, pace and if gets hot then a whole bunch of dynamic play in the final third.
This reminds me of Blažević NOT starting Prosinečki vs France ‘98 or at least bringing him on for injured Boban at half?
There has to be room for at least one crazy dude in the squad. Just channel his energy into a positive.
But that takes real coaching and man management.
Jebi ga.
Just start Budimir please. Yes our 6’3” striker who competes in La Liga.
Also throw in Sučić, he Is ready and smart enough to figure out any tactical alignment.
Oršić more minutes. At least he is quick.
STOP blaming our midfielders for not being who they ARE not!
Just bring on hard running players up top who can attack in the final third.
Also what is the tactical game plan against a young, hard running Canada that needs to beat you? And talking smack.
4-3-2-1?
Budimir
Perisic – Majer
Modrić – Kovačić – Sučić
Sosa – Gvardiol – Erlic – Stanisic
Please use ALL 5 suns early and often in the second half to keep up the intensity.
Canada will tire after the initial thrust and chasing the ball.
Better come ready from the jump.
Their coach was being honest about his game plan to “ F” Croatia.
ZDS
Well i dont blame the Canadian players for the cuntishness of their coach, other than the goalie of course.
What would be good is if each time we score a goal, the goalscorer runs up to the serbcunt keeper and gives him a few pats on the head like “good boy” (you see that sometimes here in aus in other sports). If we scored like 3 or 4 and every player did it to him it really would be rather hilarious.
That being said im not expecting a 3 or 4 goal win, i mean im totally uninspired after that first game so…. as per usual, high hopes, low expectations so i dont get too disappointed :/
Now this is the perfect setting for Ante Rebic but unfortunately he is not with our squad..Ante is fast as hell and nasty and tough as the devil..too late to fly him in????
In 4-10 years we will be competitive again, until then brace yourself fellas it’s not going to be pretty. We have to adapt to speed that has engulfed football. The tiki-taka football era is over. We are in for a long few years I’m afraid. Bog.
We shouldn’t need any foolish comments to motivate us. Our poor performance in the opening game should been enough. Herdman is a classic stubborn coach. Just like Southgate and Hodgson. It’s for all the marbles for both teams Sunday. Yes I said both. A draw would put us in a bad position. A draw puts immense pressure on us. Especially if Morocco get a result against Belgium and hold it down. No backing down. Go out and play your fucking hearts out. Canada plays dirty, let’s play aggressive like we did against Argentina in the second match in Russia. Dalic needs to recognize that certain players don’t deserve a spot in the lineup. Kovacic is one. He’s overrated and needs his hand held at Chelsea by Kante and Jorginho. He’s been given too many chances to improve. Terrible ball control and no
urgency. Brozovic is a no. Lovren is a no. Orsic in the middle, Vlasic on the right wing, Perisic on the left. Pasalic as attacking mid. Majer with Modric central mid. Sutalo and Gvardiol in middle. Jurnaovic and Sosa as left and right backs. We need speed and especially up the middle. Canada have weak central defenders. Vitoria is the best defender. The wings should be wide open for us. However, Davies and Esutaquio will attempt to stop runs and give and gos up the the middle. Hutchinson is old. Sucic or Majer could run him out no problem. Subs Petkovic, Budimir, Sucic, Livaja, Erlic. Let’s get this huge win and prove we are still up there in the rankings. Dalic wake up and the boys. No Slavic team has won yet. Who cares what Herdman or that shitnik says. Play our game and that’s it. Nothing left in the tank or turning it on late in the game.
ZDS
Sure – let’s drop the best midfielder in Serie A
lol
https://www.croatiaweek.com/marcelo-brozovic-named-best-midfielder-in-serie-a-this-year/
I stopped reading after the part about Kova, you have no idea what you’re talking about
¿Terrible ball control? Kovačić had 95% pass accuracy against Morocco and only lost the ball once on a dribble. That was in spite of Morocco’s effective strategy to just tackle hard and force errors.
Dalic is such a low energy coach that we probably wont even bring the F Croatia up in the locker room. Now Bilic would and he would also bring up that Cetnik goalie.
Perhaps. But I’m sure some senior players are talking about it. I can see Perišić Lovren and Vida being vocal in the dressing room using it as fuel.
LOL news.com.au is gonna run an article about this chick every few days i think, like they do with Paige Spiranac
https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/world-cup/world-cups-hottest-fan-slammed-for-disrespecting-locals-by-wearing-gstring-swimsuit-in-qatar/news-story/c9c35402e2e9903d862811b1811f3ee5
She’s an entrepreneur
I think you guys are exactly right and this article makes sense
Previously the croatian players were not excited or inspired to be at the world cup. They thought maybe it would be nice to check out the middle east in November and if they could get a free trip from some soccer, then sure they would go for it and give so so effort
now after the canadian coach said this, they will be motivated to play at the world cup though. phew
I don’t know man, someone says they are going to F your mother…it adds something no matter what. The teams’ mothers are Croatian after all and it is a matter of pride to defend the nation.
Your shtick is so old that I can’t believe I’m responding. I must be bored.
Globe and Mail (Canada) column —–> shorturl.at/btOQ5
Classy response by Dalić
Sometimes I wish he would just channel his inner Livnjak and just yell out ‘jebo sam mu mater!’
Don’t worry Maminjo…the Livnjak will come out if we take them down! I look forward to see what happens when we score on the cetnik. I think there might be a yellow card after a goal….
We got this guy saying “F” Croatia, and then we gotta Četnik keeper who doesn’t respect Croatia’s Territorial Integrity…..
…….If this isn’t enough to light a fire up their Arses, I don’t know what will!!
Bush-league comment. If I am a Canadian player I am cringing at this coming from my fearless leader. “Act like you’ve been there before,” they say. Sramota.
I am Canadian, was thrilled how Canada had a chance to inspire a generation of kids to play soccer, til then this pea brain opened his mouth.
I always wanted Croatia to proceed at the expense of Belgium and Morocco now my twisted Hrvat mind wants to see a blow-out, all out criticism of this chihuahua’s comments to hit from all international circles.
I want a scoreless draw with Morocco and Canada’s new idiot to be criticized for being the reason the squad did not score a goal when he had the chance to spark the team with knowing who should have took that penalty kick against Belgium.
A generation of kids robbed of an inspiring WC because of an inexperienced girls coach.
Am I sick? I think so.
If you’re going to F us, at least take us out to dinner first.
LOL
and pay for the bill as well, like a gentleman.
I thought they proclaimed themselves world champs hhahaha.
Now fill the goal of that cetnik.
Get the tractors ready to go back home
Oh I want Croatia to win so badly now
This guy is just a simpleton thinking that Canada played great against Belgium, Belgium is better than Croatia, therefore, Canada will “F” Croatia, it’s that simple. We’ll see.
Serbia playing v well – very organize
Reminds of them vs. Germany 2010
Still gotta put a shot on goal, and can’t just give up over 60% possession
A nice moral victory for the Serbs.
What should have been a 5-0 loss only turned out to be a 2-0 loss.
They can celebrate tonight!
In Lika, they say , it’s the silent dog you must watch not the dog that barks at everything. This puppy of a coach who has won nothing may have given the match to light our fire. If we can’t get up for a crap talking goalie in Canada and this twerp – we should blow up the whole team . Mi smo privaci- Let’s wake up and show it.
Well it’s perfect timing.
We usually start off with a close win or close loss in our opening matches…then get a lot better in our second games.
Last two World Cups were blowout wins for us in the second game. Let’s keep that tradition alive.
And here is the Borjan serbia Dalmatia comment at about 3:15. https://youtu.be/hicfD9FQ5oA
Does anyone how to make it so you hit a YouTube link and it will play From 3:15 in?
Also they need to play this on a loop in the locker room
Like if that and the coach and playing half ass yesterday is not enough then nothing is
When you click share link, at the bottom it says “Start at 1:00, 0:05”. Just click on the box and set the time