Osijek Fall Apart, Slaven Belupo Crush in Europa League

Photo: DalmacijaNews

Written by Colin O’ Haravić

A quick goal for Osijek did little for them and their fans except build their hopes higher for Sweden’s Kalmar FF to knock them down. 

A young Osijek team showed their lack of discipline and inexperience after scoring first early in the match.  Five minutes after the whistle blew to start the game, Ivan Miličević took the lead for the bijelo-plavi and gave their fans something to cheer about.  They soon turned a promising game into a frustratingly agonizing one as they squandered chance after chance in front of the goal, leaving an open door for the Swedish team to walk through. 

By the 35th minute, the Swedes had enough and sent forward a ball that the Osijek defense could not handle and found themselves tied with a team that they were clearly better than.

To make matters worse, Osijek’s Lešković received his second yellow of the game for a reckless tackle in the 63rd minute and put the Croatians at a great disadvantage.  They lasted only three minutes before conceding a second goal. Their misery would grow worse as they saw the game slip away after a third Kalmar goal was scored, leaving the final score at 3-1.

The young players of Osjiek revealed to Europe that they could possibly be a competitive team in their own HNL, but prove to be too immature for the big stage. The unconvincing win over Andorra’s Santa Coloma was a preview of Osijek’s inability to compete against bigger teams.

“No one should be surprised what awaits us in a significantly stronger opponent than Santa Coloma,” Osijek coach Stanko Mršić said prior to the match.  “Studying the details of our previous game warns us that we have a seriously difficult task a head of us.”   

It will be extremely difficult for the squad to go into Sweden after going down two away goals next Thursday, but they will keep their heads high and will remember how they got this far. After the match, coach Mršić said that he wants his team to go to Sweden and get any victory they can, and will do anything to get it. 

In other Europa League news, Slaven Belupo crushed Northern Irish side Portadown 6-0 in their first leg tie, with a hat trick from Nikola Rak and a two goal performance from Tomislav Bušić.