DINAMO WILL HAVE TO WAIT 2 WEEKS FOR PAOK
Written by Ante B
Horrendous, awful, no fight in them, embarrassing, lack of intestinal fortitude, grotesque, and abysmal are only some terms that describe Dinamo’s, using the term very lightly, performance, tonight after falling to Villareal in a disappointing 0:3 defeat at El Madrigal stadium. Dinamo now falls to third place in Group D with seven points behind group leaders Villareal and PAOK who now have nine and eight points respectively.
Dinamo played a solid game for the first twenty minutes until eventually showing their authentic Croatian side by completely giving up for the next seventy. It was obvious that the Dinamo players themselves knew that they were going to lose and decided not to even show up for the second half with exceptionally horrid performances registered by Milan Badelj and Sammir, who was subbed in the 68th minute of action. Ante Rukavina made his debut back with the Modri for the first time after his altercation with teammate Šime Vrsaljko. Striker Fatos Beqiraj might have been physically present on the field but that was overshadowed by his lack of play.
In the 21st minute, Villareal stud Giuseppe Rossi converted a clear as day penalty kick committed by Dinamo goalkeeper, Ivan Kelava, on Marco Ruben. Let’s mark that under foreshadowing. Rossi and Ruben combined for all three of Villareal’s goals with the other two coming in the 62nd and 80th minute.
Despite giving up three goals, Dinamo’s all-star today was in fact Ivan Kelava. Kelava, who practically has not let a goal into his net in roughly 1,000 minutes of league play, saved Dinamo from an even bigger disaster. Kelava saved countless shots on goal and even stopped a penalty in the 86th minute after captain Igor Bišćan received a direct red card after an intentional hand ball. Dinamo will be without Bišćan’s services for their group finale in two weeks.
After today’s performance, the debate of Kelava possibly playing as a back-up goalkeeper for the national team now can hold a shred of merit to it.
Villareal completely dominated Dinamo in every aspect of the game on both offense and defense. However, none of this came as a shock as many people expected Dinamo to lose.
The other Dinamo playmaker of the night belongs to Club Brugge’s Serbian international Stefan Ščepović who kept Dinamo alive with a late goal coming in the 89th minute to hold PAOK to a draw. The impact of that goal is outstanding for Dinamo, as now a goal differential is no longer in play for the final game of the qualifying campaign.
Dinamo’s “do or die” final game in the qualifying stage comes on December 15th at a frozen Maksimir stadium against Greek side PAOK. To advance, there is no other option besides victory. Dinamo took the calculated risk of placing all of their eggs in one basket with this upcoming one game decider. If Dinamo wins, their long wait of hibernating in Europe after forty years will become a reality.
THIS IS HOW DINAMO’S DAY WENT…
If they play the same way they did against Villareal, Dinamo does not stand a chance in Europe.
Villarreal: Diego Lopez – Angel Lopez, Mucacchio, Marchena, Catala – Cani, Bruno Soriano, Borja Valero – Santi Cazorla – Marco Ruben, Rossi
Bench: Juan Carlos, Gonzalo, Nilmar, Altidore, Senna, Jefferson Montero, Mario Gaspar
Coach: Juan Carlos Garrido
Dinamo: Kelava – Vrsaljko, Bišćan, Tonel, Cufre – Badelj, Callelo, Sammir, Ademi, Ibanez – Beqiraj
Bench: Skender, Mesarić, Etto, Tomečak, Barbarić, Rukavina, Morales
Coach: Vahid Halilhodžić
-Ante B. from Frozen Northern California
Written by Živa Istina
Postgame Report:
Dinamo sucked today. Still have chance to advance.
The end.
perisic 2 goals today
@AnteB, nice work with the post-game, you're developing some "chops" in the writing department, keep it up.
I watched the game and dinamo played a pretty good first half, but they are clearly outclassed by Villa. When you can bring Marcos Senna and Nilmar off of the bench that's pretty frickin loaded with talent. Villa will probably win this tournament, so there's no shame in the result. Kelava gave it his all, and he's got some potential, but he's got to improve his "ground game" ie with his feet, to take the next step.
@Boris, good article, thanks for sharing.
Miami MAC CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nice article on cro trio at kaiserslautern:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1345572.html
@ anonymous
i loved valderrama. one of the best afros in the history of the game, and a hell of a player. that columbia team should've won the 1994 WC in the US. they had the talent.
@ michael
while vahid looks good so far, my old man (who is retired and splits his time between the US and ZG) tells me that the old guard dinamo fans don't like him. unless he wins the champions league, he won't win over the old purgeri, who will probably never accept as their team's coach a balija who shot himself in the ass in the war in Mostar in 1992.
Hard to believe but true, Dinamo has a fan in Colombia.
Millonarios is very similar to Dinamo, The both are from the capital city and Blue.
If dinamo has been waiting almost 40 years to hibernate in Europe, Millonarios has been waiting for more than 20 years to get the Colombian Title again.
I am fan of the Junior, Junior is a Club from Barranquilla in the north shore and was the Club of the Best Player in the History of my Country Carlos "Pibe" Valderrama.
@Ante B
I think you need one of those Ricola pipes to get the attention of your Dinamovci in the diaspora.
—————-
Ha! Will NEVER happen. I've been trying after 15 years and only have run into a handfull of real Dinamo fans here in the US
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=848185&sec=global&root=global&cc=5901
Vahid Halilhodzic was mentioned in ESPN Soccernet today with the following for those of you too lazy to copy n paste
Vahid Halilhodzic, fired by Ivory Coast after the team's showing at this year's African Nations Cup, has been a roaring success since taking charge of Dinamo Zagreb in August. Introducing an attractive style of football, they are currently seven points clear of Hajduk Split at the top of the table and have beaten Villarreal in the Europa League.
The talking point of late, though, is booze.
Amid rumours of partying in the squad, Halilhodzic warned his players: "Alcohol is very dangerous for the muscles. I have two degrees, so I know what happens to muscles when alcohol gets into the blood. The likelihood of injury increases by three to five times."
Two days after that speech, Dinamo won 2-0 away at sixth-placed Rijeka and the coach announced that, on their return, he had taken his players out for a night on the tiles.
"I took the players out for a drink at 2am," he said. "Beer is good to settle you down after all that effort, because it has protein. Beer can be good after an exhausting match. Even advisable.
i think so of you might be too harsh on dinamo. After all, this time, unlike the first game, Villarreal decided to play their regulars. The disparity in quality if players is high and it showed on the field. After Dinamo missed their chance n the first half you knew once they gave up a goal it would be a disaster. In amny aspects much like the hajduk game on Wednesday. Looked good early, but once they failed to score on their chances that was it.
As for England not getting the WC. I think it was more the FIFA executive committee giving a big fuck you to Engalnd because of all the media undercover reports that have come out in recent weeks. We know these guys are shady characters, the English press exposed them and in return they gave the England bid a big FU.
Russia makes much more sense from a "growing the game angle" and brining the WC to new markets. I still think some money might have been exchanged, but I can not argue the Russia selection.
Qatar is another story. How FIFA expects fans to deal with 110 in the summer is crazy. You can not air condition the entire nation during an outdoor sporting event.
Russia was so obvious when Putin decided to "stay in Russia and only fly out to Zurich if Russia would win" to avoid the Russian corruption allegation. Russia made a few people "offers that they couldn't refuse" and the rest is history.
Qatar, I didn't know they have THIS much money.
After the smoke cleared, I thought: The rest of the world hates the US and England. Why would they vote for them? England-USA might be two of the most powerful countries on the face of the earth, but "football is NOT coming home". In the end, the votes might have come from the heart as everyone stuck it to both England-USA, just like they have been sticking it to the rest of the world. Payback is a bitch.
Even if Croatia make the world cup final, you will not see me in Qatar. 120 degree weather? A country 1/5th the size of Croatia? 1.6 mil people? NO thank you.
However, $$$ can buy just about anything. The stadiums will top Japan-Korea from 2002. Qatar should save a few bucks for a favorable draw and 4 points to get them through to the second round.
@Ziva istina
Im happy for the Ruskis, even though they stole it.
Great postgame Dinamo report.
@dinamodennis
"dinamo-villareal 1-1"
Really? What were you hoping for another Senna red card?
I was pulling for the Aussies too.
@Ivo Miljanovic
"I'd rather see one country bid winning for the 2018 cause a two country one will mess up the European spot (to be read as one spot less for Croatia). "
I agree with this. Also, FIFA took this into consideration as well.
"About the Russian bid, ja, what is that about? I have the same feeling."
Russia broke bread. Plain and simple. Putin knew Russia won when he decided to stay in Russia to play it off like nothing happened.
@anonymous
Welcome. I was in Colombia last summer. I take it you are a Dinamo Zagreb fan? I'm sorry 🙂
I love your country. Now I support Millionarios.
@Ante B
I think you need one of those Ricola pipes to get the attention of your Dinamovci in the diaspora.
@Boris
I agree with you on the stadiums. I'm not a fan of air condition. I bet there will be people dropping like flies after exiting the 75 degree stadiums and getting hit by 120 degrees of dry heat.
Just like Burt Reynolds said in one of his hollywood hits about Miami "This is Miami hmm… They can keep it." Thats my take on Qatar.
the video of the proposed qatar stadiums looks pretty cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAi3GLQyOI
i love that england didn't get the WC in 2018. fuck them. russia will surely have better hookers.
i was a little surprised by the qatar pick. i'm sure that some FIFA officials just got millions deposited secretly in a swiss bank account.
the US would've been great because seeing Cro play here in the states would be ideal. oh well.
I don't think they showed a lack of heart/fight, its just Villarreal is at another level. Dinamo will never face half of this competition in the HNL or even in most of their European matches. What HNL teams actually press Dinamo and can actually complete quick forward passes? First half I though they did OK for what it was worth, but yes the second half was a disaster. At the end, the game at PAOK is all that matters.
But what this match did show is that Dinamo are no where near the quality to compete in the CL. They will just be another Zilina/Partizan etc… I know its silly to talk about the CL right now, but that is Vaha's ambition with the club and they need a lot of work to do, because there are better teams than Villarreal there…maybe its better just to stay in the Europa League lol
How was that a clear penalty? He got the ball
^^^^^^Only CSR could bring somebody back from the grave.
Ante Kvartuc had a better game at soccer city this week than dinamo had today on the field. SkySports just in Dinamo get a rating of 2.5
1) I wouldn't say "Dinamo sucked" as that is harsh. The disparity in the talent level between Villareal and Dinamo is enourmous. The fact that they still can win the group is shocking.
2) What was Biscan thinking when sticking his hand out in a 3-0 game? Is he related to Stjepan Tomas?
Can't complain. We have a great chance to advance playing at home
If only Kvartuc and Svircic would allow that.
post-game report:
Dinamo sucked today. Still have chance to advance.
the end.
Hey why don't one of you genius' step up to the plate and write an official Dinamo post-game wrap up? I already got zidoved out of a pre-game report.
Dinamovci, di ste? You've been called out.
typical croatian happening. miss that early chance (just when i was starting to believe in the montenegrian) and pay for it on the final result; however, villareal were the better side the entire match, especially in the second half. it seemed that in the first 15 of the 2nd that dinamo played about 7 square balls in the middle of the park straight to a yellow shirt. it was just downhill from there.
biscan's red was stupid. you're down 3 with 5 to go and you are worried about a 4th going in? he's captain and should be thinking clearer than that.
i agree, that if barbaric gets the start against paok, we could be in for a long winter. as for kelava, he's been touted for the past few years to be "the next one". he's a very good shot stopper, but is clueless with the feet. that being said, he's far better than subasic.
what a craker of a goal by paok today. thankfully, brugge got one.
how much money exchanged hands today in zurich in order for qatar to be handed the 2022 games??? that's a farce!
Michael…
first half was actually ok, Dinamo had some decent chances, the best being Beqiraq all alone in front of goal yet he missed. After the first goal Dinamo's tempo fell, but they battled through the first half.
Second half was a disaster, Villarreal were toying with Dinamo. Dinamo barely got out of their own half passing and they resorted to long balls.
Kelava saved their ass, even saved a penalty, second game in a row too
I think he is based on form rather than reputation, but whatever. I can't comment on Kresic because I don't see him play much, but at least Kelava plays unlike Pletikosa. But then again, you are talking to a guy who believes the guys # 18-23 in the squad should be under 23 years old. Most nations these days carry a young #3 goalkeeper, and that is what Bilic promised when dropping Galinovic
As for Biscan, it will be a loss, I have no faith in Barbaric, this guy struggles in the HNL. Though, I doubt PAOK will be very open in the match
The main positive from today is that PAOK drew Club Brugge. This means that a win by Dinamo and they are through.
Had PAOK won, Dinamo would've need to have won by 2 goals or more, to ensure they don't get screwed by goal differential.
Didn't see the game, how bad was it?
because he is not the third best croatian GK, that is why.
Keep it up at this level for an extended period of time and he can possibly get his way to a call up.
Calm down, I didn't say a starter, but he should at least be the third goalkeeper. He isn't perfect, but he is on great form. It doesn't really matter because the next NT match is in three months
He is also younger, why not have him train with the NT at the least
Biscan has been a fixture at the back for Dinamo, even scoring an occasional goal. How much will he be missed for the PAOK match?
Kelava on the national team?????? based on what???? A decent game in a 3-0 loss (third goal could have been saved). He played well today, but he needs more big matches before he is on the repka. I agree on Subasic, but this guy is not the answer either.
Even with the bad result, Dinamo controls its own destiny. They have never been in such a situation so it wont be easy for them.
Shockingly bad, but this game shows Kelava definetely deserves to be on the NT, especially over Subasic.
Not much you can say, Villarreal are a top La Liga side, Dinamo don't face this pressing or passing in the HNL or any other qualifying Euro matches
Biscan sent off meaning most likely Barbaric will play against PAOK..yikes!
Only good news is that its still in Dinamo's hands, they have to beat PAOK at home, while the pressure will be on them, I would have taken this scenario when the draw was made back in September
@goldenchild,
swiiiiiing by
Where can i watch the game?
Dinamo have no chance honestly…but they still control their destiny, they HAVE to beat PAOK at home
2018 in Russia did not surprise me, but I would have preferred Spain/Portugal. I don't want to see England, only because they might actually win lol
2022 shocked me, I know there were rumors Qatar was a lock but still I said "wow" when it was official. I will give them a chance and it has potential, but its wierd seeing a country smaller than Croatia host a major tournament
Hi guys grettings from Colombia. I think that England will earn the 2018 WC and USA the 2022 WC.
Win in Spain is a huge challenge for Dinamo but not is imposible, The reason give me 3 – 1 defeat for Dinamo but my Heart say me that today the miracle will hapen 1-2 for Dinamo.
@ Denis
About the Russian bid, ja, what is that about? I have the same feeling.
Y para el que escribió viva Villareal: ¿no tienes algún blog sobre fútbol español donde postear? ¿Tan aburrido estás que tienes aue escribir en uno de fútbol croata?
I'd rather see one country bid winning for the 2018 cause a two country one will mess up the European spot (to be read as one spot less for Croatia). For some reason I think it's going to be Russia, don't know why.
About the 2022, I think is between USA and Australia. Doing it in Qatar would be like doing it in a football complex and Japan and South Korea just hosted one. Two things to keep in mind: the rotation system, which benefits Australia, and the size of the market, which benefits the US bid.
Dinamo vs Villareal 1-1
England
Austrailia (But I hope its the states so I can come down and watch Hrvatska!!!)
P.S Sorry Hajduk
China will get the WC in 2026, so that rules out Australia for 2022.
I put nothing past the crooks in FIFA and it would not surprise me if Qatar gets the bid for 2022. All logic says USA for the bid, but the pocket book says Qatar.
I hate everything England, so personally I would like to see them lose out on the bid. That way the BBC has more fuel to follow up on their Panorama program with more details on the crooks in FIFA.
Here's my two cents on WC2018 & WC2022
WC2018 – England or Russia. Something tells me that the Russians bought this one. Spain hosted the cup in 82, Portugal hosted the Euro in 2004.. together? Take 2 European spots? Not gonna happen. Holland-Belgium- see Spain-Portugal
WC2022 –
Korea & Japan have to wait. NO chance.
Qatar – 1/5 the size of Croatia. 1.6 million people. They might have $$$$, just not enough. Not gonna happen.
That leaves the kangaroos and the Yankees.
Soccer is #2 sport in Australia. Soccer is #10 sport in USA. Fifa wants to change this. Also, Australia don't have enough Cities to host. Melbourne and Sydney would have to host 1/2 the games, with Perth and Brisbane picking up a few games.
I just dont see the Aussies pipping the USA…
Russia, USA… England will have to qualify
I think England is a lock for '18 since they haven't hosted the WC since 1966.
The 2022 bid is a funny one. Not a chance in hell that Japan or Korea gets it. They just co-hosted in 2002. The USA's soccer market still hasn't been tapped and a WC in the States would be huge for Nike and Adidas, however, they're not the ones voting. And there's already talks of the MLS/investors building another soccer-only stadium in Los Angeles on the site of the current Sports Arena at USC.
Australia would be fun, but once again, just like in 2010…it would be another winter World Cup. All you Aussies on CSR, how are the winters down under?
Qatar is promising because they will build, build, build for this Cup because they have the $$$$. However, have you seen the size of Qatar? It's tiny! Only 4400 square miles of land? Yhe great state of Connecticut has 5500. Where are they going to put stadiums?
Unless they play it like an old school AYSO soccer tournament where the same 20 teams play on 2 fields…seriously though?
Well written. Ante B you must be a genius! I smell a 1-0 Dinamo win!
Naprid Plavi
-U-
Great write-up Ante B, unfortunately for you guys I think you'll lose 2-1 but will make up for it in the final game.
On another note, WC Site predictions for 2018 and 2022.
I think England will get the 2018 bid. The 2022 bid will be a battle between the Aussies and Qatar. I have a gut feeling the the Middle Easterners will get the bid for their aggressive, functional, and recycle stadium ideas.
What do you guys think?
2-0 Yellow Submarine
a dull 0-0 draw.
larry bird legendo!
Thanks!
Cuj, svako ima pravo na svoje misljenje. Head says Villareal, but the heart can't go against Dinamo.
Naprijed Plavi!
Ajmo Dinamo-nema predaje!
Ante B,
Excellent pregame. I wish Dinamo luck, however, if I am rooting for Dinamo that would be like me throwing on a Larry Bird jersey.
Pound for pound its like David vs. Golaith. I just don't see Dinamo getting a result. Europa League always go over. 3-1 Villarreal.
why would you be on this website?
VIVA VILLAREAL!