Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitić had to be helped off the field Sunday in Schalke’s third place game against Ivica Olić and new team Bayern Munich in the 2009 T-Home Cup. Hamburg and Stuttgart also participated in the German pre-season tournament.
Rakitić hurt his right ankle five minutes into the match and could only hop off the field with the assistance of trainers. Preliminary reports are saying that no ankle ligaments were torn but only severely bruised. Although it’s still early to tell, Rakitić should miss 4-6 weeks. This would mean no Belarus match for him on August 12th. We’ll keep a close eye on Ivan’s condition.
Ivica Olić made his Bayern Munich debut in the same match that Rakitić got hurt. Check out Olić’s first efforts for the Bavarian side which led to an own goal. Bayern won the game 2-1 to claim third place in the pre-season tournament. Danijel Pranjić also made his Bayern debut as he was subbed in the game in the 31′.
Mladen Petrić scored a beautiful free kick to help Hamburg secure a 3-0 win over Stuttgart to claim the 2009 T-Home Cup championship. It’s a nice way for Petrić to start off the season. Hopefully he doesn’t miss Olić too much.
In completely off topic soccer talk, check out this ‘super bicycle kick’ goal scored by Vissel Kobe’s Tsuneyasu Miyamoto in Japan. I’ve never seen a player get so much air like that before. Simply amazing!
YOU GOT TO LOVE THESE JAPANESE COMMENTATORS!
Information courtesy of NET.hr
Kovac and Simic are only good for one more year. Kovac has benefitted Dinamo as you can't have only young and inexperienced players. As you know Dinamo always rotate their team. Simic will be rotated with Biscan, Kovac, Ibanez, Tomecak, Etto and Glavina. We can't count on Barbaric as he's rubbish. Look what Kalinic did to him in the Cup match. At least Simic won't be made to look a fool by HNL players. Remember this is the league where Robert Spehar and Tomislav Erceg top scored when they were in their mid 30's and also where Miljenko Mumlek and Davor Vugrinec still look like amongst the best in the league. Simic shouldn't struggle there. He's purely to add depth.
Considering the backline would feature Simic and Kovac when he returns, I think its fair to say those two are not speedsters.
How can it be slow – when you have Ibanez, Etto, Tomecak, Glavina as possible defensive options who are all quick. The whole of Dinamo's team is quite pacy – Sammir, Sivonjic, Mandza, Badelj all strong runners. Simic will cover and is a player which Barbaric never will be. We don't have another centre back in club so naturally we need cover.
As for Jertec he will be better at another club – but Marian Buljat was impressive last season. Aracic, Jurica Buljat, Rubil are not good replacements for him. Defensively he's rubbish yeah, but going forward Hajduk won't find another full back like him that can get forward and create. Also they are both under contract (Jertec till 2013) and if you look on the website they are not on this seasons roster. Is this wasting money again. Basically if they don't want them why sign them.
Regards Kalinic i believe he's going soon to either Bologna, Zaragoza or Portsmouth.
Kalinic has not refused to play for Hajduk. He refused to sign a new contract. Hajduk should not play him at this point, because if he were to get injured then no money will come in for him.
Porta was not signed….The coach and the board did not want him.
Tomasov has done nothing so far, he keeps missing easy chances.
Jertec and Buljat are not playing because they stick, especially Jertec.
Adding Simic to Dinamo might make their backline the slowest in croatia.
If that's so then that makes Kalinic look extremely unprofessional. I believe Anas Sharbini is in the same situation where his contract is up in 2010, but he's still playing friendlies with Rijeka. Kalinic just looks like he is trying to force a move rather than letting it happen naturally – which you'd imagine if he scored his goals he'd get a transfer. This can't be going down well with interested clubs. I mean Ibricic also had a good season last year yet he's actually looked impressive in pre-season and is just playing his football. Kalinic looks like one season of success has all gone to his head. Really the guy is ahead of himself as he's not done it in the Under 21's and not played in UEFA Cup football. He could have at least mastered all that first before saying he wants to go to a big club. Have Hajduk signed his Richard Porta guy yet. I don't think they need him. Players like Ticinovic, Tomasov are doing just fine.
Re: Tom
Do you know why Jertec and Marian Buljat aren't playing? Are they injured. Hajduk can make use of those two. i hope they're not being released. Sinisa Linic has gone to Isreal. I think there's lack of players available now – esp on frees. Goran Ljubojevic, Marko Babic, Kruno Lovrek, Hjorve Vukovic and Stjepan Poljak and that's about it.
Rumour is that Bologna may raise their bid to £5 or £6m for Kalinic and that that will be accepted. If that happens maybe they have no need for Ibricic to go and maybe could add someone like Jurica Vranjes as Skoko is prob only good for one more season.
Regards us i think Dario Simic will be a Dinamo player by the end of the week.
RE: Kalinic
I don't believe Hajduk has anything to gain by playing Kalinic at this point. He has nothing left to prove. Instead, his "resume" is already complete. That is, his value is based on what he has done at Hajduk thus far in his career.
Now, if he was determined to lead them through the Europa league, then he might drive up his value for next season. Clearly, that's not gonna happen.
I believe he has hurt his own prospects by insisting he'll not return to the team this season. I believe he should take a hefty raise and get on with playing, showing he can play on a bigger stage, e.g. hopefully in the Europa League.
In any case, I have lost patience with him and he certainly won't get any sympathy from me.
If he gets injured in practice then Hajduk will get nothing for him… Hajduk has two options. They either sell him or bench him and remove him from the team if he does not sign a new contract. If they do not sell him, they risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season. By benching him they will decrease any interest in him. it's a move that you only do if you see there are no buyers and he refuses to extend his deal.
i think Rakitic will be okay. I think Krizanac back, Kranjcar back and Eduardo will improve Croatia by 30%. Rakitic will return to bench and will be an excellant sub to have. No problem about last season as he's still young.
That Petric free kick was beautiful. I predict a very good season for Petric and Modric this year. I actually think Petric will be better without Olic as he doesn't particularly know how to play off him. He prefers playing off a target man like Guerrero or a central striker. I have total confidence in Petric when he's not given the responsibility of the penalty box scorer. when he's allowed to float he can do good things.
I really hope Klasnic's move to Dortmund goes through in next two weeks to. Has anyone read that Hajduk rejected £4m bid from Bologna for Kalinic. That's crazy. That's a fair price for Kalinic. He should also be playing in the friendly matches. Doesn't make no sense for him to not be in practice – unless he's injured.
bad luck for ivan….lackluster season with schalke last year, this season is already off to a bad start for him. hang in there Ivane!!
Looks like he will be fine and only miss 4 days of training. If he plays like he did last year then he is better off injured for the Belarus game.
if he rolled his ankle, then there probably is some ligament damage and he's probably out for a couple of weeks.
but if he just got kicked and there is a bruise, he should be fine in a week.
lets hope for a speedy recovery for our young star