Croatia take on 2018 World Cup hosts Russia on Saturday in a quarterfinal clash with a spot in the Final-Four on the line.
So what do you need to know about this Russian side?
They have ZERO impressive wins over the past calendar year!
Russia opened up the Confederations Cup (a small 8-team tournament consisting of every continent’s champion) last summer with a 2-0 win over New Zealand before losing to Portugal (1-0) and Mexico (2-1). Those were Russia’s last competitive matches before the World Cup since they did not need to play in qualifiers. They’ve played eight friendlies and won only one game against South Korea. They drew three times versus Iran, Spain and Turkey and lost the rest of them: to Argentina, Brazil, France and Austria. (We’ll give them a break on the Argentina, Brazil, France losses.)
Every single one of the matches played in the past year for Russia have been on Russian soil, except for the Austria friendly which took place in Innsbruck. They have been coddled and are in for a rude awakening on Saturday.
Sure, they won their first two group stage matches, but they were wins against a weak Saudi Arabia side and an Egypt that likely did not even have star player Mohammed Salah at 100%. They deservedly lost to a much better Uruguay side in the group finale before facing an “out of sorts” Spain team. Russia went through on penalties against Spain but needed a penalty of their own to equalize the game and force extra time. On top of that, the Russians bunkered the entire match and only had ball possession for 26%.
26%!
On paper, Croatia has this game. I’m confident of that. But as we all know, the “beautiful game” is played and finished on the pitch.
Well they definitely got their football education in Europe.
Haha who said that they’re afraid of Croatia meeting Brazil in the final? Neymar made sure they wouldn’t make the final as he thinks nogomet is played while lying on the ground. I see a tough match tomorrow, but a winner in 90 minutes. England to be waiting in the semi.
Belgium in the final.
@Pog- can you really call France, England, & Belgium as european? Alot if African in those teams. Not a racist thing, just a fact. Many Africans are angry that the media is calling it an all euro World Cup, they are feeling “unrecognized”
@Filip-that is the lamest self supporting anonymous post ever.
i hope the lesson has been learnt now. Respect all, Fear none. come on guys. beat russia
I miss some of the old guys that stopped coming here back
Holiga always tries to say something controversial and non sports oriented. Really pisses me off. Stick to the Politics section with your bullshit.
Ziva + Truth x One of the many anonymouses, carry the 1 = Filip.
The story checks out if my math is correct.
6 teams left and they’re all European.
Hallelujah!
So Ziva has a 3rd name now..
Man Holiga is such a wankfest, good comments on twitter, Slavonac
Say what you want about him, but i think truth/ziva might be the best poster on this site. He’s always got something interesting to say
With Brazil out it just gets easier and easier.
As our light shines brighter and brighter all the hood rats begin to scatter more and more..
I have a feeling we are bringing our A+ game tomorrow.
Self hating Hrvati can’t deal with the prosperity.
U boj
Holiga is a bottom feeder or pond scum, take your pick.
@Toronto Croatia – excellent observation about Caldwell and K.J.- LOL
@slavonac
Bravo. Continue to expose that garbage holiga. Just like Ziva and those other trolls.
Torcidasi gave Holiga a forum and now that they’ve kinda backed off, he still has the platform and is tailoring his articles to Anti Croats, Serbs, Brits that read the Guardian and don’t know he’s despised by most…and the few lingering Torcidasi that still want Croatia to lose and Modric to go to jail!
my first comment:
this article is your attempt to bring a dark cloud over the recent success of the @HNS_CFF . your agenda is and has always been about you and your hatred rather than about anything positive, because many reject you and your opinions. you’re trying to sabotage the environment!
second comment:
its not affecting the team environment because Holiga is exaggerating and trying to ruin the mood. look at his comments. every time we have a game he brings up the same topic…he’s hated in Croatia!
The fish stinks from the head.
@slavonac
Can you cut and paste it here. I’m not on Twitter. Holiga is like Ziva Remember bs “ short term pain for long term gain”. Or how about boycott the team and savez.
People are not divided on this team. It is holiga and others who want to create a division.
I commented on the Holiga article on twitter…dazz13…damn he’s a loser!
Any Croats in Las Vegas…we are gathering at MGM Grand Lobby Bar to watch the match, then heading to the arena to watch Stipe smash Cormier!
^ ^
The pot calling the kettle black.
A couple interesting notes
Holiga back again splashing cold water on the party. Talking about how Croatias continue to be very split on the national team and poo-pooes grabar-kitarovic naked hug session with the players post Denmark..
I take the article as mixed. Country is indeed divided. Agreed that the populace is tired of being sold nationalism by criminals in office to their own good.
At the same time, 85 percent of tvs in Croatia were tuned into the game…. Perhaps they do care
I also take issue with holiga always loving to take this dark and gloomy angle. Times are good right now…. Maybe something positive?
Other interesting note is fivethirtyeight recently wrote an article about which players under perform and outperform for their countries.
Toward the top of the outperform last are rakitic and mOdric
Just amusing to see based on how many simpleton comments I’ve heard over the years of both of them(especially rakitic) not playing like they do for club
Maminjo, great post!
Rebic has been great, but I have watched the replay many times. He should have known there was a defender coming from behind and once he went past Schmeichel should have known the take-out (yes red card) tackle was coming. He should have been quicker and tucked it in the open net.
Comments not being posted? Why?
Here’s an interesting little tidbit- we’re unofficial world football champions. To explain, working on the premise that a match between England and Scotland in the late 1800s was the first international match between countries, England as winner of that match became world champs.
Then applying boxing rules which have you losing a title once you lose a fight, England would have lost that title when they lost their first international game. Tracing from them to now, we took the title from Denmark who had taken it from Peru who were champs by these rules heading into the World Cup.
Before we get too excited with this fact, somehow North Korea of all teams was also the champ at one point.
That Rebic breakaway was the total opposite of luck.
1)The ball could have rolled into the goal had he not fallen on it, after that ridiculous foul.
2)That double leg foul takedown should have been a straight red, and we could have scored before extra time was over. We came close even with 11 on the field after the foul. Very unlucky not to get the red.
ps-guys Rebic was just about to regain control after making an awesome move on Schmeichel. Quit saying he could have shot it earlier. He did nothing wrong on that play.
@slavonac and maminjo
I find it interesting some of the people who love to put this team down are no longer on this site. Recall people saying protest against the savez, or that idiot Ziva “ short team pain for long term gain”. How about boycott the team? Now we have the occasional troll. Ignore that garbage.
I am proud of the way these guys and Dalic have performed. Same naprid.
There was a lot more luck involved for the Danes that Rebic didn’t tuck it in before being fouled and that Modric didn’t convert from the spot. Any game that isn’t decided by more than a goal can be called “luck” by a pessimist or fan of the losing team.
The schedule gets a lot tighter over the next week with 3 games to be played for the winners of the quarterfinals in that period. Injuries, suspensions and stamina are going to be a big factor.
Is there official word on the status of our injuries? Are Strinic and Kovacic unavailable?
Truth and I got lucky with your dad last night.
good comments Maminjo!
I always knew Ziva was a pessimist but now I see he’s not a realist. tell me Ziva, were England lucky to get the group they ended up in? how about Russia…were they lucky? or what about the fact that Spain and Portugal were in an easy group? Denmark tied France…and apparently France is much better than us…why haven’t you commented on that?
I always thought you made some good comments but you’re on a shit-streak!
Shut the F up Truth Troll. Nobody cares what you say, and nobody wants you here.
Truth, Dalic and Ladic got Lucky with your Mama. Lol…
Yep, as someone once said when she was told she was lucky to be so talented, in reply she said, yep, and the harder i train, the luckier i get !
hehe
Luck? I actually think this team was pretty unlucky.
We were in the Group of Death. Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland were in our group and we win the group with 9 points and players rested.
Argentina popped 3 goals past France on their way down, Iceland is a Euro2016 quarterfinalist, and Nigeria is Nigeria. Those latter two teams should not have been Pot 3 and Pot 4 teams. We were very unlucky to be drawn into this group and we blew right by everyone.
We earned our top spot in our group (giving us the right to play a 2nd placed team), but I think we were still unlucky to be drawn against the new Greeks (Denmark) who are matchup nightmare for us (they are physical, opportunist and have an unorthodox style of play resulting in a 19 game unbeaten streak).
We played poorly, yet still managed to break that stubborn Danish defence in the end (with Modric freeing up Rebic). Somehow, Rebic can’t poke it into the net prior to being taken down, the Danish defender doesn’t get a red card, and Modric misses that penalty in the end.
That’s a HUGE string of BAD LUCK in the final minutes of the game.
Our only luck this tournament has been Subasic saving three penalties (but the dude has a career 64% penalty rate, so he was expected to save two).
Drawing Russia instead of Spain can be argued as having luck, but I think Spain stunk this World Cup and we would have beaten them. We could beat Russia, but it’s expected to be raining (more bad luck right there) and physical (which could result in several yellow card suspensions for our next game).
We haven’t been that lucky at all when comparing to others in this tournament and past tourneys as well.
A win againist Russia would finally break the mental midget disease this team has had last 3 cycles. Even if we lose in the final four.
Ziva, luck plays a huge role in getting this far. You also have to earn your luck by getting in the position to have it. The 98 team was also lucky, but unlucky too. Thuram never scored any goals again after that semi final game.
it’s funny how much luck plays a role in all this (as i predicted in my forecast for the danish game!)
imagine croatia beats this russia team, which on a level playing field they should….this generation will be hailed as heros and raised to the level of the 98 group
people will write comments about how they have fight, character, and skill and how dalic is a tactical mastermind
but there was an extreme chance croatia could’ve just not lucked out in that penalty kick out and the entire script would be different
not because the players were any different in character….or the coach any different in ability…but because of pure luck…that shootout was a pure coin toss
subasic saved the final shot with his foot….modric hit the same exact shot and just barely snuck it over schmeichals foot….luck
so, as the biggest hrvat and domoljub out there, i’m excited for croatia to win this next game and rival the 98 group
but i’ll also be equally excited to see the faults of human nature on this board…the hyperbole and analysis with absolute conviction given by many (especially the diaspora) that would’ve been completely different if the coin had just landed on tails instead
Kako prenosi AP, disciplinska komisija kaznila je Hrvatsku zbog prikazivanja pića neovlaštenog proizvođača, a Fifa je dala ekskluzivna prava samo jednoj kompaniji čiji se proizvodi smiju vidjeti na utakmicama.
I read that he was issued a warning. HNS got fined for a marketing issue.
dafuq? he got fined for paying tribute to a dead friend? WTF?
fucking hell
Here you go Ante, some other site singing from the same hymnbook as u:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/105283296/world-cup-russias-performance-and-the-countrys-history-are-raising-doping-suspicions
We just got fined for 60000 Euros for using non-approved beverages in the Denmark game. https://www.msn.com/de-de/sport/wm/falsche-getr%C3%A4nke-verteilt-%E2%80%93-kroatien-muss-60500-euro-strafe-zahlen/ar-AAzE9Jl?ocid=spartanntp
Jesus. Fuck FIFA. Where’s Svircic? We need another fundraiser.
Subasic has been fined this morning by FIFA for wearing his Hrvoje Custic t-shirt under his uniform.
Of all the organizations to fine someone for this. SMH
Can’t believe Caldwell is in his 30s still.
The dude looks like he’s 53 years old.
Sportsnet is a joke, they know nothing about international sport. I actually think that KJ has some legit footy knowledge. Caldwell on the other hand, took too many headers hahah. Saw him play at the docks one time too. I think Bradley took over captaincy short after.
The Savez has tweeted out a support statement to the soccer team of kids stranded in the cave in Thailand. Also read that cave experts from Croatia are on their way to assist.
Kovacic in for Perisic
Pivaric in for Strinic
Kramaric in for Mandzukic
Remember this!
You know BZ that’s a really good point about Miocic expending energy on the Hrvatska game. You might be right, that’s definitely not to his advantage. And i didn’t even know about the birth so yeah it’ll be tricky for him for sure.
The Columbia v England game is on 24 hr replay in Canada …soooooper!
Absolutely! Keep in touch!
@Bobby V
🙂
The greatest show ever!! Period!!
Beat Russia!
Billy, you bastard, where have you been!? I put that SCTV clip up 5 years ago and you still remember – Svaka cast!
Is your son Ante Rebic? He plays the same way you did against those kids before you got noticed by the Bay Leaves.
Any of the Canadians who watch TSN notice how that one soccer analyst Caldwell says K.J. every 5 seconds? Its pretty annoying… but would make for a good drinking game.
I guess Nikola Kalinić will be buying his playoff tickets in…….
Philadelphia!!!!!
What the hell does Atletico see in Kalinic? What if he refuses to go in for Griezmann in the 93rd minute in their first game?
Oh, yeah, wait, never mind.
No. Single yellows are cleared.
If Rakitić or anyone else on a yellow gets one against Russia, then they’re suspended for the semis.
The rule was put in place to ensure nobody gets a second yellow suspension for the finals.
Vida will get a red card.
Aren’t cards cleared after this game?
So we can go foul happy as long as it’s not a red
@Poglavnik
@Iggy
Well said. Every two years it becomes everyone’s default team in Canada. Suddenly interested in soccer and suddenly hardcore and suddenly knowledgeable. Engerland!!!
And the media hype crap surrounding that team here (that is not England) …..drives me nuts.
I want to sing Sloan’s line “It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans” but fans is so loose a term that I kinda hate the team, too.
@Poglavnik
@Iggy
Well said. Every two years it becomes everyone’s default team in Canada. Suddenly interested in soccer and suddenly hardcore and suddenly knowledgeable. Engerland!!!
And the media hype crap surrounding that team here (that is not Canada) …..drives me nuts.
I want to sing Sloan’s line “It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans” but fans is so loose a term that I kinda hate the team, too.
Wow Nikola Kalinic to Atletico… this guy must have an insanely good agent.
If you guys think you have nauseating anglophilia going on you should try living in Australia. Every Engerand game leads the news and is from their perspective, it’s as if there’s no other teams in the WC. It’s fucking repulsive.
@gbh
I’m guessing that’s because Sharman and KJ are actually British hence their knowledge.
Whereas all these other 2nd and 3rd generation wannabes, born and raised in Canada don’t know shit.
In my humble opinion..
Also would guess it has something to do with them having PL games and they just love to promote themselves and act like that’s all that there is.
Then that little El Clasico game rolls around and you would barely know it on those channels.
^ gbvh
AWOL I agree. You would think England is Canada for all the love they get here.
That said, Sharman was spilling his love for this Croatian team even after the PK wins of both Croatia and England. Kristian Jack has played up Hrvatska too … but the England love is nauseating, to put it politely.
I can see Croatia going to the Semi Finals but not defeating Brazil if they are in final.
lol
Maminjo on the other tread said he’d fuck a goat.
I’d probably let a goat fuck ME if we win the Cup.
Fuck you who posted that above!
I’m willing to have gay sex with my friend if we beat Russia .
Spot on AWOL!
Can’t stand McCowan. He trashes soccer every chance he gets yet he thinks baseball and golf are entertaining(?!).
We have this game, Croatia 3 Russia 1
I just hope that Dalic does all his homework re yellows and penalties. Previously, he didn’t let Rakitic get suspended (on purpose) for the Iceland game. I know word on the street is that they’re looking at that but com’on that’s hard to prove.
He also had Pivaric as our 4th shooter!!! And Rakitic as 5th! (see Portugal’s earlier exit a couple years ago when Ronaldo was slotted to go 5th and never got the chance since the 4th guy missed)
I think that with the yellows situation; Rakitic and Vrsaljko are the only ones who are hard to replace. They need to come off in the 2nd half if we are winning comfortably.
One step at a time boys. We need to bring our A game on Saturday.
Id rather be our team playing a non host team in the quarter finals because the refs will favour the host nation with the VAR as well. The Russian goalkeeper is in great form at the moment he done some great saves in Extra Time and in the penalty shootout. Also in some of our big games both Modric and Rakitic can go missing ie against Brazil and Mexico in World Cup 2014.
Had to laugh at Lovren’s response at the news conference. Someone posed a question about how they didn’t play well in the Denmark game. Good for him.
We need an attacking formation against Russia. They will undoubtedly bunker. 4-3-3 might be in play, but my guess is the regular 4-2-3-1 with Modric playing in a more advanced role and control the ball more. An early goal for us is important.
I’ve said it before but Dalic has been great at altering his formations and some in game adjustments depending on the flow of the game.
Just watched today’s Mccowan sport show in Canada:
It is unfortunate Canada soccer fans have to endure sportscasters bias coverage and that England should win every WC. TSN and Sportsnet have no credibility as they only hire pro England commentators……. Sorry Just venting.
Best things Russia has going for it, and something we can’t underestimate is belief and hope.
That shit is priceless and they’ve now got the whole country thinking they can make it to the final.
Form is everything.
Our last 12 months (until Dalic took over) wasn’t very impressive either..
Miocic ain’t loosing. What a double header Saturday croatia in the morning miocic in the evening!!!
I am thinking Miocic might lose, not because he isn’t the greatest fighter of all time (cause he is) but:
1)Miocic gonna expend too much adrenaline watching our game vs Russia. win or lose. Game is same day of his bout. It is never good to have those kind of highs and lows on the same day of an athletic event.
2) His baby daughter might be born that weekend, but his wife will not tell him. Impossible not to be on the back of his mind.
How did they draw 3-3 with spain? surprising.
Anyway Coric loses 1st round and Cilic loses 2nd round, pretty bad news. Vekic still going along but don’t expect too much from her but who knows i guess
obviously this is a good time to have a wimbledon failure since we’re all concentrating on one thing.
Would’ve been good though, if we won v Russia, Cilic won and Stipe won all on the same day lol.. real Hrvatska party day that would’ve been; we can still get 2 out of 3 tho ! 😀
Let’s not get too cocky. Russia has home field advantage and they will play their asses off in front of their fans. Russia will be physical and might bunker in until penalty kicks.
Hope Dalic has something up his sleeve, other than playing Pivaric or an injured Strinic. Would love to see that attacking 3-5-2 that was rumored. I’d do this to bust a bunker wide open:
—Mandzu—Kramaric—
———Modric———–
-Perisic—Rakitic—-Rebic
————-Broz——
—Vida–Lovren–Vrsaljko—