ĆORLUKA(L) & KRANJČAR(R) IN THEIR NEW SPURS GEAR
CroatianSoccerReport.com will be on hand this weekend in San Jose to witness Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, Niko Kranjčar and the rest of the Tottenham Hotspur take on the San Jose Earthquakes in a pre-season friendly. With Champions League just around the corner, Spurs are full of hope and promise for the upcoming season. So we ask YOU, the CSR reader:
What questions do you want answered by Tottenham’s THREE Croatians?
WHEN WILL KRANJČAR BE BACK IN FORM?
CSR will have access to the players and are interested in what Prva Generacija and fellow CSR readers alike would like to know. So here’s your chance!
We will be in section 107, top two rows
2010 Tottenham Hotspur US Tour Roster
GOALKEEPERS: Carlo Cudicini (ITA), David Button, Oscar Jansson (SWE)
DEFENDERS: Gareth Bale (WAL), Calum Butcher, Vedran Corluka (CRO), Alan Hutton (SCT), Younes Kaboul (FRA), Kyle Naughton, Adam Smith, Kyle Walker
MIDFIELDERS: Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Niko Kranjcar (CRO), Luka Modric (CRO), Andros Townsend
FORWARDS: Robbie Keane (IRE), Ryan Mason, Jonathan Obika, Roman Pavlyuchenko (RUS)
HEAD COACH: Harry Redknapp
2010 Tottenham Hotspur US Tour Schedule:
7/17 SJ Quakes, @Buck Shaw stadium/ Santa Clara, CA 1 PM PT
7/22 NY Red Bulls, @Red Bull Arena / Harrison, NJ 7 PM PT
7/25 Sporting Lisbon, @Red Bull Arena / Harrison, NJ 12 PM PT
The California Diaspora will be in action during the match cheering and singing in Croatian checkers. We expect 40-50 Croatians to back the corner stand during the game. Catch us on ESPN at 4 PM (Eastern)*.
But what do we call these Croatian supporters from California? Glumci and Surferi is what we’re currently working around. We would love to hear your input on the subject.
*Vuvuzelas not allowed!
Dude we gotta chant to piss everyone off, like we do in tennis, soccer, water polo, at home, in the shower, on the toilet, hahh
Domagoj Vida started and played the first half for Bayer Leverkusen today in a 1-1 friendly draw at St. Pauli
So that the englezi, meksikanci, kinezi i sl. see what real navijanje is. Plus, for now, it seems like it's the closest thing to a Croatian international friendly that we'll ever see in California. Will we get on some peoples' nerves? Man, I hope so.
I understand the excitement of seeing these guys, but why would you chant "U boj U boj" "Za dom spremni" "bježite ljudi, bježite iz grada" and the others you listed for a friendly. Seems kind of over the top to me.
Who's coming from San Jose??
@anonymous (dalmacijo)
How many of you guys are coming and where are your seats? There will also be dinamovci in attendance so I'm sure both sides will be heard as well as the national team songs/chants.
All,
How do you find out about their practices? Will they be practicing in NJ? Where and when? I would love for Luka to sign the jersey my mom made for my son, and Luka scored for the Vatreni the weekend of my son's birth (one of many reasons we chose Luka as the name). Here is the jersey: http://www.croatiansoccerreport.com/2009/08/croatian-fans-around-globe.html
Ivica,
I will be in Row 2, Sec. 128 wearing my Crottenham shirt from CSR and carrying/waving at least my checkers jersey. You?
What's up my fellow hrvati, were all vatreni, not this surfer/actor crap. Who's gonna be leading the chants. We better be chanting "U boj U boj" "Za dom spremni" "bježite ljudi, bježite iz grada" and because I'm a Hajduk supporter and lots of us are from Dalmacija we gotta sing some "Dalmatinac Sam" "Dalmacijo" "Na poljudu"
went to watch the practice today. wow. amazed by how nice of guys all the spurs players are. had a good convo with all the croats. also talked to harry about joe cole. only guy that nobody liked was huddlestone.
Agreed. On a physical basis, I can't believe how short Luka Modric is (has to be 5'6" since I looked down at him) and at the same time can't believe how tall Corluka is. Kranjcar looked like he has been working out because there's no fat on him. Then again in Croatia if you're two ounces bigger, you're considered a blubbering fat ass.
Can't wait for Saturday…or for qualifiers in September either!
@Ante….Modric and Kranjcar are very similiar with their personalities. Quiet, but good guys.
Corluka can be hit or miss. Often moody.
That is my view on them, so take it for what its worth (not much).
With preseason camp underway for almost all the teams in europe, with the exception of the Spanish and Italian teams, I just hope our guys stay healthy as we lead up to the September qualifiers.
We as fans and the players are all disapointed at what took place by not making it to the World Cup. Everything starts fresh now. As long as our main core can stay healthy we should be OK.
Im not saying ask them if they have ever fixed…..but ask them what they make of the match fixing scandal in croatia….thats it…its a fact that there is one…how can anyone deny it…its in the papers every day…I kept my word and wrote the article now its time to ask the hard question.
Check this out:
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100715/soccer-match-fixing-100715/20100715/?hub=MontrealSports
All-
I just got back from the training session.
I completely and utterly failed at the interview (I'm sure Denis and Ante will pick up the slack during their real interview) and the Crottenham players are really nice. Yes, I had dry mouth and could barely utter out a Kako ste? Keane even started talking shit and asked why were there so many Croatian supporters there. I met Modric and Corluka who were completely down to Earth and liked joking around. They signed my jersey and in the midst of all of that, even Kranjcar came around and got his John Hancock on there much to my chagrin. I even asked him how he was doing and he said fine.
Saturday is going to be completely nuts. Make sure you turn on ESPN and watch the game!
Ante B.
See you there nepoznat!…where are you sitting?
I'll be in the 2nd row for the game on 7/22 wearing my Crottenham T-shirt from CSR 😀
Anyone else going in NJ?
king man in all seriousness what are they gonna say about it. Of course they are going to deny it.
Ask them about the match fixing scadal in croatia. Here is your chance!
cheers
uhh cause those teams made the WC and Croatia didn't simple as that. Who cares how they performed when Croatia wasn't even on the pitch with those two teams.
I agree with Greece….wtf are they doing so high up they were atrocious.
@ Pintar… great question. i think we probably know the answer to that already, but if they could explain why it is an advantage for them that would interesting.
ask them:
how aware they are of the massive support that they have in the diaspora?
would they ever consider the MLS a'la Henry, Ljunberg etc.,…?
what's the best thing about Bilic as coach?
It's official! All three Croatian players will be in San Jose. Here's the roster:
2010 Tottenham Hotspur US Tour Roster
GOALKEEPERS: Carlo Cudicini (ITA), David Button, Oscar Jansson (SWE)
DEFENDERS: Gareth Bale (WAL), Calum Butcher, Vedran Corluka (CRO), Alan Hutton (SCT), Younes Kaboul (FRA), Kyle Naughton, Adam Smith, Kyle Walker
MIDFIELDERS: Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Niko Kranjcar (CRO), Luka Modric (CRO), Andros Townsend
FORWARDS: Robbie Keane (IRE), Ryan Mason, Jonathan Obika, Roman Pavlyuchenko (RUS)
HEAD COACH: Harry Redknapp
I got the information from the following link:
http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2010/07/tottenham-hotspur-announce-us-tour-roster
In regards to the FIFA World Rankings…
I know it isn't the best ranking system in the world, but how are Serbia and Greece still so high up there, meanwhile we haven't lost since the last rankings, but we drop 5 spots? What a bunch of govno
First time poster here, long time lurker. My wife, young 2.5 year old son, and I will all be at the match in SJ on Saturday sporting the colors. My mother was born in Split so we are big Hajduk supporters, but bigger Vatreni supporters 🙂 My son's middle name is Niko btw.
If you see us, please say hi.
Best,
Darren
Corluka and Kranjcar particularly speaks outstanding English. But when you hear Corluka speak he'll sound like he's falling asleep.
Kranjcar sounds American. I've never heard Modric give an interview in English once…
back from S. Africa…….more on that at some other time.
Kranjcar speaks fluent english. You wont have any issues with him. Modric is Ok with his english. I have never heard Corluka speak english, so I am unsure about him.
At the end of your interview if you want to get a interesting reaction, ask Kranjcar about his former agent Dino Pokrovac and his murder. Plenty of funny business with that one.
Does anybody know if these guys know English? If not, questions might have to be formed in Croatian.
I mean against Austria not Ukraine..
Ask if they still follow the results of Dinamo Zagreb and if they feel Velimir Zajec can help them enjoy a stronger season in Europe?
In the last qualifying campaign Croatia suffered from a lack of depth in their squad when players such as Luka, Vedran and Niko were injured. However a lot of players are now emerging from the under 21's such as Kalinic, Perisic, Jajalo, Vida and Lovren and players like Mate Bilic, Jelavic and Dujmovic have started to come through. Also a lot of fringe players have moved up in standard like Lakic, Gavranovic, Ilicevic in the Bundesliga. Do they feel Croatia is better equipped for the upcoming campaign and how do they feel about the countries footballing future?
It appeared from recent friendlies that Slaven Bilic is creating a new 4-3-3 formation for Croatia. Is Vedran happy playing central defence if Srna went to right back?
How does Niko feel about playing in a forward three?
How does Luka feel playing as the creator in midfield in the postion he played against Ukraine?
Ivan Rakitic appears to be on fire at the moment. Does Kranjcar and Modric feel that the three can play together in the same line up?
Ask if they will ever come to Toronto! hahah!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifa_rankings
Croatia drop to 15 in the FIFA rankings. Right behind the US and Serbia. Not bad if you ask me. Could have been a lot worse.
I'd like to know if the three of them have any opinion about whatever advantages they may gain by playing together at the club level. Does the style differ enough at the national level that the advantage is minimal, or do they develop a rapport that translates well to national play?
^ 😮
Pletikosa will be joining the Spurs soon too.
Luka is a new father. He had a son last month. I would ask him how he's doing. I would also ask them what they do in their spare time. I'm sure you'll be asking alot of WC questions.
Ask them how they felt watching the WC from the Television ? instead of being on the Turf & doing our nation proud..
Like the Glorious 1998 squad, the 98 squad will be remembered 4 ever by Croats worldwide, It's time the new generation put things together, get that ball rollin' & make there stamp on history..