Photo: Shakhtar.com
Darijo Srna captained his Shakhtar Donetsk team to a 2-0 win over city rivals Metalurg Tuesday night in the Ukrainian SuperCup. Srna played all 90 minutes while Eduardo watched from the bench as an unused sub. But what can we expect from these two Croatians in the upcoming campaign?
The 30 year-old Srna can only hope for a kind Champions League draw on August 30th as the offers to play for an elite European club have now passed him by. Ukraine is a two-team league with Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev always neck and neck fighting for top prize. But with Srna entering the twilight of his football career, what else can we expect from the alleged ‘Beckham of the Balkans?’
He has already helped bring Shakhtar fans more than his fair share of accomplishments: 6 Ukrainian league titles, 4 Ukrainian Cups, 4 Ukrainian SuperCups, one UEFA Cup in 2009 and a run into the Champions League quarterfinals in 2011. The man will go down as a Shakhtar legend, but with surely only one more tournament in him, the 2014 World Cup, how will Srna go down in the Croatian books? And can Eduardo regain a proper place in the Croatian national side coming off the Shakhtar bench, or is it time to start waving goodbye to him as well?
After winning the match for the Ukrainian Super Cup trophy, Shakhtar’s President answered journalists’ questions:
– Rinat Leonidovich, did you see the fans run onto the pitch?
– No, I didn’t. We were also missing the fans, and then we ourselves came to them.
– Mircea Lucescu has won the 15th trophy with Shakhtar.
– Okay. But this is statistics. I am no longer interested in these fifteen trophies. Most of all, I want to win the 16th. Therefore, every effort will be directed towards the next trophy.
– What is the team’s target for this season?
– Winning the championship, the Ukrainian Cup and avoiding last year’s disgrace in the Champions League.
– What is Shakhtar’s minimum goal in the Champions League?
– Let’s advance from the group, and then we’ll talk about it.
– Any new signings?
– No. We won’t buy anyone; we are fully staffed.
– There was an impression that Mircea Lucescu did not want to attend the award ceremony, and you literally forced him…
– No, I did not force him. He feared that he would be poured over with champagne.
– You poured champagne over Srna’s head. Did you take revenge for your previous suits?
– He just decided to bankrupt me! Darijo always looks for the opportunity to pour champagne over me in order for me to spend less on transfers and more on my clothes.
Correction: he’s already playing for an elite European club.
EPL Match fixing…Read Up
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2012/07/11/3235248/fifa-to-investigate-lundekvams-claims-of-spot-fixing-by
Serbia will definitely be our toughest test.
On paper, they’re the most talented team in the group, besides us. And while they are inconsistent, I sort of have a feeling they’ll “show-up” for our 2 games and pull it together.
Plus, I don’t give a crap what the players tell the media, but these games will be pressured packed and both teams will be on pins and needles. Coupled with the fact that if they don’t ban away fans at each game, there is BOUND TO BE some crowd violence which might alter the game or its outcome.
Both games will be slugfests. I don’t see us blowing them out 3-0 or 4-1.
Any word on away fans for the games? Are away fans banned both in Beograd and Zagreb?
I’m a bit surprised that some of you think Serbia will be an easy match.
If the situations were reversed I bet some of you would be saying that our guys will be up for the match and recent form does not matter.
I think its way to early to even think about the serbs. Both teams will have played 4 or 5 matches before we even meet up. A good or bad start in the first few matches changes everything and all outlooks.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/745/fifa/2012/07/11/3236152/report-reveals-fifa-officials-received-huge-amounts-in
More Soccer Corruption at FIFA. The fix is in!.
Belgium and even to a lesser extent Wales scare me more than Serbia with all honesty. Sure the Serbia games will be tough, but Serbia lack consistency usually qualifiers. They are a team who can beat Belgium away from home, but then lose to Macedonia at home
@jm
Don’t get too caught up in FIFA rankings….what were Georgia ranked when they beat us? If our players stay healthy and Stimac makes the right call ups (which as of right now should be pretty obvious to him), we should be fine-assuming our guys play up to their potential each match. Injuries and playing poorly against weaker sides would be things to worry about, but FIFA rankings are largely irrelevant.
He can come to Hajduk.
Eduardo need to find a new club and be a regular starter asap!
in some boredom at work , i thought i’d run a couple numbers on our world cup qualifier group to see if its as tough as we all think . the results seem mixed. In terms of average ranking of the top 5 teams, croatia has the second hardest group by that metric. So that does agree with the thought of parity most people have been pitching. Average ranking per top 5 teams per group below (Croatia is group A @ 48)
group d 35
GROUP A 48
group g 50
group c 50
group i 53
group b 54
group e 55
group h 59
group f 62
On the brightside, croatia has the second weakest second seed in their group with serbia coming in ranked at 37. So by this metric if they are trying to win the group, things line up pretty well. (below is the second ranked teams per group, croatia group a)
b 10
f 13
i 14
c 17
e 21
d 29
g 30
a 37
h 46
The question of course lies in , are they fifa rankings correct? and they also don’t factor in potential improvement of a side, which many fear belgium to be an example of
I know a few years back, I was all for Srna moving to a big western European club, but that ship has sailed a long time ago. He’s built quite a career for himself over there; the ownership loves him, the fans love him and the team pays him handsomely. Plus he’s 30 now too. I don’t see him going anywhere either. He’s a cemented starter, captain and regularly plays in Europe. Not much more he could ask for. Hope he rides it out and continues to build his legend over there,
Hope Srna can play out the rest of his career at Shakhtar. A few years ago I really thought he could be great at a top Italian or German team but those thoughts have passed. Regular playing time shouldn’t be a problem for the captain so hopefully he can remain healthy for our WC qualifiers.
Eduardo’s career as a whole saddens me. It still gets me thinking about what could have been at the Euro’s in 08 if that jackass didn’t ruin his leg. Hasn’t been the same since.
PSG nudi Modriću pola milijuna eura mjesečno!
http://www.nogometni-magazin.com/newspro/coranto/viewnews.cgi?id=EFukpEkVVubIJtGSPu&tmpl=coranto_fra_news
United dovodi pojačanje za 20 milijuna eura i otvara prostor za Pranjića
http://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/svjetski_nogomet/united-dovodi-pojacanje-za-20-milijuna-eura-i-otvara-prostor-za-pranjica.html
Vatreni u problemima zbog EURA: ‘Pogriješio sam!’
http://sportski.net.hr/nogomet/nasi-u-svijetu/lovren-treninzima-sam-se-kockao-s-karijerom
srna, legenda