Photo: Bayern
After being rested at the weekend for Bayern Munich’s 4-0 Bundesliga win over Nurnberg, Mario Mandžukić returned to the starting lineup Tuesday night in Bayern’s DFB Pokal semifinal clash with Ivica Olić’s Wolfburg. Mandžukić, now being dubbed ‘The Baron’ in Germany for his aerial domination, opened up the scoring for Bayern in the 17th minute of play as Dutchman Arjen Robben whipped in a low cross into the goal box which Mandza blasted top shelf to make it 1-0. Immediately after the strike, Mandžukić was taken down with a late slide tackle, but after gathering himself, stayed in the game until the 77th minute, coming off for Mario Gomez.
Gomez, who has taken refuge on the Bayern bench this season due to Mandžukić’s great play, made his short cameo appearance count Tuesday night scoring a 6-minute hat trick to earn Bayern a 6-1 win over Wolfsburg to reach the German Cup final in Berlin against the winner of Stuttgart or Freiburg. Bayern have already locked up the Bundesliga crown and can make it a double with a DFB Pokal title. Will they dare flirt with the European treble should they win Champions League in May? First things first: getting past Barcelona in the semifinals.
Ivica Olić got the start for Wolfburg but was taken out in the 73rd minute for Patrick Helmes.
Mandžukić goal vs. Wolfsburg in DFB Pokal semis
@JJ and SD
I knew it. You Jugos, anyone to play a game on xmas. Incredible. You are all the same just hiding under a rock.
UDBA radi.
Remember both of you. Bog i Hrvati. 🙂
@BZ
“Another Black Zodiac on this site. Isusa.”
Speaking of Black Zodiac, checkout your initials. LOL!!!!!
Don’t have anything intelligent to write or add to the site? Let me answer that for you…. Of course NOT!!!!! Way to go BZ aka Black Zodiac the true Jugo lover and Chetnik! You should be proud. Way to go! LOL!
Your country does not exist anymore and I thank and praise God everyday for that! LOL!!!! Don’t worry, you will never get it back the way it was.
@BZ
Whatever you say Mihailović.
🙂
@JJ
Long live your tito, jugo lover. 🙂
@BZ
Whatever you say Chetnik. LOL!
@jj
Too funny. “100 percent Croatian blood”
Another Black Zodiac on this site. Isusa.
@BZ
LOL!!!! Gee whiz, that is quite the disturbing thing to even remotely suggest.
I have one hundred per cent Croatian blood pumping through my veins moj prijatelj. That cannot be said for all the people who post on this website.
A Jugo???? LOL!!!!! Playoffs????? LOL!!
@ Jim J.
Figures you must be a jugo.
@Luka
“It is a sramota that a game would be scheduled on Velika Gospa. What is next a game on Uskrs??”
Fine with me, schedule our games on Božic and I will be there!
@19Miro50
“Maksimir should not host the Scotland Game period i agree with Ziva HNS is bullshitting and if we canno beat Scotland without Modric Carli and why you mention Lovren is a joke anyway.”
I said that I have no issues with the game being played at Maksimir but I would have preferred our home game with Scotland to have been played elsewhere and agreed with you. However, you still try to tell me that I disagreed with you? Interesting….
“The Scotland game was originally intended for Poljud but due to the FIFA and UEFA regulations it was changed. I would have played that game in Osijek, Pula, or Rijeka.”
Without Modric and Corluka versus Scotland it might be tough. I mentioned Lovren as well because he will not be available on the depth chart. Did you think Lovren was such a joke when he scored against Wales in the 77th minute of our last game against Wales? If Lovren does not score that goal, who knows if we would have scored at all? I am not saying that Lovren is a tremendous player but I just wanted to make note that he will not be available to us against the Scots.
The HNS is bullshitting on the UEFA regulations? You will soon see how much they are bullshitting.
I know that game Fifa scheduled on Velika Gospa people went on festa and had a day off thats one reason nobody went to that game.
Maksimir should not host the Scotland Game period i agree with Ziva HNS is bullshitting and if we canno beat Scotland without Modric Carli and why you mention Lovren is a joke anyway.
It is a sramota that a game would be scheduled on Velika Gospa. What is next a game on Uskrs??
Lets stop using the Swiss game in Split as an example. That was played on Gospa. No true hrvat would or should have gone to that game. I guess those of you non-church going self-hating hrvati would be OK with it. Do you guys realize how big of a day V. Gospa is for us hrvati? Playing a friendly on that day is an insult to hrvati.
And don’t fall for this Maksimir is the only stadium that meets FIFA criteria. That is nothing more than sranje being pulled. Poljud, Osijek and others, while dumps, can still get the needed items to be FIFA approved. If the savez wanted to push for approval with Poljud, they could. This makes things easier for them to say “hey, FIFA says no”. That is utter BS. Just more sranje with the HNS, Puppet Suker and Lopov Mamic.
@Ante B.
Due to our unbelievable home field advantage at Maksimir stadium, we should play all our “big/major” games there. For the twentieth time fix up the other stadiums in accordance to FIFA and UEFA regulations and by all means spread the wealth. Economic reasons due play a part in this as well and the disenfranchised aspect is debatable as the game we had with Wales in Osijek went tremendously well and that would be a similar experience for other cities if the HNS came calling with a game. Once our record was broken we did the right thing and went right back to playing at Maksimir stadium. If you are in a fight, and you are knocked down, you get back up. If you ask a girl out on a date and she says no, you go ask another girl out on a date. If you fail a test, take it again and study harder. That is what we did using the “We must protect this house” sports psychology and I have absolutely no issues with it. This is where we agree to disagree.
When the latest qualifiers were designed, it was originally intended to spread games out. The first game against Macedonia was played in Maksimir and people hear will argue and say that the game should have been played elsewhere. I would disagree just because it was our first game of the qualifiers and we need to start it off with a victory. The atmosphere was not great but I really do not care as we picked up our first victory of the qualifiers. Would I have liked a packed house and better atmosphere? Absolutely. That game falls under the great importance or the big game factor. Although, if someone is suggesting that the game should have been played elsewhere that is just fine and they are entitled to that opinion. Our next home game of the qualifiers was played in Osijek and it was a fantastic atmosphere and a great result! Bring in the Serbs for our next home game and it was played where it should have been played. But…. There was a brief period where Stimac pushed really hard to have the game moved to Poljud. It was a credible effort and it was actually contemplated but due to the restrictions it did not happen. The Scotland game was originally intended for Poljud but due to the FIFA and UEFA regulations it was changed. I would have played that game in Osijek, Pula, or Rijeka if it met all the UEFA and FIFA criteria. Our next home game after Scotland is against Belgium, it was originally intended for Poljud as well. Although, and I don’t know how true this is, apparently there is speculation that that if the changes are made to Poljud to fit the UEFA and FIFA standards the game will be moved back to Poljud as it was originally intended. If that makes everyone happy so be it but that is not where I would play that game due to the magnitude level and importance keep it where it is at Maksimir.
As long as we recognize that Maksimir is our home field advantage and our winning shrine, I am fine with all other aspects of channeling games. As much as you believe we are disenfranchising other areas of the country, if we disenfranchise Maksimir it would be of a greater sin. Not that we should disenfranchise anyone.
@19Miro50
Prior to the 2014 qualifiers we played a friendly at Split with Switzerland and it did not go over very well and the attendance was very reminiscent of a Maksimir game. It was a friendly but it still was nothing special in regards to participation and execution.
We will have a pretty good turnout at Maksimir against Scotland because the game is in June and a greater number of diaspora should be there. I will agree with you that the Scotland game could have been played elsewhere as it was originally intended to be played at Poljud in the original design phase. However, I have nothing against playing the game at Maksimir because we will be without Modric, Corluka, and Lovren and we need a win.
The Georgia game in Split was painful to watch but it did have a fantastic atmosphere! Poljud stadium is built better for crowd noise acoustics and it resonates better in the stadium whereas in Maksimir the crowd noise escapes. As much as I think the Serb game was always intended to be played in Zagreb and Maksimir stadium, it would have been interesting to the see how crazy the atmosphere would have been in Poljud! We are talking el nutso!!!
Comparing a Georgia victory in Split with all the victories we have had in Maksimir is not a good comparison because we barely beat a U.S. state in Poljud and we have 1 victory in Poljud and we have 34 victories at Maksimir. Your logic would have made more sense if you wanted to play games in Rijeka as that stadium has 10 wins, a draw and no losses.
As I said twenty one times previously, update the other stadium facilities accordingly and spread the wealth but please don’t tell me that we don’t have “home field” advantage and something special with our home games at Maksimir stadium as it is beyond all comprehension that we do.
@ Jim da your very smart LOL
since 1998-2010 qualifying almost all games were played in Maksimir even the minows which was stupid why play in a emopty maksimir is a ugly as it is but empty Maksimir sucks,
I think just wrote before spread the team around,
Scotland should have been played in Osijek or Pula thats my opinion instead its going to be in a half empty Maksimir where the scotish fans will be heard over our fans. Remeber Georgia 2011? Poljud was full if that game was played in Maksimir it would have been empty thats my point Yu can keep saying 1 Loss in Maksimir in meaningfull games we never lost a meaning full game in poljud or the other stadions either.
I see that I’m talking about A, B, C and you’re talking about X, Y, Z and that were using G J I I N P G for the reasons. I am going to have to agree to disagree because we’re looking at two different perspectives.
The rest of Croatia is being abandoned by Suker’s own admission and he’s not using the winning streak as a reason to play in Zagreb. He’s saying its for economic and personal reasons. It’s there. The record is absolutely amazing but what came from it? A completely disenfranchised and ignored region of Croatia. Nay, regions. That simply cannot be ignored no matter the record. Once the record was broken, we played at different stadiums and won.
@Ante B.
“I understand how crucial you think playing at Maksimir is but I still fall back on my earlier point; the HNS never even gave the other cities a chance or opportunity! 12 years of abandoning them! It’s like being a general after the battle. We won in Zagreb all those years because the games were only meant to be played in Zagreb. We all then dubbed Maksimir with the streak and once the streak broke with England, what happened? The HNS decided to play a game in Split where Croatia won. Now, as a result, the HNS decides to only play in Zagreb after Splicani hurt their feelings by boycotting the beginning part of the game which in my opinion was completely deserved. What was it, 12-14 years of abandonment? Let’s also keep in mind that Osijek got the shaft.”
It has nothing to do with what I think. What I think in this discussion ultimately does not matter and is irrelevant. One meaningful loss in 23 years says it all and says everything about our home field advantage at that stadium. Who is abandoned? Your misconstruing abandoning with the games we were winning along the way. So once the streak breaks, and we lose to England in 2009, you suggest we should have abandoned ship? That was not an option my friend. That is not what we do; we jump back on the horse and try again because that is what fighters and true leaders do. We never give up and that is what happens as we have not lost a meaningful game since that day.
“Maksimir was never fixed up; it had a band aid of blue grass and new seats. If you ever find yourself at that stadium, look beneath it. That’s the true crime of Maksimir. When you’re walking up the rotunda near the bathrooms, take a whiff. That’s the joy of Maksimir.”
It was fixed enough to have a proper drainage system put in place which Split does not have and it was fixed enough to have a proper security and surveillance features put in place that meets UEFA and FIFA guidelines and standards which the other stadiums do not have.
“The HNS needs to start playing outside of Zagreb, especially with this group of new “leaders.” That for sure will not happen because the “leaders” of this HNS have firmly said they won’t play in Split or Osijek because of economic reasons (I call BULL) and spite. Just look at what Suker said and please note his excessive use of JA SAM. He’s almost worst than Mamic!”
Why with the new leaders? Markovic was free of criticism? That’s a good one.
You make it sound like our record at Maksimir is nothing special. A formality, yawning, something that happens every day like oh well, we have only lost 1 meaningful game in 23 years… Ho hum, no biggie… The bottom line is it is our home field advantage and that is my sole point to this discussion. To downplay it only adds gas to the fire. One meaningful loss in 23 years ends that story and if they want to have games elsewhere fix up our other stadiums in according to what UEFA and FIFA deem necessary.
In regards to Suker:
He has done a good job so far and is better than Markovic. Markovic made us look like heathens and hap hazard awful people and it was not a good scene. The jury is still out on Suker and he is nowhere near perfect but so far so good.
We are going to finally get a training facility. Yes! Markovic promised us a training facility for about one million years and never delivering and take a look at how our game with the Serbs played out. It went off without a hitch and without any ramifications from Platini and UEFA. Bravo and good job! There might be some fines levied from chants in the stadium but so what! This is something special because I was a bit skeptical to see whether this could be done or not? That is mostly, but not all, due to the organizational skills of Davor. You will deny this wholeheartedly but it is true. Give credit where credit is due. This is what I am doing with our fantastic record at Maksimir as well. This is not hard to do.
The bottom line and you know this already, nobody is even close to as bad as Mamic. Not that this has anything to do with our incredible home field advantage we have at Maksimir Stadium discussion and I really don’t care about Mamic at all because he is a loser. The point you are missing here is explained further if we reverse the tables. Let’s use a hypothetical to describe the situation. If Poljud had one meaningful loss in 23 years than we would determine that our home field advantage would be Poljud. It is what it is essentially by not being stuck with a sense of convenience or a judgment of abandonment. This is about home field advantage using sprinkles of wins. Nothing more and nothing less.
Remember, and this is what it comes down in the end.
Home Field Advantage = Maksimir Stadium
Why, you may ask?
1 meaningful loss in 23 years
JJ,
The game against Serbia transcended sport in Croatia and I have stated from day one that Maksimir deserved that game. It is our national stadium. I’m talking about the other games in general.
I understand how crucial you think playing at Maksimir is but I still fall back on my earlier point; the HNS never even gave the other cities a chance or opportunity! 12 years of abandoning them! It’s like being a general after the battle. We won in Zagreb all those years because the games were only meant to be played in Zagreb. We all then dubbed Maksimir with the streak and once the streak broke with England, what happened? The HNS decided to play a game in Split where Croatia won. Now, as a result, the HNS decides to only play in Zagreb after Splicani hurt their feelings by boycotting the beginning part of the game which in my opinion was completely deserved. What was it, 12-14 years of abandonment? Let’s also keep in mind that Osijek got the shaft.
Maksimir was never fixed up; it had a band aid of blue grass and new seats. If you ever find yourself at that stadium, look beneath it. That’s the true crime of Maksimir. When you’re walking up the rotunda near the bathrooms, take a whiff. That’s the joy of Maksimir.
The HNS needs to start playing outside of Zagreb, especially with this group of new “leaders.” That for sure will not happen because the “leaders” of this HNS have firmly said they won’t play in Split or Osijek because of economic reasons (I call BULL) and spite. Just look at what Suker said and please note his excessive use of JA SAM. He’s almost worst than Mamic!
– Splitu sam dao proslavu 100. godišnjice, a oni su je bojkotirali. Zvala me nakon te Švicarske Ružica (šefica računovodstva, nap. a.) i kaže: “Šefe, četiri-pet milijuna minusa…” Pa neka mi netko objasni zašto je organizacija toliko skuplja nego u Zagrebu? Zbog čega, primjerice, kola Hitne pomoći stoje triput više. Ljudi čim čuju “HNS”, misle “oni su puni love pa mogu platiti”. Ali ja kao predsjednik ne smijem dopustiti da radim na štetu Saveza. Idem ovih dana u Split, vidjet ću postoji li tamo netko spreman investirati u opremanje stadiona, u čitače karata i video nadzor. Dakle, u minusu smo u Splitu, ne postoje sigurnosni uvjeti i još trpimo uvrede. Dok je tako, igrat ćemo stalno u Zagrebu. Ja se to ne bojim kazati. Točno je da je HNS obećao pet utakmica na Poljudu, no nastavi li se ovako, to će biti u sljedećih 20 godina. Tko će platiti uređenje stadiona? Opet se to očekuje od Šukera i HNS-a.
@Ante B.
Two comments my friend.
“I see there are those who are fun with the HNS turning its back to Dalmacija. Comparing playing games in Maksimir and Poljud and where the better record is has no bearing because most games were only played in Zagreb. It’s just convenient that we wound up winning there because we played there so many times. I may despise Hajduk and their fans but at the end of the day i oni su Hrvati. They do not deserve what has happened to them and the national team. Osijek or Pula either.”
Convenience? Said as Iverson said the practice quote.
You cannot say the wins at Maksimir have no bearing. Well, you can say it, but it would not be a true or valid statement. We still had to win all those games and also by the same token not lose them. That is a testament onto itself and the entire point to this discussion. We had to go out there and win those games and when I hear the term convenience, it suggests that our wins were a formality? At the end of the games, the scoreboard did not resonate with Hrvatska 2 England 0 – “due to convenience.” Stimac did not go into the dressing room at half time of the Cro Serb game and say way to go everyone; we are going to win this game because it is convenient?
That is like suggesting that when the Montreal Canadiens won 5 Stanley Cups in a row in the 50’s it was more convenient than when the Buffalo Bills lost 4 straight Superbowls in the 90’s. It seems to me that you are trying to equate victories as being convenient and losses inconvenient? Curtail your logic anyway you wish but the bottom line is the bottom line and wins are wins and losses are loses.
All I know for sure and factually is that we have 1 “meaningful” loss at Maksimir stadium since 1990! That is 23 years of having pure juggernaut home field advantage!
I am a Hajduk fan, not that it matters to this discussion, but I am not going to go against the impenetrable wall of a record we have at Maksimir. It cannot be done! Some Hajduk fans here will not even give the Maksimir home field advantage numbers any credit at all but you have to call it like it is as an unbelievable home record achievement! It is not debatable.
If you deem playing the majority of games at Maksimir unfair that is fine and you are entitled to that opinion, but how is this even a discussion is bewildering to me?? Other national teams would literally die to have those numbers for their home field advantage and we want to switch it up???? Not on my watch and definitely not because of convenience.
Fix up Poljud and our other stadiums to meet UEFA and FIFA regulations and games will be played there. It’s that simple.
“And we can’t stand those of you who now say you or your family weren’t partizani when in actuality were and now take the road of trying to make those of us whose families weren’t partizani feel bad for being either Ustase, Domobrani or just Hrvati. Find the next cliff.”
That statement is right up there with your beautiful Gotovina comments after his acquittal! Well done Ante!!!!!!
@Ante B.
They are fuckin everywhere. Hopefully the cliff is very high.
@Denis
thanks, great website
And we can’t stand those of you who now say you or your family weren’t partizani when in actuality were and now take the road of trying to make those of us whose families weren’t partizani feel bad for being either Ustase, Domobrani or just Hrvati. Find the next cliff.
@Chupe:
Are you still looking for a job in the NYC area?
@Chupe:
LOL.
About a decade ago I started a business and I asked my father’s 1st cousin’s son (who started and owned a successful business) for the name of his insurance agent.
He never even gave it to me. He just hemmed and hawed like a little bitch.
He acted like I was asking for the Holy Grail.
I try to behave like my old man. When he could he got fellow Croats jobs.
My wife whom by the way is a non-Croat daughter of the American Revolution helped get this same man’s nephew a decent job out of college.
@Stipe:
Where are you, Fairfield?
I think you may be exaggerating about the Croatian and/or Balkan population of any town in NJ.
@Ziva:
You are becoming a caricature. Are you really that joyless?
You shit on everyone’s parade.
Don’t point to splinters in others eyes when there is log in yours.
@Stipe
You’re Uncle may have been able to forgive and forget but out of respect to my family I refuse to associate myself with anything Serbian.
It’s just a personal choice.
Not saying you’re wrong with yours but as a Hrvat be prepared for backlash with statements like that.
@ Chupe
I agree with you. being from the jersey, ny area. Just because you sing along to Ustane Bane your hardcore Ustasa…..getta outta here. Lmao your right about the job thing tho….Im cool with anybody, ovi muslimani iz Bosna, i dont know about them there cocksuckers, Some serbs too are cocksuckers, not all tho, alot of them are good people, the ones around here, just everyone else in the world….Oh and I guess I dont love Croatia with all my heart cause I have some serbian friends. Im a fake croat right? My Uncles who got there legs blown off fighting cetnici u rat, he doesnt hate serbs, he hates Milosevic, but not all serbs. So my uncle, the war vet, with no legs, he doesnt love croatia either right? fuck outta here
yea but freakin Makedonija game is what screwed is in the qualifiers for the euro 2000
Was watching euro sport and euro 2000 games were on the Holland jugo trashing and i had to watch and laugh.
I was then thinking what if we went to euro 2000 what our 11 would have looked like, i think
Pletikosa- Simic Kovac Stimac Tudor Jarni- Prosinecki Asanovic Kovac Suker Boksic. and either Boban(if he was healthy) Stanic Biscan Rapaic Vugrinec
Bice bolje i hope one day we will stop with this velike hrvat stuff. IF you dont order a veliki makito and casu vode nisi dalmatinac when will it stop.
@ Denis i agree.
@It,
Nice. My family is from Krapanj-Brodarica. Welcome aboard!
@Miro,
Yes, you do make a good point. This is why I didnt want Cvitanich and Bilos on the team.
However, I feel for those players born into a mixed family or born and raised in a foreign country. Its difficult to come up with rules as to who is allowed to play for Croatia and who is not or who is Croatian enough to play for the checkers.
Halilovic? Its not an easy choice for him. No matter what he decides, it won’t be a 100% decision.
Prosinecki? A Jugo. Dude could have went either way. Serbians gave him more love thats for sure.
@Chupe,
I agree. Same situation in LA. Croatians are the opposite of Jews in LA.
@denis
Writing from Canada but family living in Croatia. Sibenik.
@ Denis But those guys like you said first choice was Croatia Niko Kovac would have went to Wc 1998 id Soldo didnt break his leg. Robert and Joe first choce was croatia, but sertic sees he has no chance of making France team and goes to croatia if he never wanted to play for france id say welcome speaking little to no croatia still makes him croatian.
Man some people here take being croatian way too seriously man but nasi su govna ill say it when i graduated i need work asked croatians in america please yeah yeah no problem yeah yeah no problem bice posla never did they call and who hepled me a montenegrin gave me a job and payed on time unlike like croats. In croatia god fprbid you ask for a favor they will hunt you down and never let it go or they wont even do favors me hrvati need to look into the mirror and examine,t Also his stupid ustase thing in the diaspra community man your grandpa was a partizan and people go to scorpio bar or where ever and wear ustase hats and sing those 45s song on man grow up losers man i cannot stand nyc diaspora 70 percent are assholes.
@Miro,
I agree.
Sertic is brushing up on his croatian haha. At first, I was totally against Sertic. However, Ilicevic speaks Croatian a little bit better than my boy Allen Steven. Simunic and the Kovac brothers couldn’t speak a lick of Croatian when they first arrived on the Croatian scene. We all know how important all three were to Croatia and how they bled for the checkers. Sertic does have the blood. However, his first choice was Les Tricolores
@It,
Where are you writing us from? Where is your family from if you’re not writing us from Croatia?
@ Ziva Istina
soo i cant love Croatia with all my heart because i paid 25 bucks to see Yugoslavia play Ecuador. I am a soccer fan. It does not make me less Croatian because I saw Yugoslavia play live. My whole point of this convo was if Yugoslavia could come to new jersey to play Ecuador or any other country, why cant we? that’s all. Oh yea I don’t love Croatia with all my heart cause i paid Ecuador to watch them play the serbs. It was a home game for Ecuador. cmon dude. I almost lost my fucking job because i didnt go to work to watch the Croatia Serbia game in March. I requested that day off weeks in advance, but there was an important meeting that day. I nearly got fired from my job/career because i stayed home to watch Croatia win
@denis
Easy. I did see the smiley face just hate Josipovic and his bs commie politics. Just joking around.
@ Denis so true man why i ask we are a small natioan full of hate towards ourselves man, thats what the croatian goverment is duing aswell svoji nevalja a tudi da.
Speaking of tudi gregory seritic says hes brushing up on his croatian.
@Miro,
The problem with sports is that now there is too much $$$$ involved. Suker can’t get rid of Mamic even if he wanted to. Stimac has to play Sammir or at least have him on the bench to keep his job. Mamic was on the Croatian plane to Wales. Dude is not a pawn on the chessboard. Chances are that Mamic is as strong as a rook when it comes to making decisions.
Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvrRVDBsWnw
People just hate each other and it starts from a smaller scale: brother vs. brother. If Sibenska Kninska Zupanija was a country, Sibenik would want to separate from Knin.
If Suker gets rid of mamic Suker will get points, IF Stimac doesnt listen to mamic and not call sammir and others he will get points too much negativity in croatian sports,
Also since people ive noticed bash eachother for how big croatia they are my prosfective is lets all separate im No more croatia, lets have Republic of Zagreb,Dalmacija,Rijeka,Istra,Slavonija,Dubrovnik. and we will all be happy,man
@It,
I guess you didn’t see the little smiley face. Josipovic is not my boy. Most people in politics don’t give a shot about you or me so I could care less about them too.
Was it a coincidence that right after our interview with Josipovic did Croatia start to play in other cities around the country?
@denis
“Our boy Josipovic”. Sorry that Jugo is not our boy.
@Ante B,
“nije u soldima sve” haha. nice touch.
I agree that croatia should play all over the country… Split, Osijek, Istra… Hell, even our boy Josipovic agreed 🙂
@Stipe,
If you don’t know already, this is a website where croatian will test your “croatianness” 🙂
I watched(not followed, supported) Serbia in the Basketball World Championships in Indianapolis in 2002 I believe. Obviously, I didn’t follow them, but it was either watching Serbia vs. Australia or Angola vs. Brazil. I was there for the first round and the Serbs ended up winning the tournament. Too bad our basketball went to shit, would have been nice to see the checkers in Indianapolis.
Serbia played a few years back against Mexico in Phoenix. I was tempted to make the drive and support the friendly neighbors to the south.
In 2010 Markovic fucked up as usual and we should have played the states november of 2010 instead we played matla in a Euro Q, but that would be nice for US and Croatia to play in Red Bull arena.
hmmmmmmmmm……..paying money to see the serb national side play????? and then you want to say you love Croatia with all your heart.????
But, to answer your question about Cro coming to the states. It’s not going to happen anytime soon.
@ Jack v: I’m from North Jersey…..there is a huge Serbian population where I live, in my town.
Tone:
You probably misunderstood my comments, all I meant to say is that I want to see the National team play a friendly in the NJ/NY area. I saw the Yugoslavian team play Ecuador because, lets face it, they had good players on that team. I played soccer my whole life. Srbin, Muslimani, Makedonci, If your a good player, im going to respect the fact that your are a good player, I wanna watch. I don’t care what nationality when it comes to soccer terms. I was like 16 when i saw that game lol. As far as my ancestors? my parents were born in Croatia, villages by Rijeka and Zadar. I’m a Croatian fan till the end. But i respect good players. Mihajlovic is a cocksucker, but he could play good futbol. Mijatovic, he could play and play well. I’m not pumping up Serbian players, but i Respect the fact that they had really talented players. that’s all. I am not a Jugovic lol. I love Croatia with all my heart
Pa mi imamo Brazilskog maestra u veznom redu, ako igra upola koliko može popit samo nebo je granica.
Suker keeps saying money and money and more money well listen tell my chatters would have this been fair this qualifying campaign how it should have happened
Makedonija-Osijek
Wales-Rijeka
Cede-Zagreb
Scotland-Pula
Belgium-Poljud
Fair?
That moron anonymous Drive your skoda crap its also about local business for that week the national team is in town its not just playing in zg all the time its about spreading the national team around the country
I see there are those who are fun with the HNS turning its back to Dalmacija. Comparing playing games in Maksimir and Poljud and where the better record is has no bearing because most games were only played in Zagreb. It’s just convenient that we wound up winning there because we played there so many times. I may despise Hajduk and their fans but at the end of the day i oni su Hrvati. They do not deserve what has happened to them and the national team. Osijek or Pula either.
@Stipe:
Where in NJ are you surrounded by Serbs?
I barely come across anyone from the former Jugo in my travels.
@Croatia vs. Antwerp……the former player from Hajduk are part of the current problem with the club in the ways they have robbed the club and abused it.
Tone, I asked a question, I’m not pumping up serbian soccer, i just asked is there any chance croatia will ever come to the U.S. to play, I mean if fuckin Yugoslavia can come hear to play Ecuador, idk i think it was friendlies for wc 2002….I just wanna see the Croatian National Team play live………I live in a part of america thats surrounding by serbs, some of them are my best friends, others, we hate each other….i aint pumpin up that shit
stipe, what part of croatia are u or your ancestors from? What I’m getting at is your on this site pumping up the Serbian soccer and down playing croatias abilities. Wtf? Don’t want to be accused of being a homer… But seems to me you are on the wrong site
@ T.O. Cro
They shouldn’t be missing out on these prospects. They gotta know talent when they see it.
Hajduk is a cultural institution, intertwined with Dalmatian culture, and I’m sure there are many prospects that would play for them.
As far as youth development, Hajduk has many great players from the past that can lend a hand in youth coaching. And all it takes to start is a decent pitch, some footballs, and a passionate coach that will develop them technically and train them tactically.
It’s starts from the ground up, they must sow the seeds for future success.
Croatia is the size of fucking Connecticut, if you are in split and you wanna see a game just get in your fucking Skoda and fucking drive the 3 hours it takes to get there. Fuck, it’s not like they are playing on the other side of the continent.
I would absolutely refuse to play anywhere else if I had only lost 3 games in 23 years at a stadium. i challenge someone to find me another team that has a record like that anywhere??
Hajduk has no money for even a decent youth system. When top prospects from Dalmacija go to Hajduk, they are written off and end up at either Dinamo, Split (red commie team) or some third team. Look at the most recent example of Rebic, he is a hajdukovac and they passed on him, now he is in Split and they will sell him for very good money…
Back in 1999 or 2000 i hadda settle for watching Yugoslavia vs Ecuador in a friendly in Gaints Stadium…lol whatever…..Serbs lost that game…..it was kool tho….I saw Mihajlovic and Mijatovic play live…..closest i can get….
is there any possibility that Croatia Natatinal team will ever come to the New York/jersey area for play the U.S in soccer???????? the U.S. is playing belgium in a friendly
We have only lost 3 games at Maksimir stadium since 1990 and we need to play games elsewhere??
You don’t go away from something that is working regardless of anything else. That is complete and utter stupidity and suicide. If a North American sports team or any other national team was in the same situation and had an impeccable record and was asked to play games elsewhere to make another area happy, the team would laugh hysterically and give you a great big “NO THANK YOU!”.
Fix up Poljud to meet FIFA and UEFA standards and I am sure that they will get more games played there. Now, in regards to Poljud having the “most aesthetically pleasing stadium in Croatia” comment. I would beg to differ because on March 22nd 2013, Maksimir looked more aesthetically pleasing than any stadium in North America to me!
🙂
The bottom line:
We have three loses at Maksimir since 1990! That is 23 friggin years and that is juggernaut material!
We should play our games elsewhere? No thanks, I think I’ll pass.
What Hajduk needs to do is get its youth development back to Pre-War levels.
Back then it developed the likes of Boksic, Jarni, Stimac, Bilic, Rapaic, Asanovic and many others. After the War it seems as if youth development was never as strong. There have been some talents produced here and there, namely Dario Srna. But there hasn’t been the same quantity of it.
If Hajduk is going to pose a credible threat to Dinamo, youth development needs to start pumping out talent like in the past.
Mirkec,
It all starts from the top. Hajduk was fucked all the way back during the FF days.
I am a hajdukovac but Hjaduk needs big change and not ruin young talent
Croatian youth teams havent looked this good since i cannot remember
I’m a Dalmatinac, but honestly, if Poljud at least had some grass in its stadium, I’m sure there would be more games there. That pitch is friggin’ terrible.
HNS is just being lazy. They know if they play games in Poljud that it would take much more work to guarantee a game with minimal flares (missles as UEFA likes to call it) and adequate security.
Zagreb is a more timid crowd and easier to manage. 🙂
In a move that is not really surprising. Kovacic will not be playing for Cro in this summer’s U-20 World Cup.
1-6-4 in Split………please, how many of those games were legit and how many were friendly.
They can take those friendlies against Holland, Germany, Brazil and whoever else….they are worthless. And then last year they schedule a game on the same day as Gospa……good lord.
Now, Poljud is dump. There is no denying that. I explained that a few months ago before this stadium discussion gained any ground. However, the job of the savez is to grow the game. That means grow the game throughout the country. With Puppet Suker in charge (remember, already a failed businessman), i don’t expect much to change.
As far as stadium issues goes, that is up to the repspective cities, since they actually own those dumps.
1) 51 games vs 11. I would boycott as well if I was a Splicanin. 51 vs 11. 40 more games outside of Zagreb. That’s not right.
2) Split is still Croatia, has the most aesthetically pleasing stadium in Croatia and has that juznjacki temprament with it. Dalmacija i grad Split su dio Lijepe Nase, nije u soldima sve.
@ croatia vs antwerp . agreed with your points
@ ante b : first, from a win/loss standpoint it seems to make sense playing at maksimir. hrvatska went 16 years without a loss in the stadium until it lost to england in 2008. in 51 games, they’ve only lost 3 times. not too bad. compare this with poljud where croatia has a record in 11 games of 1-6-4 . let me repeat that. 1-6-4 . i can’t say i’d be jumping through hoops to get another game there especially after the 20 minute silent treatment episode.
in any case, i think the savez has to strike a balance between maximizing their revenue and sharing the repka around the country. from my understanding, most games are played in maksimir cause that’s where the gate will be the largest ( i could be wrong). if that’s the case, then it makes sense to hold most games in maksimir cause let’s face it, the savez ain’t rich, and the fines uefa keeps hitting us with don’t help.
* i meant Maksimir will be empty IMO
But how is it HNS fault that Hajduk are bankrupt and the only thing thats keeps Hajduk alive is its name and traditions and Torcida, They play in Zagreb because mamic and grad zagreb put money for wheel chairs and it has fifa and uefa regulations, Poljud needs work i love the stadium but that stadion needs work cameras saftey and regulatons and im a hajduk fan and thats how i feel also why not play in Pula best new stadion in croatia 10,000 seats new and clean nice pitch why not Scotland in pula anyway the stadium will be half empty IMO.
@ Ante B
My Point 4 was in response to your argument that Selling players was selling pride and thus turning it’s back on the fans. My points 1 to 3 clearly explain the reality and the necessity of selling players.
Ok you bring up a fair point about games being staged in Maksimir and not somewhere else.
And don’t worry I will have more questions along the way. I find it easier presenting one problem for every post
There are many flaws in your argument but let’s start with the most obvious:
The HNS has decided to only play in Zagreb at Maksimir and refuses to play in other areas of Croatia. I love Zagreb, my family is from there but Zagreb is not the only part of Croatia. The reasons by the HNS (headed by a Dalmatinac, Slavonac and Hercegovac) given are economic and out of spite. They are essentially turning their backs to their fans
How is this right?
Correction the first sentence of point 4 should read:
“No one is turning their back on Croatian football fans..”
I understand many of you have concerns about HNL selling it’s best players. But in the case of Dinamo they are selling out of necessity:
1. The economic situation is such that it is in Croatia that Dinamo cannot rely on gate receipts, television deals, and sponsorships to cover operating costs. They have to sell players to cover expenses and finance youth development.
2. Keeping the best players in HNL is unrealistic. As players develop and get better they demand significant raises. Clubs such as Dinamo can’t afford to keep them, and they end up selling them but still realize a profit.
3. Also with Dinamo, their youth development is constantly churning out talent. In order to make room for these young players, they have to sell more developed players. Which is great because it gives young talented players a chance to play.
4. No one is turning their back on Croatian citizens, as a strong national team instills pride in us all. Our national team helps people put regional differences aside and unite–and uniting Croatians is the most important thing.
Cro is still the one who is the favorite!! What are some of you reading???
That summed up everything.
@Tiha Vala………well said, but that is what happens when we have people in the diaspora who don’t follow what is taking place in Cro day-in, day-out.
For some of these clowns, they rather have a good national team than a clean country. If someone offered me the following scenerio: 1. Good national soccer side, but corrupt and lawless country or 2.) national soccer side that will make the WC one in every three attempts but an effective govt with growing jobs and economy………….i would take #2 because I love Hrvatska that much and have its best interest at heart. Sadly, some of the others would go for #1.
I am by no means a Dinamo fan. In fact i think the HNL is shit, and boring. and mamic is a cuntastic douche. But..
Would you rather have a great “Balkan League” mixed with serbs, muslims, and fucking gypsies, like uefa is proposing?
Or a developmental domestic league? HNL is essentially a U-23 league. How can a bunch of U-23s complete in the CL? Not gonna happen, it’s a miracle they even make it, however, they’d probably do a decent job in the Europa league, which is also a miracle for a bunch of developing players. If you wanna make the HNL better, all the other teams need to clean up their shit too and start to compete.
@ tiha vala. as a free markets fanatic i’ll be the first to tell you i think corruption is bad. especially if mamic is strongly hindering the success of other clubs in croatia to develop talent and run their clubs. i don’t have enough details to know if that true. just saying the guy has produced results for dinamo given the objectives (which do not include winning champions league believe it or not)
@ ante b
“So you guys are just fine and dandy with the domestic league basically selling their club’s pride and leaving them with name only”
how are they selling pride? by selling players?
Ignorance is bliss. The level of naivety on this board as to the corruption in our mother land is scary.
To the people defending Mamic, Ante B said it best: “Sramota”
So you guys are just fine and dandy with the domestic league basically selling their club’s pride and leaving them with name only all in the name of having a national team run by the mafia who have completely ignored playing in the rest of Croatia and thus turning its back to its citizens?
Just peachy. You make me ‘proud.’
Right, and if your definition of success is winning HNL titles, then good for you. You are probably the same guy who took pride in winning a participaton award for whatever sport you played as a kid.
Selling the players to bigger and better clubs is nice, but it sure doesn’t benefit Dinamo’s fans. i doubt the hardcore Dinamo fans care how the players do once they leave Dinamo.
@ Ziva
Jm just explained to you that Dinamo consistently sells their best players in order to generate revenue. As soon as a talented player fully develops and becomes really good they get sold.
So a core group of amazing players never accumulates in order to do well in the CL. Oh, that reminds me. Dinamo has won the league for the last 8 years–so there is on the field success.
Every time another Trophy goes into Dinamo’s trophy cabinet, you grit your teeth in envy. 🙂
@jm…….and with all that talent, what have they produced on the field in games that matter. The players that Dinamo has developed is a great thing, but it hasn’t done much for them on the field.
Well said Ivica Well said ! Bog , Hrvati , Hajduk , i HNS !!!
@ ziva
“so, Dinamo fans should be happy getting blown out by average Euro sides and be happy by beating club teams nobody has ever heard of from former Soviet republics.”
you gotta take off the homer glasses. dinamo sells their best players off. expecting dinamo to compete consistently against the teams that they sell their best players to might be optimistic
I agree with IvicA, we are reaping the benefits of Dinamo’s youth production line with a strong national team.
The way talent from youth development is flowing, these debates regarding Non-Home grown talent on the national team will be a thing of the past.
I would just like to see Hajduk improve it’s youth production line. The more the better. I’m mean Dinamo just sold Kova ‘The Super Nova’ to Inter, and he is now a starter wearing the #10 shirt. That’s what Hajduk needs to be producing.
@Bobby V
Mamic doesn’t have a soccer mind, but he’s done a good job surrounding himself with people that do (except for Kruno Jurcic).
I agree with you that he has a monopoly of all the young talent. Any prospect in Croatia, who wants to have a career, goes to Dinamo.
But Hajduk still outranks Dinamo as a youth academy by producing more athletes in higher leagues. The latest CIES survey has Hajduk’s youth system as ranked 3rd in Europe, with Dinamo’s being 14th. Yet Dinamo seems to continually pump out better players.
I dunno. Even though he’s a criminal, Mamic seems to be doing something right. Unlike Ante B, I put Croatia’s national team ahead of Dinamo 10 times outta 10.
If having a quality national team means having our HNL filled with Croatian teenagers, instead of a blend of foreigners from third world countries like every other league does, then I’m perfectly fine with that.
mandzukic is the best striker on earth right now. that’s what good midfielders can do to for an already great striker. if it wasn’t for heynkles or whatever his name is he would have already beaten the record for goals in the bundesliga in a season. once pep comes in all of this stupid coaching from bayern will end. that heynckles ass takes big gambles with the weak ass gomez starting.
I hope ur right
Mamic is a gangster – don’t ever confuse this with any idea that he has a soccer mind.
He makes sure there are no other academies in Croatia that will compete with him – now and in the future.
If you have any talent, no matter where you are from in Croatia and parts of Bosnia, you will wind up in Zagreb.
No need for Dinamo to recruit. Your way to Western Europe for the most part, is thru him.
Sramota.
@Stipe
Stop freaking out.
Belgium is a good squad, but they are still inexperienced and they missed their chance against us in Belgium. They actually could’ve even lost that game but (lucky for them) our own inexperienced player (Vida) missed that header.
Belgium is not winning in Zagreb. The result will either end up a draw or a loss for Belgium.
They will likely be even with us on points (or maybe even two points ahead of us if we get lazy with the Serbs/Scots), but all that won’t matter as they’ll need to avoid a loss in that game in Zagreb.
It will be a good game, but I’m not sure Belgium has what it takes to come into Zagreb and dominate.
This qualifying campaign reminds me a lot of the WC2006 one where we were neck and neck with Sweden, and had to pull out the win in Zagreb. I think we’ll pull out a 1-0 winner against them.
@jm
I also agree. I am officially on the Mamic train as well. As a nation, we seem to do better as a one-man show rather than making consensus decisions.
Mamic is arrogant and rude, and takes a notable cut for himself out of every transfer, but as you said, the benefits outweigh the cons. The system he’s developed at Dinamo is committed to developing young talent for the purpose of selling them to top teams when they’ve reached that point in their careers to take a step forward (and also for Mamic/Dinamo to cash in).
Con: It results in a perpetually mediocre Dinamo squad.
But who cares? Dinamo will always pay their players on time, create jobs, never be in any debt, and will never insist on some public dollar bailout like what Hajduk tried to do earlier this year. Overall, they are a net positive to the Croatian taxpayer.
Outside of the business side of things…the biggest beneficiary out of this system is the Croatian National team which represents Croats much, much more than our club teams ever will. Sure there are some undeserved callups here and there (ie. Sammir) but for the most part, our national team has a rich influx of young talent which inexplicably (for a country of 4M people) doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Also, those “30% for life “contracts are not a “Mamic” thing. That’s the standard in Cro, and are common in many other countries as well. I agree that we do have to change that, but again, this is probably a main motivator for someone like Mamic to be interested in continually developing an asset of theirs throughout their careers.
You always wonder why guys like Mamic and Suker are still involved in the future transfers of players after they’ve been long gone for years. The have a stake in the player for life, and it can in some ways be a positive thing in terms of the player’s further development.
@chupe thats a 3-5-2… but if were going to post lineups, heres my 3-5-2 lineup
………….Olic……Mandza…………
….Perisic…….Modric……..Srna..
…………Kovacic…..Rakitic……….
…..Lovren…..Joe…Corluka……
…………….Pletikosa……………….
maybe a DM instead of Rakitic (Badelj or Radosevic)
we gotta leave one of the starters out of the world cup team when we qualify, i mean, cmon, Eduardo missed euro 2008, modric got hurt during the WC 2010 qualifiers, and Olic got hurt before euro 2012…..anyone taking bets? I hope everyone is healthy
Pletikosa
Carli Joe Sifo
Srna Kovacic Modric Rakitic Olic
Mandzo Eduardo
3-4-3
@Bobby V…..Correct, Belgium has beaten nobody in recent history, but that doesn’t mean a thing now. This is the best generation of Belgium players since the 86 World Cup squad. I have no clue about their chemistry and if there are any internal divisions, but on paper this is a team on the rise.
Guys chill Belgium are favorites beacuse they are Western Europe a civilized county unlike croatia who are eastern europre balkan scum to the world, and its based on this current team that has
Mignolet Courtois, G Gillet, Vertonghen, Kompany (c), Vermaelen, Mertens, Witsel, Mirallas, Hazard, Fellaini, Dembele Lukaku Chadli De Bryne Van Buyten Debour
Thats why on paper they are better team to people.
Serbia beating belgium will be huge for us, belgium has to lose one game at least. Serbia has soccer in their blood, just like us, hate it or love it, thats the truth, but i kno i kno, we gotta worry about scotland first
Just my day! The future of Croatia are dinamovci! Typical, were destined to win the World Cup now.
Fuck Belgium, and fuck routing for Serbia to win a fucking thing! I believe in us and not needing anyones help!
Can someone tell me who the fuck has this current Belgium beaten in a meaningful game that is any good?
Using Wikipedia, excluding friendlies, their biggest victory in the last 10 years was against…..you guessed it – Croatia – in the 2004 EQ qualifiers.
Their next biggest – Serbia this year and Turkey, in 2009.
And that is it! Pathetic if you consider who Croatia have beaten in the same time frame.
Winning the cup this season will be great for Hajduk but i think Lokomotiva aka Dinamo B will win
@Croatia vs. Antwerp…………envy of what?????? Winning a crap league. Sure, I’d like my jadan hajduk to win this worthless league, but I’m not envious of Dinamo over it. I call it like I see it, without the homer glasses on.
Nasa Boducnost!
Marko Marić (Rapid Beč), Marko Stolnik (Dinamo), Petar Mamić (Dinamo), Ivan Šunjić (Dinamo), Duje Ćaleta-Car (Šibenik), Franjo Prce (Hajduk), Josip Bašić (Hajduk), Ante Roguljić (Adriatic Split), Fran Brodić (Dinamo), Alen Halilović (Dinamo), Frane Vojković (Hajduk), Ivo Grbić (Hajduk), Hrvoje Džijan (Dinamo), Anton Krešić (Zagreb), Lukas Čuljak (Bayern), Ivan Fiolić (Dinamo), Karlo Lulić (Oijek), Robert Murić (Dinamo)
@ Ziva “can you imagine a Cro line up featuring both Brazilian-born Hrvati, Ilicevic, Sertic….you would have 4 guys that either are not hrvati (the two brazilians) or can’t speak the language (Sertic and Ilicevic)……….but, hey, as long as they keep winning, huh…….”
Best Stranci prvi 11
Didulica – Kovac Kovac Simunic Seric – Rakitic Sertic Ilicevic Sammir Eduardo Kozniku!
Funny story on ESPN about Croatian coach of NK Precko Zagreb, Josip Gaspar stealing a players credit card and buying 36 litres of Jagermeister.
My big question is why Jager? What is this coach 19?
Tie is not enough. If they tie, and then beat us, they are still a point ahead.
If they lose, we have more wiggle room when we play them.
Plus, Serbia winning doesn’t hurt us at all.
@Stipe
Lets not go that far now!
A tie would be enough.
fuck belgium….i hope serbia fuckin beats them
Kovacic gets the start vs Roma. Good game so far.
Thst’s not me up there, but it’s true!
BTW my dick is so big that I can give myself a BJ. How do you like them apples?
@ Ziva
“Not all of that transfer money gets plowed back into the club.” -Ziva
I never said that. Re read my post:
“Sure he takes a cut of the pie, but most of the transfer money gets plowed back into the club.” -CvA
I sense an animosity from you towards Dinamo. Envy perhaps? Sounds about right. As Dinamo has effectively dominated the league, and Hajduk isn’t.
I would hardly call clubs like PSG, Porto, and Dinamo Kiev “average Euro sides.”
EXPERIENCE is one thing we have over them!!
Serbia owned belgium in the first 20 min of that game…The serbs had no luck…Belgium is a very very good team…but they are no spain!! If croatia shows up we can beat belgium!! Some of you make it sound like they are on another level…mandzo,modric,srna,kovacic,rakitic,olic,perisic,some top flight players in my book! Hrvati panic always…we will be fine!!
@Croatia vs. Antwerp…..actually, no it doesn’t. Not all of that transfer money gets plowed back into the club. Mamic and his son keep a nice portion if the players are sold from his agency.
@jm…….so, Dinamo fans should be happy getting blown out by average Euro sides and be happy by beating club teams nobody has ever heard of from former Soviet republics. There is a reason they have trouble drawing a crowd. A true Dinamo fan would never go to the stadium to watch Mamic rule the club. I applaud the fans who don’t go as they are the real fans. Winning the HNL crown means nothing. It’s like celebrating a title in minor league baseball.
I think they will. They basically choked against us in Belgium. For the most part they dominated the second half of that game, and a good solid team should have taken the opportunity to put us away. My feeling is that it will come back to bite them when we play them at home.
@Borat, i hope they will choke when it counts!
Croatia can be ranked #1 in the world and all the analysts and pundits will still treat croatia like an underdog. Even if we win the WC they’ll call it a fluke. That’s just the nature of our team and our situation and it is going to be that way forever.
Going up against the Belgcunts, despite our ranking, i think we are still going in as underdogs, we dont have as many big names in big leagues, which is all that the commentators and analysts care about. Though they will not account for the fact that we will be defending our home field. Also, the Belgians share DNA with the Dutch, who are masters of choking, and thus far, Belgium have basically choked in all major competitions.
@Stipe, i will be happy to leave any of you zidov teachers my phone number, the cunts.I’m ficking hamerred but fuck the cunts, i have nothing against the jews, not fucking yet!
I hope he is a good coach, I’m 28 years old, when i was a kid i used to cry when we lost games, tied to Australia, i was distraught, damn turkish game, living in town in Jersey with a lot of Serbs around, I just want Croatia to make the world cup. I dont want Modric to miss the world cup, I know he was in the squad in 2006, but cmon, thats not the same, he was on the bench. I dont want Modric to miss the dance again like in 2010. Im happy we beat Serbia, as i said i live in a town with alotta serbs, im friends with some of them, but they themselves knew they were gonna lose, i was happy we won, I thought i would be happier, So I just want to make the World Cup HEALTHY, no major injuries to any key players!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Grandfather was an Ustasa, never said a bad word about jews, he was fighting for freedom, any cunt has a problem and they can accept my 12 inch cock in thier ass!
@Stipe, in the end you have to be your own man, see what happens with Stimac as we have no choice for now, might be a good coach1
Kreso, I understand you and agree with you. I love being Croatian and eveyrthing that comes with it. I dont give a fuck, i Love being Croatian. People and Zidov teachers in high school and college calling me (us) nazis to my face, we were a nazi Puppet state. I dont give a fuck, I love it. Thats just what it was, it is what it is. But Croatia can be complacent at times, thats what i am worried about. And coaching too, Im worried that Stimac isnt seasoned enough as a coach
@ ziva
“and what have the dinamo fans gotten out of that team. Nothing”
what were the alternatives? dinamo fans have gotten a lot more than hajduk fans. dinamo fans have what seems like a financially viable team that they can watch win the hnl every year. they gotten the opportunity to see their teams beat other teams from similar leagues to make it to champions league. and they’ve gotten as a result to see there team square off against the best competition in the world and see the likes of ronaldo come to zagreb to play a game. not to mention they get to see their former dinamo players go on to play for big clubs of euorpe and the national team. perhaps you can say they should win some champions league games but given the resources and selling of talent that they are forced to do, i fear this is setting unrealistic expectations. i think the dinamo fans have gotten about all they can hope for
@ Stipe, i’m just expressing my blind fath!
we keep complaining, even i do about being the underdog, it’s shit when you don’t deserve it.If you want to be one of the top dog’s you have to play and not pass the ball around all the time, our boy’s can play!Did the fans not chant igraij te pederi aganst france before they played and scored 2 , i was their, they fukin played, 2006 world cup
@ Stipe
Belgium will serve as the ultimate test for our squad’s capabilities. Some pundits are already calling Belgium a “dark horse” for the World Cup. But Vatreni can’t be scared, being cowards is not in our DNA.
Regarding youth development though, Belgium too has established a solid production line.
I got faith, but u kno what happens when ” were suppose to win” we probably will Kreso, but i dont kno, if we get second place, play offs will be tuff
@ Jm
Absolutely agree with you. Mamic’s contributions outweigh his minuses. Sure he takes a cut of the pie, but most of the transfer money gets plowed back into the club.
I don’t think Dinamo could have done much better in the CL these past two seasons with the players at their disposal. Just making the CL with our young talent is an achievement.
While the BBB certainly don’t like Mamic, there are many other fans that tolerate him because they are happy with what he has done with the club.
@Stipe, you have to stand up for your self, fuck rankings, Luka won’t shit himself or Srna, they will go out and play, have faith!
The world cup rankings are good when it comes to the world cup draws and pots and shit like that….other than that..who cares? Serbia is ranked what, 40 or something? Cmon, they are better then there ranking, they will be a good team later on, but I hate when Croatia are favorites, 4th in the world is great, but i doesnt mean anything when we are technically not even the leaders in our own group, ya dig? So I hate when Croatia is suppose to win, Belgium is scary dude
Jm
I have to agree with you.
I loved the socceroos in the lead up to the 2006 wc, i was over the moon when they made it beating uruguay, the second i heard a australian commentator say it shouldn’t be to hard to beat Croatia i turned, the only thing i’ve got to be mad about is Croatia not playing, i love Australia, the Vatrani did not play.
If the national team was scared of belgium they might aswell tuck their balls in, same as the no 4 spot, if you just get scared go back to no , whatthefuckever, if they go out and play no problem!
Im scared as hell of Belgium….Even if we tie we screwed….i kno we gotta win the rest of the games as well…but i dont know about belgium….they reallly scare me
@Ziva Istina
Actually it is news worthy for the kid. That game garnished him plenty of attention outside Hrv. If he keeps it up he’ll be sold like Kovacic.
well, being 17 yrs old and standing out against hajduk is not really news worthy.
@Ivica….I have no issues with the likes of Halilovic & Ademi playing for the repka. They are born and raised in cro and are citizens. Ilicevic struggles with the language and Sertic has zero ability to speak croatian. Shit, Ilicevic needed the german-based hrvati to serve as his translator with the repka.
@jm…….and what have the dinamo fans gotten out of that team. Nothing. They cant compete in europe and win in a rigged domestic league. I can argue that with the talent that has come out of dinamo in the last 5 or so years, they should have done much, much better in euro competitions.
this is why i don’t get all the hate against mamic. is he corrupt? probably… but at the end of the day, he has forged dinamo into a team the consistently wins the hnl and makes champions league. but most importantly, into a team with a tremendous farm system that continues to spit out great talent and then also manages to place that talent across europe to keep the conveyor built going. sure perhaps mamic is being driven by money, but reality of the world is that money is the best motivator and we who support the national team are reaping the benefits of mamic’s money hungriness that forces him to keep dynamo churning out talented players to sell
With the post-war Dinamo production line up and running, it will ensure plenty of Croatian talent for the future. The team is so young you would think that Jurcic was a youth team coach. But that’s a good thing.
We’ve been blessed with midfield talent, and it’s refreshing to see a young defender such as Jedvaj develop. But, he did play midfield in the last match…Well, anyway you get the point.
So for the future, we will be relying on home-grown talent to fill the squad.
@IvicA
Lots of strong Hrvati from Mostar dude. No big surprise.
@Ziva
I don’t like it either, but you’re just fear mongering now.
None of these guys will ever start in a tournament for us, with Sammir probably never being called up again once he is sold off (a la Neretljak, Bosnjak, and all those other undeserved national team players who were showcased and sold).
Sertic and Ilicevic are bench players, with Ilicevic likely speaking better Cro than we do. Dudu will probably be done after Brazil.
Judging by the crop of key prospects we have on our youth system, along with the fact that Dudu is getting old, Ilicevic will never get better, and the Sammir project eventually coming to a close…we’ll probably end up having the most ethnic Croat team ever in a few short years from now.
We’ve always had a half Serb or two on the squad at all times, but our future looks to have only two non-fully ethnic Croats (Halilovic & Ademi) but they both born and raised in Cro and both were developed in our system (with Ademi being far from a sure thing in terms of national team caliber with a prospect like Radosevic and even Kovacic that can play in that role).
@Horvat
Does anyone know whether Jedvaj has chosen to play for Cro or Bosna?
Was that ever even in question?
Tin Jedvaj is an ethnic Croat who was born and raised in Zagreb. His dad is a Croat from Mostar (of all places) who likely has a photo of Pavelic on his living room wall while probably spending the majority of his life criticizing born-and-raised Croats about not being Croat enough.
I’m pretty sure we’re good on Tin Jedvaj playing for Cro, lol.
If the kid keeps playing like this, it won’t be long before Stimac calls him up.
@Horvat
You gotta love the talent Dinamo keeps producing. Kid is only 17 and has a promising career ahead of him. His game against Hajduk he really stood out. Hopefully he will continue to improve. He has played for the Croatian youth team.
can you imagine a Cro line up featuring both Brazilian-born Hrvati, Ilicevic, Sertic….you would have 4 guys that either are not hrvati (the two brazilians) or can’t speak the language (Sertic and Ilicevic)……….but, hey, as long as they keep winning, huh…….
Ivo Iličević has returned from injury and will be made available for Hamburg’s next game.
Until his next paper cut.
The Baron strikes again!
I remember watching him at Dinamo, and saying to myself if only he used his head more often….
Boy, did he ever, with his intelligent running and pressing, heading of the ball, and ability to win aerial battles. Belgium beware!
Off topic, however, I was just watching some videos of Tin Jedvaj. The kid looks promising. Does anyone know whether he has chosen to play for Cro or Bosna. It would suck if both he and Halilovic both chose Bosna.
Man. One year ago today, we were all debating whether this guy should be even starting for us or not.
go croatian players
well done Baron!
from your former number 1 hater