With 10 minutes left in their normal qualifying campaign, Croatia got the job done against Russia (and the elements) to qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. And the win should be considered even more important today with what’s going to happen in the playoff round in March. Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Scotland, Poland, to name a few nations, will all have to qualify through a European playoff with only three berths available. (But we will get into those details later in the week.)
Although it was a complete team effort yesterday to keep Russia scoreless before an eventual Croatian goal, there’s one guy on the team that didn’t quite receive the praise that I think he should of in the events leading up to the Russia own goal. Luka Modrić starred in the midfield alongside Marcelo Brozović. Both were co-‘Men of the Match’ in my eyes. But it was ultimately 23 year-old Borna Sosa who hustled his ass off to keep the ball in play before swinging in a troublesome cross that would be catastrophically kicked into the Russian goal by Kudryashov to seal Croatia’s fate.
Borna Sosa was a villain in Croatia only six months ago when he turned his back on the HNS to play for Germany. Many Croatian fans around the world wanted nothing to do with the Stuttgart left-back after his admission of wanting to play for the Germans. However, FIFA immediately blocked the move as Sosa was too old which meant his only road to play internationally went through Croatia. He quickly apologized, was picked up by Zlatko Dalić for senior duty, and today sits as the last Croatian player to touch the ball on the goal that would send the Vatreni to the World Cup.
If you watch the play again, it did not look as if Perišić would be able to get to Brekalo’s long cross across the box. A throw-in would have let Russia reset defensively and take Croatia out of rhythm. Sosa read the play correctly and got to where he needed to be to keep the ball in play and launch the cross that would lead to Russian heartbreak.
Sosa was once a villain. Now he is the hero.
And this won’t be the last time we call Sosa a hero. He has been a pivotal part of the Stuttgart defense in the Bundesliga and has made a name for himself as an expert with his crosses from the sideline. He’s only 23 and the ideal left-back Croatians have been waiting for. With Duje Ćaleta-Car and Gvardiol moving up the ranks to anchor the Croatian backline and Juranović/Stanišić battling out for right-back supremacy; the next eight years in defense is in good hands for Croatia.
Add Brozović, Kovacic, Brekalo, Majer, Vlašić, Sučić to the mix, and we have ourselves another solid generation upon us.
But remember, it was Sosa who made that own goal against Russia happen. How quickly fortunes changed for Sosa in the span of six months in Croatian eyes.
Danke, Borna Sosa. You are forgiven.
I am not seeing all the hype around Vlasic…again this game he did nothing…I know he rocked the Russian league but has done nothing at West Ham despite getting some regular minutes through the multiple competitions they are in. You keep mentioning Vlasic but I have at least 4 or 5 guys I would play in front of him.
I read Dalic might make swith to 3 5 2 next year alot of articles out today in press and he said in interviews he will try a modern formation
Golman Cc Lovren Gvardiol Juranovic Sosa Modric Broz Kova Perisic Krama up front.
Time for Dalic to learn from mistakes cannot waste nations league on skoric melnjak etc. and playing the veterans of team imo.
Im happy where we are going like jarni said on tv 3 things you need in a tournament
Clutch goalkeeper Luck and Bog.
Hopefully Grbic is legit.
If he turns out to be an above average keeper for us, it will be the first time since Ladic’s WC1998 performance where we had a performance from our keeper that bailed us out in a game (like Ladic did against Germany).
I give props to Subasic’s penalty saves against Denmark…but he was largely untested during gameplay at the WC2018. Also, Pletikosa did have a solid Euro2012 tournament too.
But all other tournaments, our goalkeepers were pretty big liabilities for us.
I can’t recall many moments where we had a keeper bail us out on any point blank saves or game changing saves that impacted our tournament.
Actually the Subasic’s “foot save” on Harry Kane’s was good, but that was it in terms of gameplay saves from him.
Pleti had some good first-half saves against Italy in Euro2012, but it didn’t matter in the end as we didn’t progress from the group.
The Ladic saves on Bierhoff and Klinsmann were probably the biggest “impact” saves in a tournament for us during gameplay.
So true i keep saying that Ladic at wc 1998 was outstanding performance.
Suba at 2018 just had the penalties and kane save and maybe vs russia one key save.
Pletikosa only got out of group play one time euro 08.
Lets look at his tournaments
2002 not too much work conceded 3 goals
2004 was hurt.
2006. He played great made good saves not his fault
2008 Good tournament could not save penalties v tukery
2012 good tournament
2014 should have let suba play.
don’t count Suba – He was shit@!
nothing more ..
I don’t see roko Simic making final squad unless he plays and scores regularly for senior club team. Main thing is Budimir gets healthy and back to form. Dalic has has enough youth already in plans I don’t see guys like Vidovic or Simic in Qatar.
Dalic needs to get a real balanced starting 11 one ready for a deep run. We will be bringing our best squad ever to a major tournament. Never have we had so many quality players we will for the first time have a bench equal to other top nations. Our back line seems pretty set and our main midfielders are set we need a steady striker “ Budimir hopefully rounds into form” and we need to fix our right side. Juranovic and Vlasic as a combo simply doesn’t work and that’s only criticism I have of Dalic for last game. All game we were forcing it on left side as we had nothing on the right side, again against weak teams will get away with it but we’re not going to Qatar for participation awards we wanna make a run.
Dalic needs to stop with the Vlasic on the wing and only play him as a striker in a 3-5-2 system enough of giving him chances. We have a year to figure it out and health and form will matter, but only major weakness we have to figure out in the year is our right side. We get that sorted along with the striker and watch out this team will be tough to beat for any nation.
Yup. My sentiments exactly.
We have a full year, and we have a solid group of 20-25 players (where at least 18 of them could realistically start games for us).
Stick to finding out what works with this current group, and build chemistry with them.
Do not spend any time on trying to find something new to satisfy a perceived need.
A true target man would be great, but we don’t have one that is on the same caliber of talent as the rest of the team.
No point in benching quality players like Kramarić or Majer because somebody said that we need to have a true striker up top.. and we spend the next year trying out bums from the Swedish league to see if we found a hidden unicorn (that nobody else could find) who will carry us to World Cup gold.
Roko Simic may turn out to be a very good striker in the future. However, I doubt he will make an impact for the national team any time soon. Hope I’m wrong.
However, I think Gabriel Vidovic is a youngster who may surprise us in the near future. He’s not a typical #9, but he could be very potent paired up with another striker up top, as a second striker, or even on the wing.
I think it’s too soon for either of those young players to be considered for the senior National Team.
Maybe after the World Cup (if Roko finishes as top scorer of his league and is promoted to Salzburg’s main squad) but otherwise, we have way too many quality players ahead of them who are currently playing important roles in big leagues right now.
Our biggest question mark is who to pair with Kramaric.
Kramaric is building more chemistry with the team and I’m sure its just a matter of time before he starts popping in the goals consistently. That combined with his newfound ability to assist will be huge for us in Qatar. I hope Dalic will use the next year to try out both Budimir and Roko Simic as a true centre forward with Krama just underneath.
I like both these players as they are tall target men. We have Sosa and Juranovic with great ability for putting in crosses. Combine that with our proven build up play through Modric, Brozovic, Kova and now Majer (who looks like a great prospect judging by his recent form for Rennes). Add in some explosive counter attacks courtesy of Perisic and we’ve got the makings for another deep run.
Also, Simic, being so young should have oceans of energy (and youthful adrenaline) to chase balls and pressure defences just like Mandzukic did.
Honestly, I had a lot of confidence going into 2018 that we would go deep… I actually think this team has even better potential than that one did!
Let’s win it this time!!!
PS- so thankful that we didn’t have to go to the playoffs. It’s gonna be fun (and totally stress-free for once) to watch all these heavy hitters duking it out in March!
Bog i Hrvati
I’m not soo sure Krama built more chemistry with anyone, I do think he just changed some of his behaviours (ie…not always looking to score for himself first) and he suffered a major goal scoring drought that only he could have repaired.
I’m a fan of Simic but I’m also a realist. He caught fire recently and I’m happy for him but we would be nuts to start thinking he’s going to light the world on fire at the National team level…at this point in his career. Maybe he will but I think we are all just speculating and going a bit far with our expectations. Roko Simic is in our future but we are behaving as if he’s already the future and he’s arrived…this is bad and wrong, the kid barely has pubic hairs on his nuts and he’s totally unproven at the moment other than a few games. lets give the kid a chance before we lay soo much pressure on him!
C’mon. The ‘kid’ is 6’3” tall and will be 19 years old next September.
It’s not like I’m saying to lock him in as our go to striker…but why not try him out.
Since when is a 19 year old considered a kid.
Surely if you’re old enough to join the army you should be able to play in a soccer game without it scarring you too badly. Sheesh!
Stari, don’t get me wrong bro, I want him to get a chance. I just don’t want our expectations set too high. The kid will need time.
Believe me, most players are still developing at his age and they really only peak at 26-27 years old…thats when they have experience and their body has matured!
I agree. But as they say ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’
I’d love to see him get at least one crack with the repka in the next year. You never know until you try…
we only need a field general like Modric and play every kid and have them run – we’ve always had skilled players but I don’t recall Croatia having a speedy team – this is the tournament to release the hounds- jebi age – play the skilled fast guys and Luka will guide them – just have Dalic as figure head – and a few cases of Kleenex – bloody guy just cries- that’s it.
Agreed. Anything can happen in a year. First things first is getting him capped. Say he transfers to bigger club in the off-season and starts filling the net like Haaland. Pretty sure we’d want him in the squad then.
Luka made the 06 team without playing a minute of qualifying. Roko could be like Ronaldo in 94. Just be there for our World Cup winning atmosphere
Exactly!!!
I think Dalić has finally given a long leash for Kramarić, and we are seeing the benefits of it.
Krama would rarely get starts or play full games, and now he’s started several times in a row for us. I think his good play is a symptom of this.
As for Roko…
He is currently doing well, but he plays in 2nd division league that is largely comprised of 19 year olds. He’s also doing well for the U21s.
He looks good for his age group, but he hasn’t played against senior players outside of his season with Lokomotiva in the HNL and about 5 minutes of Champions League football with Salzburg.
I wouldn’t want to bench someone like Majer or Kramarić just to try and fit Roko in there.
I do like his size and Mandžo-like strides when he runs… But I think that’s as far as the comparison goes with Mandžo right now. He needs to show more before getting a callup. If he finishes as top scorer for his league (and he legitimately scores headers regularly), then sure… But even then, it’s unlikely that he gets any serious time above our other offensive options.
I think we really need to focus on the first part of your post in trying to find a formation and strategy that works for our existing players (like Kramarić) to ensure that we get the most out of them.
We’ve got excellent players who are playing in the top five leagues in Europe. We need to unlock their talent and use them.
Slavonac you’re 100% incorrect I’m betting ROKO has big hairy Rok solid balls !!
The next time we have a Mateo Kovacic conversation I think we all need to understand who he is and what his role is….I think there’s a lot of confusion as to what position he plays and what his weaknesses are vs his strengths.
Kovacic is NOT an attacking midfield, at least not in the last 4-5 years. His specialty is being more defensive and then transitioning the play. Why am I bringing this up now…well, because I feel he’s been treated harshly by us and yet the rest of the world rate him highly!
We expect him to be a “final third” type of midfield player but really, he’s a player that defends well, takes the ball from his defenders and moves it through the midfield…and he does that very well! I think we need to learn how to appreciate him more and stop hoping he’s another Modric…at least not for now.
Completely agree. Kovacic is an essential part of our team.
To be fair though, he’s largely been a passenger for most of his career.
Prior to this season, he has had little to no impact to any of the clubs he has played on. He also had almost 70 caps for us in this period, where he was maybe impactful in three games.
So, I think the criticism is justified because it’s largely been focused on his lack of assertiveness and impact over the previous seven years, despite having every opportunity to showcase what he could do.
Not many people get as many chances as Kovacic did in his career.
That said, he has been very good this season and it looks like he is finally taking the next step in his progression.
Very few people are criticizing him now because he is actually being impactful for his club and country. Hopefully he continues to progress and becomes a better player in his late-20s and early-30s than he was in his previous years.
I don’t think people need him to be another Modric, but he’s a good midfielder that is finally a net positive and impactful player for us now.
I mean…Yes and No
“Prior to this season, he has had little to no impact to any of the clubs he has played on. He also had almost 70 caps for us in this period, where he was maybe impactful in three games.”
I disagree with your comments at his club but I agree with them at our National Team. He’s been phenomenal at Chelsea and this is his 3rd year in a row he’s consistently been like that…I wouldn’t say its only as recent as this year.
His first year at Chelsea was mediocre, much like the rest of his career before that.
His second season was just ‘good’ but it is his current third season where he’s actually impactful.
His National Team results follow this same path too. It’s really been these past few months (since the Euros) where he’s stepped up his game significantly for us.
I’m hoping it means that he’s just a late bloomer (like many Croats) and he will continue to take the next steps of becoming a star player.
Yes, your point is well taken regarding the beginning of his career. Over the past year or so he has really hit his stride. I am so impressed with his skills and how he seems to beat everyone to the ball. He is always running, a constant influence in the center of the field and always looking to make through balls. He has been spectacular on the defensive side of the pitch. He really cannot shoot worth a damn but I think Slavonac is quite correct. If Kova continues to play his game we can live with him not being involved in the last third of the pitch. We are definitely stronger with him which makes our last two qualifying matches even more impressive. If Kova and Majer have to play, who sits?
Exactly!! We have offensive players that can create, Kova shouldn’t be held responsible for our attack if his role is defensive and transition!
Since 1994, never seen a soccer talent pool like this – need to get HNS, coaches and all other HNS garbage out of the way and let Luka and the kids do their thing- we can beat anybody, anytime – just have to have the Vatreni spirit and the rest is all doable- Congratulations to Borna Sosa- he is one among many great kids we have – he got his handlers out of the way and just played a fantastic game- the kid has game but so does 9 or 10 other guys of his age group- let them compete for the next year to see who can walk on the field for game 1 in Qatar
At his position? Who are the 9 or 10?
We should play with a false nine if we don’t have a forward. Just my 2 cents.
Yea, no point in trying to find some stop-gap forward.
Just play Krama there if you must.
He’s been solid these past few qualifiers, and it looks like he’s finally developing some chemistry with the rest of the team.
If we want to change strategy and send in bombs from the flank all game, then we can always use some of the guys we already have (Budimir, Pasalic, Duje, etc.) to try and get their heads on the end of those Sosa crosses.
We have many talented defenders and midfielders coming up in our youth system. Unfortunately we have a problem with forwards ? I have been watching our U17 and U19 and cannot see any exceptionally talented forwards in these age groups. Roko Simic looks the goods in the U21 and should be given a go with the senior team soon.
Biuk is talented, but I worry about his work ethic on the field. Ljubicic is also a good prospect but it is crucial for his development and that of Biuk that they get some decent time play for Hajduk in the HNL.
We just have to accept that we are a midfield factory.
Our forwards and even our defenders all started as midfielders, and continue to act like them.
Gotta just figure out the best way to take advantage of this creative skillset across the field to give us an advantage over other countries.
I must say our talent pool especially D does look better with depth then world cup 18. Only problem is and its a few big ones – Goalie and a top notch all around striker. oh my I would welcome back Mandzo with open arms. Imagine we had him or a dudu Eduardo and a half decent goalie lol. We’d definitely be a favorite.
I went to Euro 08 and thought our team had great talent and it did but each tourney since we progressively got better though with more depth in skill in various positions. Pletikosa moved like subasic snail france final in the opener against Brazil 14 on neymar goal. Can’t totally blame him as Jap ref fucked us with fred flop PK and 3rd goal rakitic got fouled really bad with no call. Kovac got lineup way wrong for Mexico game with his love for pranjic and playing our studs out of position terribly set up.
16 was ours for the taking and a few inches from connecting in injury time coulda sent those chops home. Strinic lost the ball tho and rest was history only shot on net i believe from those chops which was the goal on the break
18 – finally our talent and some luck shows
20/21 dalic gets the system mostly wrong all tourney – brekalo should not be playing as wingback has ne not learned.
we have so many talented youngsters now thanks to sosa, stanisic, gvardiol, pongracic, juranovic. Our future. Mid is excellent as always. We need a lethal striker or do we though? Italy won euro and immobile was garbage all tourney. Sure he scores in europe like krama but for national team immobile is garbage.
Andrej is coming into his own less selfish and seems more confident past few games. We gotta say bye to lovren, vida at the back. Unless vlasic gains form he shouldn’t start either, Pašalić is a tricky one as he’s hit or miss. Majer keeps up how he’s going he should start opposite perisic on the other wing. Orsic also shows great heart for us. So much depth in mid and on wings.
i truly hope he find a way to integrate krama well next year. We could make a nice run as goalie (hope its grbic) is important but if our D which is full of depth and young hungry talent can hold then we just got ta play our style press and control possession. Italy had no top notch striker and they won euro.
How many goals did we let in from set pieces during that World cup or own goals?
Iceland – Lovren hand ball PK,
Denmark long throw goal
Russia free kick goal
England free kick goal
France free kick own goal Mandzo push in back by Pogba, PK to follow
I don’t want Petković playing 1 min of that world cup as striker. dude plays for dinamo for a reason. Not even a club brugge or slightly higher ranked uefa europa/weak champions league team. he doesn’t deserve the checkers against big teams. maybe sand marino or malta or andorra but that’s about it.
Right after the goal, Dalic almost made the same mistake he did against Spain in the Euros. We had only 3 defenders on the field. He finally remembered and put Stanisic in.
Sad but true. I was screaming at my TV. Thankfully Dalic could hear me. You’re welcome everyone.
I think you made him cry
yuppppp brekalo in at wingback for juranovic wtf was he thinking ? didn’t he learn from getting exposed against the spicks.
He was bloody busy crying already- this guy is a mess- get him on a Croatian soap opera balling over some Lidija Bacic but not a soccer coach- bloody guy cries non stop
He was hedging his bets with Germania Sport, and had big money on Russia. Just needed to cry out a bit for those lost Bosanske Marke.
LOL- oh that would have been a great story- Dalic betting on the game and gets it wrong- Bosanke Marke- you need 5,000,000 of them to one US dollar- thank God for Croatia – these other slavs would have no inspiration at all
He has impacted all the games in which he has played. Quick movement, decision making, give-and-go’s and always a constant threat on the left-hand side. If only we had a aerially good, strong and tall striker. Gvardiol has also impacted the way that Croatia plays as well from Centre-back and Gvardiol allows Sosa to roam forward because Gvardiol can cope at the back.
Is there anyone else on the youth radar that could show up by next year? Simic possible? Ljubicic no chance Is my guess
Some one who can show up like a juranovic from relative obscurity and surprise us all??
Someone who Sosa and juranovic can link up with
It’s so exciting to think we could possibly make an attack from either flank and of course forward through the mid field
We have a lot of players to choose from already. I would focus on trying to get the most out of guys like Krama, Majer, Kovacic, etc in attack instead of trying to find some diamond that is not there.
Maybe keep an eye on Luka Sucic and Roko Simic (assuming he keeps scoring at the same high rate) but they would be backups at best as it would still be difficult to put either of them ahead of any one of our established offensive players like Krama or even Majer.
Not sure if this was targeted at me or the Markus who commented this, but as for the surprise players (Juranovic types), it’s impossible to predict. Who knows who will get a surprise call and be very impressive. Only position I can’t think of that happening in is striker since we’re locked up pretty much everywhere else.
As for talents, Šimić is the next big one to be introduced to the squad. I can see guys like Vidović or Baturina get a chance in the next year or two as well, if they continue to progress.
Ljubicic could be called up next year depending on how the new Hajduk coach can utilise him. So far, he’s already scored a goal under him and he’s got that Biuk connection as well in the final third. But either way, I would like to see both Simic and Ljubicic get called up for friendlies next year to share the role upfront.
Igor Matanovic
Interesting player, but it seems like he may be sticking with Germany.
He may be playing the “Stanišić card” where he is pretending to want to play for Germany to advance his Bundesliga career, then pull the switch later.
Hey, Markus. Do you mind changing your name around a bit so that we don’t have the same exact username on here and get mistaken? Maybe if you put “Markus R” or just change it around a bit?
Much appreciated!
Yep, That’s all good
Puno hvala