Nikola Vlašić scored a wonderful half-volley from 18 yards out Saturday to force a 1-1 Torino draw versus Juventus. The shot perfectly rattled off the left post to freeze Juve goalie Michele Di Gregorio in 1st half injury time. Vlašić now has two goals and three assists in 14 Serie A matches this season. He doesn’t score often, but when he does, the goals sure are beauties!
17 year-old Luka Vušković picked up two yellows in injury time Saturday for his first sending off in the Belgian League. The second yellow came for direct dissent to the referee. Not a big deal either way but good to see the youngster show passion. We can use a bit more of that on the Croatian senior side.
21 year-old Franjo Ivanović scored his 7th goal of the Belgian season this weekend with a well-disciplined “stop & go” chip from inside the box. Ivanović has a total of seven goals and three assists in 15 matches this season for Union SG. An excellent season for the former Rijeka player. Is it time to call up Ivanović to the senior side in 2025?
Luka Modrić came off the bench in the 64th minute with Real Madrid down 5-2 to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. It was far too large a mountain for Los Blanocs to climb, even with Barcelona playing with 10 men. Could have been another trophy for Modrić but not in the cards Sunday as Barca piled on the goals after Mbappe’s opener.
Unfortunately it seems Labrovic has lost his starting spot at Augsburg…
Must disagree with your take on the Vuskovic red card. Maybe you mean because of the timing, since it was during time added on, but to be carded for whining is useless. A meaningful red card might be for taking an opponent down near the end of an important game to preserve a victory. Or belting a forward into the fifth row if he is committing cheap shots against you, to show future opponents what they’ll receive if they mess with you.
Agree with you 100%. Arguing or swearing at the match officials is sheer stupidity. Hopefully he will learn from this after being suspended for a few weeks.
[Farioli began with news regarding Josip Šutalo, who will not be available due to ongoing medical issues. “Everyone is fit except Šutalo. He is still recovering from his illness and needs more time than expected,” said Farioli.]
https://english.ajax.nl/articles/farioli-a-new-chapter-begins-here/
Above is what the Ajax coach said last Fri. Sounds a bit like mono to me… the last time Sutalo played for Ajax was on Dec 12. Hope he’ll make a full recovery soon.
I hope these players buck up please. Esp orsic. I love to see him back..
Orsic still a free agent
Ivanusec: still on bench and never come off for months
Perisic subbed off and PSV scored twice thereafter
Budimir: surprisingly on bench despite being top scorer
Erlic and Mono: on the bench
Pongracic; on the bench
Barisic: always play the last few min
Majer: speedy recovery please
Frigan: came off the bench. Same case as osasuna
Roko Simic: ???????
Vidovic: injured
Juranovic: ?????
Matanovic: bench
Stanisic: thought he has recovered
Looks like the ref gave Luka a straight red. What he said must not have been nice lol. Didn’t show the yellow again.
Match reports say 2 yellows were given. Frigan got a yellow too.
These guys saying it was a straight red
x.com/BelgianReferees/status/1878849490574287247
Hopefully they are appealing….
Re: his Spurs CB competition – Alfie Dorrington shipped to Aberdeen on loan today – weird cuz Aberdeen already bought a CB the Latvia NT captain w/ 37 caps this window – also weird no Championship or League 1 team wanted him – bodes well for Luka
Vuskovic sent off yesterday?
https://sempreinter.com/2025/01/11/croatia-slovenia-bosnia-vie-to-call-up-inter-luka-topalovic/
Anyone heard of this kid?
Yea.
He’s full Croat (not “Bosnian” ha ha), but was playing for Slovenia this whole time (since he’s born and raised there).
Now that it’s evident that he could become a star, he’ll probably drop his fallback option (which was Slovenia) and accept a callup for Croatia (the country he likely grew up watching and dreamt about representing).
It’s tough though once you already are a part of another youth setup and are considered their biggest piece. He’s probably Slovenia’s best youth prospect.
Lots of respect to him if he makes the switch.
Guys like Oliver Lukic and Luka Sucic did this to Austria. Nice to see this diaspora youth prioritize Croatia above everything.
Also important to note…
This kid’s parents are from Kotor Varos in Bosna. This is the same place Mateo Kovacic’s parents are from.
It’s right in the middle of Republika Srpska, and almost all Croats left this place.
It’s possible that his family knows Kova’s family since the population of Croats was always in the minority there.
Point is…Croats from these areas are always hardcore Croatian, and are unlikely to ever want to play for another National Team.
It’s very likely this kid wants to pull a switch, but it would be such a blow to Slovenian football (especially with them having the prospect of a good striker in Sesko to grow with, as they are only three years apart in age).
This somehow reminds me of Petar Sucic… although I’m not sure if Petar was a highly rated prospect in BiH before making the switch.
Anyway Maminjo, thanks for enlightening us about this youngster’s origins; it’s always great to learn about less well-known places where Croats exist (or once existed, like Kotor Varos)— did not know Kova’s roots were from there.
More like hardcore Jugoslaveni, paying a Serb like Sasa Matic to sing at his wedding. Hardcore Croatians have minimal contact with Serbs, don’t listen to their music or associate with them in their free time. But maybe I’m wrong and supposed real hardcore Croatians like Mateo associate heavily with Serbs.
How soon until Ivanovic gets called up to the mens team for a game or two if he keeps scoring at this rate? He has 6 goals in 14 games. From 20th to 4th it’s 6 to 8 goals and then 1 goal difference up to first place but most players have played 20 games where Ivanovic has 14 games played. I’m not sure how many minutes you need to play to count as a game. If you come in in 89th minute does that count as a game played?
Either way, who else do we have up top as a prospect with some consistency?
Dalić will wait for Austria to call him up first, then Dalić will call him up (with Olić’s blessing of course).
Speaking of which, did Olić manage to keep his job as U21 coach after getting embarrassed by Georgia?
I’m kinda glad Rangnick didn’t manage to poach Franjo from us last year, given that Austria has a decent team nowadays. I’m also reminded of the spider bite he suffered (in 2023?), maybe it’s indeed radioactive and beginning to take effect now…
Yes, Olic kept his job, and quite easily imo. Boy… that U21 defeat to Georgia still stings😢for me. All the other 7 NL quarterfinalists qualified for the U21 Euros, along with teams like Finland, Romania, Slovenia and Poland. Too bad our young guns won’t get to strut their stuff in Slovakia this summer.
Ivanovic in the 63rd to give his side the lead. About 20 min left
And it turned out to be the matchwinner: Charleroi 1-2 USG
Here’s a very short clip of his goal.
https://x.com/CIVIDEOSFOOT/status/1878192135016440044
Vlašić
Sosa
Matanovic
All need to start against France.
U30 team only !!
Vlasic scores a beauty late in the first half to tie the Turin derby 1-1. (Vlasic and Sosa both started for Torino.)
https://www.goalstube.online/2025/01/torino-juventus.html?m=m2
Lovely strike.
Woah, now that’s one kick-ass goal. Way to go Niksi!
I know the contribution is at best tenuous but also the goal came via the left side, so Sosa with a “hockey assist” there😁
10am Vuskovic start
10am Crnac start (note: Borja Sainz 15 goals suspended 6 games for spitting)
2:45pm Union SG Ivanovic
City’s game is at 12 45 not 2 45. Are there anymore players in action or is this it?
https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1877988826267934952
Fabrizio Romano says Marmoush is close to joining Man City.
Hmm I dunno🤔 Would Marmoush leaving Frankfurt be a boon for our Igor Matanovic — thoughts?
Marmoush playing for Eintracht today (Igor on bench)
So deal not as close as being reported (as he wouldn’t be playing as e.g. see Kolo Muani at PSG being left out)
Okay… Marmoush scoring yet another winner today is probably going to add a few more million euros to his price tag… not sure if Man City would want to fork out so much during a Jan transfer window.