Joško Gvardiol gave himself one hell of a 20th birthday present on Sunday with a goal versus Wolfsburg in a 2-0 victory! The RB Leipzig defender sealed the match in the 84′ by chipping the Wolfsburg keeper to secure all three points. It’s his first Bundesliga goal of 2022 as Gvardiol just came over from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2021. The now 20 year-old Gvardiol has had a near perfect debut in the Bundesliga and is already being looked at by some of Europe’s elite clubs.
Andrej Kramarić scored a fine volley in the box Saturday to equalize for Hoffenheim right before halftime. The goal wasn’t enough as Hoffenheim lost 3-2 to Borussia Dortmund. It’s Krama’s first goal of 2022 as Hoffenheim now slip to seventh spot in the Bundesliga; three points behind a Champions League berth.
After Karim Benzema missed a penalty kick in the 33′ Sunday for Real Madrid, Elche capitalized and took a 2-0 lead over the Spanish leaders heading into the last 10 minutes of the match. Real Madrid were awarded a penalty kick in the 82′ and Luka Modrić stepped up to convert wearing the coveted Real Madrid captain’s armband. It was Modric’s first ever La Liga penalty. It would spark some momentum as Militao would bag the equalizer in injury time to force a 2-2 draw and chop the points. With the draw, Real Madrid remain four points in front of Sevilla for the lead in La Liga.
Mateo Kovačić and Chelsea handled Tottenham in a 2-0 victory Sunday. Kovačić was given a 7/10 grade as he was “Unspectacular but got through a lot of important work and broke up Tottenham’s play.”
He’s still very young.
Has any player ever made such a drastic change before? From defender to striker?
That’s funny.
I have been thinking for a while now that Gvardiol has all the qualities to make a great striker.
I don’t think any coach would have the guts to try such a thing though.
Does Gvardiol want to play striker? LOL
He has better finishing than Kramaric, so it is a possibility.
I agree, the EPL is too stiff for the talents of Sosa, better suited for La Liga or Serie A, been watching lots of EPL and technically not even close to these leagues, we need to be smart with him
How did kova play today?
Literally said below how CC could be the stay at home d man who could free up gvardiol to make runs
Corluka would have been good with gvardiol
Gvardiol=stud.
No arguing it
The sun has reported that Chelsea wants to sign Sosa
Would that be a good move for him?
I always get a bit worried when a young hrvat goes to England
I heard that Chelsea are looking for a new LB/LWB but with Chilwell, Alonso, and now Sarr playing there. I agree with you and fear Sosa could get lost in the shuffle like many others.
Sosa would come in second to Chilwell. Only reason they’re going after him is to have a young dynamic back up or even potentially have him fight Chilwell to start. Alonso is definitely third string if Sosa moves.
I think sosa does well in Spain
Italy can’t afford him
Don’t want him riding the pine in England…
Modric scores from the spot, down 2-1 late.
Ya pongarcic is giving me that benkovic feel
Let’s hope he can turn it around
But I’m personally ok with a CC and gvardiol combo. Both big men good defending
CC can do the covering as gvardiol does his runs
Both can pass the ball well enough and if not mistaken CC is good at longer passes
But as we have discussed I think dalic hangs on to one of vida lovren on the field to start WC
I think lovren would have to retire on his own terms or forever be a headache to deal with if not playing
Tho he played well enough against Russia in split
I don’t see Lovren or Vida starting at the world cup for the simple reason that they play in weaker leagues. Even Pongracic is coming off the bench as a defensive substitution or relief for Hummels pretty frequently, so there is going to be competition for playing time in that Hrvati defense
Stanišić is technically a CB too.
It’s gets less and less justifiable to start either one of Vida or Lovren every day.
None of our current strikers could pull off what Josko just did. Kramaric would’ve been offside by 4 miles.
None of our strikers? That’s a bit of an overstatement. Gvardiol is amazing, but Kramaric and Budimir are involved in plays like that all the time (and stay onside effectively). The difference here is that Gvardiol is a defender, so the element of surprise is on another level.
Sretan Rođendan Joško Gvardiol!!
20 years old today, sparks counter and sprints the full length of the field for Šuker level finish to seal the match for RB liepzig.
Beast mode
Video Please!!!!
It’s on the Croatian sports Instagram
Might be taken down soon by the Budesliga;
https://streamja.com/KGmZp
Such a tidy finish!
Nice one!
Grbic made the Ligue 1 team of the week with some outstanding saves
Much better presence in the box than Liva by a country mile
Livakovic, if ivucic had continued his form would find himself behind kalinic like at 5th on the pecking order
I’m glad grbic is doing well
Let’s hope he continues
We don’t need an absolute world class goalie as we have proven before
We need someone who can make a save that should have went in here and there and someone who can make all the east ones
Not be a disaster handling the ball
I don’t know how grbic is for overall handling?
But honestly we have all seen vida lovren livakovic boot nuff balls into the stands for a lifetime
Really a shame Ivusic got injured. I really liked him but let’s see what happens over the course this year. The Croatian league starts up again next week. Livakovic has just been a liability on high balls and probably why he’s still at Dinamo.
Kinda surprise Ivanusec isn’t leaving Dinamo. Maybe he could join Hoffenheim and help be a creative force their.
I’ve been following Grbic because I like the way he plays keeper. Very patient, very solid. The goals opponents score on him are hardly ever his fault. He concedes goals because Lille’s defense is terrible. Against Marseille, it took a truly unsaveable shot to beat him. He would be even better if he could catch shots instead of having to palm them, but he has 15-20 years left of career to figure that out.
What’s going on with pongracic at Dortmund
They are looking to offload him already
The body language with hummels is pretty bad
From what I have seen he looks to be slow and doesn’t position himself too well
I hope I’m wrong
That’s a shame.
He’s pretty much a fast version of Duje. Was hoping he could get regular minutes to justify us partnering him with Gvardiol in the back.
Will take another year at least now.
The extended highlights make Kramarić look very good. The volley was excellent, and his positioning was right on every scoring opportunity. He set up a teammate perfectly by chesting the ball late in the game, only for the teammate to blow the shot… The guy is a top player. It’s too bad that his teammates lack vision and don’t defend so well. That explains why he hasn’t been scoring much. As the best player on the team, he has to cover a lot more ground and do a lot more buildup. It would be interesting to see him and Budimir as an attacking pair, considering the distinct skills they present.
I think one of the problems with Hoffenheim is that they don’t have a true number 10 to be a playmaker. Their best CMs are more traditional 8s and 6s. As a result Krama has been forced into the number 10 role which is not his natural position but it definitely has provided another dimension to his game.
I really don’t understand the mentions of Budimir on this website. I guess it’s because Kramaric and Petkovic have struggled to score when playing for the national team. IMO I could see Rebic being recalled before Budimir. Also, Petar Musa is in his mid 20s, is the same height as Budimir, has more pace, passes better, and scored more goals this seasons. Colak also put in a bunch of goals with Malmo, is younger, and I think he was called up on our last round of games ahead of Budimir. That said, big Ante got the start again today so let’s hope he can do something with the opportunities given. I don’t doubt his talent level but for a guy turning 31 this summer, I doubt his productivity potential at the World Cup compared to the players I’ve mentioned.
At this point in time, Kramaric should be our CF or use Pasalic as a false 9 but we’ve got plenty of time until the World Cup.
Budimir was subbed off in the 2nd half and had a bad game statistically including 2 “Big Chances Missed”. But like many of you, I didn’t watch the game. Because like his entire career, Budimir plays for weak teams that very few watch since they don’t even play in Europa League let alone the new created Conference League. If we’re going to keep dreaming of an form tall striker, I think it’s best to mention Petar Musa and Roko Simic over old man Budimir.
Musa and Roko just started to play regularly this season, so that’s why they haven’t been mentioned as often as our other strikers that we follow.
I’m sure if this season turns out to be successful for them both, we will be following them regularly on this site.
Musa has cooled off (in terms of scoring goals) so it’s still ‘to be determined’ if he will have a prolific scoring season.
Musa now has 6 goals in 16 games for Boavista. He’s currently on a 5-game goalless drought, so it’s not as great of a scoring rate.
In previous seasons, he was largely a “one goal every four games” kind of striker. Nothing special…but we’ll have to wait and see if this season will be an improvement on this and if he could ever get to that “one goal ever other game” rate.
Roko with 8 goals in 14 games for Liefering is solid, plus he’s a leading scorer in the U21 Euro qualifiers. Liefering is second division Austria, so the real test is if Roko is promoted to Salzburg next season, and what he can do in the higher league.
Musa is still young-ish, and Roko is very young.
In terms of career, it’s essentially “Year 1” for both of them now….and we have to wait and see if they can string together multiple first-team football seasons.
If Musa’s season turns out to be successful, then we’ll likely see a callup (along with regular updates here).
If Roko gets promoted to Salzburg next year, I expect the same.
I’m not saying Musa or Simic are national team material right now but compare those stats to Budimir and they should be more hyped in my opinion. Gvardiol has more goals in open play in the league than Budimir.
I actually watched the first half of the Osasuna game, and I think the fact that you didn’t watch it means that you misunderstand how much Budimir does to keep Osasuna in the game every time that he’s on the field. First of all, he was the definition of a target man. Second, Budimir assisted Osasuna’s first goal, which was very questionably called back for offsides (the Movistar commentators didn’t think it was offsides). Secondly, his pressuring led to turnover upon turnover by the Granada defense. I don’t know which ones these “big chances missed” were of all the plays in the game, but I can assure you that the big man created more scoring opportunities for Osasuna than anyone else on the field. It isn’t his fault that his teammates can’t make an accurate cross or decide what to do with the ball in the final third. If you had watched the game, you would have seen a number 17 who resembles an earlier number 17. Also, the dude is in great shape, regardless of age. There’s a reason he’s Osasuna’s most expensive player ever and with three more seasons left on his contract.
What I’m saying is that Budimir is the lone striker that everyone keeps saying the team needs. He plays as a lone striker for his club, and he does it very well. It’s just a shame that he was injured the first couple months of the season and that he doesn’t receive world class crosses.
I can respect that and that he seems to be the only traditional target man to be called up since Mandzukic retired. But in modern footy, technical skill with your feet seems to be more valuable. I still think he has played on weak teams his entire career for a reason. Even Lovren and Vida still play on teams that play in Champions League. But I understand that Budimir is still that Giroud type of target man that you should be able to lob the ball up to.
Watching the Leipzig game today, I know Gvardiol probably wished that his strikers could at least hold the ball up with more that half of his forward lobs. Dude’s very direct and composed on the ball, truly next level. I would just like Dalic to test out Pasalic up top during the Nation League friendlies.
Actually, when I was watching that Osasuna game, I was thinking that Budimir is a lot like Giroud. Very similar skill set. Well said! Pasalić is a good target too, I agree. I think these two should be in the mix, which Dalić already stated after the comeback against Spain. Remember that although Budimir played for Mallorca when they were bad and now an Osasuna that is holding it’s own in the middle of La Liga, he has been playing for several years now in the best league in the world. All of the teams he is playing against are excellent, even Levante, which is at the bottom of the table. I think that plays into what any player brings to the repka. Personally, I like watching Livaja or Petković because they have a lot of style. It’s also great that Colak, Simic, and Musa have been able to score goals. But La Liga is a different caliber. Any player who can distinguish himself in that league is an asset to the national team.
Vladimir Petković on the verge being fired at Bordeaux
Vrsaljko got the start again in an important win today to stay in the Champions League level of the standings. I really think he may have a shot at becoming a starter for the repka again.
Also worth noting that DCC has been starting regularly for Marseille. Realistically, it might be him and Gvardiol starting at the WC with Vida and Lovren riding the bench. Pongracic barely plays here and there while Erlic might not be ready yet. Hopefully, the move to Udinese works out for Benkovic but he was allegedly injured or ill for today’s match.
So is that it with our mens Euro? I have zero idea about rukomet. Saw us lose to Danska.
Whose this Canadian cilic is playing?
Truthfully I barely follow anything tennis in a while but being a Canadian I haven’t even heard of him
Never heard of him? Been doing well for a while and getting plenty of hype. (Though I follow tennis quite a bit.) His girlfriend is Croatian (assuming they’re still together), and she is cousins with Ajla Tomljanovic.
He’s #10 in the world lmao, you never heard of him?
No I don’t watch a lot of tennis
This is your job to inform us iggy:) As it seems like your thing
Maybe you can write on tennis for the site? Not being sarcastic
TBH i was looking at the upper comments and they are about some weird ball sport, i think it’s called soccer or something??
no idea what it is
lel
Tennis, now i know that! We’ve had some goodies btw, Iva, Goran, Marin all grand slam champs! hehe : )
Krama with a skillful one timer into the bottom corner. He’s been forced to be more a playmaker all game/season but is always dangerous. His willingness to drop deep in between the lines to provide link up play is a far cry from the selfish goal scorer he used to be. LFG Krama!
Ivan Juric…our next coach?
https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/ivan-jurics-torino-the-fun-side-of-serie-a/
Wow Cilic ! Proved me wrong ! Bog hrvati 🇭🇷
One more game Cilic. Ajmo !
Rublev starting to find his form. Hopefully not another monumental moment where Cilic blows a 2 set lead… although it’s looking that way 😬
Cilic playing absolutely incredibly to be up 2 sets to 0 against world #6 Rublev atm. Playing out of his skin, hope he can keep it up and finish the job!
Our indoor boys had a 3-1 win over Poland in their opener. But more importantly check out the skills on our first goal, seen here at 1:06 from this vid:
https://youtu.be/xs5IxBV6_1I?t=65
(the vid should automatically start there).