Ante Budimir scored his 16th La Liga goal of the season in a 3-0 victory of Almeria Saturday. It was an easy tap-in on an open net following a defensive blunder, but a goal nonetheless. Budimir missed both of Croatia’s matches last week in Egypt due to a fever. It’s great o see him back in action so quickly as he should be Croatia’s #9 starting striker in front of Petković this summer at Euro 2024.
With goal #16, Budimir is now tied with Jude Bellingham with most goals scored in Spain this season.
Lovro Majer came off the bench in the 60′ Saturday to score an insurance goal 24 minutes later and seal a 2-0 Wolfsburg win over Werder Bremen. (Majer goal) Majer timed his run perfectly to stay onside for a 40-yard spring to goal where he chipped the ball past the Bremen keeper. This is Majer’s 5th Bundesliga goal of the season. He needs to ride the momentum from a solid match against Egypt last week in Croatian checkers. Majer needs to be Croatia’s #10 this summer in Germany.
Mario Pašalić assisted on Atalanta’s opening goal in a 3-0 win over Napoli Saturday…whether he meant to or not. The ball was pinballing all around the Napoli box and Pašalić appeared to whiff on an attempt on goal. However, the ball rolled off hip/backside and perfectly to teammate Aleksey Miranchuk for the goal. It is Pašalic’s fifth assist of the Serie A season to go along with four goals. Not the worst stats for only starting 15 matches.
Luka Modrić starts on the bench for Real Madrid vs. Athletic Club Sunday 3PM (ET)
Andrej Kramarić vs. Josip Stanišić: Bayer Leverkusen score twice at the end to defeat Hoffenheim 2-1 to stay undefeated in the Bundesliga
Mateo Kovačić got the start for Manchester City on Sunday and played 60 minutes against Arsenal. He did well in a more defensive role in the City midfield and had a fantastic shot in the 2nd half from 21 yards out that just missed the outside of the far post. Joško Gvardiol played the full 90 minutes for City at left-back and was not challenged throughout the match by the Arsenal attack. Gvardiol did have some nice crosses to Haaland in the box in the 0-0 draw. City now trail leaders Liverpool by three points.
Gvardiol was given a 8/10 grade as he was “Outstanding against Saka. After a long time out of the team the young Croatian stood tall at left back.” Kova received a 6/10 grade from NBC as he “Did okay in midfield but never really got on the ball in advanced areas and a little sloppy just before half time.”
Ivan Perišić is back!
Just came in on the 72nd minute vs Dinamo.
Re: Egypt
Anyone else notice that Gvardiol has basically playing a hybrid inverted full-back / LW role whenever we had the ball a la Angeball ?
At times he was leading the line (on the LHS) with Petkovic
It worked okay offensively / going forward
But we end up w/ a back three – and left us very exposed on the LHS defensively
At times Brozovic tucked in to “LB” as well as Vlasic it seemed
Dalic gets two thumbs up for trying something new
https://croatiansports.com/eternal-derby-preview-do-or-die-for-hajduk-and-dinamo/#comments/505535
Hej MART, yes I recall you saying that about our U21 defense.. think it was after the boys drew 2-2 in Greece. I went to re-watch the highlights of the Portugal game. The 1st Portugal goal, well yes, I think I would blame it on the 3-4-3 lineup because the Portuguese goalscorer arrived in the box with acres of space to himself. Sigur was simply positioned too far away and got nowhere near him. Have to say it’s pretty out-there that Sigur and Perkovic were initially functioning as wingbacks?😮 (correct me if I’m wrong). The other 4 goals conceded all involved some form of poor defending. Maybe they can call up Petar Sucic once he’s eligible.
Man, I hope to God our U21s or senior team won’t suffer such a heavy defeat again!
And I hope Skocic and the boys will regroup and fare much better the next time they face Portugal in the reverse fixture at home. Pretty cool to know all our 4 remaining matches will be played at home. Yes, we are in a good position to finish second. The last game against Greece is going to be huge, as usual we settle everything on the final day😉
Petar Sucic has been given the thumbs up by FIFA and can play for our U21 team. I would definitely call him up in September because Martin Baturina and Luka Sucic in all probability will be called up to play for the seniors in the Nations League.
About Petar Sucic, that’s great! And I don’t think Baturina and Luka Sucic should play for U21s anymore post-Euros… by then, Dalic (or his replacement) should fully integrate them with the seniors.
I’m just here today to ask Ziva about gvardiols minutes this season…two full games for Croatia (in different positions) then plays 90 minutes for Man City in their biggest match of the season so far (and was the best player on the pitch). Ziva?
I don’t think the guy who posted as Živa Istina several years ago actually posts on here anymore.
People assumed that the ‘truth’ guy is him, and truth just rolled with it.
Lol. Ofcourse it’s him 😊
It’s Ante trolling us 😉
But didn’t someone say the real ziva may have passed? It was apparently some guy from mid west America or something?
If I changed my name to crnac but kept coming on here trying to convince everyone to be positive about our players and not to believe Donald trump is anti establishment, you’d know it was me. Because you’re not stupid.
Great game by pee-at-tsar against Egypt by the way 😉
The democrats and republicans are two faces of the same single totalitarian political party which run America (and therefore the world), it’s fake politics. A puppet show. The corporate party. The financial/oil elite. The whole thing is an act. Supporting either side is as dumb as being a WWF fan….oh wait….oops
Man city- arsenal finished scoreless
Anyone watch our boys?
I can’t believe budimir has a legit shot at the la liga scoring title
If someone told you that start of the season you would say they were smoking some good marijana;)
Petković is the leading scorer for Conference League too I believe.
We have two pretty in-form strikers right now.
Marco Pasalic (aka our Jarrod Bowen)
1st goal – perfect set piece play from the corner – Marco took ownership – dribbled it along and nice shot against the grain into the corner
Assist – should have been his second goal – but nice assist
Liverpool offered 50 m pounds for Jarrod Bowen in January – as he was seen as ideal replacement for Mohamed Salah if he left (they have been chasing Bowen for a couple years now)
West Ham thinks Bowen is worth more
Bowen is FOUR years older than our Marco
I will say it again
If we give Marco the platform this summer – he can earn himself a big $$$ move this summer after the Euros – I’m talking about Jarrod Bowen numbers (sure Bowen has a better track record of goals / assists and in the PL – but I’m comparing a 23 y.o. Bowen to a 23 y.o. Marco)
We have a 50 m pound plus player – who we can’t even figure out we need to start as our RW – it will also be like Rijeka winning the lottery (they only got 9m for Kramaric to Leicester) – as aside, hence, why they will “load manage” Pjaca for the Savez
Yesterday Marco performance shows he got a boost being with the National Team again – giving his passion for Croatia – I expect he will work his socks off b/w now and Germany to play himself into our starting 11 for June – so Dalic has no choice but to start him as RW
Just remember when he gets his big $$$ move after the Euros where you heard it from first – all he needs to do is slot in a couple of goals / maybe couple assists in June – and spend his time showing the world his speed and directness
Unbelievable that we have this 50 m pound player – just waiting to explode onto the world stage
We all know after the goal against Egypt
Dalic gonna force vlasic at rw;)
Hopefully not
I want to see pasalic rolled out
It’s not like it’s an 18 year old
He appears to have the goods and attitude
So much hnl if pjaca petko pasalic all play strong roles
That’s actually pretty awesome to see if we can succeed that way
Beautiful “load management” of Pjaca y’day – only came on in 52 minute
Marco Pasalic nice opening goal
damn, cant believe budimir pulled a rakitic and flaked on us
No way?
Is there a rumour saying he was fine?
He is saying that Budimir is prioritizing his club team over the National Team because he missed our two friendlies, but was available (and scored) for his Osasuna matches before and after the National Team friendlies.
Yes I got that
I was saying do you think budmir was faking it?
I could see him legitimately saving energy for La liga scoring title
I don’t know what clauses are in soccer contracts
But being scoring champ I would think would give him some heavy bonus
Don’t click on the goal links that are riddled with viruses 🦠 and don’t submit suspicious sights that will screw your brother’s.
I’m not sure if you’re talking to me or not, but I get all the links to goals I post from Sofascore without issue.
Where on Sofascore do you see the goals??
As soon I click on your link I’m bombarded with malware and who knows what other virus 🦠
Intentional or not, I won’t be clicking on links anymore where I cannot insure safe passage.
Ty for your attempt to share but no thanks and have a Happy Easter 🐣
Anyone have a link for the derby?
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/03/werder-bremen-vfl-wolfsburg.html?m=1
Lovely run and cheeky finish from Majer.
Anyone have links for dinamo and hajduk today?
Majer getting on a roll it seems??
This is good for us
He really has that creativity that can break down a bunker I feel
He was amazing in his first year in the French league.
I recall that his passing stats were only behind Lionel Messi, and he was a top creator too.
He’s not much of a runner (he’s pretty much the anti-Brozovic), so if he plays in a system that requires him to defend a lot or cover a big area of the field… then he’ll find himself on the bench.
His team in France (I believe) ran a lot and changed their style of play in his second year. He also then moved to Wolfsburg…who was run by our favorite dumb jock knucklehead (Niko Kovac) who was only a fan of midfielders in the Ognjen Vukojevic mold.
Now that he’s got a new coach, it’s looking like they’re actually taking advantage of Majer’s skillset.
Absolutely
Yes I remember those stats going around
If he gets hot, I’m not sure how we put him in
Ante is really pushing him over kova And maybe he is on to something
Either way it’s great to have another really solid option to change up the midfield and slot for anyone really tired or sore without losing huge quality
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/03/almeria-osasuna.html?m=m2
It might be the easiest goal he’s ever scored, but Budimir is at it again.
Still had to pounce on the opportunity He really does seem like a poor man’s mandzo
He’s got what 15 or 16 now?
Hopefully he can bring it this summer
Biggest shame is not having This week to get some continuity
I know some have said he has had opportunities and hasn’t done much
But I don’t know
There was always something come up I thought where he couldn’t get a good run of time
He obviously is capable of being an above average striker stringing together what 3-4 solid years in a top league
It’s the mask tho
We need at least one guy with a mask
Gvardiol was stellar
Majer was good with one
And no budimir
Masked luka would be balon dor quality
Crnac with a stunning strike
I went looking for it to no avail
But this is a super strike too from him
https://youtu.be/-ZptEzMbKNs?si=5PG9lPK-hURvJq3H
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1brg3vh/rak%C3%B3w_cz%C4%99stochowa_10_ruch_chorz%C3%B3w_ante_crnac_14/
Here it is. Very nice.
Kids got a bullet it seems
Come on man, don’t be racist
Pasalic with a cheeky assist on Atalanta’s opening goal. Not sure if intentional or not lol.
@Davor
After Pjaca’s impressive performance vs. Egypt
There were glimpse of Pjaca vs. Spain 2016 – it was beautiful to see
Do you understand why Rijeka has no choice but to continue to “LOAD MANAGE” Pjaca for rest of season until Euros ?
Admittedly I only really have seen pjaca back when younger
And I realize he has lost some of his explosiveness
But he doesn’t seem anymore slower then say kramaric out there
He made some nice one on one moves and looks to be smart where he plays his passes
He obviously had to learn to change his game somewhat
And maybe he isn’t A premier league guy like he could have been
But that match against Egypt had to play well for his confidence
Battling those injuries and set backs and getting back to this relative high level shows character friends
This is what we need
Sure the Perisic/orsic injuries are huge, but this gives opportunities elsewhere and pjaca and baby pasalic seem hungry and capable and even tho they play on opposite sides of the field, give that familiarity we have talked about on here
If someone said we may have a front line of pjaca budimir and baby pasalic after last World Cup you would say they are on some good rakija, but that may happen friends
The funniest thing about Egypt
Is Gvardiol playing LB for 90 minutes
Which has always been his NATURAL position (per Heatmap data)
Despite many delusionally saying for the past 6 months “Gvardiol is struggling at Man City bc he’s being played at LB not CB !”
lol
Would have been interesting to actually experiment w/ Gvardiol as a #6 / #8
Could sosa actually make a decent stop gap LW if needed?
With gvardiol behind?
Bro is speaking absolute rubbish, I hope this is a joke