FINAL: The boys woke up from an anemic offensive display against Tunisia on Saturday with 4 goals from Vlašić, Petković, Kramarić and Majer. The attack looked much more lively in the 1st half as Kovačić started the match on the bench in lieu of Majer.Both Egypt goals were scored from set pieces.
87′: GOOOOOALLLL!! Kramarić lays the ball to Majer at the top of the box. Majer takes a shot that looks to take a deflection but it hit the back of the net nonetheless. 4-1 Croatia!
78′” GOOOOOAL!! Majer with the free kick from the middle of the field and Kramarić heads home from an extremely tight angle. 3-1 Croatia!
72′: Croatia with some tiki-tala ball all the way up field. Mario Pašalić chests the ball down in the box and rifles the shot over the bar. Could have been #3.
58′: GOALLLLLLL Croatia! Bruno Petković is left absolutely wide open on a corner kick and cooly heads it home with all the time in the world. 2-1 Croatia.
Halftime subs. Kotarski comes in for Labrović in goal. Kovačić subbed in for Brozović.
HT: Croatia looks so much better offensively without Kova clogging up the midfield doing nothing. Pjaca looked great and should have had an assist. Majer and Vlašić both looking lively. That 1st half is Ante Kvartuč approved!
45′: Pjaca puts a perfect ball to Petko in front of the goal with no goalie in sight. Petko misses the sitter. It was actually harder to miss than to score. Where is Budimir?
41′: Croatia peppering the Egyptian goal with chances. Looking good. Another corner for the good guys.
38′: Vida nearly scores! Majer whips in a free kick that bounces across the box. Vida dives for the ball and misses the free header by inches!
34′: Majer takes his defender 1:1 and puts a fine shot on goal. It looks good but the deflection causes a corner.
25′: I know it’s just a friendly in March and I will be the first person to tell you these results mean nothing. However, the team looks WAY BETTER with Majer/Vlašić in the midfield compared to Kovačić/Pašalić. Much more speed. #justsayin
20′: GOOOOOOALLL Nikola Vlašić!!! What a strike! Vlašić dribbles across the 18-yard line and then left foots a perfect shot over the goalie to kiss the bottom of the cross bar to cross the goal line.
18′: Lots of action! Petko loops the ball to Vlašić on the back post but the Torino man can’t get a solid shot on the ball. Should have been a corner.
16′: Egypt quickly counter and the 1:1 results in a shot off the left post. Should easily be 2-0 Egypt.
15′: Croatia peppering the Egypt goal with 2 crosses. A header (from Petko?) almost beat the Egyptian goalie.
7′: The goal is good. No player was offside after the VAR review. 1-0 Egypt. Set pieces once again the Achilles Heel of the Croatian defense.
6′: HOLD ON! A long VAR review is looking at the goal.
5′: Egypt score following a free kick from the corner of the box. Labrović stops the initial shot on goal but doesn’t parry the ball far enough away. Egypt puts the ball back in the box and the cross is connected on and in the back of the net.
3′: Croatia on the front foot out of the gate. Already a better paced start compared to Tunisia Saturday.
1′: What a beautiful, brand new stadium in Cairo! It’s packed with what looks like 70,000 Egyptian supporters with a sprinkle of checkers. This os only the second match ever to be played in this stadium.
The match can be streamed free on FIFA+ with an email/password.
Croatia Starting XI vs. Egypt: Labrović – Stanišić, Vida, Pongračić, Gvardiol – Modrić, Brozović, Majer – Vlašić, Pjaca – Petković
Per Sportske Novosti, there will be tons of changes for Tuesday night’s clash (4 PM ET) between Croatia and Egypt in Cairo.
Dalić announced several changes in the lineup, saying that defender Martin Erlić and left winger Luka Ivanušec will not play against Egypt due to minor injuries. Erlić picked up a knock against Tunisia and Ivanušec limped off the field with a small hamstring tweak.
Dalić commented, “We have 17 players available which will be enough. We will use all six substitutes at our disposal. Labrović and Kotarski will play a half each in goal.” That means Livaković and Ivušić (the MOTM vs. Tunisia for his penalty kick shootout win) will not be featured.
Dalić wasn’t quite happy with the Croatia attack vs. Tunisia. “We created too few chances and had too few shots on goal. That was our handicap. We will have better going forward.”
I imagine with all that said we will see plenty of Majer in the center of the field. I’m also excited to see how much time Rijeka’s Marko Pjaca and Marco Pašalic with get on the wings. That is Croatia’s Achilles Heel at the moment: wings.
In regards to Pjaca who was drilling balls like laser guided missiles over the place, he has to get starts for June friendlies before Euro, unbelievably he’s still only 28 not 31 or 32, if he didn’t get injured in 2016 he could’ve been difference maker in 2018
God bless Marko Pjaca!!
We screwed at Estonia where is young explosive legs were attacked by a below standard pitch.
Comes back and then blows out acl again.
Goes on an Odyssey ..
Of course at age 28 .. looks better than ever!
Definitely deserves a spot in the squad at left wing.
LOVE the goal keeper depth.
Big dudes that provide a presence.
Curious how we fine tune between now and June 15?
Modrić looks ready for a 60/30 split at his highest level.
1996 – Hassan II Trophy
1999 – Korea Cup
2024 – ACUD Cup
Thanks for reminding me about those, our wiki does indeed list us as champions of those 3 under “minor” honours or words to that effect.
I casually watched the second half and don’t know what to make of it? Egypt had a few players that have a big game coming up against Simba, so they weren’t going to kill themselves in this game.
A nothing game really, and there really is nothing to learn from it, so you should all just shut your mouthes and stop over analyzing this shit, because I’m sick of it!
You guys aren’t coaches, remember that.
All Rijeka offence
Kramaric flanked by pjaca and pasalic;)
But seriously we need to see both pjaca and pasalic more
Mario pasalic looked dangerous of course as a super sub, where he needs to be mostly
Lets not get ahead of ourselves . What happened today was supposed to happen. We were supposed to win and win handily. This team has a lot of work to do. I have always said that the team is better than people think and we do have talent and skill. Those are the Pros. We have a lot of Cons. Namely the fact when he play a major powerhouse we don’t have the skill or luck to overcome our bad circumstances. We make poor choices and our coach is hit or miss and gets credit for things he has nothing to do with . To win at Euro we need to score . We need every young player available to us. Old man will not win this cup. We need youth . Dalic needs to have young players at this cup . Nobody should be excluded . These games should be a means to select talent. Perhaps a player has some skill but cannot perform well because he lacks chemistry or is not trusted. We need to have young players mentored and brought on to the team and help them reach potential and find form .
ACUD CUP WINNERS YOU’LL NEVER SING THAT
YOU’LL NEVER SING THATTTTTTT!
Sure it’s a friendly and that’s fine. But, the more this team gets used to winning is for the better…. I think most of the team looked OK, majer stood out for sure, wings were fine but will always miss Perisic
I agree
Majer looks slick with those set pieces
It seems like luka is allowing some but still prefers to take most of them
It’s time he lets more of that go tho
Majer is capable
Overall a good performance, despite a poor start to the match. Vlasic finally puts in a decent performance after a long time. I think his shot took a slight deflection and looped over the goalkeeper. Majer I thought was our best player and hopefully nothing serious when he just walked off the pitch in the 90th minute. Pjaca also had a good match and I was pleasantly surprised how well Pongracic played in the center of the defence. Brozovic had a poor match and his misdirected pass almost cost a goal but luckily the ball hit the post.
Defensively a few silly mistakes, and I think that Majer should be taking all our corner kicks and free kicks around the penalty box. He has a very effective left foot, and his crosses are a lot more dangerous than that of Modric.
Vlasic had a decent performance because Dalic finally woke up and realised Vlasic is an attacking midfielder and not a Winger.
Majer deserved man of the match but they gave it to Modric.
I’m going to the doćek in ZG when they land. Who else is in?
LOL! Nice!
Pjaca looked fantastic, very sharp, I know it’s against Egypt but let’s see what’s brewing here
Pjaca looked fantastic in my opinion, I was not expecting him to glide past players and create some great chances …he looked very confident.
Seems like Marco was making some aggressive moves, shots on goal the little time he was out there. He is fun to watch. Nice to see Majer score and even better Kramaric assist.
Slovenia destroyed Portugal, 2-0, and broke their 11 game winning streak.
All Slavic Euro final 2024.
Shawarma for everyone- great for our guys to have some fun but we’re going to have some tougher matches to get ready for Euros- I don’t think we saw anything we don’t already know
Hopefully Majer ok. Looked gassed (or something) after the goal and appeared to walk off the field and the team finished with 10? (Unbeknownst to the commentator it would appear.)
Yes he just walked off, hopefully nothing too serious.
Seriously that collar!!! Horrible! Did yall see how it was hanging off Majer’s neck right after he scored? 🤢
I hope we switch from Nike to Adidas, seriously the Adidas kits always look sick
Agreed, they should change asap. Zee Germans just announced they’re switching from Adidas to Nike (I can’t imagine why). It’s a big deal over there switching to an American company.
Whaaatt
Apparently It was a money thing I saw In passing
I’m down we switch to something new
I was just warming up to the nee jersey when I noticed that horrible collar when there was an up close shot after a goal. Terrible!
https://www.footyheadlines.com/2024/03/nike-messed-up-with-its-collars.html
So is this our first international trophy?😂😂
Middle East Champs of the World!!??..lol
What I noticed with pjaca in first half was a clear clean check to win the ball nicely
Really is a shame for his injuries
Maybe it was just one he would have been able to be a high end repka guy
Damn it
Missed the goal
Sounded like it was done well?
Bruno Uno does it again
Who took that corner?
Finally, a proper corner kick.
Several players are grabbing or adjusting their collars. A weird design just as the jersey is.
Probably irritating since the material is made from recycled soda bottles.
…Perpetuating the myth that the World actually recycles plastic bottles.
Kits are ok it is what it is.
jerseys look all right from TV angle like i was suggesting in a previous post.
much better play this game, at least it’s not been so dull as that other one was to watch, phew
I still don’t like them.
I think that Sparta Pague and Feyenord had similar looking shirts at club level.
Side not Georgia have qualified for euros sent greece home haha
Feel good for pjaca shame 2017 that he had that injury.
Petkovic is like a cow sometimes. Thats why at 30 he is still in dinamo.
Good game to watch not like v tunisia.
Can’t believe Bruno missed that sitter.
I’m glad to see that Dalić didn’t clear the bench.
Now we get to see how Pjaca, Majer and a few others work with our midfield.
Pjaca with a nice move to open up petkovic with a gaping wide open net
And that’s why he isn’t world class
Majer looks good
Pjaca as well hasn’t looked bad from what I can see
Is this game relevant? Not saying Egypt and Tunisia are walkovers but they certainly aren’t a team to get out of a World Cup group. I don’t think these results matter and it’s more valuable for Egypt to win. I didn’t even bother watching. I’d much rather tune into the Poland and Ukraine games and cheer on our brothers. Our group is by far the toughest in my view. Why can’t we play better teams than these two? No motivation for us.
Is this labrovic first ever cap for seniors?
Was that vlasic shot deflected? That was tasty
Petko also with brilliant foot work before that to chip it to vlasic
Forever he is the guy where it’s like what was he missing to get to a world class level
Is it just effort and fitness?
I don’t think so. It did loop a bit.
On one replay, it appeared it did.
Vlasic scoring for the haters.
Labrović is unaware that he is allowed to leave the goal area.
looks like they just really dont care lol
Ya Egypt and their fans think it’s the World Cup final
Also this VAR stuff is beyond crazy now
I would have called it a goal for sure
Well I turned it on 30 seconds ago
1-0
Gross
Jerseys look decent tho
Modrić in a snickers commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r9jlK2giNM&t=20s
U21 Portugal 4 v Croatia 1 after 26 minutes. Absolute disaster, awful defence we just cannot defend. Ljubicic with a Panenka from the penalty spot was our goal scorer. Cannot watch, switching channels to watch Georgia v Greece.
Slovenia national team plays friendly with Portugal today as well. Will be interesting.
No it won’t, ha ha
Your right, Portugal not in the same league as Slovenia, much of a fight even after 11 straight victories for Portugal. Slovenia 2-0.
We are all thankful to Dalić for what he has done
I know I am
He was blessed with some work class genius and got them to come together
He is working with less now
And is doing what he can
But like others, i am frustrated to wait for a guy like baturina to be injured and can’t play but when he is healthy and playing why can’t we use times like these to see
It’s frustrating
Then we have a gvardiol euro unveiling and less of a player with less confidence can be ruined by such a move
Trial by fire is necessary at times
But can’t we role out an experimental guy like a Marco pasalic when he is on his game as a starter for once
Surely the other 90 percent of our regular starters can make up for a mistake
I don’t know
I’m not the coach
But like others I’m frustrated by not trying more sample pieces when we can
Nothing to do with sports. A little bit of Croatian history in San Pedro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Fzv6T6YWk
Another Jack Baric film I see…
3 5 2 or some variation of it formation is better for this team imo we dont have wing for 4 3 3
Livi Gvardiol Sutalo Erlic/Stanisic Cbs with Gvadiol moving up to dm at times
Wing backs Juranovic Sosa MBK middle and Krama playing off Budimir/Petkovic
Like we all know Dalic has his 11 and will rely on Individual brilliance and luck
This game against Egypt means nothing and will give us little to no information.
Clearing out the bench and having a bunch of guys (many who won’t ever play a minute in the actual Euros) won’t give you anything.
If someone impresses (like, for example, Marko Pjaca), we still won’t know how well he would impress with our actual starting lineup…so we’d still have to see what they could do in a real lineup. Also, if that same person does NOT impress, then you could also make the argument that he was not surrounded with enough quality to succeed.
The starting eleven at the Tunisia game is our starting eleven for Euro2024 (with likely Budimir starting up top and Krama being switched to RW where Pasalic was). This is it. Dalic isn’t some creative genius. He’s going to ‘copy & paste’ the most recently successful lineup and he’s not realistically going to evaluate anything at this mini-tournament (especially when he’s just clearing the bench to let everyone play a bit).
This is essentially a mini vacation to Egypt for Dalic and the Cro National Team players.
Agree with your comments, however it would still be nice to win for confidence and ranking points. HNS must have got some money for participating in this tournament, but I reckon it would have been more useful to organise two matches in Europe rather than travelling to Egypt.
…or just stop approaching these games as an excuse to have fun.
Dalic should be taking this seriously.
We have a wing problem, and it would be nice if he continued to start Modric/Broz/Kova and tried them with a different set of wingers.
Perhaps try Jura at RW and Pjaca at LW, and see how they work with Sosa and Stanisic behind them. Maybe throw in Marco Pasalic shortly afterward to see if there is improvement there with Jura subbed out (or pushed back to RB).
You do this for a half, and it could give you some valuable information.
The game today will be completely pointless to watch.
U17 score in the 96th minute to beat Rep Ireland 5 – 0 and pip Germany for the second spot in the group on goal difference. There are 8 groups, and 7 best runners up also go to Euro. We are still in with a chance with a number of groups to be completed later today.
U19 currently playing Romania (0 – 0 after 10 minutes), however even if we win, we cannot make it to Euro after losing our last match 2 – 1 to Turkey who have qualified.
Dalic is over-hyping these changes
Only players he didn’t use last game (excl. keepers) were Vida, Pongracic, Stanisic, and Pjaca
https://www.skysports.com/football/tunisia-vs-croatia/teams/503731
So only attacking player we didn’t see was Pjaca
But we’re having issues in attack, lol
This is what happens when you bring 4 keepers and 5 CBs
He should have called up more attacking options from U21 after last game (and dropped 1 keeper and 1 CB) – I know there are injuries e.g. Baturina, maybe Sucic – but whoever is next in line
Who cares about seeing all 4 keepers – we’re 100% going with Livakovic – so why destabilize team / defence – for what purpose ? Who cares.
Can we at least see Pjaca and Marco start and play 60 minutes together
Shame Salah not playing
If you ask me for this ridiculous friendly tournament against Egypt??? We should put out all new fresh blood!!!
I wanted to see Roko balboa simic
I wanted to see the ballerina baturina
I wanted to see beljo
I wanted to see vidovic
I want to see Musa
I wanted to see to GOALS
Watching the other system where kovacic
Beautifully goes up the field to nobody to do nothing and Kramaric is a fish out of water by himself up top is not productive..
It’s not advancing the brand of Croatia
It’s stale………..
So in given situations without risking injury to starters and without worrying about the results being its a friendly this tournament should be looked at as a high level practice run I think it only makes sense to come with a young hungry lineup where it’s understood if you show skill the position is up for who wants it the most. Going to the penalty shootout is not a real strategy
We almost lost to Tunisia in penalty
It didn’t work against Spain in nations league. We need to pose an unpredictable threat not a predictable strategy where our objective is to have a PK shootout. Please figure it out Dalic!!!
Sounds like that is what Dalic is planning, to stir it up. Let’s see what we learn, especially about Mario Pasalic. Hope he has a breakout game and is given a few opportunities to tee off on set pieces.
Can’t wait
Let’s gooo
Stir what up ?
Pjaca is only attacking player we have that didn’t play last time
just go there and kill Dalic to solve it_
you will become a national hero for us :
Those Pharoas look mighty dangerous.. I think we are in for a tough game
Why the sudden love for Kotarski?
No one has ever mentioned him before and he’s in 2 posts already. Because his team defeated Dinamo, people have now remembered he played on our Junior Team?
I just hope that we do not see another USPAVANKA like the first half against Tunisia. We need to up the tempo and show more attacking intent. Reports suggest that Majer might start instead of Modric in the midfield?
Prior to the seniors our U21 play a very important Euro qualifier away to Portugal.
I will be watching this and for those interested the match is on Maxsport 1 with the KO at 18:30 Croatian time.
4-3-3(4-5-1)
Option 1
—————————Petković—————————
—-Sosa————————————Mar.Pasalic
————————–—Majer——————————
————Brozovic(Modrić)Kovacic—————
Gvardiol——————————————Stanisic
————Pongracic()DCC——————
———————-—–Kotarski—————————
Option 2
(Pasalic)——-—-Petković—————(Vlasic)
—Pjaca————(Kramaric)——Mar.Pasalic
——————————Majer——————————
—(Sosa)—–Kovacic—Brozovic(Juranovic)
Pongracic———(Modric)———Stanisic—
—————Gvardiol()DCC——————
———————-—-Kotarski——————————
————————-(Labrovic)—————————
I believe we may see Gvardiol or Pongracic at LB to combine with a Pjaca or Sosa wing..I also believe Majer will get the start over Modric or Kovacic… Stanisic at RB to offer more balance at the back especially if right winger Marco Pasalic starts the match as he will have more freedom then to attack…. And I don’t think we will see Kramaric and Petković together on the pitch because we don’t have any true strikers forwards aside maybe Mario Pasalic which will be a sub for either winger as Vlasic aswell…
Would like to see Kotarski get the start..
In 98′, Dream Team Croatia went thru with a 1-0 victory, on a PK, where Romania parked the bus. We have always found a way thru.
Bruh you know we had Suker Gol
The golden boot winner
Different level of beast striker
This Pk thing with no scoring is not cool.. just saying
Totally, agree.
If our defense and holding midfielders are playing well, and confidently, then Modric should be given the freedom to roam forward, like he does at Real. He can be extremely dangerous in the final 3rd if he has license to move around freely. This would help unlock a tight defensive block, and give us the creativity we’re so badly missing.
Modric, kovacic and Brozović are all brilliant players. Unfortunately they are all 8’s who like to be on the ball. They are all good at winning possession as well. The best formation for these 3 is a tight 433 with 3 quick dynamic attacking players ahead of them. For example salah, firmino, mane. Sadly our forwards are not of that type. (Or quality) this is why people (like Ante) are saying to play with an extra attacking player. Not because kovacic isn’t a top player. It’s simply about finding the right balance
Having said all that I do believe MBK can work, especially against big teams who want the ball and want to attack us. At the end of the day, we will win matches in a different way each time, by turning up and playing with courage.
Ajmo
Players i want to see. Also want to see more of a 4-4-2 formation.
……………Krama………..Petko…………….
Pjaca…………………………………Marco P
……………..Majer……..Brozo………………
Sosa……………………………………….Stan
………………..Gvar….Pong…………………
……………………………………………………..
………………….Kotarski……………………..
I think Toni Fruk should have got a call up he is leading hnl assit and is probly top 5 hnl player this season.
Next Nations league who ever coach is needs to vring fresh players depending on the form of the players.
Baturina Sigur Kacavenda Stojkovic Beljo Simic Ljubicic Matanovic Zvonarek Vuskovic Fruk Frigan Bukvic Vidovic Brajkovic Ivanović Prsir Moro Bulat
It would be easy for me to mock the idea that we’ll ride an all rijeka wing contingent of pjaca and pasalic to the promised land this summer, but would be too easy. As always, I hope to see croatia succeed but I feel like the talent level has dropped.
Glad to see so many including slavonac agree with my kovacic take. Sure everyone would like to see more kova thump in the final 3rd, but that day will probably never come. But his style does play into what our winning style has been
Unfortunately Sucic and Orsic are not on roster but look forward to seeing how Marco Pasalic performs. Would love to see all three on the field at one time.
Ya would love to see all three and baturina too
Need some fresh blood
If anyone’s been watching Pasalic at Rijeka recently, you know he’s still playing great. Super unlucky to not have a few more goals/assists.