It was unknown if UEFA was going to move forward with their 2nd edition of the Nations League in 2020 due to COVID-19, or scrap it due to an already tighter schedule having to be played moving forward.
However, last week UEFA announced that Nations League will move forward with group matches starting in September and concluding in November. Croatia was grouped with Portugal, France, and Sweden – meaning this quartet contains both current World Cup Finalists and the reigning European champions, Portugal.
But here’s the thing with Nations League. Is it better than meaningless friendlies? Sure. Are they better matchups than Croatia playing San Marino? Of course. But at the end of the day, it’s not a prestigious tournament. It’s no Euro or World Cup. Whether Croatia gets relegated or wins the whole thing, it’s one big ‘bleh’.
The goal for the next calendar year is to keep the Croatian team healthy and keep the mileage off of Modrić, Perišić, Rakitić leading up to EURO 2021 next summer. The Nations League matches – although packed with the likes of Ronaldo, Mbappe, and company – should be used to experiment with the younger players alongside future anchors like Kovačić, Vlašić, and Brekalo.
Round 1: Portugal – Croatia: September 5th
Round 2: France – Croatia: September 8th
Round 3: Croatia – Sweden: October 11th
Round 4: Croatia – France: October 14th
Round 5: Sweden – Croatia: November 14th
Round 6: Croatia – Portugal: November 17th
Both September matches will be Croatia’s toughest as they open up on the road against Portugal and France. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be absolutely fantastic to see those checkers running up and down the field again. It feels like years since we last saw the Vatreni in action.
I just did.
Go fund my scam @Jure F you cheap croat
Not sure if calling people bitches will want them to give you money for your scam
Send me money to my go fund bitches :))
I watched 5 minutes of a Canada-Denmark Women’s Olympic Curling match. Saw more broomwork than I did in 15 years of marriage.
@Aussie Croat
Thanks for the video.
That’s 10 minutes wasted that I’ll never get back.
I saw one black person in the whole video. Throw some brothas in there man lol
I’m not even a big American football fan. But at least we got whites throwing spirals and homeys catching them.
I’m not gonna lie. Going to a Yankee Redsox playoff game in the Bronx is fun. It really is. Baseball is an acquired taste tho.
Imagine the crni in the the states grew up playing futbol instead of basketball? Imagine Lebron James as a striker or a goalie? Who’s gonna stop him. Derick Rose and Damien Lillard in the mIdfield. It’ll be an all black team. But hands down the strongest physical team in the world.
Odel Beckham Junior is a good futbol player. One college coach said he is probably better in futbol then he is in football.
@Pog
“You guys”?
I’m not American, Pog. I’m a Croat. Just like you.
Curling is popular to watch during the Olympics and the odd big tournament. It’s like the 100 m race … it’s popular to watch during the Olympics, but you’re not watching it every weekend.
You North Americans are fuckin weird
Lots of countries have similar political histories but Americas have become farcical. I truly hope that clown can somehow do a 180° and help you guys control that virus. Only Trump and Bolsonaro are treating it like a joke.
@Poglavnik
“CFL doesnt have to tinker with a handful of rules every year to make it more entertaining and productive for the offences.”
Aussie Rules does!
Well Canada also elected a prime Minister who’s only achievement is being the son of a previous prime Minister.
That… And being a serial blackfacer (lol, wtf?)
Talk about nepotism and corruption (and we keep criticizing Croatia for corruption, lol).
Again… Canada and USA are very similar. Their politics are ridiculous.
Yup.
Respect to that sport. Rugby and surfing too. Aussie’s are into cool sports.
Probably cuz old white geezers sitting at home watch curling. Big deal. If you’re under 60 you dont give a fuck about curling. Television program ratings has always been a lame standard.
Americas sport is baseball
Canada’s is hockey
America also elected Trump.
I’ll leave the good taste comparisons at that.
Take all of your curling, NFL, MLB, NBA and GTFO.
This is a real sport….Aussie Rules Football.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxhqXzVBen4
I agree with you Maminjo!
much older* and more cultured
I can see I struck a bit of a chord with the Canadian Croats suffering from the same inferiority complex that many regular Canadians have toward their American counterparts.
The best way to combat this is to not take part in it.
You’re Croats. Never forget this.
Don’t waste your time squabbling about stupid things like the differences between Canada and USA.
You come from a country that is much other and more cultured than Canada or the USA. You’re better than that.
Galic and Pog…
Again…Just because YOU have never met someone who follows curling, doesn’t mean that all Canadians don’t follow it, lol.
Have you met the entire population of the country and spoken to each of them about curling?
A simple Google search will put this to rest. The ratings for curling are high, and almost half of all Canadians watch it. It’s huge in Canada.
Also, If WWE was only popular for 5 year olds, there wouldn’t be a huge independent circuit across Canada where grown adult men go to rented out school gyms to watch wresting matches fought by no-name wrestlers who are trying to break into the pro wrestling scene.
There are some popular Wrestling Entertainment training schools in Canada too. It’s not like 5 year old are attending these schools, lol.
It’s incredibly popular in Canada for adults, and alot of WWE stars are Canadian.
Also, re: Brock…
Do you honestly believe he deserves a title shot, really?
He’s 43 years old, hasn’t fought MMA for years, and was slapped around badly the last time few times he fought against anyone notable (and that was 10 years ago in his actual PRIME). Overeem and Velasquez humiliated him. What do you think would happen today (10 years later) against an much better heavyweight division?
You’re lying to yourself if you honestly believe that he’s even a top 10 fighter in the heavyweight division.
The only reason why he’s even mentioned is because he’s (like you said) he’s big as fuck and a WWE star.
He’s a noveltly. He’s not a real MMA fighter.
Just like when CM Punk and Bautista went into UFC, (and humiliated themselves too) this is all just entertainment and people who watch it are just watching it because they want to see a freak show or they want to see how their WWE heros would fare in real fighting. It’s not a real MMA match between a true heavyweight contender fighting a competitive match against Stipe or Cormier.
Real Modrić to win 2nd La Liga title.
The legend grows.
Should be well rested and fresh for tomorrow’s potential 4 pt game winning lead.
UNL has to be 28 years and younger.
Core veterans need to rest their legs.
Let some kids get an opportunity to compete for a spot in the 2021 squad.
CFL doesnt have to tinker with a handful of rules every year to make it more entertaining and productive for the offences. The NFL is marketed and packaged as good as anything but the game itself has been trending downwards for me. Too much fantasy bs and offense. I miss smash mouth football.
Curling is NOT popular in Canada.
Let me try it this way. I’ve never met anyone that’s a fan. I know more boce fan.
My experiences with curling are similar to others I’ve heard from. Tried it once and had a drunken time doing it.
vlasic. 2 goals today in moscow derby
Curling hugely popular in Canada, ya nice try.
People do play that here just like they do darts and poker but I have never met anyone who plays curling nor where would one even do that.
WWE is for sure popular if your five years old and parents bring their kids, just like monster truck shows.
Miocic is not popular because “we” don’t know how to watch MMA, is that a for real statement. He is not popular because he is a nice , good hearted person who would come over and help you clear the snow off your driveway if he was your neighbor.
Yes Canadian like guys like Brock Lesnar fight. He’s an accomplished college wrestler, WWE star and a former UFC heavyweight champ and big as fuck. I sure you have watched all his fights and so has everyone on this site who follows the UFC.
So Maminjo go back to watching only footy and your 2000 Kuna a month job, because I can’t relate to that either
Soccer is a growing sport in North America, but it’s largely popular in the urban and ethnic communities in both countries.
But I think that the best way to increase its popularity in Canada and the USA is to eliminate the out of bounds lines… And have players rush at full speed to see who can touch the ball first.
First player who touches it, gets the throw in (or corner kick). Put some concrete boards around and see what happens.
Throw in some fist fights if the game gets stale. No red cards of course, just a caution.
Curling is one of the most popular sports in Canada.
Just under 50% of the Canadian population watches it. Just because your friends don’t watch it, doesn’t mean Canada doesn’t.
This is why a lot of US sports pundits (especially NBA ones) make fun of Canada for having curling outrank many NBA games in the ratings.
Both CFL and NFL are the same sport, just different rules.
The long term head injuries are taking its toll and I’m not surprised to see a growing disdain for the sport.
Hockey is a good sport, but just like MMA, the Canadians and Americans get drawn in by the novelty element (like fist fighting on the ice).
Europeans don’t care about that.
Even when they had those stupid icing rules where two players would rush to get the puck (resulting in stupid injuries).
Euros do it right. Wear a helmet and visor, no stupid goon/fighting code, and no rushing into the corners to see who can touch the puck first for icing (with some fans probably hoping to see a crash or injury).
They watch the sport for the sport.
Canada and USA are the same.
Baseball is an acquired taste, and it’s very Regional, it’s hard to watch a game when you aren’t a fan of either team… NFL is awesome, Canadians are just jealous… NASCAR is basically just shitty drag racing/ bumper cars in a circle. Golf is golf, great to take a nap to on Sunday afternoon. Get outa here with curling, that shit ain’t a sport, it’s fucking bocce ball on ice… Also the condensed corona virus soccer is awesome, there’s great games on 6 days a week..
Curling is not hugely popular.
I know no one that watches or follows that shit. CFL is a great game. Their rules make for a much more exciting game than the NFL. Problem is they’ve got no money and all the young fans are drawn away by the glitz, talent, and accessibility of the NFL.
When I check the scores on a ticker in the States I’ve got to wait for womens golf, womens basketball, women’s college sports, NASCAR and other garbage to see an NHL score. Not even a big hockey fan but it is infinitely better than so many other popular sports down there.
Damn, Tudor is gonna be up against some very frustrated people after today’s loss.
@Pog
Canadians are the exact same embarrassing thing.
Curling is hugely popular. I believe it’s more watched than basketball.
Also, WWE Wrestling is bigger in Canada (per capita) than in the US. They have tons of ‘Entertaintment Wrestling’ schools across Canada. It’s even huge in Quebec.
Golf and Baseball are just as popular. It’s just NACAR that is way more popular in the States, and things like LaCrosse and Hockey being more popular in Canada. There’s also Canadian style football which is really popular in some parts too.
I honestly can’t relate to both Americans or Canadians. Same mentality.
When they start talking smack about football (soccer), I just roll my eyes. Even handball and waterpolo are awesome sports to watch, that Americans and Canadian will never understand. Tennis and Basketball are the only sports that North Americans like that is actually normal.
Even the way they watch MMA is wrong…it’s just about waiting for freakshows to get into fights, rather than skill (which is why Miocic is not liked by the UFC). Most people just want to see Brock Lesnar in the octagon, and Canadians and Americans will drop cash to see that crap. Gimmie a break.
I have attended 2 baseball games in my life…both times with work and in the US (San Diego and Houston).
The first game I went to was Houston and I remember my ADHD kicking it into high gear and eventually telling my customer I had to leave …it was the 7th inning, right after they sang “take me out to the ball game”!
the second time I went with my boss in San Diego. It was the same damn boring shit except this time I drank several beer and left by the 5th inning…the Hard Rock hotel was a few blocks away and I went to the bar there where it was air conditioned.
Baseball is really boring! I’d rather eat bat soup than watch baseball!
^gbvh
Budimir opens scoring for Mallorca on a PK.
Questionable call that VAR and ref took forever to confirm.
Bradaric almost ties it minutes later for Celta Vigo.
Nascar, golf, mlb, Americans like some lame shit.
why cant you watch yank sport? I mean they are all terrible, boring and should never be watched by anyone under any circumstance but i dont think that’s your reason?
Anyways I forgot Nations League existed actually, heh. My view on this is that if we do well, it means something, and if we dont, then it doesnt 😉
It will be nice to see some Nat Team action.
Sure as hell never watching the nba, mlb, nfl, or nascar again.
It’ll be Croatian National team and maybe some Golf from here on out.