Hajduk poised to play in Europa League for first time
Hajduk withstood a late, injury-time flurry to preserve a stunning 4-1 come-from-behind win in the first leg of their Europa League playoff against Romania’s Unirea Urziceni.
The visitors scored the game’s first goal in the 34th minute as Sorin Frunză waltzed around at least three Hajduk defenders before beating backup goalkeeper Božidar Radošević and silencing a packed Poljud Stadium.
The Unirea lead was short-lived, however, as Senijad Ibričić scored the first of Hajduk’s four consecutive goals in the 38th minute. Ibričić deftly flicked a harmless looking cross from Anas Sharbini as the Unirea goalkeeper could only watch his glancing header roll inside the far post.
Ibričić single-handedly notched his second goal of the game in the 66th minute, going coast-to-coast against a weak Unirea defense.
Substitute Mario Brkljača added Hajduk’s 3rd goal in the 78th minute off a free header supplied by none other than Senijad Ibričić. Brkljaca had entered the game just five minutes earlier, replacing the hardworking midfielder Dinko Trebotić in the 73rd minute.
Lastly, substitute Duje Čop added Hajduk’s fourth goal in the 85th minute, deftly controlling a cross from the hardworking Mirko Oremus before turning and firing from the top of the six-yard box. Oremus stepped in front of a Unirea player on a throw in deep in the guests’ end and fired in a cross to Cop.
Hajduk take their commanding 4-1 lead into next week’s second leg in Romania. Barring a complete collapse, Hajduk will play in the Europa League’s group stage for the first time.
HAJDUK: Radošević, Oremuš, Maloča, J. Buljat, Strinić, Trebotić, Andrić, Tomasov, Ibričić, An. Sharbini, Vukušić
UNIREA: Grigore, Galamaz, Bilasco, Onofras, Rusescu, Epaminonda, Brandan, Marinescu, Bordeanu, Maftei, Frunza
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Morale at Unirea Urziceni drops further ahead of Thursday's return leg against Hajduk…
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1516652.html
@Tom in WPG
Sure thing Tom no worries, I'll ask Ante for your email.
Cheers
J.P.
RE: the move to the 'Peg… a very, very long story…
Hey, I'd very much like to talk further with you. Can I ask you to get my email address from Ante or Denis so that we can talk further?
@ Tom in Winterpeg
Glad to hear it Tom, the Renic's from Tbay are good peeps.
I'm in Vancouver, but outside of Hrvatska most of the family is in Ontario still.
Why'd you leave Oakville for Winterpeg… it wasn't the drinking age was it? 🙂
it's official Jelavic made a 4 milliam pound transfer to glasgow rangers… WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK OF HIS MOVE?
i personally think its better then playing in austria but i would have prefered him to wait untill a better league comes calling… i would have preffered the bundesliga, that would be the natural choice.. but let's hope this move works out for him because his the main man in glasgow and as such as to deliver with the goals… i'm interested to see how he does with the pressure… in regards to champions league glawgow have no chance to pass the group stage…. there a long ball team that can't beat european elites…
Stewey,
Sorry man but you're completely wrong about Badelj. He's the opposite of good. He's 'good' in the sense that he always passes the ball to the opposite defender nearest to Dinamo's goal. Have you actually watched any of the games? He did this at least three times yesterday, it almost looked blatant. Like I said before, the kid might be a purger but he's had an awful season thus far. He might rebound like Sammir who so far has been having a great year. Change of topic: Sammir should NEVER play for Hrvatska. That's a no brainer.
On the point of whether Hajduk need to sell Strnic or Ibricic or not… perhaps they can get away with not selling them in this window, but one must go in January.
I highly doubt Hajduk have already paid off Aracic, Smoje, Rodic, Jertec, Seric etc… they have gone, but all Hajduk have done has made an agreement to pay them off. i doubt that Hajduk has given all those players the money yet.
Ultimately they prob agreed when we sell Ibricic you'll get your money so its not completely financially stable just cos there in Europa Liga.
Nothing wrong with Badelj. He's being asked to play an unnatural position. He had a great season last year. Only problem with team at the moment is that we still have 3 weak forwards Slepicka, Sivonjic and Dodo who we need to shift out before deadline and bring in a new striker to partner Ruki.
Loncaric – Vrsaljko, Biscan, Cufre, Ibanez; Calello, Badelj, Sammir; Morales, Rukavina, Keric
will do nicely…
I'd also advocate Antun Palic for Sivonjic and Dodo to Zapresic.
I also wouldn't mind seeing Roberto Puncec arrive…
I connected my BB to my car stereo with an audio cable and I couldn't believe I was listening to a game while driving.
Hey JP,
Winterpeg… you got that right:)
Yes, I believe some of my dad's distant relatives used to live in Thunder Bay.
I grew up in southern Ontario, just west of Toronto… Oakville, to be exact.
And where are you?
no flash for droid either…..sve u kurcu.
then again, a few years ago who would have imagined we could listen to cro radio on our phones
Does Droid support Flash? The only way I can get video on my BB is if I make love to it fornightly and buy it ice cream afterwards.
This "slusaj radio" allows video streaming on Android devices?
@Tom in Winterpeg
Nicely done. btw., seeing as you are a Renic, are you related to any of the Renic's that used to live in Thunder Bay?
Likewise @ DinamoDennis are you related to any of the Plesa's from Thunder Bay?
"slusaj radio" app on droid phones works as well.
Remember,
Unirea played in the Champions League group stage only one year ago. What I was told by CSR's own Denis 'Ziva Svircina' was that Unirea's coach and president quit on the team within the past 2 weeks.
Sure the team is in shambles for those reasons mentioned above, but most of these players still played last season among some of Europe's best teams.
Hajduk would be stupid to sell anyone right now. Ibricic scored 2 fantastic goals today. He is without a doubt the backbone of this team. Barring a total collapse in Romania, Hajduk will play 6 games against decent European sides. The rest of Europe will be watching. Ibricic stock will continue to rise.
Re: Selling…
Hajduk are on the verge of playing in the EL group stage… as you say Ziva, it is evident we can drop all talk of players like Ibro or Strinic leaving. Instead, they'll be counting on these guys as the competition progresses. In fact, Ibricic and Strinic will only welcome the opportunity to showcase their talents on a bigger stage.
Yes, it's a great day to be a hajdukovac…
Thanks Denis. I appreciate your kind words. You know… I'm still waiting for my Crottenham shirt:)
Excellent write up Tom, Welcome to the team!
Btw, it seems that Balkansport is looking to develop an iPhone app…
Hajduk je prvak ove godine….It's hard to play any time of day in Dalmacija during the summer
Thanks for that link Ante. It's not as good as watching the match but much better than checking live score.
Excellent job to Dinamo but it is only Gyor afterall…
Etto had a 100% change that he messed up and can somebody tell Badelj that being a purger isn't enough to play for Dinamo? He sucked yet again.
Also, if you have either an iPhone or BlackBerry, download WUNDERRADIO and search for HRVATSKI RADIO. All the channels showed up and I got to listen to both games. There's no charge and it's how I'll follow the games from now on whilst working.
I NAPRIJED PLAVI!
A few more solid performances for the NT and I see him moving to a better league.
Mandzo is overrated. He can only play one position – some he works and most of the time he is infuriating. If Rukavina keeps scoring every game i'll prefer Rukavina anyday… At least he's slightly normal..
Dinamo and Hajduk got kind draws although i think Hajduk had to show a touch of class to overcome there team provided by Ibricic. Gyor are like an average HNL1 team. There like a Osijek or Sibenik.
We still are not sorted though. Ilija Sivonjic looks extremely Croatian league standard. We have to do some striking deal as Slepicka, Dodo and Sivonjic have had their chance now and didn't live up to the standard. Does anyone know much about Antun Palic. Maybe we could do a deal to bring him and send Dodo and Sivonjic back to Zapresic. Palic is a Croatia under 21 player that played last match so he must have some kind of ability.
I like Cufre and Callelo a lot in this game.
Whats happened to Schildenfeld? He's actually become a decent player.
Veha ustasa ! haha must say i was kinda amused when i heard people chanting that.
Gordon Schildenfeld scored against juve to make it 1-1. I wish Ibricic was a Hrvat this guy is a beast.
schildenfeld scored the euqalizer for sturm graz against juve.
anyone who has been to Dalmacija in the summer knows how hard it is to run and do anything at night time.
hajduk will not sell anyone unless they fall apart next week and somehow lose 3-0 on the road. Other than that, Strinic and Ibricic are staying and that comes straight from the top at Hajduk.
41% humidity heww that must be hell playing at Poljud right now
nicely done by Hajduk as well as Dinamo haven't seen that game…nonetheless Rukavina is not the same as Mandzo. Mandzukic is a much bettter player and he can play various positions, I just hope he gets playing time against Bayern when Bundesliga kicks off
Best thing Hajduk did was shorten their squad and keep Mario Brkljaca. They've given these guys confidence by making them feel wanted and granted them a secure jersey.
I'm not certain Hajduk can fit a selling spree in time for deadline. There is only one week left. Hajduk aren't gonna sell if they can't get replacements in in time. Most realistic sale they could make would be Strinic as they have Jozinovic to cover. If Ibricic goes though that will leave a hole.
who are these guys. I was in Croatai last summer and saw a couple games and was disgusted.
Now these kids are playing beautiful soccer and killing a team that in the past would eat them alive.
You know what this means…sell…sell…sell
EZ
u guys see this…..Spaco is wearing japanke again. What kind of outfit is this. he looks like he should be at the piaca selling fruit.
one man team lol – only kidding. that first ibricic goal was a killer header. i have no idea why this guy still plays in croatia. he was good enough at nk zagreb, no mind at hajduk…
WHAT A BEAUTY!
STUNNING
Rukavina is same as Mandzo. Actually i prefer Rukavina. At least he's not a annoying guy. My problem with him is that he cost too much money… but we could have signed FAR FAR worse than him..
I think we'll make the money back on Rukavina in the end. I'd still like to see Keric come and partner him.
Halilhodzic is playing MY TEAM. this is my preferred Dinamo line up… No Dodo, No Sivonjic or Slepi.. Its paradise. Etto in a forward attacking role is what i thought was best for us.
Slepicka, Dodo, Sivonjic hopefully will join Tomic out the exit door.
Unirea were in CL last year, finishing 3rd spot in a fairly easy group, but until then probably no one had heard of them (Outside of Romania that is)
Gyor is an entirely different story though.
I almost choked when i saw Rukavina score twice. Then I remembered, they are playing Gyor.
The first goal was a nice finish. 2nd goal was easy.
I pride myslef on following soccer worldwide, but before Dinamo drew Gyor had anyone ever heard of Gyor.
Same thing goes for hajduk's opponent.
Rukavina scores again!!
Dinamo 2 Gyor 0
Rukavina just scored for Dinamo!
Dinamo 1 Gyor 0
this is modern day soccer. When you want out of your club and move for a bigger pay day, you open your mouth and make them get rid of you.
Thanks for the links guys. Jelavic might stay… I approve his suspension… He should have kept his mouth shut.
@Tom
Saan.tv
@Ante B
I'm not sure about radio… try HRT
awesome… thank you!
http://www.justin.tv/ginger_bloke2#/w/327902016
Does anyone have a proven, working link for the Hajduk game? I've tried many and they're all dead ends.
I think hajduk will have a tougher time in this game than in the return leg on the road. Most of these guys are kids and not used to playing in front of a packed stadium where everyone thinks they should win.
Do you guys now if they are streaming RADIO streams on the net somewhere? Please list for both games if possible.
Better pics: http://nookdeejung.blogspot.com/2010/07/miss-croatia-universe-2010-lana-obad.html
I'll take Fani over Lana any day, she just needs a style update.
More on Jelavic… it's too bad that it had to end this way… although seeing him play with Weiss should be good!
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-jelavic-rangers
Lana Obad koji komad!!!
in other news Mandzo most likely not playing against Bayern Muenchen but I have a feeling he might get a few minutes…..we'll have to wait and see
It's game day… man, I am pumped at the prospect of Hajduk gaining a place in the group stage… it makes me want to sing, "Dalmatinac saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmm…" I think I can hear those sweet sounds all the way from Poljud right now…
wow. That's crazy news. He's been outspoken about this move to the Rangers for a while. I can't just say to my boss that I want to leave and join another company. I'm not surprised about his suspension.
PS Both Miss Croatias look hot!
Looks like Jelavic is going for certain now to Glasgow. Rapid have suspended him….
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=815582&sec=transfers&cc=5901
Yuck
jesus…what a piece of ass