Photo: Facebook/NikeHrvatska
Croatia open up their 2012 campaign Wednesday night in Zagreb against Sweden in a friendly. It will be the first of three friendlies for the Vatreni as they prepare for Euro 2012 in June, where they will meet Ireland, Italy and Spain in group play. However, don’t expect much from this match.
With most players in the final run of their club seasons and rain expected in the forecast, the match should be more of a walk-through than anything else. Temperatures should be in the mid-40’s (F) with only 10-15 thousand fans expected in attendance for the 8:30PM (local) kickoff.
Even in damp conditions, the show must go on. Who would you like to see in Croatia’s starting XI? Obviously, guaranteed starters Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, captain Darijo Srna and goalie Stipe Pletikosa are locks, but how much time will coach Slaven Bilić give them and what new experimentation would you like to see?
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site offered us with valuable info to work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our whole community will be
thankful to you.
If the shirt is an official Nike jersey, then it is an authentic replicas licensed Croatia jersey. http://store.nike.com/gb/en_gb/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-102602/pid-448147
What don’t you understand? Does anyone hear speak, read or write Croatian, or talk about anything other than soccer? Jenny’s last home checkered version jersey got wine thrown on it by some Serb bitch, it took forever to get the stain out. Soak in cold water, with vinegar and baking soda, that works.
All the stores in the past, all the Nike jerserys are replicas of the official team worn jersey. Are you guys dumb? You are never going to get the exact jersey the team wears. All the Nike jerseys of every team are officially licensed Nike replicas, My friend has a the recent Nike blue one they wore at Euro1008,, they are made in Portugal, and the stitching is awful. I hope we switch to Adidas or Puma. The 3 stripes look fab, Jenny likes the Puma though, I don’t like Reebok though, very itchy on the neck and arm pits.
I think they should release a black jersey to represent the Ustase. They need to remeber their roots of crna legija and forget the yugoslav fags that run the country today! ZA DOM SPREMNI!!!!!!!!!!
I like the design,how it’s mostly blue, broken up by the checkered grb pattern to the side. It looks fab, modern, You can see it from a mile away and realize it’s Croatian, and the opposite of serbian.
On a side note, has anyone ever gotten a name and number printed on an authentic jersey? Seems like it’s only available on replicas.
I would hate to buy a replica right now and have the authentic come out right after. I have been looking at the pictures from the game last night and it seems that maybe they weren’t wearing the authentic kits either?
The places i’ve seen them in Vancouver are only selling replicas too. That would suck if the authentics don’t become available somewhere…
@ Robert:
I’m looking for he authentic version too; I did contact Nike France (I live in France), they will have the kit in april, but they’re not sure if they will be the authentic kit.
Does anyone know why the authentic Croatia away kit is nowhere to be found? Portugal and Holland both have authentic kits for sale on kitbag, but Croatia only comes in the replica version?
@Ziva, it’s club policy for Chivas to have only Mexican players, and nobody has a problem with it and it’s not against the law or FIFA regulations.
If someone invested in a club and wanted to have only White players, why is that forbidden?
Why is National-ism okay, but Race-ism is not?
I’d take Ibrah in a heart beat on my team. Top ten talent in the world.
@Wallace……who said its ok for Chivas. Thats up to their fans. I don’t know what the racial and ethnic breakdown is for Mexico. But, I’d be willing to bet Germany is more diverse.
Plus, Bayern is in the “winning” business. So, they will go after players that will help them win Bundesliga titles and compete in the Champions League. They and most of their fans don’t care about race or ethnic background.
Any link for the game guys?
@ Ante
Opcija broj dva.
Ibrahimović is self indulgent and a sociopath.
A very very talented self indulgent sociopath but a self indulgent sociopath all the same.
Read his book. He needs counselling and I am not making fun of him because of that reason but he needs it all the same.
This guy can play and can score! Very very dangerous talented player! I would not want him on our team though and I agree with the sediments.
Markovic is a very nice fellow. He is old and he forgets things.
😉
@jm………He might have been connected to the community in Malmo, but that community may have been a bunch of jugo-lovers instead of hrvati. Who knows.
To me, not a big loss. It would be one thing if this kid grew up saying he was a hrvat, but he did not. He is from a mixed marriage and always referred to himself as a “balkan” or jugo.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I find it pretty interesting he didn’t have closer croatian ties. I read that his father and mother had only been in Sweden for a couple years before they were born so I would think they would still be fairly closely connected. I would also think there’d be a fairly decent community there as well
Ibrahimovic’s father is Bosnian, mother is Croatian. He’s also Catholic. However, like Ziva eluded to, never has called himself a Croat. As a matter of fact, he grew up predominately around Serbs/Bosnians. I wouldn’t want him on our squad. However, to lie like Markovic did and say he asked him to play shows you what kind of people we got running the show over there.
Ibra taking down one his teammates in practice yesterday. The guy is most likely out for Euros now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMni9F0LG-M
@jm………not true. I’ve mentioned this before. Ibrahimovic never had any interest in playing for Cro or for that matter BiH. Plus, the savez never approached Ibrahimovic.
He was never ours to get and he has never called himself a hrvat…..ever.
With Sweden coming to town, what’s the story behind Ibrahimovic deciding to play for Sweden rather than Croatia or Bosnia? I had heard when he was younger he wanted to play, but was rejected by the national side. Any truth there?
@ Ante
I think option 2 is better. I think within whatever store you guys create, I’d post some links to reputable sites (Subside, UK Soccer Shop, World Soccer Shop, etc.) to buy our most current home and away kits, warmup, etc. but I think having a store with hard to find stuff, sort of like in the mold of that English site, ClassicFootballShirts.com where you can buy game worn and retro gear, would be fantastic. I think it would be cool too to have an option where maybe some of us with old kits, warmups, etc. could sell to your friend or maybe make a posting board where we could sell and trade with each other? I’d love to get my hands on some gear from Euro 96/WC 98 that fits me (Being a XXL is tough…lol) plus I have some older HNL kits that don’t fit me that I wouldn’t mind trading/selling to others.
Ante, I vote for your buddy’s shop with the older memorabilia. Hvala.
@ IvicA : France team d’ont as number on the front of there jersey in 2011. 😉
@Ante: option 2 of course!!!! I we want a “normal” shop, there are a looooooot of them on the Internet.
Don’t be like ALL the others! 😉
@ Ante your buddy option two i can always find regular gear anywhare do the exclusive thing brotherrr. -U-
This is my thinking on the matter…
The website will only have room for one ‘shop’. I don’t see how we can set up two at the moment.
Option 1. The shop is an already open online store with Croatian gear. Unless they have socks, shorts, warm-ups etc, there’s no point in having an online shop for the easy stuff to find which are just home and away jerseys…we can always point you in that direction…jerseys are usually $60+ based on the customization you want.
Option 2. A private shop. A friend of ours in Los Angeles is a long-time collector of football jerseys and memorabilia. He must have over 300 authentic jerseys, both match worn by the actual player and unworn but ready for official match play.
A majority of these jerseys are Croatian throughout the years but he also has many Serie A, Premiership, Bundesliga and HNL gear from the last three decades. Obviously it’s not as cheap as a regular jersey you can find online…but I would think for you hardcore fans (cuz that’s why you are all here) you would want access to some untouchable and exclusive soccer throughout the years.
Because these are things you can’t find online….let me know what you guys think…we’ll go more in depth after the Sweden match.
@ Ante sounds good for all generations as soon as possible please -U-
@ Ziva Istina
“I think that I read somewhere the jersey colors have already been determined for the group phase matches. I think we wear blue for the first two and red/white for the third game.”
If you come across that info please post. I will do the same.
@ Ante
Sve
@Ante
Jerseys & Kits from all generations!
@Anonymous
I think the Italians are the only ones that are going to be playing 3 in the back this Euro. It’s become popular in Serie A once again and the last couple of games the Italians seemed to use it well.
@ Majstore,
A very good observation. The short story:
One week before we launched CroatinSports.com back on October 4th, the website we were going to use as the shop shut down. It had everything you wanted in Croatian gear (tops, shirts, socks, warm-ups, hats, shorts, scarves, everything!)
Now we have to re-assess the situation.
Question to all of you..
When we do have a shop…would you rather it be a shop just consisting of current Croatian gear or would you like to see jerseys and kits of all generations (match worn, signed etc)
I have a good friend that is a collector that pulls jerseys right after the game. Game worn. He also has a collection ranging from all leagues in Europe from the last 20 years. Over 300 jerseys, shorts, captain’s armbands, all that stuff)
Please give me your thoughts on both options…
And he s not a right defender because our defensive options aren’t great, its because the formation, the tactics….enough of this nt/ club team horse shit as well, they re the same players, same skills, the only thing that is different is how they are asked to play and where….you guys are making this into some crazy science….players inform/not inform, he can play these positions, we need him here or here, thats it, all that goes through Bilic s head, solved the puzzle
@ home guy
The way we play now, the formation that golden child has, he s a right defender, 20 years ago when the world played a 4-3-3 he might play a different position, but right now in this very popular formation that everyone is pretty much using, he s a right defender, again, in this formation, 4-2-3-1, he s a right defender, in my fantasy world where boban and asanovic are still playing and we have the blonde haired goalie from our old rukomet team between the pipes and pre cancer ciro commenting in the booth things are a little different, but once again, that’s not the way things are
@Majstore
Gooooood question. Gonna talk to the guys about it tomorrow.
This sweeden game meaning nothing at all Im still dying to see our boys try to get some chemistry going and try to string some goals together ajde momci zabi dva tri like one of the family friends use to say son uma koza -U-
FAO:
Croatiansports.com team …
Do you plan on having your “store” open anytime soon?
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1028518/celtic-defender-daniel-majstorovic-out-for-the-season?cc=5901
@Lebo Fan Club
Srna played right midfield for Croatia through Euro 08 (though he is a defender for Shakhtar), and I personally think he is a better midfielder than defender, at least when playing for the national team. The past few years he has been at RB because our defensive options haven’t been so great.
HNK I think you’re missing a player.
Srna Vida Simunic Corluka
Dujmo
Rakitic Modric Kranjcar
Eduardo Mandzukic
For my Canadian friends….TSN2 is showing the game tomorrow
Why don’t people realize Srna is a right defender…..right…..defender, in the system we play in…..he’s a right………defender…..stop posting this right midfield garbage
@ Ziva
Funny that you mention Des Moines, I’ve been living in Des Moines for the past 8 months and you definitely don’t see anyone wearing cro jerseys….plenty of Bosnian muslims out here though. Nice city, but not the best place to be if you are a Croat hoping for a social life.
I think that I read somewhere the jersey colors have already been determined for the group phase matches. I think we wear blue for the first two and red/white for the third game.
Who cares about the jersey i care about the IGRA, so tomm Pletikosa- Vida Scifo Joe Carli- Srna Dujmovic Modric Rakitic- Mandzo Subs Jelavic Kranjcar Perisic Vrsaljko Pranjic.
Spain just released a new shirt.
We could potentially be wearing our home jersey for all three games in Euro 2012. Ireland is the home team our first game and their home jeresy is the predominantly green jersey. Italy is the home team in our second game and the blue jersey is their home shirt, and we choose in the third game as we are the home team. I am pretty sure that is how it plays out? Than the officials of the match have to give their blessing prior to going out on the field according to UEFA rules and regulations.
I have a feeling that Italy will go with their white away jersey when they play us just to be pricks.
🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skLKVDitB1w&feature=player_embedded
I want a black kit (not kita) for Hrvatska. That would be awesome!! CRNA LEGIJA
A local soccer shop probably does good in a community where there are hrvati. It doesn’t mean Nike is making big money from the contract. There is not enough of the diaspora to make a significant dent in what Nike does with Cro gear.
I’m sure a soccer shop owner in Des Moines, Iowa is not selling cro gear.
Apparently our gear is a huge seller for Nike.
A man at a soccer shop that Iv been going to for years always jokes with me how all the Croatians by every bit of new stuff that comes out for our National Team.
Also, he showed me a full track suit for Holland, and said that he’s getting a Croatian one in any day now as well. He said those will be the only 2 countries his shop will carry the full Nike track suit for.
I don’t think the savez ever signed a long-term deal with Nike (long-term meaning more than 6 years). I know Adidas has approached the savez, but Nike has offered more money. You go with the supplier willing to pay you more, or even overpay.
Whoever has Croatia; Nike, Adidas, Umbro, etc…is not going to be making a huge profit on their partnership. The average person in Croatia cant afford an authentic jersey and the diaspora does not have enough people that will make the manufacturer money from the deal. In the end someone like Nike basically breaks even with this deal when you consider the advertising that is associated with being the official supplier.
Let’s be realistic here…..there is no bidding war to outfit Croatia. We don’t have a superstar on the national team where Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc are battling to sign him to a deal and in turn would also want him to wear the same product with the national team.
@Ziva istina said
“Nike v Adidas……you sign with the company that will pay you the most. It’s not like the savez is making big $$$ from the Nike deal, but it’s not like Adidas is knocking at the door either.”
Adidas sure came knocking on, andorras, armenia, cypruses, faroe islands, liechtensteins, san marinos, guams, syrias, turkmenistans, jordans, kygyzstans, myannars, maldives, nepals, omans, yemans, antigua & barbadas, domincans, guyanas, haitis, saint kitts and nevis, saint lucias, sudans, somalias, rawandas, mauritias, kenyas, zanzibars, djiboutis, british virgin islands and many more doors.
Thats what these companys are trying to do, out do each other. Sign a team before the other one does. Make a offer or deal better then their rivals.
Oh and believe me adidas will knock on the door if given half a chance as will puma. Its just up to the savez on whom is offering the better deal.
The truth is the savez got locked in a long term contract with nike 12 years ago without thinking it through. They just wanted the most cash then and there.
Thats why they are not making $$$ now with nike, because their contract is from 12 years ago.
I like the checkers, but I DESPISE the fact that the checkered jerseys are always ruined by that white block area behind the players’ numbers on the front and the back of the jersey.
This completely ruins the jersey, but FIFA/UEFA insist that the player numbers must not be placed on a checkered background (for visibility purposes).
To combat this, I would like to see a white jersey, but with checkered sleeves (similar to our current blue ones, but replace the white with blue and keep the silhouette checkers on the white). This jersey would look AMAZING and would solve the player number issue.
We need an all white jersey that is for certain, so when we play teams with red/white home/away jerseys eg: serbia. So we wont colour clash with the home or resort to always wearing the blue away.
On another note, croatia did have a jersey were black was incorporated. It was the very first nike jersey for croatia in the year 2000.
Black has also been used in the numbers and names on the back of the shirts for quite some time. They always had that problem of making the numbers visable enough to make out, since the home jerseys were always chequered out.
These days they just leave a big enough blank sqaure on the back to fit the numbers and name.
A change of sponsor would be great, to get some more variation in shirt design. Nike isnt exactly making me eager to go out and buy one of their bland designs. I’ll stick with my euro 96 lotto white shirt.(a thing of beauty)
These new blue away and home chequered jerseys are the worst ive seen from nike. The sad thing is that they are going to be used at a major tournament with the whole world watching.
I like the new jerseys..I would not like a black jersey!
Im fine with sticking with the red white and blue!
year after year the more they look like Dinamo 😉
Nike v Adidas……you sign with the company that will pay you the most. It’s not like the savez is making big $$$ from the Nike deal, but it’s not like Adidas is knocking at the door either.
Idea of a black jersey…….unless what I have been told from my guy within the savez or he is completely out of the loop, there is no chance at a black jersey.
No dont like the new jersey go back to Lotto 96 please and make them out of recycled material if you like but these look like a women jersey or why dont we try out adidas for ounce when is this Americki Nike contract finished -U-
is it just me or does dujmovic have a giant head?
@ Ante:
Lucky you, this jersey is a futur collector one!
Here guys, you can buy the white jersey (Free info, I’m not the seller).
http://www.ebay.de/itm/NIKE-Kroatien-Trikot-Jersey-NEU-Croatia-Hrvatska-/180640801396?pt=DE_Sport_Fu%C3%9Fball_Fu%C3%9Fball_Fanshop&var=&hash=item6fc397c3c6
@ Mihovil,
Definitely looks like iron-on. These jerseys are made from recycled materials. Maybe the sewed on HNS logo goes against this recycling tactic.
@ Ivan,
Yes, yes I remember now! Have you seen the white jersey. I will put up a picture tomorrow and do the game reporting with it on Wednesday. How’s that sound?
@ Ante
I France; I made the Fanzone Francuska-Hrvatska one year ago 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5n45txdp9U&feature=player_embedded
@ Mark
It looks as though the jerseys Eduardo and co are wearing have the HNS logo ironed on. Unless my eyes are totally shot from looking at this screen all day.
🙂
No way liberals in Hrvatska would go for black jersey. They would think it represents Crna Legia. hahah.
@ Ivan,
Yes. The back is entirely mesh and the holes appear on both sides of the jersey. Ivan, are you in Germany?
Make a centenary jersey in white please! Not black! (Wearing a black jersey at sun…)
@ Ante:
And it’s a player issue jersey, with a lot of little hole, right?
kinda
@ Lebo
I gotta say the black and white ones are dope.
@ Ante
Dude post a pic of it. I am curious.
Black Croatia kits:
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/fantasy-kit-design/fantasy-kit-design/croatia-euro-2012-adidas-13589.html
There was an all-white 3rd kit for the 2010 World Cup. Obviously we did not qualify it was never publicly released. I bought one of the very few that exist..it’s long sleeve, no name, no number.
All white with silhouetted checkers. I like it. If you guys want to see it, let me know.
@ Mark
Yeah for sure! That is why I said please do not quote me on that and I agree 100%.
“I’m calling it now: there will be a black kit marking our 100th year!”
That is fine with me! If they do a good job on the “Centennial” jersey than we have our answer for swaying the percentages back to our beloved checkers against the Serbs and everyone else! A third jersey essentially.
If we can figure this out, than why can’t Nike and someone in the HNS marketing department?? It is not that tough really.
Black kit with white checkers, I like it
@Mihovil
Interesting stats. I noticed we wore the away kits more often lately, but I didn’t know it was that much.
I’m sure the appearance of the logo being painted on is for press release purposes only and will only stick with the replicas. I sure as hell wouldn’t pay $100+ for that. They seem like a tighter fit in the promo literary article you posted, but the the ones Eduardo and co are wearing seem like the same loose fitting ones. I guess those are better at hiding the bloated guts from all the beer drinking we do during their matches.
I’m calling it now: there will be a black kit marking our 100th year!
There is a strong rumor that there will be a special jersey made for our Centennial.
http://www.hns-cff.hr/?ln=en
i wished they kept this past seasons home kit. its sweet! new one will be boring.
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/12/13-kits/croatia-euro-2012-away-nike-football-shirt.html
I like the jersey, but I am with Mark they can do much better.
Don’t quote me on this, but apparently our HNS logo is ironed on this time rather than the traditional stitched on material crest. It could be Photoshop.
2000-2011 era we played 62 qualifying matches, with play-offs, and we wore our home jersey in 53% of those matches.
During the Bilić era, we played 34 qualifying matches and we wore our home jersey in 38% of the games. Euro 2012 campaign we wore our home jersey twice in 12 matches.
For those reasons I agree with Mark even more as someone should be on top of this in order to sway the percentages back the other way as it is not very hard to do. We are going to play the Chetniks twice in our away jerseys come the WC 2014 qualifiers. Not a big fan of that thought when it could have easily been avoided.
Boring kits. They just took a blue jersey and cropped and pasted a left shoulder on from the home jersey. Probably some intern or Chinese girl from Nike messing around with Photoshop. They don’t care.
I’ve mentioned this before: I’d love to see a black kit with the red and white checkers cleverly integrated. Think PSV. Capped with a fine gold trim around the collar and sleeves. No Blue.
You’re right, don’t expect much from this friendly. I expect a revolving door of substitutions. Starting 11 don’t mean squat here.