The 7-1 victory over Malta went perfectly to plan. Croatia went up early to make it 4-1 at half. That enabled Dalić to sub out Brozović and Perišić (both on yellows) to preserve them for the Russia match. Luka Modrić got his reps in and played 54 minutes in this match.
Ivo Grbić got his first cap in net for the Vatreni and should have had a clean sheet if it wasn’t for Brozović’s own goal bicycle kick clearance off his own face. Duje Ćaleta-Car scored his first goal for Croatia. Lovro Majer, who has been praised heavily on this website the past month, scored twice in his first start for the senior side. Kramarić may have gotten some confidence back with a goal and two assists. All in all, a huge success as Croatia got the win with no yellow cards and no injuries.
However, it is Malta we played. We should be beating teams like this by six goals every time.
This now sets up a ‘do or die’ match against Russia at Poljud on Sunday – 9AM (ET) kickoff. Croatia will qualify directly for the World Cup in Qatar with a win and only a win. Anything less and the Vatreni will have to go through a 4-team playoff in 2022 to qualify. Those teams are still to be determined.
Zlatko Dalić went with a strong lineup against Malta. Expect more of the same Sunday vs. Russia.
I’ll give Dalic credit where it’s due. Talking Livakovic up in the press is a good move. It keeps a fire lit under Grbic while at the same time it gives you an easy out just in case Grbic shits the bed. If Grbic continues to be the more in form player, he continues to play.
Although Grbic wasn’t tested enough to get a great reading on him, one thing really stood out to me. After the unfortunate Brozovic own goal, he didn’t look around to blame anyone. Instead, he went right up to Marcelo and consoled him and assured him that everything will be ok. I LOVE that confidence. No deer in headlights like Livakovic.
Grbić in addition to grest character, has also earned his start:
75.9% save percentage (4th best in Ligue 1), and his team is 12th overall- by no means are they dominant and give up very little for Grbic to stop.
Furthefmore,
Grbić has a 90% save percentage in 4 champions league games.
Grbić may not be the stud we are all hoping for?
However, not only is he getting the job done, but the added bonus is that he stated that it’s his dream come true to play for Croatia in a packed stadium in Split (I scored 5 goals as a midfielder when I was a kid – my dad asked me to show some parents he knew of kids on the other team what we were made of- never got close to repeating that performance).
Lastly, many things go into a goalkeeper’s effectiveness, and Grbić certainly has many things going for him.
Grbić may not be the most graceful in his execution, but he could trip over his own feet, fall in the direction of a Russian player trying to dribble around him, and accidently get his hand on the ball- nobody would focus on his delivery very much as long as he makes the save.
3-1 Hrvatska
Ajmo!!!!
I’ve never even heard of any of these Russians!!!
We must destroy them!!!
Kramaric with 2 goals!!!
Bog i Hrvati
The goalie thing is messed
We don’t have a stud but I still blame dalic for not having better looks at grbic before
Grbic didn’t look that good
But he has more presence in the box
Even as far as having better communication with the players it would have been better if grbic had some more play time
But we are here
Grbic at least played Messi and Neymar
Livakovic played Mali mate from nk selo and has stunk
Ivusic ya limited play time and maybe he was lucky but he played with real dominance out there
He has to get another look when ready
As others have said before even having fake confidence is better then Livakovic punting it out of bounds(which grbic did one and I’m like oh here we go)
At least with lovren and vida not playing and liva the chances of us not bombing it out of bounds goes up;)
As long as we get through Sunday we can maybe really find a keeper before Qatar
Lol, yea I saw that one clearance out of bounds ha ha.
But to be fair, he was just playing it safe and had a defender coming right at him.
Livakovic and the old guard defenders actually punt the ball out of bounds even when they are not under pressure. Just bad aim I guess lol.
In the words of “Ziva Istina”, Marcelo Bozo-vić
You have to admit, it was a pretty awesome own-goal.
Bicycle kick, off his own nose and into the net.
Apparently Broz has a sense of humor…he posted his own-goal on social media.
Perfect match to start Grbic. He got his debut, no pressure on him, didn’t have to do much, yet at the same time, comes out with a convincing win, which will honestly boost any young goalkeeper’s confidence. He got the hardest part out of the way and came out unscathed. Exactly how a GK debut should be.
That being said, jury is still out if he’s worthy of more time, but this is how you gain the experience needed to grow. Good move on Dalic starting him yesterday.
I agree. If you are considering a goalkeeper change, you need to give him several matches, unless he really screws up. I only wish Dalic had made this move earlier. If Grbic has a good game against Russia, then he should keep his spot moving forward (if he keeps playing well).
Better late than never I guess.
He was VERY late in integrating some of our young guys and it cost us at the Euros (which became a throwaway tournament for us).
We could have done something at that tournament, but it amounted to nothing, along with two embarrassing Nations League campaigns that destroyed our FIFA ranking and reputation.
I’m just glad that it “seems” like Dalic FINALLY got the memo that we can’t move forward with Lovren, Vida, Barisic, Livakovic and an out-of-form Vrsaljko. Our younger backline is just so so much better, and it’s painfully obvious too. Gvardiol’s transfer value alone is worth more than the entire former veteran backline and keeper. Duje too. Makes no sense to bench them, ever. Benching Sosa cost us the three points against Slovakia in Osijek for fuck’s sake.
He might pull a U-turn and do something stupid, and he’s insisting in the media that Livakovic is still our #1and that Grbic is just subbing in for now due to form. Maybe he’s just saying this for Livakovic’s sake, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try and rotate some of these vets back into the team like Lovren and Livakovic. Any minutes given to these guys is a waste of an opportunity to build chemistry with our younger guys. We need to use every game we can to build this and plan for the next tournament.
He seems like a superstitious coach.
Oddly likes to pick lineups comprised of players who are born in the city the team is playing in. I think that Vlasic and Livaja will get some significant game time on Sunday in Split because of this.
Grbic is probably playing in part because of this as well, lol.
I hope to god Vlasic and Lovren don’t start at Poljud against Russia.
The Vatreni had one of their best games under Dalic’s tenure vs Malta. No coach in his right mind would change the formation after a performance like that!
You just don’t mess with that kinda chemistry.
One of my buddy journalists is telling me stong chance lovren starts vs russia also vlasic because they know the russian team well?!?
It’s a bad idea because the Russian team knows Lovren very well.
They will go at him specifically. Just watch.
“the Russian team knows Lovren very well.”
Now this the response of the day! I see Lovren starting as being pointless, better to build the DCC and Gvardiol partnership.
Dalić: Ivo Grbić will play in goal against Russia
https://www.croatiaweek.com/dalic-ivo-grbic-will-play-in-goal-against-russia/
I’ve taken some time to let the game settle a bit, and I’ve gotten my thoughts in order.
Grbić was not tested in the slightest, and it’s hard to tell how another keeper would have done on that own goal, considering the element of surprise in that your own player knocks the ball towards you, and the fact that it was a well-directed bounce. I like his confidence however, and his general aura… but this is not enough to judge him as a keeper. I’ll leave this decision up to Dalić and co.
This back line is our best one, and as Vuki said, yes they did look shaky on the few counter-presses Malta had. This is a result of our extremely high line however, and all they need to disrupt it is to press a bit and use their speed. DCC is a strong, solid defender, good in the air and good on the ball. However, he is slow, and this is why we can never pair him with Lovren or Vida. Gvardiol is speedy and can easily recover for DCC if he misplaces himself, Jura too. Gvardiol is a lock. No question. What a player. Sosa was okay, I need to see more from him, however he is still our best left-back for sure. Our midfield is just unmatched to be honest. We would control possession against any team in the world bar maybe your Spain’s or Belgium’s. Perisic was the worst player today in my opinion… he was really poor in the first half. Bad touches and skied that good chance he got from the passing play between Sosa, him and someone else.
Kramarić was great, good playmaking and distribution, and that Pašalić assist was just beautiful.
Now, Lovro Majer. This guy has it, man. What a player, I knew he’d break out sooner or later. Nothing else to add there.
Great match from the guys, one of the best cro games I’ve watched in a long time, but let’s not forget it’s Malta. Yes, this is a great result, but this is how we should be playing against the Malta’s of the world every single game.
Grbic- 6
Sosa- 6
Gvardiol- 8
DCC- 7.5
Juranovic- 7.5
Modric- 8.5
Brozovic- 7.5
Pasalic- 8
Perisic- 6
Majer- 9
Kramaric- 9
Yah Krama had a great game, so happy for him. Really want him to carry it on, someone said earlier before this game, look we are with him till end of ’22, and i kind of agree, we need to get him going and bank on him cos we all know what he can do and as far as talent goes he’s #1 in that spot.
I rated sosa higher, but I trust your eyes. He seems to be able to dribble out of bad situations
But maybe I was sort of blinded by the overall play of the team
Agree Perisic was a bit sloppy
I know you were rating majer high for a while and he had some really good performances In Zagreb but looks like he maybe needed a move to be challenged and is maturing later like many good Croats before
Or maybe he is just hot and we ride him to a qualification
There is a pic with him walking out with modric when he was a kid
Majer is living his dream. He will leave it out there for us
If the skill matches the effort I think we can perhaps have a solid makeshift RW and a potential big piece to our future midfield
I thought maybe his size may be a detriment but maybe I’m wrong
I think Dalic goes with same linup i do not like majer at rw he is a am and woukd take out pasalic play majer in natural position. And rw id put brekalo or sift krama to rw and put petkovic upfront.
I hope that was a joke. You would put both Brekalo and Petkovic, two underperforming players, in the biggest game of qualifying? Ah, no. Just play the same lineup as yesterday. And make changes at half or at 60 minutes if it’s not working.
Yes, except I can’t see Petkovic in a high press system. He is either too slow or too lazy or both. I would rather see Budimir in that spot because he fits in better with the pace the rest of the team plays at. Also what do we do with Majer when Kova comes back? Majer has to play somewhere and Modric will be with us at least through the World Cup should we get there.
A little harsh on Grbic for the breakaway goal that was called back. Many good forwards shoot along the ground and through the legs when in close. Keepers always spread out to make themselves big when a forward is in tight, and shooting for the opening gap is a cagey, gutsy play.
The big thing is Krama… that’s the missing link. We need to get him into form and confident.. i think this game will help but it isnt enough.. hopefully though his great moves this game will help.. if he gets his confidence we will be okay.. Krama is the one missing link
Let’s hope he steps up like Ukraine a few years back now
I believe he will
He seems to be much more evolved and not just looking for goals
He doesn’t just try to make a magical play all my himself now
Hehe thanks buddy! Yes i will certainly settle for him as per Ukraine where he scored 2 away goals to carry us through lol. Mind you we had Raketa setting those up. But we’ll be right, won’t we?
PLEASE HOLD ME IM SCARED LOL !!!!
And happy birthday iggy!
The main thing is that we did not pick up any yellow cards and any obvious injuries. I did not expect such a big win and for Malta to be so poor defensively.
Our defence in the first half was a bit of a worry and will need to improve against Russia. Bit hard to judge Grbic, but thought that he could have done better with the Brozovic goal and also the the goal that was ruled out by VAR.
For me Kramaric best player today. Looks like he is no longer selfish like in the past. Sosa good going forward, but his ball crossings are poor not just today but in his previous matches as well. DCC had an excellent match and I’m not sure if Dalic will bring in Lovren for him ? If Lovren plays, I would prefer that he drops Gvardiol. DCC and Lovren are taller and better in the air than Gvardiol. Russia has some tall timber and their main danger will be from corners and set pieces.
Benching Gvardiol for Lovren is a mortal sin.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Gvardiol is literally the same height as Lovren and slightly shorter than DCC. I’d never trust two slow defenders like them out there on their own… we’d get flamed.
Iggy Happy Birthday you Croatian Aussie Bastard!!👍🇭🇷
Thanks buddy, appreciate it!
Highlights for any Aussies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–MAm9jYmS4
Also thanks to the Vatreni this was a good birthday present, well done fellas 🙂
Happy Birthday!
Not sure i agree with this comment, Ante:
“However, it is Malta we played. We should be beating teams like this by six goals every time.”
Malta are not San Marino or Andorra, they are more in the Estonia camp where they are legitimate pricks to play that are rarely blown away like this. As i said we SCRAPED by them a few years back 1-0 in a must-win game and i thought this would also be close. To smash the shit out of them by 6 isnt a run-of-the-mill thing that should happen every time, its an exceptional result!
Great to see us run it up today. We really needed that to regain some
confidence. I didn’t see much of the game but it looks like we have a potential RW in Majer. We’ve been so weak there since the WC.
From what I did see Krama played well. He’s heating up at just the right time. Also great to see Grbic in and both DCC and Gvardiol both start.
Throw in Kova and hopefully a ‘kiss and make up’ with Rebic and all of a sudden we have lots of depth everywhere.
Too bad Grbic wasn’t tested.
Hard to say if he is a good goalkeeper or not.
Either way, we know that Livakovic is a mess right now, so we have to keep him on the bench.
He didn’t do well on the offside goal, but I guess you can’t blame him for not saving a point blank chance.
He might be a bit too tall or clumsy to get down on the ground quick. He may be one of the keepers who are better in the air than on the ground.
He also should have done a bit better on Brozovic’s nose goal. Gotta save those. 😉
Yeah i was hoping Grbic would actually have some more to do too, as you say we really dont know much but at least he didnt APPEAR visibly terrified and he did make one or two decent punches from corners, so if he isnt pissing his pants when the opponent gets a corner he is prolly already ahead of Liva
Well he’s ahead of Liva based off his resume alone.
He plays in France and against some good teams like PSG and Marseilles. This season, Livakovic faced West Ham, Genk and Osijek.
Whoscored.com has Grbic rated at 6.71 and Livakovic at 6.36.
Neither score is great (and it’s hard to gauge scores from these websites), but it’s something at least.
Ivusic’s rating is 7.36 🙂
It’s gonna be fuckin rocking on Sunday in Split! I have faith in these guys. Ideal tune up today
Great performance overall. If we can play like that on Sunday, we will have no issues. The only minor concern was how dangerous we were letting Malta look on the counter at times, but I think part of that is how high we played our defense and that we were trying to send a message of intent.
I hope we see the same lineup on Sunday. No Lovren, Vida, or Barisic nonsense. Gvardiol and Caleta as the starting center backs until proven otherwise.
Majer was sooooo good today. I had my doubts over whether he and and Modric would work together given they have similar playmaking playstyles, but he can definitely fit in there out on the right. He does do what Vlasic does by drifting into the center all game, but he’s a more creative player than Vlasic so it kind of works. Vlasic plays more direct and goes right at you while Majer looks for a killer ball to play all the time.
Sosa looked good offensively linking with Perisic, but not super strong defensively. I felt he was partially at fault for the goal as he followed the guy inside leaving Brozovic scrambling to mark the late runner. Still easily the starter over Barisic. Bradaric needs to go leave Lille either permanently or on loan and figure it out for even more depth.
Kramaric was great as well. He got his goal and was playing with some real hunger. Great to see him play the ball to the open man for a tap in twice as well instead of trying too hard to score. Petkovic and Livaja looked decent when they came on, but Kramaric is just plain better.
Only one minor complaint. I was just disappointed that Sucic didn’t get some minutes. He’s not likely to play against Russia unless we end up blowing them out somehow. So why not just let him stick with the U21s and help them out? U21 games aren’t very important and I suppose there is value in training with the senior squad, but I just love to see the guy play. Vlasic didn’t need to play today and he was on a yellow anyway so if he happened to get one today then we would’ve lost him as an option for Russia. Oh well, we will see tons on Sucic in the future.
I was a little bit worried about this break before today, but I’m feeling pretty confident now. Hopefully the team is also feeling confident, but not overconfident. 3-0 Hrvatska on Sunday.
My complaint is the same.
I don’t understand the Livaja callups at all. He provides NOTHING more than what we already have in multiple players behind him. I don’t understand what his skillset is exactly. Not particularly good at anything.
What’s worse, is that he actually gets a LOT of game time.
We have about 10 players who can play his role and should be ahead of him (Sucic, Majer, Ivanusec, Brekalo, Basic, Moro, etc)…yet somehow an almost-30-year-old dude who has almost no transfer value playing on Hajduk is somehow ahead of all of these guys?
Wild.
Maybe Dalic knows Ziva is somewhere hiding in a basement watching and that every time “look at me” Livaja gets a game with his sleeve tats it pisses him off; ie, its to troll Ziva? 😉
Anyone know how to watch the game on Saan.tv?
I have a prescription, but it’s not letting me download Silverlight on Internet Explorer 11 or Google Chrome like it used to.
Look for the Internet Explorer “IE Tab” extension from the Chrome Web Store and download it.
It will add a little Internet Explorer button onto your Chrome browser bar where you can enter hyperlinks for sites that require Internet Explorer.
Thank you Maminjo! 👍
who could croatia possibly play in playoffs if they dont beat russia sunday hvala
It will depend on what happens in the next 3 days. Right now, Croatia is one of the top 6 second place teams, and would be seeded for the playoff draw, and would get their first game at home. If they lose or tie Russia, they could still end up in the top 6. And there are way too many possibilities for the other 2nd place teams. For example, Bosnia is currently 4th in their group but play their last two games and home against the teams ahead of them, so winning both would get them 2nd. Too many variables now to figure out who Croatia would play. Hopefully we won’t care about this scenario in 3 days.
Could end up playing Serbia.
We missed the chance to play them at the Euros. Maybe it’s time we meet them in these playoffs. 😉
Does Livakovic or grbic start?
I don’t know how you don’t roll with the same line up
I can see him putting in lovren since he plays in Russia and will think it’s some sort of advantage
Dcc and gvardiol look like they will be running the show for a while
I guess maybe If pongarcic has anything to say tho
Still it’s nice that we can roll gvardiol to the left and stanisic hopefully will be the new better jedvaj who can play multiple positions in the Back
Least we have solid options and Back ups on all the back 4 now
Even if Majer is only hot for now then so be it
But he looks like he is starting to really mature and may become a top midfield at top 5 league after all
Let’s hope he can help fill that hole modric will leave behind
But with kova majer broz sucic and whoever else can step up. Our midfield will be just fine
If simic keeps doing his thing
That sosa to simic cross link will be great to watch
Bullshit aside I’m so glad it worked out sosa stayed
It’s good news that Caleta-Car scored today, as it might sway Dalic from playing Lovren.
Dalic is the last person in Croatia to realize that Lovren should never start again (and that Livaja should never be called up ahead of any of our young mids like Sucic, Basic, Moro, etc)…so there’s always a chance that Lovren might be in the lineup.
Very scary thought that could cost us a tournament. He’s that bad.
A new keeper and back 4 seemed to have helped.
Majer was awesome! There was nothing about his game I didn’t like today.
Majer for the longest time looked to me like someone that just wouldn’t take the next step to being a star. I’ve watched him at Dinamo over the years but this last match for Rennes and now this today are performances I wasn’t sure he was capable of. Bravo Lovro!
Yea, Rennes made a really good purchase at the absolute right time.
His value probably skyrocketed several million over the past month alone. If he starts at the World Cup, they could make double what they paid for him.
If im not mistaken the last time we had a home game and needed a win to go to tournament was 2001 vs belgium.
I believe you are correct. Still remember it like it was yesterday. Prosinecki with a crazy good pass to Balaban and he feeds Boksic for the tap in and Maksimir went crazy.
I remember it aswell and we also missed a penalty prosinecki did.
Another must win was one that bothers me to this day 1999 2 2 vs jugoslavija.
Yep. Ladic was terrible that day. That was when that Serb prick grabbed Jarni’s balls. We qualified for EURO 2020 in Rijeka with a 3-1 against Slovakia, but I believe we only needed a draw to go through that day.
We’ve had a few where we needed a last game win, but that was for playoffs as well.
Kramaric looks weak. If he got stronger he could really score more goals. He needs to get swole. Did he get a vaccine?
I was communicating with Živa from his undisclosed location and I can confirm this is not him who has posted. Živa is still on his sabbatical. Carry on…
It’s easy to say this now, but before the game started I told everyone I was with that this is the first time since forever that Dalic had started a lineup that I couldn’t argue with. I’m not his biggest fan (I actually dislike him🤣) but I said that if this doesn’t work, I won’t blame him like I usually do.
I’m stoked that he started Grbic and hope he sticks with him, but we didn’t really see anything. He was nutmegged on the offside goal, I hate that. It’s a Livakovic trademark.
The game was mostly managed well except for 2 things. Livaja shouldn’t have played. It was the perfect game to give Sucic a good look against a weak opponent. Also, using your last sub with 30+ minutes to play (even in a blowout) is extremely irresponsible.
If Dalic has any brains, he starts the exact same lineup (I’m under the impression that Kovacic is injured). I’m terrified that he won’t. He’ll start Lovren at the very least. Hopefully I’m wrong.
If he is actually that retarded to start Lovren over either one of Caleta-Car or Gvardiol, then he will give Russia the perfect gameplan against us.
The Russians know that Lovren is shit. They go at him whenever they play Zenit, and he gifts them goals. They will do the same to him on Sunday if he plays.
This victory doesn’t mean shit. I wanna see a dub Sunday, then I’ll be impressed. Russia won’t play it safe and will pressure. They know if we score, we will control tempo and get crowd advantage. Getting a goal in the first half will crucial. If Russia scores at any point, especially second half, we are chasing the game and will need two goals. Last Russia game was a snooze fest. They have a similar goal difference and we controlled last game. Get a win or play two games in a difficult tournament that won’t be until March. ZDS I’m only praying just for a 1-0 win.
walking though Malta like this we can absorb the information in a few different ways BUT one thing we can identify is the fact that we now have competition on right wing…and hopefully we can rest assured that Krama has stopped being a ball hog and the position is his to keep or lose!
Duje CC, Gvardiol, Sosa and Juranovic were good on the ball, distribution was quick and tthey shortened the field…Malta had a hard time maintaining possession.
Modric, Broz and Pasalic were aggressive, creative and always involved.
our biggest improvement was in the attack. we were constantly moving and rotating space, the ball barely stayed still for any moment of the game.
Big props to Majer and I’m hoping he can raise his level vs Russia. He gives a total new dimension with his skills, his very good passes and his ability to even score. I really do hope anyone that subs in for him, raises their level.
After a long time struggling in a valley, Croatia is finally back!!!
I thought Kramaric played well the last round of games as well. If he bites the bullet and puts his effort into it, he will be a very good #9 for us. What would Suker do on this team? He would not be a typical modern day #9 and would struggle as well.
The A team played like the Croatian A team. I wasn’t too much a fan of the B team, and Dalic looked downright furious at them. Only generated one goal and wasted about 40 minutes of prime attacking position. Was anyone else getting irritated by the offsides calls throughout the game? I’ve never seen such a thing! Offsides given on plays where the defender gets the ball at his feet while the forward is trying to recover position? Please tell me this is not the new normal!
The future looks very promising. If Roko can be that out’n’out striker we desperately need the next half dozen years are gonna be good. Great to see Majer continue his play in the second half. Sosa brilliant 👏
Rebic nema vise mjesto u reprezentaciji! Caio, sad to say
Cannot wait for sunday nice wake up drink my veliki makiato have a smoke and to poljud. Hopefully drink all day and celebrate
All we need to do now is cut Livaja, give his minutes to Sučić or Bašić and we’re good. 😉
Now vs russia Livakovic Barisic Juranovic Vida Lovren. Modric Broz Pasalic Vlasic Krama Perišić i am being sarcastic knowing Dalic he will do this
Nice statement game sent to the Russians.
We responded to the Russia’s fixed six-goal victory with one of our own.
Lmaoo statement? We beat Malta… a team ranked 173rd. Only statement to be made is beating the commies on our home turf and send them packing home to the gulag.
Really glad for Majer
Wish him all the best
Has a fantastic attitude and have a feeling it will rub off with the rest of the team
When was the last time we scored 7 goals? Wow, Malta getting RAPED!
Australia 1998 I believe
No Andorra 2006 7 0
2016 San Marino, 10-0
We scored 8 goals today 😜
We actually scored 8
It’s true. That was absolutely a goal. The refereeing team didn’t understand the way offsides actually works. They also called Vlasic offside near the end there when the defender intercepted the ball. How can a refereeing team get something so fundamental and so simple so wrong?!?
2016 we had a 10-0 win, i actually have the highlights on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZWgfsBcFlk
Glad Majer scored.
We play up the left side heavily (because of Sosa and Perišić being amazing), so Majer hasn’t been provided many opportunities on that right side. But his play is underrated.
We gotta keep him in the lineup. He might be a good solution for us at RW for now.
Majer has 2 now
Roko has scored again in the 2 0 win with the under 21s
Roko tracking along quite nicely folks
Man of the match so far is Majer. But a close second is the damn trumpet player in the stands. Hasn’t shut up all game.
Shout out to him
Better then that South African shit they had in 2010
any links guys that will work in canada hvala
Hesgoal..bit delayed but gets the job done.
Damn it missed goals 5-6
Who scored?
So much for that goal diff
Here is the question
Have to play for a draw In Russia or a win in split?
What do you guys take?
I still love being in split
Let’s hit 10 on these Maltesers
SO glad Krama got his goal!
Also for real pasalic gets a bad rep sometimes but he usually finds himself in good position
Scoring when needs to
And he has shown to do it against big teams
I don’t know his stats for time played and goals scored for repka but I bet it’s got to be one of the better ones in active players right now
Lets give Krama even more credit. Dude has to be absolutely starving for a goal. Yet on both his assists, his chances to score himself were at least decent, but the pass was clearly the better option, and he made the right decision both times. Really well done.
I agree
He has changed his game some
Others have said it as well for Hoffenheim
Maybe This version of krama will be his final evolution
Remember it’s Malta
But also remember we need to look strong against these teams
We were just scraping by them before now we will look like a well organized team and not one looking for a late goal to save the game
Modric & Perisic are the engines of this team. They are the soul of this team. Pretty sure Dalic consults them about every lineup.
Kramaric did great with two assist.
The third goal was the most beautiful: Majer with the Luka Modric-pass to find Kramaric who dribbled past his defender and found Pasallic who sprinted 50 meters to be there. Pasalic is technically not our best player (although his assist for the fourth goal was great), but he works extremely hard for this team.
I hope Dalic will now sub out Brozovic, Perisic and DCC (on yellows) and Luka Modric (give the guy some rest for Sunday.
Majer must stay on!
Sucic for Modric
Orisic for Perisic
Jakic for Broz
Now, as in make the changes at HT.
Brekalo as well as sosa to break down the Russian wall with their quick tactics
Petkovic as well perhaps??
Who is this Majer kid ?
Pretty impressive 1st half
Reminds me of one of the Dutch wingers from 2010 WC squad
Sneijder, Robben, Van der Vaart
What do you mean who?? I’ve been shoving this guy down your throats for weeks now…
Majer superb. 2 turnovers from his chasing = 2 goals. That’s exactly what we need. High press when they want to try and pass their way out! Krama great awareness. Good performance so far by all!
First half
Sosa probably go down as the prodigal son legend when he is done
Krama great play
Majer looking like he wants Those checkers full time
Perisic/modric continuing to grow their legendary repka status
What changes get made now?
Love to see Majer stay on
Orsic come in for sure
Vlasic for krama or pasalic?
Great to have an almost free second half to experiment some tactics
Sosa je herr. Some will critize back line abut but they are playing high line very high line.
Good so far rutine
Ya it’s high but I guess they figure they can just out gun Malta
If we can get Russia to play like that it’s ours
But they only need the tie so that changes their tactics
I feel sosa is going to be huge piece to breaking the bunker
To je to take out modric perisic broz now
Kramaric has to be our starting forward, from now through WC ’22. We sink or swim with him. Guys like Petko, Livija, are only back ups.
And Krama has a bad game, we still stick with him. We need to show confidence in him and he will pay dividends.
Perisic and sosa are great combo and i know when perisic retires brekalo sosa have chemistry
He does look great today snd id love to see him play like this always…but he’s had some terrible games for us!
anyone have a direct free link that will work in canada hvala
Man, we need to have a Hrvat from the GTA be an IPTV distributor in Canada. He may be able to retire with just customers on this board. 😉
I’ve posted about this many times. For $186 and then $15/month, you’ll never miss any sporting event
Gol.hr
http://weakstreams.com/soccer-streams/world-cup-qualifying/malta-vs-croatia/44193/?sport=soccer
Kramaric 2 crucial nice unselfish assists – the new krama I hope
holy moley well done Krama! Amazing play from him there, 2 assists for him tonight already.
Andrej Gretzky Kramaric
Kramaric redeeming himself
Nice team work / complete unselfish setting up the two goals
Majer doing his best to secure a spot
Beautiful goal
Krama with sweetness and showing twice now he is not as selfish as before
We needed that 2 goal cushion.
Somehow, I’m thinking this game is gonna give us all cardiac arrests.
We started out the game playing the ball fast snd we looked amazing…we slow the play down and Malta are more involved in the game
Kramarić beating that offside trap like Šuker.
Epic Broz
I know it was offside and an own goal
But twice now we had to get the ball out of our net
Ivusic has been our Best looking keeper In a while
Marcelo Noseović
Wow broz
Got to be the most unluckiest move of his career lol
Got to get it back
Great goal by Brozovic
Ćaleta-Car over Lovren instantly paying dividends
Phew about that offside, scary moment already
I don’t mind this lineup. We had to play Brozo, Perisic and Luka. The idea of resting them or sitting them due to cards would be a bad idea.
If they can score a few and get up comfortably then you pull them.
Glad they Vida Lovren back line is almost a thing of the past.
Need to play your best.
Love the Majer on the right experiment. His pressing created the first goal.
Sosa and gvardiol are gonna be huge studs for us
Ya sosa just finds something From nothing it seems
Very important for the Russian wall Sunday
We just need a tall centre forward who can head
I wish budimir would have been healthy for that stretch
NICE, that settles my nerves a bit!
I don’t think the 6-0 Russia result helps them. Hopefully they blew their load against Cyprus and won’t find the back of the net in Split.
1-0 CRO already. This is what I like to see…
This team has no rhythm. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t qualify for the World Cup.
What have you been watching mate?
Fuck Russia won 6-0. Well that’s what you get for drawing a weak Slovak team. Funny how Russia lost to them at the beginning of the campaign and we lost to Slovenia. Just get two wins. Scoreline won’t matter.
Russia beat Cyprus twice. Lost to Slovakia.
We were completely unprepared for the March qualifying games and lost to Slovenia, barely scraped by Cyprus, and probably should have lost or drew Malta (but luckily caught fire later in the second half).
This cost us the vital three points, and then VAR hurt us in that recent Slovakia game (as well as HNS constantly scheduling our Fall games in the north when it’s rainy season).
Anything can happen, so you always have to be prepared. Bad weather in Malta, some potential card suspensions, and anything less than 6 points can end our campaign.
Gotta won these 2 russia will play for draw and try winning on counter attack win and in thats all.
Gol.hr nova tv stream try it if it works
‘Over to you’ as the saying goes. If we’re fair dinkim about going to the WC directly then we need to smash Malta this morning to put fear back into Russia coming to Split. Their result this morning will give them a massive boost even more so if we struggle to a victory.
We need a big win and good play!!
Well looks like that fuckup against Slovaks made no difference since Russia just got +6 GD, we would have had to win the last game anyways regardless.
Correct, unless Croatia wins by 4 or more goals today. If they win 3-0 or less today, they would have had to win Sunday anyway. It was the first Slovenia game that could come back to haunt them.
M.Livetv.sx/en/ Works ok in Canada few adds but decent
Someone here predicted Russia winning 5-0 versus Cyprus, and now they are winning 5-0. I hope you put money on that scoreline 😀
Make it 6.
Missed it by 1
Gol.hr says Grbic is starting:
HRVATSKA: Grbić – Juranović, Ćaleta-Car, Gvardiol, Sosa – Modrić, Brozović – Majer, Pašalić, Perišić – Kramarić
index.hr says Livakovic is starting:
Hrvatska: Livaković – Sosa, Gvardiol, Ćaleta-Car, Juranović – Brozović, Modrić – Perišić, Pašalić, Majer – Kramarić
Sportske Novosti says Grbic:
HRVATSKA (4-2-3-1): Grbić – Juranović, Ćaleta Car, Gvardiol, Sosa – Brozović, Modrić – Majer, Pašalić, Perišić – Kramarić
HNS twitter confirmed Grbic
Anyone have a link to watch the game in Canada for Free ???
Guys, as others have posted, get an IPTV box. It’s $100-200 and then $15 or so a month. And you get all the Croatia channels, and many others.
Seriously.
There is no reason not to spend a couple hundred bucks a year for ipTV.
If those lineups are correct, I like it. Pasalić will be playing as a false 9 like he did well against Portugal, with Kramarić on the right and Perisić on the left. Pasalić may be our best aerial offensive player, and he is a good finisher. Midfield three of Brozović, Modrić, and Majer, who is in for Kovačić. Back four that is our starting back four. Whether it’s Duje or Lovren doesn’t really matter. They are both good, even if people here like to bash Lovren. Not only does this lineup have the stuff to win, it also looks like a system that players can sub in and out of as needed, both now and going forward toward the actual world cup. Looks like Dalić has finally figured out a replacement for his 2018 4-1-4-1
TBH Russia is turning the ball over quite a bit. Yes, they will win but they dont look very good.
Btw. SN posting an identical lineup, but with Grbic in goal
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/imamo-sastav-hrvatske-dalic-sa-cak-tri-iznenadenja-nema-srebrnih-stopera-igraju-i-modric-i-majer-15119239
If the Index lineup is real, then it’s good news for us.
I was worried about Lovren starting and giving Dalic a false sense of security going into the Russia game, since he won’t be tested as much as he would against the Russians.
I believe that this lineup IS actually the Russia lineup (with Pasalic currently in there for the suspended Kovacic), and Dalic wants to test it against Malta. He doesn’t want to take risks with getting the lineup wrong against Russia, and is willing to take the ‘ double yellow card’ risk with some of our guys to field our strongest starting eleven (and ensure it’s the right call). Also, winning in Malta is no guarantee, so you can’t save yourself for Russia if you screw up and draw the match. Gotta go all out in both games.
The Livakovic inclusion is unfortunate.
Grbic has been starting in France and facing stiffer competition than Livakovic this season (and has been doing okay). The only stiff competition Livakovic has faced this season was West Ham (where he looked like a fool) and a few decent HNL teams. Livakovic has been going through a rough spell and it’s not the time to ‘stand with him’ and keep including him in our lineup when you have better options available.
I like Majer on the right side as an experiment. He looked very good on that right side in those Rennes highlights. However, it will be interesting to see how he works with Juranovic there and whether or not either of them will run back and defend (when the other is pushing forward).
My worry is that Modric will be expected to take on the defensive responsibilities on that right side (which he usually does when Juranovic plays).
I don’t want to add mileage to Modric and take away from his offense if both Majer and Juranovic are not defending.
But at least Lovren doesn’t become our last line of defense on that right side (when Juranovic pushes forward).
The combination of Krama at RW, Juranovic at RB, and Lovren in the RCB is a disaster for Modric’s legs. Modric has to provide cover for the right side when Juranovic runs up the flank (and Krama cuts into the middle)…and at the same time, Modric needs to run ALL the way back to our CB line to start the play (because Lovren’s passes are very shaky).
At least having Duje there, who is capable of making forward passes and starting the play, will limit the amount of running for Modric.
Majer doesn’t strike me as a guy who runs back to defend, but he can’t be worse than Krama in that regard (plus he will likely be motivated to retain a starting spot). Hopefully he defends.
Krama up top may not be as good as Petkovic up top for this particular game (as I think Petko’s size and strength will help in that crowded box), but it will be better for the Russia game.
I think experimenting with Krama at RW is a waste of time, and I don’t think Petkovic will be as good against Russia if he’s required to run or press at all. Krama is probably the safer choice up top, so long as it keeps him off the wing. We’ll see how that goes.
I’m never a fan of Pasalic starting though. He’s better off the bench. It’s likely Kovacic will replace him in the lineup for the Russia game.
Livaković – Sosa, Gvardiol, Ćaleta-Car, Juranović – Brozović, Modrić – Perišić, Pašalić, Majer – Kramarić
Actually, if conditions are wet and muddy….
having Vlasic, Petkovic and Pasalic out there as substitutions (with Sosa and Juranovic dumping the ball in) would be a good second half option.
1-2 Russia already
meant 1-0 Russia
Gol.hr has live streaam i dont know if it can steam in canada
seems like the only option in canada, hopefully it works!
For those of you who are curious here is a link to today’s match against Malta:
https://novatv.dnevnik.hr/sport/kvalifikacije-za-sp-malta-hrvatska/
The coverage usually starts half an hour before the match, there’s a half time show and analysis after the match all in Croatian which makes it even better.
The only thing you need to do to allow you to watch the stream from Croatia is to hide your IP address using a VPN. If you’re not familiar with a VPN all it does is hides the fact that you’re not watching the game outside of Croatia, it actually set up to make it seem like you’re watching from Croatia.
There’s tons of free VPNs you could get from the App Store and once set up all you have to do is select Croatia as your region. Here is one I’ve used often that is free for iPhones and all I have to do is watch a 30 second ad:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1531354961
For those of you are in Canada UEFA TV usually has the matches available but as most of you noticed today’s match is not. Nova TV something I’ve used for the longest time and I’m very happy with the quality and especially with all the analysis and commentary makes it a bonus.
Putin gonna make a call telling Ref to yellow broz and Perisic
Without those two we would be dead in teh waters for Sunday
But let’s hope we can get two up in the first half and they get subbed out
Here’s hoping to livakovic somehow pulling up a couple big performances
Raining in Malta or in split definitely goes against us sadly
Also doesn’t seem like the UEFA app has our game on today
Sunday’s game is listed
I guess it will be hesgoal which is usually ok but has lags here and there
Anyone have any other really good reliable sites to stream
For those of you who are curious here is a link to today’s match against Malta:
https://novatv.dnevnik.hr/sport/kvalifikacije-za-sp-malta-hrvatska/
The coverage usually starts half an hour before the match, there’s a half time show and analysis after the match all in Croatian which makes it even better.
The only thing you need to do to allow you to watch the stream from Croatia is to hide your IP address using a VPN. If you’re not familiar with a VPN all it does is hides the fact that you’re not watching the game outside of Croatia, it actually set up to make it seem like you’re watching from Croatia.
There’s tons of free VPNs you could get from the App Store and once set up all you have to do is select Croatia as your region. Here is one I’ve used often that is free for iPhones and all I have to do is watch a 30 second ad:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1531354961
For those of you are in Canada UEFA TV usually has the matches available but as most of you noticed today’s match is not. Nova TV something I’ve used for the longest time and I’m very happy with the quality and especially with all the analysis and commentary makes it a bonus.
M.livetv.sx/en/ Works ok from Canada few adds but decent.
We should be able to smash Malta with whatever lineup
I agree Pog! as long as we raise the tempo and energy level, we will do well!
I saw a photo of the streets in Malta being flooded. hopefully the field is ok!
Its gonna rain sunday in split to so its not gonna be pretty football and its been raining in cro so pitch will be soaked
that takes away from our possession advantage
Might actually be better to play guys like Vlasic and Petkovic.
Those guys seem like they are ‘mudders’ who thrive in the rainy conditions.
Im not happy with this lineup. Majer on wing? Only krama sa striker?
Maybe im wrong but v malta no petko livaja i would have gone 4 3 3 back 4 i agree with dalic 3 middle majer pasalic jakic up front livaja petko krama
Can we replace Livakovic with a folding chair?
Arguably Grbić currently is as effective as Livaković (if not better)?
The goalkeeper that starts today will be heavily criticized if Malta scores a goal.
Malta has 8 goals for in the qualifiers so far; therefore, it would not be surprising that Malta generates a couple of good quality shots on net.
apparently this lineup is leaked information…from index.hr
Sastav Hrvatske:
Livaković – Sosa, Gvardiol, Ćaleta-Car, Juranović – Brozović, Modrić – Perišić, Pašalić, Majer – Kramarić
Sportske Novosti has the same lineup…this could be good for us!
I would love it if it weren’t for Broz and Perisic being on yellows. Should be replaced by Jakic and Orsic.
we NEED a win so Dalic is probably telling Broz and Perisic to stay away from any late tackles and incidents. If they are ahead by half, maybe he makes changes
When will Ivusic be back ?
Would be a negative for the team if Rakitic parachuted in. I think it would be poor for morale to have Rakitic suddenly make himself available when on the cusp of qualifying. Looks like opportunism by him.
Here is a link to watch the game today I guess Malta:
https://novatv.dnevnik.hr/sport/kvalifikacije-za-sp-malta-hrvatska/
The only catch is you need to use a VPN hide the fact that you’re not actually in Croatia watching the game.
A VPN for those of you who aren’t familiar is an app that you can download on your phone or computer and there’s a bunch that are free that allows you to select Croatia as a region that makes nova TV think that you’re actually in Croatia watching the stream.
If you don’t use a VPN and try to watch the stream it’ll come up as an error stating that you’re not allowed to watch it in your region because you’re outside of Croatia.
Here’s one that I use that is free for my iPhone:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1531354961
The only downside is you’ve got a watch a 30 second ad.
I’ve watched every single qualifying game for as long as I can remember using nova TV and a VPN, there’s a great pregame show and everything is in Croatian commentary making it even more entertaining.
Enjoy!
We can’t pound Malta – we should just pack it in- 4-0 would be a disappointment.
https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/hrvatska-reprezentacija/ivan-rakitic-spremam-sam-se-vratiti-u-hrvatsku-nogometnu-reprezentaciju—683546.html?fbclid=IwAR3LrNSBRPx9kA8R8B8T1PcJl5-elJMNlctGHm6a605_xTS3J1y-ZNEwREU
Part of me says that’s great part of me says hey fucktard where have you been when we needed you
If he would take on a limited role and let kids develop and come in as needed
I sure with mandzo would have did that, I know fitness is a thing but ge really started to decline after leaving the repka
Raketa would not start for us anymore, and would start to fall behind the younger guys over the next year or so.
Modric, Kovacic and Broz are the starters. Krama behind the striker too (if he’s not playing up top). Vlasic can get starts when he’s back in form. Majer is hot right now, and will probably get better (may already be better than current Rakitic). Plus, we have guys like Sucic getting better with every passing month.
Rakitic would be good as a depth player, but we don’t need him anymore and it might actually hinder the integration of our youth (especially since Dalic is a veteran’s coach).
I also don’t think rakitic is begging in, he pretty clearly says “if anything unforeseen happens” this happens all the time in every sport, old veteran comes back because of an injury… and he’s still
Playing at high level, he actually would have been a great mentor to some of the younger talent on this team
He can mentor them on how to get snagged by jersey-chasing girls and then marry them lol
His wife probably wants to party at the World Cup. That’s what it’s all about.
This is the lineup for Malta (per Večernji List) :
Grbić
Juranović, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa
Brozović, Modrić
Kramarić, Pašalić, Perišić
Petković
Looks like Kramarić at RW is the plan. I don’t like this, but I assume we’re going to rely on Juranović for those runs on the right side.
Petković might be a good option since we will likely dominate possession and his mali nogomet skills will be good in tight spaces up top (and we won’t need to rely on any running or press from him). I’m curious to see if he’s good at getting his head on any Sosa balls.
Lovren may be a weak link if Juranović is making runs and Kramarić isn’t covering for him defensively on that right side (leaving Lovren to deal with any Malta attacks coming from that side).
If I’m Malta’s coach, this would be my game plan.
Hopefully we sub out Pašalić and bring Majer off the bench to see how he works with Kramarić (with Krama in the center and Majer on the right). Would like to see a complete midfield lineup of technical/creative players out there to see if they can dribble their way to goal.
At least we finally get to see what Grbić can do.
Rakitic just said he’s available
For the WC.
He can get tickets through the HNS if he wants. I’m sure he still has their number.
Don’t see Dalic doing this but my Malta lineup;
…………………………Petkovic……………………….
Perisic…………………Kramaric……………..Vlasic
……………….Modric…………..Brozo…………………
Sosa…………..Gvardiol…..Pongracic………Juranovic
………………………..Grbic…………………………
Forgot about the yellows; sub in Brekalo for Perija and Pasalic for Brozo. All out offense is necessary.
Saw it on Facebook that apparently grbic is starting
Dunno if just a rumour but I sure hope he steps up and takes the job
It’s his to grab
Lets do it
Let’s install grbic as our new number 1
If not now when
They had ages to sell livakovic abroad
No one wants him
for any of you Canadians that have a job (like me, not like Maminjo 😉 ) and can’t watch the game from the comfort of your sofa here’s a link you should consider using…its completely free and does not require a credit card:
https://www.uefa.tv/
Velež equipment manager is not a job 😉
Hey don’t know those guys, it’s a tough job cleaning soccer boots and washing uni’s!!
Lol uefa tv is showing the Russian game but please post links for the Malta game
soccerstreams.net
Have used this before and it’s great. However, they don’t show every game (unless I’ve been missing something) and the Malta-Croatia game is not listed as one of the ones being shown (Croatia-Russia on Sunday is).
Malta game is not on UEFA.tv
Perisic and modric can throw the team on their backs against Russia
Really I know it’s not easy
But Russia has no business taking points off us in split
Remember guys vlasic ate their league up and he may not even start for us
I know it’s not cut and dry
But got to think as was stated before
We play our game, high pace and
Powerful with our technical ability it’s ours to lose
We need a goal early like we did against Greece last playoff
If we keep pressing we will break that bunker
I think a key is sosa and his crosses
Something juicy will fall in
I am praying that God gives Dalić the wisdom / luck to choose the right lineups to get the job done these next two games.
Please post updates on feeds available tomorrow sometime
Do or die even with a win away v Malta. I have a feeling Russia will play it safe on Sunday and park the bus. Only 5 GA and it was evident they wanted a draw last game in Moscow. We should demolish Malta and get a 1-0 win vs Russia. I’ll have a heart attack if we have to go through the playoff games. Especially with teams that are all good like Ukraine, Swiss, Sweden, Czech, Norway. I’d be worried if we got any of those opponents in our tournament bracket. No chance Cyprus gets a result in Russia. I’m praying they draw then we would settle for a draw at home. Any updates on injuries? I’m concerned if we have to use Livakovic. With Modric out against Malta, we need youth to step up. Is Kovacic available?
There is an answer to all the worries we might have. Regardless of who we start and what formation we play, in each of the next games, we are definitely the more quality team on paper. We MUST PLAY AT A HIGH TEMPO if we expect to break any bunkers and if we want to maintain good possession! If we do that, neither team can match us!
the models pin croatia at exactly 50% to qualify for the world cup with the most likely outcome (38%) actually being croatia wins both matches and Russia beats cyprus.. The second most likely outcome (23%) is croatia beats malta, russia beats cyprus and russia-croatia tie eliminating croatia.
Including the playoffs, Croatia’s overall world cup qualifying odds look around 75% so still more likely than not…. but there is a 25% chance they do not qualify and 25% is a big piece of the pie… So the website should prepare itself for incredible complaining, ridiculous statements like bring Bilic back in as coach, the calling for Livakovics head, and of course the usual “time to change the old guard” cries
There is a chance we have 4 more Luka Modric croatia games left in his career.
or only 3, if we lose already the 1st playoff game in March
i’d be curious to see a stat study of how minnows play against other teams in the later stage of the qualifying cycle. I feel like at the start, even the minnows have something to play with some you-never-know hope and will put all they got into bunkering their way into a 0-0 or who knows, maybe even a 1-0 result
at this point in the cycle, cyprus and malta are at their usual bottom dwelling place so how much enthusiasm can they really have now for another 90 minutes of abuse…unless of course they get off on playing spoiler
If we qualify directly dalic will become first coach to go to 3 straight tournaments.
If hes smart he uses liga nacija to find new players and not waste time like from 2018 to now.
It looks like we lost a promising cf cuic to bih brother choose croatia.
Gotta do the job put the best 11 on field and get subs right v malta go all attack and rest some vets modric broz perisic imo. Id play majer jakic pasalic middle. All attack krama petkovic livaja with back line sosa juranovic cc gvardiol. Goalkeeper is a ? Livi or grbic
I like all the young depth we have for Malta.
These kids play in top 5 leagues and are ready to shine. The Dinamo players are class as well.
They have to be energetic from the jump.
Rest the veterans for Russia.
Modric will be fresh in Poljud.
You got Malta and Russia at home, 2 wins get you to the World Cup.
You take that everyday and twice on Sunday.
Spremni
Lets be honest if we cant win these 2 games we dont deserve to go to the world cup. We should be able to win these without a coach but we shall see.
We’d probably have better chances without the coach lol
My point was players play. Shouldnt need any motivation. if they want to play quicker and more offensive they dont need dalic for that.
……………….Petkovic……….Kramaric……………..
………………………….Pasalic…………………………..
……………….Modric…………..Majer…………………
Sosa…………………………………………..Juranovic
…………..Gvardiol……DCC…….Vida……………….
………………………..Livakovic…………………………
.
.
or
.
.
…………………………Petkovic……………………….
Orsic…………………Kramaric……………..Brekalo
……………….Modric…………..Jakic…………………
Sosa…………..Gvardiol…..DCC………Juranovic
………………………..Livakovic…………………………
second option easily, but change Majer for Kramaric though.
Malta won’t be easy but i feel like orsic or someone gonna get hot and put a couple in
The Russia game that will be a diff matter
Let’s hope for a routing when Croatia played Hungary last qualifying round in split after a loss In Hungary
It’s gonna be a packed affair and there is 100 percent home field advantage for the decki
And while a tie would have been better overall. We all know what happens when we think a tie is enough historically
Needing the win will force us to play our style and I would say almost an advantage
This is Livakovic last chance
If he blows this and it goes to playoffs, I don’t care how he plays against sibenik next week!;)
We did just fine with a French league keeper before. Let’s hope grbic is like a subasic overall and gives us a serviceable career
And for real when are we gonna get a world class keeper!
I would forego one a world class midfielder in the future for a keeper;)
Forgot to mention but Nov 11 is my birthday also so these fuckers better give me a nice present of a victory.
Happy Birthday Iggy!
I hope you have a fantastic day!
Putin will make a phone call and Cyprus will lose by 5 goals so lets not hope for any help there.
Malta can be troublesome and Russia will give us a tough game.
To be honest not looking forward to seeing 2 bunker games in a row. Let’s just hope our boys are calm and motivated.
Ajmo dečki!!!
Bog i Hrvati
Yeah Liva scares me too, emotions are contagious like that and frankly he always has a terrified expression. Anywho this Malta game is not a sure thing, they have given us troubles in the past, i recall us needing to beat them a few years ago to go through just to playoff and Perisic scoring in a tense 1-0 win. Hope this is easier and maybe with any luck Cyprus can somehow do us a favour, although i doubt that.