It was a quiet night in Zagreb. The pitch was in horrific condition. There was zero atmosphere because fans were once again not allowed in the stadium. But Croatia got the result they were looking for.
And although a 2-0 scoreline looks great on paper, Croatia should have had the game in the bag much sooner than their injury time insurance goal from Marcelo Brozović. Brozović was the clear man of the match with both goals for Croatia, a 15th minute rocket from 22 yards out and an injury time rocket which looked a lot like his first. The Vatreni controlled possession and temp during the entire match and did not allow Iceland one shot on goal but could not capitalize on key chances from Ivan Perišić at the end of the first half and again later in the second as the Inter Milan man should have put the game away with ideal chances in front of the net.
One can argue that Croatia deserved a penalty shot off a handball in the first half, but nonetheless, the team has to figure out how to but the ball in the back of the net and end the game when the chances are there. Luka Modrić came on at halftime for Real Madrid teammate Mateo Kovačić and looked good at a half speed effort for Croatia. The only sour note for Croatia will be the silly red card Perišić picked up in injury time for a late slide tackle. He will now miss the Ukraine game in March.
With the win, Croatia take top spot in Group I with a two-point lead on Ukraine. The Vatreni have only conceded one goal in four games; a deflected free kick from Turkey, but can start the pullaway process in the group with three points against Ukraine at Maksimir on March 24th.
Brozović scores two beauties for Croatia in 2-0 win
Simple the church understood that communism was the top enemy.
Just watched the Pope vs Hitler on Nat Geo.
Anyway here is a quote from stupid idiot Pharisee, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: “No one is saying that the Pope never helped to save Jews, secretly, quietly, but what we are saying is, that he never put his life on the line, he didn’t put the Church on the line! The most effective way of stopping Hitler, was not through these secret spy networks, the world did not need Pope Pius XII to suddenly become the head of the CIA, we needed him to be what he was, or PURPORTED to be, the moral voice of the world!”
“No one is saying that the Pope never helped to save Jews,”
what the Rabbi meant to say there was Semites not Jews. In the NDH any Semite that may have been killed was killed because he was a Pharisee not because he was a Semite. Pharisees are anti-Catholic, which means they were enemies of the Croatian culture and our independence movement. The Protestant historians say that the Ustase killed 32,000 Jews in Croatia, which is misleading, they should be saying 32,000 Pharisees. Serious question, if I converted to “Judaism,” would I be called a Jew, even though I can’t become a Semite?
“we needed him to be what he was, or PURPORTED to be, the moral voice of the world!”
Purported
—adjective
reputed or claimed; alleged: We saw no evidence of his purported wealth.
What the Pharisee meant; we saw no evidence of his purported moral voice.
The Pope does not claim to be the moral voice of the world that Shmuley speaks of? The Pope is the moral voice of the Catholic Church, not the world. The world Shmuley speaks of is also Pharisee, Buddhist, Hindu, Orthodox schismatic, Protestant (Protestants believe that the Pope is the antichrist), Muslim and Atheist, and they couldn’t care less what the Pope has to say!
The real question that has to be asked when talking about Hitler (who hated the Catholic Church) and WWII, is who helped the Nazi party come to power, and for what reason?
Nearly got caught writing that comment.
Anyway, does anyone really believe that world cycling is now a clean sport!
I agree with Trump when he said “elections are rigged.”
The question now is, why did they rig it for him to win.
You know I seen something like this in world cycling once, when they stripped Lance Armstrong of the 7 Tour de France titles
wow great goal !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmgkNN-Jc0c
:O that Kramaric goal!
im watching here, 2-0 to the good guys with 30 mins left
http://gofirstrow.eu/watch/485178/1/watch-northern-ireland-vs-croatia.html
Badelj is Ba-Daily now
Batman stream
any one know where the game will be broadcast? i see nothing on either espn3 or fox sports
TRUMP will be the greatest president America ever had.
Trump is going to go down as the WORST President ever, ONLY because everything he does is going to be misconstrued by the mainstream media. If you didn’t know any better you would think he was responsible for the riots across the country, but they have been going on for the past 7 yrs (Occupy,Blm)
Just a bunch of rejects who will bitch & moan about everything—kind of like us regarding the National team up until we got our Trump=Cacic the druga liga TV repairman turned great leader!
@Bilo
I completely agree with you-time will tell.
^^^ that is exactly the problem. “no one owns him and he can do what needs to be done to fix some of the major problems”
He’ll be a great president or the worst. There’s no in between with this guy. This is the same man who had to have his twitter account taken from him.
Trump has a chance to go down in history as one of Americans greatest Presidents because he basically funded his own campaign. He didn’t have to make any side deals that most politicians have to make to their doners. As a result no one owns him and he can do what needs to be done to fix some of the major problems America faces today-Immigration, trade, terrorism, tax and health care reform to name a few.
what happen on Thursday is He won’t make any experience especially for LB. He still put Strinic/Pivaric in starting 11.
illusion
[ih-loo-zhuh n]
noun
1.
something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
2.
the state or condition of being deceived; misapprehension.
noun
3.
an instance of being deceived.
clueless/ˈkluːləs/
adjective
having no knowledge, understanding, or ability.
Poglavnik, you said it was an “illusion of choice,” you also said that “Americans are clueless,” surely you can see now that they are clueless if they voted. If they voted that would mean they’ve been deceived! But if you’re suggesting that they’re clueless for making a bad choice in an illusion of choice, well you know what that means?
So what did everyone think of Cilic’s shorts?
On a Repka note:
I feel that not only are we in first place, I feel we can improve exponentially as the qualifying campaign goes forward!
We have more depth and young talent then anyone in our group.
Yes Iceland is tough but there pool of talent is limited.
Ukraine is solid but there upside is minimal.
Turkey will get better and that will help us as they will take points from both Ukraine and Iceland.
Bad choice America.
A giant step backwards.
Put as much lipstick on that pig as you like.
@ Razbijac
Yes !
Man are we more jazzed about seeing fresh faces or just tired of posts about USA presidential politics ?
Nothing like Hrvati commentary on US politics.
Kramaric for 90!
Brozovic getting his form back.
Rog, Ćorić, Jedvaj getting to start.
Vrsajlko stretching his legs out on the right flank.
Badelj continuing to grow as CDM.
Čop showing his la Liga credentials.
Mandžukić maybe getting a ball or two up top to finish off.
Is it being broadcast somewhere ?
Poglavnik was outed as a troll a long time ago on this site, don’t waste your time with the dimwit.
“I mean im not a huge fan of hillary and i wanted Bernie to win but Trump is an absolute disaster.. can’t believe anyone could celebrate him winning, Idiocracy, anyone?”
Its because you don’t get it Iggy, its not even about Trump, he is irrelevant.
@Poglavnik
“Still, it’s a major difference in choice.”
Are you now saying that you have to make the right choice, in this “illusion of choice.”
http://wearechange.org/illegitimacy-voting-what-to-do-instead/
Poglavnik,
Re: your comment…
“How you can have any women in your life or know any immigrants and still support him is beyond me.”
I’m sure many say the same thing about you using the name ‘Poglavnik’ and how you can support a general that was allied with the Nazis.
On the surface, things can look very bad. But when you look deeper into the facts, maybe things aren’t so black and white.
Trump is a rich douchebag. Nobody can disagree with that. No doubt he womanized. Almost all rich and powerful douchebags do, including Bill Clinton. They all brag about it, and he got recorded doing it.
He’s against illegal immigration. But so is Hilary. So is every single western world leader. Even the one third of Latinos in America (most of whom are immigrants) voted for Trump. Trump was just being a douchebag about how he conveyed the message. The way he said it, was almost like was going to deport all immigrants. But he’s always maintained that it was illegal ones, mainly the ones who have criminal records.
But whatever, he won’t even be able to deport the criminal ones either. It’s extremely difficult to implement. Ask Germany. They’re rejecting all kinds of false refugee claims from last year’s migrant wave, and it’s not like you can simply physically search for and physically remove 1 million people. It’s cheaper to just hope everyone forgets about it.
So don’t worry about a thing. Don’t get into arguments with people and put yourself at risk about things like this that don’t matter. All this LEFT vs RIGHT bullshit does is divide people and turn them into sheep. Neither Trump nor Hilary live their lives following any consistent LEFT or RIGHT principles. Why should you?
Trump isn’t anti immigration, he believes people should be properly screened and that they are willing to respect and obey the constitution.
I’m sure many good immigrants are willing to be good American citizens, however, many are not.
Nothing wrong with wanting to keep terrorists, criminals, people who have no respect for the constitution, etc.. out of the country.
I would like to ask these liberals if they would be willing to welcome a criminal or member of ISIS into their home.
Every time someone disagrees with them they immediately start the “HATER”‘ HATER” accusations.
Trump is far from being the ideal candidate for president, however, he is far, far better than baby killer Hitlary. If you don’t believe me spend some time researching the wiki leaks.
@Poglavnik:
Does Canada or Croatia just let anyone into their country without restriction?
The US has laws to prevent just that. They are just selectively enforced.
Try getting a tourist VISA from Croatia to the US. It is very difficult. Crossing the Mexican border illegally should not give you free passage.
FYI, I am the son of immigrants and am pro immigrant.
Zivili Maminjo,
Hope it’s not as bad as I fear.
Still, it’s a major difference in choice.
I have more of an issue with his closeted supporters.
How you can have any women in your life or know any immigrants and still support him is beyond me.
My mistake, Bernie is a Semite, not was a Semite, anyway Hillary was against the Semite.
Hillary has the mentality of a redneck, she embraces the same philosophy as a redneck, but it’s because she isn’t working class she feels she is not a redneck.
I always thought “redneck” was a class thing, Bill Clinton referred to himself as “your standard redneck” when he was talking about where he grew up, which was in the south, where he said most Trump supporters reside! He was trying to suggest Trump is racist like most people in the South, which is where he himself is from!
@Iggy
PoGlAvNiK . 3.0 has already explained that Hillary stole the nomination from Bernard because he was a Semite.
Poglavnik, take it easy.
Take a page from your cynical Croat ancestors and just accept that this won’t impact anything. Trump won’t be ripping up NAFTA, he won’t be registering muslims, he won’t be building a full scale wall with Mexico paying for it. Even as President, he doesn’t have that power. It’s all bullshit talk.
Trump and Hilary are the same shit. Whatever negative Trump offers (i.e. deporting people who may have family here), can easily be countered with a Hilary negative (no fly zone and full scale war in Syria). They both have negatives, so it’s lose lose.
You can make the same case for Obama…with Obamacare being a positive thing, but invading Libya being a horrible and baffling decision that left a country and millions of lives in ruin. Democrats will say he was he best president, and cite Obamacare and his good-natured demeanor as being the reasons. Republicans will say he’s the worst president, and cite the bank bailout and the failed war as the reasons. This is done for every president. Rinse and Repeat.
My advice to you…
Don’t be a Liberal snowflake with your fake outrage over these things….and don’t also be a Conservative douche who does the same thing on the other side of the spectrum.
Look at all the facts, and don’t simply pick a ‘color’ (red or blue) that chooses your opinions for you.
Worry about yourself and your family first. Don’t run your mouth off on behalf of those who push their agendas (whichever side it may be), where the ones pushing for these things are the biggest offenders and hypocrites of their own position.
I mean im not a huge fan of hillary and i wanted Bernie to win but Trump is an absolute disaster.. can’t believe anyone could celebrate him winning, Idiocracy, anyone?
What the fuck are you going on about?
Who said anything about the Midwest?
You think I know where you tools are from?
It’s a mentality not a place of birth.
@poglavnik:
People from the Mid West are not Southerners nor are they considered Red Necks.
They are people who generally vote for the Democratic candidates.
You are just throwing around buzzwords to make yourself feel better than those with opposing views.
Redneck –
Mildly offensive term for a lower class white person from the southeastern states of the USA. Derives from someone who spent a lot of time on manual labour outside and so received a “red neck” from the sun.
Just to add to the definition of a redneck, they’re also Methodists like Hillary, they’re Baptists, Anglican and Pentecostal, so you see where the philosophy of the redneck comes from.
Hillary has the same faith as many rednecks! So what makes Hillary not a redneck?
Come this Tuesday, looks like were gonna have new show in town!
Subasic, Corluka, Rakitic, Modric, Perisic, Kovacic have all been told to take a coffee break…so there all outta the squad. Here are the leftovers:
Golmani: Vargić, Kalinić
Bekovi: Vrsaljko, Pivarić, Leovac
Braniči: Vida, Mitrović, Jedvaj
Vezni: Rog, Ćorić, Brozović, Bradarić, Badelj
Napadači: Mandžukić, Čop, Kramarić
….so were gonna see some fresh faces. I say we go with:
(4-2-3-1) Kalinic–Vrsaljko, Mitrovic, Jedvaj, Leovac–Rog, Badelj–Kramaric, Brozovic, Coric–Cop
I’m jazzed up about this friendly (so is Soul Champ), because it gives our young guns a chance to play!
red·neck
ˈredˌnek/Submit
nounNORTH AMERICANinformalderogatory
a working-class white person, especially a politically reactionary one from a rural area
Ding!
Does that ring a bell?
What is a redneck? Bill Clinton answered that question not to long ago!
@poglavnik:
What is a redneck?
Anyone who disagrees with you?
Go smoke some weed in your parents basement.
My fight of the night at UFC 205 was Stephen “Wonder boy” Thompson vs Tyrone Woodley, if they do a rematch I would really like to see Wonder boy come out to this music,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf5ppzBY_Xs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Marcelo
Perfectly on cue!
Obamas America
http://conservativestate.com/mob-angry-muslims-ravage-upscale-neighborhood-threatening-rape-womenvideo/
2 to 3 million criminals and drug dealers will be deported first. Make America Great Again!
No one million blacks stayed home. So the left should blame them right but no they are blaming white women? Fuck all you leftist trash.
@Crnkovic
Oh you mean Hilary’s a crooked politician!?!
You don’t say?…
All I know is Trump’s emboldened rednecks to act like pieces of shit.
Look no further than this site.
@maminjo
all good points. The match with Ukraine that Perisic will miss is in Zagreb. And i agree that Ukraine will be our toughest hurdle. They have the most talent of any of our opponents across the board and seem to match up well with us.
You can also add soccer powerhouse Luxembourg to the list of nations with better stadiums and pitches than us.
Apart from rakitic, who played a couple of amazing passes and apart from that was useless, not for the first time, I was quite impressed with the performance. Well done boys.
@poglavnik, don’t forget Hilary has connection with the worlds most ruthless mafia and would be just as bad as trump.
The crazy thing about this qualifying campaign is that we’ve been VERY unlucky too.
– We’ve had a LOT of injuries to deal with. Modric, Kovacic, Rakitic, Lovren, Subasic, Pjaca, Kalinic, and Corluka have all missed at least one game due to injury. This is significant, especially over a period of only four games.
– We’ve been penalized for fan chants and had to play two home games with zero fans (and I’m sure it doesn’t help our players in terms of focus, as proven in that Czech game at the Euros).
– We played two games on a soaking wet pitch after some really bad weather, which hinders our style of play more than our opponents.
– We were denied an obvious penalty in the Iceland game, with that double hand ball in the Iceland box. Iceland was also granted a lifeline when Elmar Bjarnason deserved a second yellow for his aggressive ‘cleats up’ contact with our player (which was ignored by the ref).
– Appallingly, the same ref decides to give Perisic a straight red card, and will now miss arguably our toughest game (Ukraine in Kiev)
Despite all this, we got ourselves 10 points out of a possible 12 points, with only one goal against. Even that goal was a free kick (which was against the run of play) that took a terrible deflection on the way in.
We’ve had 44 total shots in these four games, scoring 10 goals.
We’ve allowed only one goal against (the odd free kick deflection).
If we keep playing like this, and actually don’t get as many injury losses to our key players as we’ve been currently experiencing…I find it difficult to see us even losing a game this campaign.
I would love to see Jedvaj at LB.
Cacic has been doing a great job. I hope we use this friendly wisely to try out some of these different combinations.
These snowflakes are the future of America.
What a funny article. These people need to grow some balls!
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/college-students-too-distraught-over-election-outcome-to-take-tests
.
The friendly should give him a chance to try some different things. I’d like to see Jedvaj at LB and Vida at LB – 1 half each. Also, 2 strikers for 90 minutes.
I think Cacic needs a bit more confidence just like the players. Yes, Iceland is surprisingly good, but there is no comparison when you go player by player. We match up to almost any team in terms of individual talent.
Perisic and Ratikic are off their game… no problem, Brozovic and Kovacic step up. Teams like Iceland, Ukraine and Turkey don’t have that kind of depth. We’re the class of this group and we have barely started showing it yet.
Mandzukic can’t play as a lone striker. If he’s getting plenty of service he’s a great poacher, but I can’t recall any real chances for him in the game. We should be playing with 2 up top every game.
LAknat,
This is what you wrote 15 minutes before the game:
Mandzukic & Brozovic <– kick this 2 ass
we can do better without those 2 and please notes again for RB existence, we seem to play 10 men on the field.
it is not nicely thing for being effective'
If Cacic starts to read your comments and do exactly the opposite of it, we'll do fine.
Dear Stupid Cacic..
You are reluctant to sub your players rather than change them immediately before its too late.
by Professor Amadeus LAknat .1
Nooo .
Cacic is Stupid idiocy Stubborn!
with his old fashion -> retaining LB existence, too late to switch his player.
Kovacic or Kramaric played late games when he is a sub player. Fuck You Cacic!! You never learn!!
@Razbijac
Great break down!
@ KB
3-5-2 would be awesome if we had the time to put it in.
Like to see it v Northern Ireland in a friendly.
Corluka in the middle CB would be the brain.
Lovren and Vida on either side doing the running.
Pjaca/Perisic and Vrsajlko as the Wing backs.
I would like Kalinic up top.
Kovacic off him.
Modric – Brozovic
Rakitic/Badelj
Hope Cacic plays all the young legs v NI.
Back to soccer.
Croatia is playing great under Cacic-they are very fun to watch.
The search for a LB continues. The coach might consider simply playing with three CB in a 3 5 2 formation if no one impresses. We have an abundance of riches there. Thoughts? My only other suggestion would be to give Kalanic a run @ center forward because of Mandzukic’s struggles up front-however he is still a defensive asset due to his high work rate off the ball.
@Poglavnik
Wipe away your tears- Mrs. Clinton choked and lost once again. If Trump is such a baffon with zero managerial experience how then did he trounce a seasoned politician of over 20 years spending a faction on his campaign with a biased and hostile media against him? Mrs. Clinton must be a complete imbecile then.
Trump is a genius plain and simple.
Seeing the look on the faces of the corrupt talking heads of CNN when Trump won was priceless. Karma got Crooked Hillary for stealing the nomination from Bernie- justice was served.
@Ryan
Pavelic did what he had to and was an intelligent man.
Trump’s a fucking moron.
Let’s say for you owned a billion dollar business and needed someone to manage it. Would you hire a sociopathic buffoon with zero managerial experience?
I love how having a moral compass and being sympathetic or compassionate is considered “super liberal.”
It’s called being human and it’s something we should all strive for.
I’m sure everyone’s boy JC would say the same.
Raz-nice write-up. Would say Cacic subbed off Kova as a precautionary move because of his injury, so it was the right move.
Subasic (7.5): Made no mistakes and commanded the box.
Vrsaljko (7): Always eager to get forward and put in some delightful crosses.
Corluka (7): A rock in the back.
Vida (7): Solid, with some timely interventions.
Pivaric (5): Sloppy at times, but provided some defensive cover. Not on par with his teammates technically though.
Badelj (6.5): Quietly did his job, and was the “force-field” shielding the backline.
Kovacic (6.5): Full of energy, and eager to make something happen.
Brozovic (9): His best game as a repka player. Two outstanding goals with both feet. Covered so much ground, helped out in defense–everything a coach could ask for.
Rakitic (5.5): Wasted too many balls and his passing decisions were questionable, not his best game.
Perisic (5.5): Tormented the Icelandic backline the entire night. Unfortunate not to score. Would have gotten an (8), if it wasn’t for a careless red card at the end of the match.
Mandzukic (6.5): Worked hard all night. Excellent hold play. Did a nice nutmeg and turn on an Icelandic defender.
Subs
Modric (7): Controlled the midfield, and brought passing fluidity.
Cop: (N/A)
Kramraric: (N/A)
Coach
Cacic (7): Has his team playing some nice attacking football, with solidity in defense. Gets the right line ups. But should have pulled Rakitic for Modric and pushed Kovacic in CAM.
Was out to dinner tonight with a bunch of people that are not Croat but follow European nogomet. They all agree we have some great players but they also agreed that pir stadiums and pothes are pure shit. Stadiums in Albania, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan are far more superior in every way. It’s sickening. With all the money we’ve paid in fines and that was stolen by Suker/Mamic, we could have 2 brand new state of the art stadiums. Being regulars at major tournaments brings in alot of money. There should be no excuse to play on a pitch like todays. Its embarrassing.
Poglavnik
Pavelic lead the innocent slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people.many women and children. And you have something against trumps character?
Do you blame Pulisic… of course he doesn’t want to be a Croatian!!!! Look at you people…. even FIFA doesn’t want you people watching soccer games…. and please somebody throw Croatia some fuckin sod….that’s all that poor country has for a pitch…wow…..you might as well play soccer with a cabbage and call it soccer too!!! Unreal…country acts like it’s all that and can’t even have a decent pitch.
PS- where’s that stupid flag perisic had during the Portugal match at euros when Croatia got out coached!! Hahahahahah bunch of villagers.
Trump IS a racist bigot!
Pavelic had a doctorate so I’d be willing to bet he was much more intelligent and open minded than most on this site.
I find it funny that a guy with a username of “Poglavnik” is super liberal and calling Trump a racist bigot.
Peri sic was absolutely horrible today, his worse game by far for us. Mandzukic does his best to fall down over his own feet every time he gets a cross his way. He’s a joke. For those of you who underrate corluka, you really need a pair of eyeglasses. One of our best ,most c.nsistent performers in our history.
Peri sic was absolutely horrible today, his worse game by far for us. Mandzukic does his best to fall down over his own feet every time he gets a cross his way. He’s a joke. For those of you who underrate corluka, you really need a pair of eyeglasses. One of our best ,most consistent performers in our history.
The Democrats are the racist party.
They stole the Democratic nomination from a Jewish man.
What a bunch of racist scumbags.
Peri
just like i said mandzukic only garbage exist
but i feel bad to brozovic with excellent perform.
ok that’s enough. still stupid cacic can’t even use subs player
in any correct way. what the hell 80 minutes still not realize about perisic kinda waste and jerk off at the end. take him out 70 minutes or so. You stupid cacic will do late subs again in russia, then here we go with our mideget desease.
Thank “god” the wife of an alleged rapist isn’t the President!
An intolerant, racist, bigot is such a better choice.
Oh and let’s not forget he has zero political experience.
I’m sure Jesus would have choicen a man as intolerant as Trump.
Good job rednecks!
Enjoy your President you mindless racist sheep.
And please post some more scriptures.
Nothing beats the religious Trump supporter.
We love seeing your hypocrisies justified.
@Iggy
The US election was not crazy.
The economy is shit in Middle America and the voters displayed their displeasure towards the Democrats, who apparently only care about you if you want to cross dress or abort a child.
I agree POGLAVNIK, however we have to remember that qualifying games are not nearly as good as games in tournaments which are not as good as club games. The team has much less time together.
I agree Horvat
Cacic has had our team consistently play well and is attacking. His doing a great job. The only negative was that the team went neutral and were not very aggressive against Portugal at the Euro. apart from that he has been awesome.
i was just saying to my american wifey it’s okay, world order is restored; croatia smashed iceland, it’s all okay
in a time when obv things are happening that are crazy (US election) it’s nice to see some order restored to the universe via HRV smashing iceland, lol
At the Euros was the best that they’ve played in a long time, today was nowhere near that level, in my humble opinion.
Cacic has been doing a great job!
Once again, he can be criticized for waiting so long to substitute Rakitic, however, our boys have been playing well every game.
When was the last time we have seen our team playing so well game in and game out?
Ukraine will be tough but they are predictable.
They have some speedy wingers but NO midfield imagination.
No matter where you play Modric he will shine and there will be shade where he isn’t.
God bless him and what he brings to the pitch for Ljepa Nasa.
I like farther up the pitch but I then get nervous there is no outlet for our back line to play out of high pressure.
I only see us growing as some young studs step up and add even more dynamic running and some older legs like Mandžukić give way a bit.
Ukraine and Iceland simply DO NOT have our depth.
They also will share points with each other like the 2 they dropped in their draw.
Turkey will grow as well.
They have young talent and Fatih Turam is a strong presence.
The win today plus the GD sets us up for further success.
I am going to sit back and enjoy watching the club form of all our boys.
Uvijek Vjerni
Ugh it’s getting to hot and the penguins are sweating.
Nice win. Are we actually playing this next friendly at home?! Is the savez crazy!?. Never a friendly match at home! Just more chances for fines, bans, point deductions. Need we all be reminded that these fanless games were the result of two meaningless friendlies against Israel and Hungary
I think it would be good to try Modric in a more advanced position
……….Kalinic / Kramaric
Perisic…….Modric……….Pjaca
……….Brozovic..Kovacic
Vida..Lovren..Corluka..Vrsaljko
……………Subasic
Who gives a shit about the schismatic Serb jocksniffer of the Greek, stop talking about Serbs you stupid idiots!
I would love to play Serbia in a two-game playoff. They wouldn’t even win one.
However, I think we top this group with ease.
Serbia has a chance to make the playoff round. Their group is a joke, with the unskilled Irish and the overrated Welsh and Austrians in that group.
All four teams are at the same level in terms of ability, so anything can happen. There are gonna be a lot of random & unpredictable wins, losses, and draws between them.
I’m just exaggerating.
But I do think we need to try Jedvaj there. Hopefully in this friendly with Northern Ireland next week.
Maminjo,
Brekalo as LB? Brekalo could be great in the future. But it will take at least 1 or 2 years. And even if he manages to get in the first team of Wolfsburg, he won’t play in the defense.
Brekalo as LB is a disaster waiting to be happen.
Serbia with the late header of Mitrovic. 1-1 against Wales in Cardiff.
We better win our group or we could up end up with two matches against Serbia to qualify for the World Cup. And if we play for qualification against Serbia, even if we’re the better team, those game won’t have anything to do with football.
Ukraine beat Finland 1-0.
Re: our LB issue…
Honestly, Pivaric has been bad. Strinic is pretty bad too, so I don’t want to go back to that either.
I guess Milic would be the next one in line since he plays in Serie A. But he was bad in every game he played for us as well. Leovac is another, but same shit as Milic.
We’ve got four left back, with none of them better than the next.
We should honestly just try Jedvaj there.
Or just go with Josip Brekalo. At least the kid is left footed, and would play hungry.
Some changes I’d make, I would drop Mandzukic, and I would tell Vida to shave his head, and if he doesn’t, drop him, that haircut makes him look like the ugly half of a lesbian couple and I don’t like that.
The situation after 4 games
Croatia 10
Ukraine: 8
Iceland: 7
Turkey : 5
Kosovo and Finland : 1
Our next game is at home against Ukraine.
We still have:
Ukraine : in Ukraine and at home
In Iceland
In Turkey
At home against Finland
At home against Kosovo
@ De Boer
Puši kurac !!!!!!
@ Svima
Man Modric still has the quickness !
Coming off knee surgery a month ago and he looked his fluid fantastic self on a crap pitch and a hard running Iceland.
Perišić mindless challenge was a YELLOW at best. Turks did that 5 times at Euro vs us and got 1-2 yellow cards.
Next man up.
Pjaca , Kramaric ,
Vrsaljko can play RW and you can blood Jedvaj at RB.
God bless Pivaric as he has filled in with his best BUT he is two levels below the rest of the squad.
Any LB in HNL?
How is Borna Sosa?
Also curious to see if Rebic or Halilovic come back from oblivion ?
Yea, but Ukraine choked at home against Iceland. That might cost them in the end.
Ukraine dominates more possession than teams like Turkey and Iceland, so we won’t be dominating them the same way we did both Turkey and Iceland. However, this would be a good thing as it opens things up for players like Pjaca on the counter.
Should be a good game. Too bad Perisic will be out for that one. He would kill them on the counter.
Allen,
Brozovic almost always plays as a winger at Inter Milan. It’s no doubt his best position.
By the way, I’m watching Ukraine against Finland. Ukraine will be tough to beat in March. They’re leading 1-0 right now.
@Idemo
You have no argument. Just regurgitating the same drivel.
There is no ‘proper’ pronunciation of Pulišić in English, as it is NOT an English name or word (not sure why you keep saying this).
If he wants his name pronounced ‘phonetically’ using only English letters, then he should do what many American-Croats do, and change the spelling of the last name to Pulishich (and pronounce it correctly). Or, he can just leave it as-is, and pronounce it correctly, regardless of how it looks to the average American.
If he doesn’t like the sound of the original pronunciation of ‘Pulišić’ then he can continue to call himself Pewlissick, but he can’t get upset at people for “accidentally” pronouncing it Pulišić.
It’s like me having my family name as being ‘Smith’, but I want to pronounce it with the ‘S’ being silent (so it is pronounced ‘Mith’). I can’t get upset if people tell me that I am pronouncing it incorrectly (because I am). But it’s within my right to (mis)pronounce my last name however I please.
Maminjo
I don’t think sliding over Brozovic to the right is an issue. The issue is Brozovic isn’t a natural winger. Much more comfortable as a central midfielder. Credit to him for adjusting to that role.
What are you talking about the proper prounounciation of Pulusic in English is pew lee sick, you can’t add letters that don’t exist in their alaphhabet?
Some of you need to let go……he doesn’t want to be Croatian, this is worse than saying you banged someone you never met
@Allen
I guess we can go Pjaca/Brozovic or Pjaca/Kramaric in the next game.
Hopefully Rakitic can step up next game.
We have a lot of central midfielders in Modric, Rakitic, Kovacic, Badelj, and (soon) Pasalic when he gets a few more starts under his belt at AC Milan.
This should allow us to slide Brozo over to the right without issue, or have Krama play there (assuming Rakitic can play at least half-decent behind Mandzo).
That Perisic red card leaves a bitter taste. Going to need Pjaca ready for March, otherwise I have no idea how Croatia is going to play without any traditional wingers against Ukraine. Slide tackle was totally unnecessary.
Team looked so much better with Modric. You can see how dangerous they are with him pulling the strings in midfield.
Rakitic and Pivaric were the only notable players that looked bad. Strinic needs to find a new club in January.
Good performance, especially with the awful conditions. Brozovic looks rejuvenated without De Boer’s nonsense.
Brozovic with 2 outside the box strikes. One with the left foot and the other with the right foot. He was born with Cannons for legs!
Croatia-Iceland The goals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T6yX7xcnjo
@Idemo
Fine. I can accept that he may not consider himself Croatian, due to him being born elsewhere and his family only having partial Croat heritage…
HOWEVER, his last name is still Croatian. This discussion all started because of the way he insists on mispronouncing his own name.
No other cultures in the US mispronounce their last names, no matter how far removed they are from their original country, and no matter what percentage of that ethnicity they are.
He has every right to pronounce his name incorrectly, but this doesn’t make it the correct pronunciation.
Whether or not the English alphabet has the š and č is irrelevant.
Italian-Americans pronounce the ‘sc’ as a “sh” sound. French-Americans will stress the ‘e’ at the end of their names (despite there not being an accent on the e in the English alphabet). It’s all the same thing.
we won 2-0
u cunts saying ur name wrong is just fucky
Nice just saw
Professor laknat was wrong bout broz
Mr black saw the comment
Nice one
Did we win!!!??
Not a red…but anyone notice how dangerous we are in the 442
5 mins and 1 goal and danger everywhere
He can choose to mispronounce his own name, but he can’t change the proper pronunciation.
Perisic just capped his second mediocre straight game (by his standards) with a red card. It was a very soft red, but silly challenge given the situation… only blotch on a very professional performance. We could have easily had more goals, but we took care of business.
Funny that there were people on her after the first game when we drew the Turks at home who already were saying we were in big rouble to qualify. Classic overreaction. It’s a long and winding qualifing campaign.
As Aaron Rodgers said…R-E-L-A-X.
After today’s result and securing another win at home versus the Ukraine in March and we are well in our way.
Didn’t catch the end, what was Perisic red for?
LOL Commentator on Sky “Mandzookic has been replaced. Doož Cop.”
Doož Cop huh? LMAO
The argument went from he’s Croatian to his names Croatian…….leave the mic
It would be pronounced how we do if they had the š and č but the English alphabet doesn’t allow that, he’s requested a certain pronunciation and that shows EVERYTHING
You can’t decide the correctness, what gives you the right to impose a culture and heritage on him that he doesn’t want?
Brozovic just dropped the mic and is about to walk offstage.
wow.. brozo is kinda good
@Maminjo
Exactly… drop the mic and walk offstage.
He is American, fine, but his last name isn’t. So pronounce it correctly.
Do you see people pronouncing French or Italian last names in an “anglo” way?
– Does Angelina Jolie pronounce her last name “Jolly”?
– Does Robert Goulet pronounce his last name “Goo-let”?
– Does Joe Pesci pronounce his last name “Pesky”?
– Does Steve Buscemi pronounce his last name “Bus-kemy”?
I can go on forever.
If your last name is Pulisic, it is pronounced Pulišić whether you like it or not. It’s a fact.
If you are pronouncing your name Pew-liss-ick, then you are pronouncing your own name incorrectly.
It would be good to see some more fresh legs come in. Kramaric for Mandzukic, Rakitic or Brozovic.
Can someone explain to me what Broz is doing in the middle and Mandzu is playing right wing? He’s not the guy I would want to supply crosses. =/
nice chance by luka
Soccer ability doesn’t make you Croatian my friend, I bet there’s a German somewhere in the lineage…..IS HE GERMAN NOW????
What do u mean his whole family is anglo-sized
Mark? Marko
He’s to far removed, no one is doubting his ability no one is doubting that his ability may stem from his Croatian genes, but he’s not Croatian.
Ask yourself if he had no ability and wasn’t smashing the headlines would you even care?
It’s not that he was born somewhere else, he was born somewhere else to people born there and so on, this isn’t the story of a izbjeglica having a kid in Pennslyvania and him turning into a beast……these are Americans you’re talking about who have some ancestor from Croatia
His parents are American he’s American he was raised to be an American he identifies as an American
SHouldve left Kovacic on, and took out Rakitic
@Idemo
Yet, coincidentally, he seems to be awesome at soccer.
That’s like telling a Jamaican-American that he’s in no way Jamaican, even if he just happens to be the fastest sprinter in his class.
Some things cannot be washed away by simply being born somewhere else.
There’s something about us that, for some reason, we seem to be built for soccer (like Jamaicans are for sprinting, like Scandanavians are for strongman competitions, etc).
Pulisic can pretend that his last name is pronounced Pewlisick, but there is meaning behind the name that goes back to another country. Otherwise, just change your name to an anglo equivalent…like how many people changed their names from Mlinar (in Croatian) to Mueller (in German) to Miller (in English).
so where is Ziva nowadays? has he just gone completely MIA?
@armada
thanks, usually hear something similar in my head after a night of drinking.
its a iceland chant
afram island
Anybody else hearing that loud chant repeatedly, sounds like a megaphone or am i going crazy?
Idk who you’re calling a cunt iggy, but it’s not Pulišič, he’s requested pew lee sick, that’s how it is in English and that’s how it’s gonna be because he’s American.
If he was Croatian it would be Pulišič and he would be playing for us, he identifies American it’s pew lee sick, we not need talk about him no more he has no tie to Croatia other than some far ancestor, he doesn’t speak Croatian he’s not Croatian. His name is PEW LEE SICK
Told ya lol
yea, but he took off Kovacic?!?
Modric already coming on. Yes!
Luka on now.. nice
we’re actually playing garbage but still winning
good stuff
Good first half. Terrible pitch has been a factor.
Badelj and Kovacic have played well. His passing is inconsistent, but Badelj is always in excellent position as holding midfielder. Still can’t believe Kovac never used him.
Disappointing Perisic couldn’t finish that easy chance. He’s done so much for NT. Can’t get too upset. Hopefully Modric can come on during last 30 minutes to solidify everything.
Re-read my comment about 10 minutes before the game. I wrote that Brozovic could make the difference for us…and he did.
But it’s still not over.
Rakitic: everyone can see this is not the best Rakitic. He also struggles at Barcelona but he sure gives all he’s got. So I won’t throw stones at him
Vrsaljko: did some great things but you start to see that he didn’t play a lot the last months.
Pivaric : If we were a clubteam, I’d say buy another LB. But we are not. Offensively he’s too weak but today he’s our best defender. I like him so far.
Vida and Corluka don’t seem to reach their normal level today.
Badelj: took a left card which is extremely dangerous for a defensive midfielder. I don’t know about Modric. If he’s okay, the coach shouldn’t wait too long to sub him in.
Kovacic will be our best player in the following years.
Perisic should have scored. This is not the best Perisic yet. Though I see him score in the second half.
Brozovic: probably our best player.
Mandzo : doesn’t make the difference yet.
I’d be painful not to win today. We need to score a second one.
Slavonac-I have been a Corluka convert for awhile. His positioning has been incredible in his older age….but that giveaway near the end of the first half was suspect, & by suspect , I mean, not very good.
Corluka as slow as he is is our best defender. Badelj and Kovacic impressive so far. 2 things: 1)we are getting too cute trying to pass our way out of tight spots in our own end and it almost came back to bite us. Just bang the shit out of that ball to midfield, you are up, youre not chasing. 2) Cant stand when we get a free kick in there half of the field and we rush a pass back to our keeper or into our own end. Load the box with your height and whip the ball in. anything can happen. Iceland had a couple of long throws that landed in our box and caused all sorts of panic. we take our throws and send it back to our own half. i dont get it
@Maminjo-I was about to say the exact opposite thing about Srna. Pivaric is not our answer at LB. Srna RB & Vrsaljko LB would be much better.
If Turkey can’t pull off a win against Kosovo today, they’re pretty much done for this WC qualifying group
Missed red card against Iceland;
Missed penalty shot against Iceland;
Perisic misses a sitter in front of the net…
This game could’ve easily been 3-0. It would be a total shame if Iceland pulls one back and it ends in a draw.
@ Slavonac
those are the people that go on and on about his pace and dont understand nogomet
I hope we still don’t have people thinking Corluka is terrible…the guy is a very good player!
Perisic buries that 10 out of 10 times.
Vrsaljko with a BEAUTIFUL cross, but Perisic put it at the goaltender. Shame.
Vrsaljko has assisted in every game he’s played for us. This should have been another one.
I don’t miss Srna at ALL.
what was the name of that dude that would always say “SHAME!” and “bog i hajduk, jabuka, prsut, champion galaxy, hrvatska!”
Lol, the replay shows that two Icelandic players handballed that ball on the same play lol
Wow this ref bailed out Iceland on a handball in the box too.
Could easily be a situation where Iceland has 10-men from that missed second yellow (red) card and this blatant penalty miss.
that makes me hungwy armada lol
bad-ELLJ
fuck that’s annoying
Wow, that foul should have been a second yellow
I just ate a delicious sausage and pepper calzone.
@Brkic
oh but wait, in “American English” it’s pronounced PEW-LEE-SICK
lol
fucking wankers who said that
there was an aussie guy called Beauchamp
Bo-shamp is a famous philosopher, and he kept saying his name was Bee-CHAMP
i nearly fell off my chair in disgust
so it’s not just croats who can’t say their own name
disgraceful
we’re winning 1-0
brozo scored a great goal
Better than Pulisic who can’t even pronounce his own name and asks the media to pronounce it wrong… “Pulisik”
i dont like rakitic’s haircut lol
Only on cell phone today
Looking for updates from you guys
I take it we up 1-0?
yeah the way the english commentator is saying Badelj is gonna get annoying fast
oh, hang on, in american english it’s normal
lol
who was the cunt in the other thread saying PEW-LEE-SICK is good cos it’s “american english’
fuck off cunt, either say your name properly or don’t say it at all, fuck off
Its crazy how awful this pitch is. How is this bad?
Kovacic looks great.
Rakitic looks like shit. Needs to be subbed out. Too many giveaways.
How great does Kovacic look? He is the goods.
#epicbrozo
And by suspect, i mean he will probably steal a goal
EPIC BROZO!!!!!!
amazing goal.. lovely play
“Bad-el-ž”
Vida is getting beat!
Thanks!
im watchinig here
http://firstrowi.com/soccer/croatia-vs-iceland-frs147001?l=1022557166
Wow, the pitch is a mess. Guessing it’s weather related, but makes us look third world…
Bah, Rakitic with a terrible shot
Krama should be starting. I dont care who Rakitic plays for.
Brozo instead of Krama is suspect
Fs2 commentator keeps calling cacic “kak-ic”
l wouldn’t be so hasty to judge, but
with this shitty lines up -> WE ARE DOOM`
Any links?
Is this the last game we’re supposed to play in front of an empty stadium? It basically nullifies our home field advantage.
IDEMO!!!!!!
I thought Kovacic was injured, so that’s a surprise to see him starting. I don’t understand the hate for Mandzukic… He has been playing at top clubs for the last 10 years and has been scoring goals again lately. I would like to see Kramaric in behind him, but looks like our lineup is setup to be conservative and then maybe we see a more attacking formation in the last 30-45 min defending on the score.
I would prefer to see us go for the win from the start given that we’re at home, but keeping an open mind.
Don’t shoot me after the game, but I saw the Sampdoria-Inter Milan. Brozovic was by far the best player on the pitch. The guy runs and works for two. I predict he will make us win the game today.
Wish cacic started kramaric wtf I like when he has 2 forwards up top man kramaric and manzukic and we score 3 goals this game
Nearly time to smash some wankers 😀
i means LB. .
Mandzukic & Brozovic <– kick this 2 ass
we can do better without those 2 and please notes again for RB existence, we seem to play 10 men on the field.
it is not nicely thing for being effective'
Modric doesn’t have 90 in him so the question is do you want him for the first 45 or the last 45. At least I think that’s what’s going on here. The kramaric decision is a bit more baffling. I liked our look with 2 strikers. But if we don’t get a lead, look for him to come on for rakitic.
we are doom!
Official lineup:
Subasic
Vrsaljko Vida Corluka Pivaric
Badelj Kovacic
Rakitic
Brozovic Perisic
Mandzukic
Wow not crazy about the started lineup being reported. both kramaric and modric on the bench.
Anyone in nyc have RCN and know what channel fox sports 2 is??
@Poglavnik
Who is this Dannyj, a friend of yours?
@PoGlAvNiK
Welcome to CroatianSports.com! Who were you asking to change their name, me or Poglavnik, because I’m POGLAVNIK as well?
Lol this thread is some good retardation
Poglavnik u hit big time u got a copy!!
Is this guy on? Hegemon above lol
Not me. Let the Poglavniks be.
The elders of my clan ESCAPED mommy professor’s communist prison which mommy professor called “a workers paradise” only to have marxist mommy professors in America “educate” their own children to call their own parents “racist” for the crime of wanting White grandchildren.
So help me God, I’m going to hang these anti-white marxist pig criminals from campus lamp posts from sea to shining sea.
The game is on Sportsnet 1 in Canada.
…if you don’t get FS2 on your regular tv lineup. Most of us have only FS1.
@ Ernest – definitely because of Italy, lol, but, if you remember, Croatia outplayed them – and the announcers, who were talking about the Italian players only before the match seemed to be scrambling to learn a few facts about our players as the match wore on.
If you are a cable/satellite TV subscriber, you can watch the match on the Fox Sports Go website – streaming thru a Roku box that you hook up to your TV is the way to go.
3 PoGlAvNiK’s? Poglavnik is that you messing around, I can honestly say that I didn’t write that PoGlAvNiK comment?
Please pick a different name.
My wifey-bunny was formerly married to an icelandic guy and was over there, so it’s important we crush them into dust cos it’s symbolic
Lest we forget on a day like today that Iceland were one of the very first to recognize our Independence. I’ve got a lot of respect for that little footballing nation.
a lot of tough line up decisions to make here….
its becoming clear kramaric deserves to play…. but with rakitic back, where is his spot assuming you’re still going to run two wingers in perisic and brozovic
i guess the main option is to let kramaric play on that right wing as a pseudo winger, which can be fine with him cheating in as vrsaljko can handle the job of pushing forward and marauding the flank
my guess at the line up…and one i’m at piece with…
mandzukic
perisic rakitic kramaric
badelj modric
pivaric vida corluka vrsaljko
subasic
Bobby
I had that game on at work, while office watching lit stadium while I’m holding my head ha
@bobby v you’re right! I forgot about that. I kind of figured that was more because of Italy than us lol but I guess that was a pretty big game for a qualifier.
mind u, i could just be being bitter cos im a Lions supporter lol, sucks to be us atm, shittest team ever
yeah i saw that, good.. drug cheats, the lot of em
And in other news, Jab Watson gave up his Brownlow medal!
oh yeah i didnt even think of that.. well fire melts ice so we’re gonna smash ’em
Vatreni versus Iceland, there’s headline there!
i got a good feeling down me pants about this game fellas, we’re gonna kick the snot out of these pansies
foolz. .
Manzukic & Brozovic both will make us suffer.,
they are misfortune. should not be in starting 11~
Subasic
Vrsaljko Corluka Jedvaj Leovac
Badelj Brozovic
Kramaric Rakitic Perisic
Mandzukic
Subs: Modric for Rakitic, Cop for Mandzukic, Rog for Brozovic.
@ Ernest – The Euro 2016 qualifier in Italy almost two years ago (1-1 tie, fans throwing flares) was on FoxSports1.
Now that Kovacic got injured, it may end up pushing Modric into the starting 11.
What do you guys think will be our starting 11? And how many minutes will Modric play? Because Madraid definatley ain’t letting him play the whole match…lol
theres a lot of champions league on FS2 now; sucks i don’t have it in HD
I just saw that it’s on fox sports 2. I didn’t even think about that as an option. I don’t ever remember us having a game on there.
happy bday m8, even if u are to blame for WWI
😉
Same birthday as me, Iggy, 11/11 only I was born in 1961. 🙂
True story, Gavrilo Princip, who assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in 1914. which triggered WWI. was married to my Grandmother’s first cousin.
So, we like to say that our family started WWI – ironic that I was born on the same date as it ended 11/11.
it’s shit cos the game is 2 or 3 am brisbane time.. Le Sigh.. anyways the 11th is my birthday (today here but tmw for yanks) so im hoping the Vatreni give me a win as a birthday pressie 😀
Colombia vs Chile, 0-0 at the moment.
You can catch all the action on beIN Sports 2.
Later Brazil vs Argentina!
https://www.foxsportsgo.com/
Saturday at 11:45 AM EST. Need to enter your TV provider, email, and password
SAANTV is always an option – only $4-5 dollars for the month – you get 11 Croatian channels.
I’m sure all you high-rollers can afford it.
It’s on cable, fs1 or fs2
Is the game on tv or ESPN 3 in the states? I don’t see it at all.
Better on the bus than at the wheel.
Hopefully Vida doesn’t crack open a beer on the team bus again
😉
Iceland was underated when we played them for world cup qualifying…Kovacic needs another performance against them. Cro 2 : iceland 0.
This is your father’s iceland! They beat a poor performing England. Iceland is organized and very physically strong…with our talent if we can’t beat iceland at home…we deserve to stay home!!
Now the fans are banned from inside the stadium right? But how about outside? A few thousand outside screaming might still motivate.
Cacic said Kovacic should be ready to go…but then again some coaches hide injuries.
Oh Vida you dumbass.
Iceland is playing at 100% of their potential. We usually play at 60%…Might be interesting, all depends on Cacic’s lineup
Mateo Kovacic picked up an ankle problem and could now be a doubt for the week’s two international fixtures.
“Kovacic picked up a little issue today, we hope it is nothing serious,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane told a postmatch news conference.
With Toni Kroos out for six weeks, Kovacic should now be in the starting lineup for awhile, including against upcoming matches with Barcelona and Atletico.
Let’s hope the injury is not serious, especially with Luka not being completely fit.
Domogoj Vida was arrested for drunk driving and lost his drivers license.
Iceland saying all the right things – that they would be happy even with a one goal loss.
Ukraine should pick up 3 points against Finland this weekend, so, the loser of the Croatia – Iceland match could drop to third.
With the Kovacic/Modric issues, Rakitic needs to step up. Don’t have a great feeling about that or the fact that we are playing in front of an empty stadium again.