Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozović is Croatia’s “Player of the Weekend” with two goals within four minutes of each other in a 2-1 win over Benevento. In the 19th minute, Brozović made a run through the box and headed home from the penalty spot for his first goal. Three minutes later, Brozo would send home a curling free kick from 24 yards out for a 2-0 Inter Milan lead.
Brozović also sent a decent cross to fellow Croatian Ivan Perišić in the second half to no avail. Both Brozović and Perišić played the entire match and have now helped Inter drop only two points through the first seven games of the Italian season. It’s great to see Broz have a solid game just before the October international break.
Brozović scores twice to give Inter Milan the win
In other news around Serie A, Mario Mandžukić had his goal cancelled out by the refs due to Stephan Lichtsteiner’s foul on Alejandro Gomez in the box. Because of it, Juventus’ perfect start to the season is over because of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta.
Mandžukić goal called back
In Germany, Ante Rebić got on the board for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2-1 win over Stuttgart. In the 42nd minute, Rebić beat his defender to a long pass and slotted home for the game’s opening goal. The win puts manager Niko Kovač and Eintracht Frankfurt only three points behind a Champions League berth early in the season.
Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subašić returned from a sprained ankle to conceded an injury time equalizer to Montpellier Friday night. Subašić couldn’t do much to save the ball as the defense folded on itself but he will be ready for Finland and Ukraine this upcoming weekend.
@maminjo
why do you say thats funny?
without a doubt
well, I think Tomas doesn’t understand the entire dynamic of youth soccer in Croatia…it’s definitely high level and the amount a kid could learn from on field and off field experience is something you’ll never get in the US.
@slavonac
The proper academies are free, the ones tied to MLS teams and a few tied to foreign clubs a la Chicago magic.they play each other and travel practically year round like a PDL. During the summers they even have their college players come back for a u-19/23 academy if the players don’t go to USL. But at the end of the day it’s extremely overhyped, political and racist to a point and unlike a proper academy a MLS academy’s goal in not to promote you to the first team and I quote “we want to prepare our guys or the next level; college soccer”
But they have many many many MAAAANY clubs teams and branches which are cash grabs. 3500 a season in player fees for 2-3 trainings a week. And 3/4 tournaments. Scam city
Maminjo – no but he was in academy with MLS club shortly, he’s actually still in Spain playing (I’m in my early 20s)
If u guys had choice would u play the Ukraine game first then Finland?
Za dom . Bogu vjerni! Lets get this done.
I wanna see how this week goes for the pripremen.
Slavonac we got a big week ahead of us lets do this. More important things than that kid. Im slavonac from Canada as well. Rest assured we will prevail!
@idemo
The highest any of your friends achieved was 2nd division Spain?
That’s funny you say that. Did this guy also get drafted by an MLS team after?
Fair point bro!
You got it slavonac! Sure its fathers fault. But who cares. It still bugs me what you and I hold dear as passport holders we cherish it to death. He does not. Just my point.
You’re probably right but I see this as a case of Croatia helping this kid…that’s all! I hope he does well and I feel bad he wasn’t exposed to our culture enough but that his parents fault and not Croatia’s.
@slavonac. He is a good kid but getting our passport for business or professional reasons bugs me. Maybe I’m wrong. But thats just how I feel. Statute is a statute. Can’t beat a law.
Zee, if his family is from there then he has a right to get the passport, why should this bother any of us?
@svima. I’m not saying he is not a good guy. My only point he got our passport to bypass bureaucracy. That’s all. I just don’t agree.
Tomas,
What makes you think the savez would nurture your son? If he’s 14, the natural course is through a club, not directly to the savez…especially at his age. Also, I’m not sure where you live and what the level of coaching he’s receiving but in most cases, the professionalism for kids his age in Croatia is far superior than in the US…it’s not just in the field, it’s off the field as well! The entire culture of soccer is really good in Croatia. The attention and advice he’d receive is priceless! Worlds apart from what you’d ever see in any American city…I think you’re either being overly sensitive or reading too much into things…either way, your view on this topic is so far off you have no clue what you’re saying!
It like going to a university for a specific career…and trust me, I know this, Croatia would be an excellent place for your son to advance his soccer career! The people are wonderful…and if he’s that good…you’ll be very happy with the results!
Don’t expect a red carpet for him though…he might be good but he’d be surrounded with kids the same or better than him!
Pulisic is a good kid, we shouldn’t be pissed at him at all. He couldn’t find Croatia on a map and if he doesn’t feel proud to play for us then so be it…you can’t make someone feel that.
Not sure why some are still going on about Rakitic not playing? Dr Nemec was the one that scanned him and told him he needed from 4-7 days to recover…it’s really that simple.
Interesting thing Pulisic’s dad said…he never played in academies…he trained twice per week and then a game on the weekend. If you ask me these academies are bullshit here…money grabbing garbage! There might be some really good ones but I don’t think smaller kids need so much structure outside of their 2 or 3 soccer events per week…they have to have time to play pickup soccer and experiment on their own as well!
@tomas
I guarantee your sons generation will not see European money in MLS. nor do I see how “corruptness” could touch your son at Dinamo. These are money hungry capitalists who want your son to succeed to sell him at a higher price for their benefit.
your treading a fine line with that university idea and you already know the answer. if you are looking to make the leap now is the time, many of my friends waited until they graduated high school had no support from their parents to go to Europe, out of everyone the highest someone has achieved out of that group is second division in Spain. the older he gets the tougher it becomes. plenty boys in Europe at 17/18 with full blown contracts. if he wants to do it, why not? between 14 and 18 you’ll have a good picture if its working out or not.
I have debated the Europe vs us thing constantly. Ultimately the American academies have come a long way, but they still are no where close to European clubs. Even dinamo although corrupt is probably a league above must American academies
Part of my hesitation is to have him fully leave home and commit to soccer at this age. It’s exciting. Maybe he can earn big money on a European or even American club some day but it’s far from certain. Maybe it’s better for him to use his skills to get into a great university. Buy ultimately if you do that, you’ll just never be a serious player
In regards to the rakitic question, i didn’t like his magic ability to heal himself for Barcelona. I do wonder if his passion has been tempered over time by all that has happened with the repka
@Zee
Pulisic is an honest guy, the HNS knew his intention was to represent America.
He simply asked Croatia what they can do for him, not what he could do for Croatia.
I don’t want no Americans in the Croatian NT anyway so I’m wrapped with his choice and glad Croatia could help him out!
Thank you Tomas also! You guys have made the right choice!
NO!!!!!! HE WOULD NOT!!!!!! THAT TRAITOR!!!!!!!! PETITION KOLINDA TO REVOKE IT!!!!! FAMILY PULUSIC DOES NOT LIVE A ZDS LIFESTYLE
Idemo like i said if the kid worked at the Hershey chocolate factory would he even think about getting our passport?
like preach the truth..
No comprendre idemo?
Preeeeeeeeeaaaaaacccccchhhhhh
@idemo. Not a war of words by any means. But if the dude worked at Hershey chocolate factory would he even think about getting our passport that we hold dear? Highly doubt it. Jebiga is correct!
@soul
That’s how that’s counted? So what are we that actually made the move?
@zee jebiga he used us, can’t knock him tho, American academies more politics than ball
@maminjo- spot on, @tomas do you see how much turnover there is on American rosters?
Agreed idemo. How the f does he get a passport like you and I?
@ Idemo
1st generation – born in USA.
2nd generation – born to above parents, grandparents were immigrants.
Tomas, your kid has an infinitely worse chance of becoming a professional footballer by being developed in America over Croatia.
Just looking at the raw numbers, there are exponentially more multimillionaire players from the HNL than MLS (and no, things are not changing now that the quality in the MLS has increased, it’s probably worse for youth players).
This is just looking at the totals. I’m not even factoring the fact that Cro makes up about 1% of America’s population.
Don’t believe that whole “savez is a mess” rhetoric.
They still develop players (both Croats and non Croats) who end up with solid footballing careers.
C.pulisic isn’t born to immigrant parents, his father was
@ Tomas
Thanks for sharing your son’s process.
I can see the “druga generacije” in the US becoming more prevalent in the USMNT.
Pulisic is no accident.
Mark Pulisic is playing that it just happen BS. He guided his son every step of the way.
There are many Prva Generacije who are raising young ballers in the US.
It’s a shame HNS is not organized to attract the very best of the diaspora to create a World Cup winning repka.
US soccer is waiting for a World Class player to market domestically.
Can’t believe Pulisic has a shot to make this happen.
Šteta as his game is exactly what we need at present. Dynamic #10 who attacks defenses and is incisive in the final third.
@tomas
Don’t know how true all this is but I’ll stab
Regarding development, if your son is actually a player or has promise at that age the federation has nothing negative to do. Quite on the contrary. At his level it will only help playing in wcq wc uefa euro youth cups traveling so on. If there is interest from dinamo I bet there’s interest elsewhere and playing for cro youth can only create more Interest so if you don’t want him in dinamo I bet other academies will see him. Once again your kids future is in your hands and what you sign. The ones who had trouble had nothing and were signing whatever.
You mention rakitic, how do you feel about rakitic deciding to magically heal himself? Do you think rakitic would have said career playing for Switzerland? Until recently there was not much to say about Switzerland.
My son is one of the brightest u14 American prospects. I know he’s young and i remind him every day how much he has to go. But that being said, both dinamo and the savez have consistently reached out to him but we both decided as much as we love our roots, it’s just not the right decision and he will aim to represent America. The savez is a mess and corrupt, and i can’t trust them with my kids future. And i don’t even trust many of the fans. It saddens me to see how rakitic has been treated after staying true to Croatia
Nikola Kalinic confirmed out for both matches, as per my guy in the savez, aka their twitter account.
yeah that’s unbelievable, someone shooting into a crowd at a music event? jesus christ.. just astonishing
Are any of you in Vegas? Horrific scenes
im not feeling confident ahead of these two games, i gotta say :/
Kalinic MRI in milan today
Lovren out Aganist Finland, may plat Ukraine……caleta car called up
@Maminjo-zero chance he serves any real duty in the Ukrainian army. This is a quid pro qou move, Ukraine gets solid player, while Marlos gets a chance to play in a World Cup. When the army comes calling, the powers that be will ensure Marlos is back in Brazil, with no plans of ever going back to the Ukraine. It is simple neoliberal capitalism!
We will prevail. We gonna make it. Sleep well. Somehow some.way we gonna do it. Might be ugly but we get it done.
Yes but how does he hold a passport?
@Zee
dude u do realize that the pulisic kid isnt even croatian right?
Dumb young piece of crap didn’t even his croatian passport. Jerk. Ya stay in america and never play in world cup chump! I’m just venting. Haha
60 minutes in the u.s. doing a piece on that pulisic guy. Too bad he made the wrong choice.
IT’S TIGER TIME!!!!!!!!!
Fuck the U.S.A!!!!!!! Hillary is a dumb white slut, Trump is a dumb white cunt, Sanders is dumb ass white Pharisee, America sucks balls. America is a joke!!!!!
Fuck the U.S.A!!!!!
IT’S TIGER TIME!!!!!!!!! Life’s good!!!!!!
Iggy, nobody knows what the fuck you’re talking about, you’re trying to sound smart by using some retarded term called “neoliberal capitalism”. It’s simple: White people are sick and tired being chased down by “diversity” whether they want to openly admit it or not – just like Europeans talk about “Islam taking over” when we all know what they really mean is non-whites. Stop with your mommy professor horseshit.
I actually think he won due to the failings of neoliberal capitalism and the way it benefits the few at the expense of the many, more than any of the social issues. Of course it seems like some ghastly parody to have an inherited millionaire being voted for to help out blue collar workers but there u go; that just goes to show how negligent the left has been in adopting neoliberal capitalism hook, line and sinker. They ceded that economic ground far too much.
Why in the hell do you think Trump won? He took advantage of the division that already existed like any good politician would, unlike CUCK faggots who gave an entire continent to 3rd worlders while arguing over “school prayer”.
Bobby V said: “he(Mamic) has divided our country and soccer scene in the same way Trump has here.”
LOL! The anti-white TRAITOR establishment has been pouring all the 3rd world’s races into America and FORCED by law White people to integrate w/ them over the past 70 years and your blaming Trump for the division? Ahahahaha!
Division in America is now PERMANENT or there won’t be any White people left.
thursday is such a tease, can’t overlook them tho.
the local uvijek vjerni are making the trip 300 kuna transport/ticket 50/50 undecided on going
nice goals by brozo!
@bz. I hope so .za dom spremi, bogu vjerni!
^^in the build up
Mandzukic with solid game. Got robbed of a goal due to a phantom elbow in the elbow (not Mandzukic’s elbow)
Rakitic quickly unbenched & Barca goes on to score 3 in 2nd half. Coincidence? Ask L Ron Hubbard.
Operation October looking up.
Manzda goal disallowed
U got it soul!
Brozovic regaining the goal scoring touch for Operation October.
Marlos can puši KURAC !!!
Move will back fire.
Let’s get warmed up with Finland and leave all on the field in Ukraine.
U boj
Nice header finish and freekick from brozo
The free kick was naaaaaasty, don’t change BZ keep on keepin on
Marlos was probably hesitant to play for Ukraine because the last time a Brazilian took citizenship to play for Ukraine, he was drafted by the army.
Marlos will probably have to serve in the Ukrainian army and get shot at by Russian rebels in a few years from now. Hopefully it was worth it financially for him.
Ha ha, as soon as some moron says he would pick Rebic over Brozovic, Brozo goes gonzo with 2 goals. That said, Brozo has had some clumsy play today, but can’t argue with results. Last time I called Brozo out, he scored 2 vs Iceland. I will be sure to call him out before Ukraine!
Epic brozo with the double!!!!!!
Raki on bench seems to be rotated …..Barca las palmas being played behind closed doors
Vlasic slightly to blame for the goal, fell asleep and let his man go
Vlasic should have a assist….siggy missed from 6 yards
“The boy changed the energy had no fear in his eyes ” “the amount Everton payed for him compared to the market is a steal”
Woah this is big…..vlasic starting in the Prem…..please Ronald develope this boy.
Neville interview on sport klub about him
@bz
Shaktars president had a cringey statement about Marlos something along the lines of “he decided to do this no one forced him ”
I think brozo before rebic is a no brainier ….rest of them are equal
Core is intact.
But ZERO goals in last 180+ minutes on the road to Iceland and Turkey?
Finland is Iceland 2.0 and will run hard all match.
Ukraine at home playing for all the marbles will be the toughest match of campaign.
Everyone knows you have to attempt to smother Modrić.
We need some type of width and verticality.
I get the conservative view to get through these next two matches.
I pray we have enough legs with status quo.
All works out by October 10th THEN you better be open to expanding the player pool evaluations.
Taking old tired legs to World Cup is 2002 nightmare.
@Idemo-thx, don’t know anything about the foreign player limit.
Rebic wasn’t bad at WC 2014. With Pjaca out, I would put him on the roster over Santini, Bradaric for sure. I would even take him before Brozovic.
Not sure Pjaca will ever be the same for the NT. Why? Even if he recovers from his injury, I don’t think he lays it all on the line before his next contract.
Livaja scored two goals against Austria Wien
my take:
there won’t be shocks or risks between now and the 10th.
saying we make it (hopefully) between then and June the only way someone gets into the team is if they have that good of a season that they FORCE the selector to call them.
calling someone on a whim would be a slap in the face to the players that got you there. barring injuries and stellar seasons 95% of the team that got you there is the team you take
I mentioned it a couple weeks back. Rebic lost his way for a while but in my opinion, he’s more effective than Halilovic and can score. He big, strong and powerful…the kid can create his own chances as long as he can stay a bit consistent.
Thanks pog about the sportsnet 360 post.
@soul
No outrage, but
It just sounds desperate, these last few weeks we’ve been throwing around some names who have been crucified on this website, what’s next sammir?
Halilovic rebic srna back, are we in that big of a crisis?
I’m with Pog here, I think the only risks are Rog Pasalic and Santini as subs
Vrsaljko warming left bench tonight
^ ^
I was gonna say sure, why not?!
With our scoring woes of late.
But now is not the time with 2 games left to go.
I say we sink or swim with what we have.
Ante Rebić healthy and in form?
Kid is 24 and looks like his acceleration is back.
Jumped on through ball and slotted home.
Throw him on the wing for 20 minutes to run at tired defenders.
queue the out rage …
Hrvatska/Finland on live in Canada on Sportsnet 360
MF Nikola Vlasic, 7 — Built on recent League Cup outing with another fine display off the bench, adding pace and invention to a pedestrian midfield while finishing his first Everton goal with a confidence absent elsewhere in the team.
@ Bobby V
You present a valid concern.
That’s why we need a Dortmund type philosophy that develops the 18-22 year old to be ready to compete.
The NT has to become a vehicle for these young studs to further their careers.
I have heard over the years that you have to “earn” your way onto the Repka … etc …
Ofcourse you do !
But young talent is not be guided by corny local agents and the like. We need the repka to support this important age of 18-22.
Money has got to go from Šuker bank account to grassroots program.
U17 – tournament we hosted was a disappointing debacle.
All the money we have earned at HNS over the years has gone somewhere other than grassroots infrastructure.
I have full faith in our footballing talent to produce more and more World Class players.
But in today’s footballing world you need to support youth development through age 22.
Vlašić will make it because he has a supportive family who knows how to develop world class competitors.
Also like to see the Rebić and Halilovic players of the world have an opportunity to get back in the pool.
We write these kids off to early.
Operation October.
U boj .. U boj …
Za narod svoj !
@bz don’t forget the foreign player limit as well
Let’s hope Croatia can qualify for this World Cup because it might be the beginning of missing more tournaments, like our Balkan neighbors, than making them in the near future
Why? Several reasons.
I’ve mentioned this before, but, it is starting to take effect now. World Cups are won with enough good players in their prime – between the ages of 23-27, which would be players that are born between 1991-1995 for next year’s tournament.
Croatia has a serious lack of talent in that age group. It was the lost years during the Homeland War.
Our top player in that age bracket is Mateo Kovacic – who was incidentally born in Austria no less.
Marko Pjaca, Marcelo Brozovic, Sime Vrsaljko and Andrej Kramaric and then a pretty big drop off in talent after that.
These four are a decent group, but, not strong enough to build around or to be considered a guarantee that Croatia is favored in any future qualifying group with them in years to come.
Then two more bigger factors. For the first time, a larger group of our players, led, in my opinion, by Ivan Rakitic, are putting their club matters ahead of the national team in a way our past players avoided.
Has it happened before? Of course – just with not so many within our group. That national pride is starting to fade as these generations come along. Actually it has happened faster with other countries, but, sadly, we are catching up.
Individualism and following players with their clubs is now more popular than watching the national team – unheard of 20 years ago.
Lastly – the Mamic effect. Love him or hate him for Dinamo Zagreb, he has divided our country and soccer scene in the same way Trump has here. With the recent trial, involving Modric and Lovren, it has really begun to show.
There really isn’t a good vibe around the national team right now – or this website for that matter. Where has everyone gone?
I hope we can come away with two wins, qualify, and then give one last effort with everyone healthy next summer.
29year old Marlos became a Ukraine citizen, & will now likely play against us. Anyone who watches Srna play for Shaktar has probably noticed this guy’s acumen.
-Brazilian born,lived there for 24 years before signing in Ukraine.
He is a good player. Fucking BS. I hate treating national soccer like a club team.
1)No injuries please!
2)Hoping Vrsaljko plays after being left off CL squad this week. Not sure if it was bc his ankle injury, or if they left him off the CL list for this portion of the tournament.