SPAIN
Luka Modrić played the second half for Real Madrid as they suffered a crucial defeat to Real Betis. With Madrid down 1-0 at halftime, Jose Mourinho took off Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil for Kaka and Modrić as they put more emphasis on the attacking side of the game. Modrić completed 36 passes with 83% accuracy, crossing the ball four times and created one chance, but Real were unable to score. The loss leaves Real Madrid 11 points behind Barcelona and eight behind Atletico Madrid, their next opponent.
Ivan Rakitić picked up two late yellow cards and was sent off in Atletico Madrid’s 4-0 demolition of 9-man Sevilla. Prior to his sending off, Ivan completed a team high 46 passes with 85% success. He received a yellow card in the 77th minute for a handball and five minutes later was given his marching orders after Rakitić was very slow to the ball and lazily caught Tiago. Sevilla sit in tenth following the loss and remain just two points out of a Europa League spot.
Rakitić sees red versus Atletico Madrid
ENGLAND
Photo: PA
Nikica Jelavić and Everton just can’t seem to close out games these days. After going up 1-0 in the 12th minute via a Steve Naismith goal versus a hot Norwich City side Saturday, Everton couldn’t find another to put the match away and suffered the consequence in injury time. Jelavić only managed two shots on the day (0 on goal) but was wide open in front of the net in the second half, but Naismith’s attempted pass to the Croatian sailed wide and out of bounds. The ball surely would have found the back of the net if the pass was completed.
It showed that Everton playmaker Marouane Fellaini was missed for this match due to a red card suspension as the Toffees looked uninspired in their transitional game. Norwich would score in the 90th minute to force a 1-1 draw, which now sees Everton with only six points from their past fives games. Jelavić played the full 90, but Everton need to start piling up wins if their dream of a top-four finish are to come true.
Photo: TeamTalk.com
Mladen Petrić received the start for Fulham on Saturday and played the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to a very physical Stoke City side. Petrić fired off three shots during the match (1 on frame) alongside Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov. Fulham are now winless in their past five matches and currently sit 10th on the Premier League table. The Cottagers are currently underachieving at the moment and things won’t be getting any easier as their next two games are against Chelsea and Tottenham.
RUSSIA
Vedran Ćorluka started and played the full match for Lokomotiv Moscow as they picked up a 3-2 win over Kuban Krasnodar. Dario Krešić was left out of goal for a third consecutive match with Guilherme Marinato returning from injury to take back his starting job. Vedran filled in at right back as he returned to the position he’s been used at most over his career. He was not at fault for either of Kuban’s goals and played a part in Lokomotiv’s second, winning the initial header on a deep free kick, which bounced around the box before being finished by Dame Ndoye. Loko remains in eigth and have closed the gap to Europa League qualification to just three points.
Ćorluka header at 1:20
Stipe Pletikosa was injured and subbed off in the 32nd minute of Rostov’s 2-0 victory over Mordovia Saransk. Stipe said after the match that he came into the weekend at less than 100% and the sub was largely a precaution. He expects to play in Rostov’s game next Sunday against Kryliya Sovetov. Rostov remain in 12th with seven points in their last three matches.
Tomislav Dujmović (#20 above) played the full match for Mordovia and failed to impress. Tomo clumsily barged into Timofey Kalachev to give Rostov a penalty and their opening goal. He also picked up a yellow card in the 62nd minute. This was Mordovia’s sixth consecutive defeat as they remain bottom of the Russian Premier League with just eight points in 17 matches.
Dujmović penalty call
UKRAINE
Photo: Shaktar
Both Darijo Srna and Eduardo got the start for Shakhtar Donetsk on Saturday in a routine 5-1 victory over Hoverla. Srna assisted on Willian’s 13th minute goal to make it 2-0, sending a sharp pass from outside the box to the Brazilian, who made a move and shot low to the far post. Srna was subbed out in the 55′ while the unproductive Eduardo was taken off in the 63′. With the win, Shakhtar now have 48 points from the first 17 matches of the season, good enough for a 14-point lead on second place Dynamo Kyiv.
Ognjen Vukojević made a brief cameo appearance for Dynamo Kyiv on Sunday in a 4-0 win over crosstown rivals Arsenal, coming off the bench in the 86th minute. Niko Kranjčar was left off the squad as he tries to recover from an ankle injury. Dynamo move up to second place in Ukraine with the win.
Ivan Strinić, Nikola Kalinić and Dnipro will take on Metalurh Zaporizhya on Monday with sole possession of second place on the line. Earlier in the week, Dnipro defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in Europa League to top the group and confirm their seed going into the knockout round draw. Kalinić remained on the bench while Strinić received the start, assisting on the equalizing goal in the 24th minute.
Germany
Photo: Bayern
The Bayern München bus continues to bulldoze its way through the Bundesliga this season as the German Giants smashed on Hannover 96 5-0. Mario Mandžukić started and played 85 minutes in the win. The Croatian international finished the game with only two shots on goal and will receive some strong competition from Mario Gomez after Mario reached the back of the net just minutes after coming in for Super Mario. Mandžukić and Co. will host Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Photo: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen
Wolfsburg continued its fine play with an impressive 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen on Saturday. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Ivica Olić, started and went the distance for Wolfsburg in the draw. Ivica was quiet most of the match and had his best chance saved by Werder keeper Sebastian Mielitz in the 75th minute of play. Srdjan Lakić looked on from the bench.
PHOTO: T-Portal
Fortuna Düsseldorf snapped a seven match winless streak with a 2-0 win over Hamburger SV. Former Dinamo Zagreb captain, Milan Badelj, started and played 74 minutes in the loss. Hamburg had 2 goals disallowed and dominated 66% of possession but were outplayed and out-hustled by Fortuna Düsseldorf. Ivo Iličević remains sidelined because of injury.
PHOTO: European cy
Ivan Perišić has been pretty quiet the past few weeks since asking for a transfer out of Dortmund. The 23-year-old, former Club Brugge star came off the bench in the 82nd minute for Borussia Dortmund in a 2-1 win over Mainz 05 on Saturday. Ivan had a few touches on the ball but failed to register a shot. Dortmund moved up to second place on the Bundesliga table with the win.
PHOTO: European cy
Ivan Klasnić made his first appearance in two months after coming on in the 85th minute of play for Nicolai Müller in search of an equalizer. The 32-year-old, Croatian international will have to wait until Wednesday to get another chance.
France
PHOTO: olweb.fr
The injury bug continues to follow Dejan Lovren as the 23-year-old Croatian international will be out at least two weeks because of a thigh injury. The former Dinamo Zagreb defeder was quoted from his twitter account: “Two to three weeks injured? I am really angry.” Lyon could have used Dejan in defense as they fell 3-0 to Toulouse on Sunday as Lyon dropped to fourth place on the Ligue 1 table.
Italy
PHOTO:hrt.hr
Former Hajduk Split captain, Ante Vukušić, looked on from the bench and failed to reach the pitch for Pescara in a 1-0 home loss to Roma. The 21-year-old striker is still looking for his first Serie A goal for Pescara after registering 18 shots in 10 games. Chances are that Ante will be looking on from the bench until he starts to produce.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 11/27
Fortuna Düsseldorf at Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04 at Hamburg, Alcoyano at Real Madrid(Copa Del Rey),
Wednesday, 11/28
Fulham at Chelsea, Arsenal at Everton, Bayern München at Freiburg, Wolfsburg at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Olympique Lyonnais at Olympique Marseille, Sevilla at Espanyol(Copa Del Rey),
Friday, 11/30
Dynamo Kyiv at Hoverla, Shakhtar Donetsk at Kryvbas, Lokomotiv Moskva at Alaniya
Saturday, 12/1
Tottenham at Fulham, Everton at Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund at Bayern München, Montpellier at Olympique Lyonnais, Atlético Madrid at Real Madrid, Dnipro at Metalurh Donetsk, Rostov at Krylya Sovetov, Rubin Kazan’ at Dinamo Moskva
Sunday, 12/2
Hamburg at Wolfsburg, Pescara at Napoli,
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
@Ziva-We can probably put this one to rest for now,but say hi To Izmet .I hope the job that he drives you to at the ministry of Bratsvo i Jedinstvo is going well for you.
It’s a Zastava driven by Izmet.
😉
@Ziva-ok,not bad,I will have to pay that one.But I do assume that the car is a Yugo driven by your driver named Milorad.
Ziva doesn’t need a car. Ziva has a driver who takes him from work to home.
@Jack V-Just out of curiosity,how much did Ziva want for this car?
🙂 🙂 🙂
Unrelated to sports.
I just saw a Yugo for sale locally. It looked to be in shockingly good condition.
Although a nice Yugo is probably an oxymoron.
Me no Sime , AnteB please . By the way Dinamo gets rid of their coach , ha good move . Crap , what a mixed up team you have . Govna
@Jack V-So after sawpping jerseys at the end of their match,one would assume that they will likely wash the jersey and then wear it to training possibly,though this would not too likely be possible,they may then end up wearing it on their off days.This means that another mans name will be on their backs.This can only put them into one category.Thanks for letting me know Jack V.I will never again follow these two. 😉
@Ziva:
Perisic and Klasnic swapped jerseys at the end of their last match. Are they crotch sniffers or is that acceptable?
“ljuti se moj Panuccccccccci”
haha one of my favorite all times goals…
@ Ziva Prso is getting coaching licenses and i am a Rapajic fan why not MIKI MIKI MIKI
@Zach Gilfix
He was great today!
GREAT game today for Badelj as he scores, assists, has a fine defensive performance and picks up MOTM
Prso and Rapajic?????????? why? They have no coaching background. Prso lives in France and seems happy with what he is doing. Rapajic appears satisfied following his play at the youth level.
Id like to see Prso or Rapajic as assistant!
There are only 3.2 million Hrvati in Hrvatska!
The sun on the meadow is summery warm.
The stag in the forest runs free.
But gather together to greet the storm.
Croatia belongs to me.
The branch of the linden is leafy and
Green, The Danube gives its gold to the sea.
But somewhere a glory awaits unseen.
Croatia belongs to me.
The end came when Beyonce came to Croatia. I don’t think we need to fear thousands of Africans. However, the Mujos on our border are a different matter. As or Mujo population grows which is a given since they will flood in once we join the E.U. our society will suffer. Turkey is playing with Neo-Ottoman policies.
I’m here all day Ray….
I love these anonymous posters who like to talk shit behind a 10 foot brick wall.
Does this mean that Vedran Runje will not be our new captain?
I was really looking forward to his contributions on the nat’l team level.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does this mean Kruno won’t be one of the assistant coaches for the Nat Team anymore? Aaaahhh man, I was really looking forward to his contributions on the nat’l team level. hahahaha
I’d love to see Niko Kovac have some sort of role with the NT. All heart and desire.
Cico = Sime
SIME JADNICE
@NKVD, I’ll answer your question, of course more “real” Croatians would make Croatia even better, while more non-Europeans would make Croatia worse. Go ask the Tibetans if more and more Chinese is better for Tibetans; I believe 20 Tibetans have burned themselves alive this year in protest to Chinese “immigration” and “assimilation”.
Imagine if there were a billion more white people on the planet how much more advanced and attractive the world would be. However, in these “progressive” times, the world is totally backwards, which makes me think once it gets turned, it’s going to be merciless and there will be no turning back.
Mandžukić oslobođen optužbi za nacistički pozdrav!
http://is.gd/EBecPC
Modric with another blah game
@ NKVD, African, HAET etc.
I’m sure you took out your finest set of crayons to write your posts before typing them up.
I never said to deport any Croatians.
Nor can Croatia handle the sudden influx of “millions and millions” of people due to infastructual and economic constraints.
What I’am saying is if we can “import” 1,000 of the world’s best chemists, biologists, scientists, engineers, professors etc–regardless of nationality. I’m all for it.
NKVD, African-Croatian
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
@Croatia vs Antwerp
Let’s deport all Croats who aren’t “intellectually talented”, and let’s import millions and millions of “intellectually talented” Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, and Arabians, and we’ll still call it “Croatia”!
You’re a TRAITOR to both your NATION and your RACE.
And my questions still haven’t been answered.
Dinamo=Nothing but trouble . They should get rid of everybody, including Ante B as a fan
@IvicA
Not that I disagree with you because I don’t. But…. I would still rather have Jurcic as an assistant coach than Tudor.
Igor Tudor = A friggin nut job extraordinaire
The message I get from the Jurcic/Mourinho picture is that Jurcic is a poster child for extreme dental work.
@ croathrvat
interesting note about population to tv views for national games. undoubtedly interest in a national team/ sporting culture definitely helps to produce talent in that sport. that being said, the idea that there is no such thing as natural talent is just completely wrong. people have a great dealer of genetic variance. this makes some faster, some stronger, some taller etc etc. it is no coincidence that overwhelming 100mm sprinters are from west african descent and marathon winners are from east african descent like kenya, ehtiopia, uganda etc.
@NKVD
As a Brazilian your question
@Jadni dinamovci
baahhahah Krunoslav what a joke.
Jurcic is a disaster of a player, a coach, an assistant coach…you name it.
He is a prime example of what brown-nosing can do for one’s career.
That photo with Mourinho says it all.
Who will Stimac turn to now that Jurcic is gone? Tudor?? LOL!
After Rakitic scores the winning goal against Macedonia with that awesome long distance free kick, notice how Ivan runs and jumps into the arms of Jurcic not Stimac along with the rest of the players.
I don’t think Jurcic is a great coach by any means and to hire him back at Dinamo is a joke but with all that being said he has better football acumen and knowledge than Stimac and was good to have around as someone to bounce ideas off of.
In the assistant coaching role, Jurcic actually makes sense. As a head coach I am not so sure.
Appoint Gotovina minister of sport in Croatia and have him clean house and take names.
Croatia needs infrastructure on all levels .
Fckn Kruno Jurcic is back in charge of Dinamo. Bwahahahahahahaah. He was fired less than a year ago and they reappointed him. I love Dinamo, but what a joke. Go Rijeka. …
I would bet $1,000 and both my nuts NKVD and African-Croatian are the same person.
have no fear Plavi faithful – ole’ Kruno will take Dinamo to CL glory next year, just like he did last year. You heard it hear first.
I looked at the calendar today and it’s not April Fools.
Cacic out.
Dinamo’s new coach? Krunoslav fucking Jurcic.
MAMICU CIGANE ODLAZI IZ SVETINJE!
@ African
Why the hell would we be importing 2 million random people from the third world with no job skills in the first place?
What we need are more people who can add value to Croatia. Whether it be more engineers, scientists, mathmeticians, computer scientists, professors, doctors etc.
More Intellectual talent basically.
And yes they can be from the third world or other European nations. So long as they add value to Croatia, and are not on the Dole draining our resources.
CroatHrvat – “I don’t think there is any such thing as ‘natural talent’.”
Of course not, you were born with the same brain power as Isaac Newton, except you squandered it. And it’s just a “coincidence” that the olympic sprint teams for predominately white countries who have a black minorities are black. LMFAO!
@Ziva, yes of course, all those Germans, Italians, Dutch, Spaniards, etc, players are so poor; they grow up kicking a head of lettuce around a garbage dump.
@CroatHrvat, you didn’t answer my questions though. Are you saying that if Croatia imported 2 million random people from the third world who have “passion” for soccer, the the NT would be just as good compared to if there were 2 million more REAL Croats?
The answer to question #1 is NO NO NO! Ethnic and Racial purity is BAD, Nationalism is BAD, it’s Facistic!
The answer to question #2 is YES YES YES! Diversity is our greatest Strength! We are a melting pot! Wait, did I just contradict myself? OMG! My entire life my entire world view has been predicated on double think! Oh well, it’s not my problem, alls I can do is SCREAM to keep away the demolition men as I frantically try to plug all the leaky holes in the dike!
question #1……only if those kids were born into poor or lower middle class families in Croatia. The best athletes when it comes to soccer are those poor in poverty. That is why the diapsora hrvati from N. America will never contribute athletically to Croatia; they are fat and lazy.
@ NKVD
This is something I have thought about for a very long time. I disagree with your answer to question 1. I don’t think there is any such thing as ‘natural talent’. I think being gifted is a by product of your intensity and love for a particular activity. The reason for Croatia’s success if you ask me is the intensity of love for football. I heard somewhere that Croatia is ranked number one when it comes to population:tv views when it comes to the national team. This suggests that regardless of how small the population is, the following is huge and this following in the male population leads to the kids being involved in the game from an early age.
I live in England and I can tell you that the following is not huge, people don’t follow the national team religiously like we do. There is no talent here and the national team is only going to get worse, the politics has been liberalised and there is a huge emergence of gay culture, celebrity worshipping, reality tv shows etc. which doesn’t really compliment football fans. When I look at my friends circle it is my foreign friends that are more passionate about football instead of my English friends.
The decline in the national team in Croatia will only occur when the fans start paying less attention to the national team. Until then the pipeline of talent will keep spitting out very good players and the occasional world class one.
I have questions for Croats:
1) If for some strange reason Croats started having big families and Croatia’s population increased by a couple million real CROATS over time, would the Vatreni be more consistently better?
2) If Croatia started importing a random population to about a couple million from every corner of the globe and gave them Croatian citizenship, would the NT be more consistently better?
———————————————————————–
My personal opinion is the answer to question #1 is obvious, it’s simple math. The answer is unequivocally YES, more REAL Croats means a larger talent pool to choose from.
My answer to question #2 is actually NO. Without getting into details, I’m just going to say that pouring a random population (especially people of non-European descent) into Croatia would destroy ‘national feelings’ amongst REAL Croats and the non-Europeans would be less than loyal to a European State. So I actually believe the NT wouldn’t even be able to maintain the precedent it has set since ’94. I think the team would actually get worse and quite frankly, the Nation itself would be destroyed.
I’m very interested to hear your answers. Thanks.
Simuliranje Halilovića prevarilo suca, ali ne i javnost
http://is.gd/14nQ43
Mamić se razotkrio: ‘Za tu cifru? Ma ni lijevu Halilovićevu nogu’
http://is.gd/vV5OqY
Iličević se vraća u utorak protiv Schalkea?
http://is.gd/QZQ6J1
Dinamo loses to the worst team . Ha ha ha
Italians looking in Hrvatska
http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2012/11/atalanta-send-scouting-delegation-to-croatia/
My Rijeka 2nd in the table this week. Just sayinnnnn
To put a spin on one of my favorite haters quotes:
“Bog i Hrvati i Rijeka i Knicks”!!
😉
I watched too mamicu hahah CIRO PEDERU CIRO PEDERU LEGENDOOOOOOOOOOOOO
God bless for watching this sranje. You deserve a medal.
What a joke that game was. The ref clearly favoring Dinamo and they still can’t beat NKZ. How pathetic is that? Cacic isn’t making it out of November as manager.
Ciro doing well against Dinamo, 1-0 with 10 minutes to go.
lol. ultra fascist views
Pletikosa is injured and subbed off at 32min….Hope he stays injury free
Lol. Anonymous having trouble figuring out my comment.
IvicA, you think you have it all figured out don’t you, IdioT?
Uh oh.
Mario Gomez just came off the bench (in place of Mandzukic) and scored in less than a minute after being subbed on.
Couple this with Mandzukic’s ultra-facist views, and it looks like Mario just lost his starting spot.
😉
Bayern is up 3-0, Mandzo has a yellow and no goals
Petric is starting for Fulham.
What about petric today?