ENGLAND
Photo: PA
In an early season matchup for Champions League position, Nikica Jelavić and Everton left it late to stun Tottenham at Goodison Park, scoring not one, but two injury time goals in a 2-1 victory. After going down in the 76th minute to a Clint Dempsey deflected strike, Everton plugged away and got the equalizer through a 90th minute Steven Pienaar header to make the game 1-1. Two minutes later, Everton’s Apostolos Vellios whipped in a cross from the right side to the center of the box, where Jelavić found the pacing ball to one-time it into the back of the net for his only shot on goal.
Jelavić ran over to Everton fans, went crazy with them, was yellow carded for the celebration and was subbed off one minute later. With the win, Everton now climb to fourth position in England, tied with Tottenham and West Brom on points, having the better goal differential. The season is nearly half complete. Can we start talking about Everton making a push for the Champions League next season?
Jelavić winner @ 1:22
Mladen Petrić and Fulham face Newcastle United on Monday Night Football in England from Craven Cottage (3PM ET.) Can Fulham start pulling themselves out from the bottom half of the table?
ITALY
Vukušić goal (1:35)
Ante Vukušić is on the board in Italy! The 21 year-old former Hajduk Split star scored his first goal in Serie A for Pescara in a 2-0 win over Genoa on Sunday. Vukušić received a pass from Vladimir Weiss in the middle of the box and the Croatian left-footed past Genoa keeper Sebastien Frey to make it 2-0 in the 73rd minute. Frey got a hand on it but appeared to see the ball late. Vukušić ripped off his shirt and celebrated with his bench, earning a yellow card in the process. It was only Pescara’s fourth win of the season, bringing them to the brink of safety in Serie A.
Livaja goals at 0:05 and 0:40
Marko Livaja remained on the bench in Inter Milan’s 2-1 Serie A win over Napoli on Sunday, bringing the Nerazzurri only four points behind leaders Juventus. However, the 19 year-old Croatian striker received the start on Thursday in Europa League vs. Nefchi Baku, scoring twice in a 2-2 draw. The kid is capitalizing on his few chances in Milan as Inter chase the Scudetto. Although he won’t see much playing time in league play, Livaja has shown his worth in Europa League. Inter Milan finished the group second and will be unseeded for the December 20th knockout round draw.
SPAIN
Ivan Rakitić scored his fourth goal of the season for Sevilla in their 2-2 draw to Espanyol. After Baba Diawara was brought down in the area, the ref pointed to the spot and Ivan stepped up and placed it into the bottom-right corner. Sevilla went down to ten men 15 minutes later and were on the back foot for the rest of the game, limiting Ivan’s influence, but he was able to force a tough save from Cristian Alvarez late in the game. Sevilla are 11th through 15 games and five points out of the final Europa League spot.
Rakitić penalty @ 1:15
Luka Modrić was used as a sub Saturday in the 62nd minute with Real Madrid trailing Real Valladolid and he helped Los Galacticos overturn the deficit and secure all three points in a 3-2 victory. Luka made a few good runs and his ball to Benzema lead to the free kick from which Real took the lead. Real remain in 3rd as both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid picked up wins over the weekend. They play a Copa Del Rey (round of 16) match against Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
Germany
Photo: AP/Matthias Schrader
Bayern München have one hand on the Bundesliga trophy after defeating Augsburg 2-0 on Saturday and holding an 11-point lead over second place Bayer Leverkusen. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Mario Mandžukić, started and played 60 minutes in the win but failed to score his tenth Bundesliga goal. Mario now drops to fourth on the Bundesliga scoring leaders list. The 26-year-old, Croatian international has been on a four game goal drought and has Mario Gomez breathing on his neck for a chance to replace him in the starting lineup.
Well it looks like Borussia Dortmund will not be repeating as Bundesliga champs this year after suffering a shock 3-2 home defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday. Dortmund were reduced to 10 players after Marcel Schmelzer picked up a straight red card in the 35th minute and giving up a what was then a game tying penalty kick to Diego. Ivan Perišić checked in at halftime to give Dormund some fresh legs and they did manage to equalize in the 61st minute of play from the spot. However, Dost would score the game winner for Wolfsburg ten minutes later. Ivan did what he could playing with a man down and finished the match with one shot on goal. Dortmund are 14 points back of Bayern for the Bundesliga crown.
Ivica Olić was left off the squad by Wolfsburg. No word on why Ivica didn’t travel to Dortmund. Srdjan Lakić failed to come off the bench for Wolfsburg in the win.
PHOTO: European cy
Hamburger SV continue to move up the Bundesliga ladder and are now only three points behind Frankfurt for the final Champions League spot after an impressive 2-0 win over Hoffenheim on Friday. Former Dinamo Zagreb defensive midfielder, Milan Badelj, started and played the full 90 minutes in the win. Milan helped HSV register their sixth shutout of the season but left the pitch limping after injuring himself just minutes before the final whistle. Reports out of Hamburg suggest that Badelj pulled a thigh muscle and is listed as questionable against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Ivo Iličević failed to come off the bench for Hamburg.
Ivan Klasnić was left on the bench for Mainz in a 2-0 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday.
RUSSIA
Stipe Pletikosa was in net for FC Rostov as they lost a tough one to Krasnodar 2-3. Rostov will feel hard done to have conceded three and Pleti should have done better on the second but he did make a few key saves in the second half. Rostov head into winter break in 11th place.
Krasnodar goals at 0:00, 1:00, 1:35
Vedran Ćorluka went the distance and picked up a yellow card as Slaven Bilić’s Lokomotiv lost 1-0 to Volga Nizhny in their final match before the winter break. Vedran was not at fault for the goal as Lokomotiv head into the break in 6th, right in the thick of the competition for Europa League spots.
Tomislav Dujmović started and played 52 minutes in Mordovia’s 2-1 away loss to CSKA Moscow. He was subbed off in an attacking move for Ruslan Mukhametshin, a striker. It was Mordovia’s eighth consectutive loss as they head into winter break with lots of work to do. They have taken only 9 points from 19 matches and face 2 of the top three teams right off the bat when the league returns in March.
FRANCE
Lyon keep on rolling in France while defender Dejan Lovren (above) heals a hip/thigh injury he picked up on November 16th. He is expected back on January 4th. In his absence this week, Lyon defeated Israeli club Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 on Thursday in Europa League; good enough to top the group. On Sunday, Lyon survived an early 2nd half red card to defeat Saint-Etienne 1-0 to move them five points clear of PSG atop the Ligue 1 table.
Next Matches:
Wednesday, 12/12
Real Madrid at Celta de Vigo(Copa Del Rey), Sevilla at Mallorca(Copa Del Rey), Nancy at Olympique Lyonnais, Rostov at Alaniya, Lokomotiv Moskva at Dinamo Moskva
Friday, 12/14
Borussia Mönchengladbach at Bayern München
Saturday, 12/15
Everton at Stoke City, Fulham at Queens Park Rangers, Hamburger SV at Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart at Mainz 05, Frankfurt at Wolfsburg, Málaga at Sevilla,
Sunday, 12/16
Borussia Dortmund at Hoffenheim, Pescara at Milan, Espanyol at Real Madrid, Olympique Lyonnais at PSG,
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
@tiny piso , go play with it
“Vatreni” protiv Južne Koreje u veljači
http://is.gd/RF7szH
@19Tornado65
Re: Modric being half-Serb
Those are just your typical Cro rumours. Same nonsense as when they called Milan Badelj a Serb, until he gave that interview dismissing it as idiocy.
Modric’s mom’s father was actually killed by Serbs during the war.
Galaxy
What the hell happen to Sifo Dinamo moskva was a bad move hes better than that Trust him more than Lovren I hope Kokalovic and Pavlovic move to dinamo just so IS call them they 2 good and also Reanto Kelic good
Schifo poručio: ‘Zovu me iz Premiershipa, ali da me želi Dinamo, ne bih ga mogao odbiti!’
http://is.gd/nKXyML
Come on, lets be fair. Hrvati born in BiH or the diaspora are still hrvati.
@ Ziva True why not only small pinpeks dont fuck anything that moves Imaju pravo
Look at this team not one of the 11 are pure croatians hahaha Subasic(serb)-Srna-Corluka Lovren Simunic -Halilovic all mujos Vukojevic serb Ademi albanian Sammir Eduardo brazil Rakitic swiss Jelavic Herceg.
@Bobby V………..not true. If you are a Bosnian, you would have to be very encouraged by this. Same way we were encouraged when Rakitic kept putting off a decision with the Swiss. Again, we’ll see what happens. I have no insight on Halilovic’s decision other than reading all the indicators which point to BiH. Could mean nothing.
@19Tornado65…….not a big deal. His mom has a true serbo name in Radojka. We have had serbs and half serbs on the repka. So, its not an issue at all. Plus, its no surprise with him being from the Zadar area. Half the men from ZD bang anything that walks (serbs, hrvatice, czech toursits, sea life, and holes int he wall).
You guys know Luka Modrics Mom is a ethnic serb pravoslavka from Obrovac
Somewhere there is a Bosnian Ziva saying “I know that Halilovic is going to choose Croatia. If he were a true Bosanac, he would have chosen Bosnia already…..why the delay? I don’t want him now anyway.” 🙂
Saw a Croatian flag at the World Club tournament soccer match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Al-Ahly and realized that Mihael Mikic is playing for the Japanese club.
Did Jelavic ever give that hat back to the Everton supporter?
Ziva,
I’m stealing your last line there and using it on my wife next time we get into a Zagreb vs. Hercegovina debate. She might get pissed and I might have to sleep outside but seeing her expression would be completely worth it.
@ Ziva tooooo svaka cast you are a true Croat you passed my test!
@bandit…………who you kidding, hercegovci have their own country. it’s called Zagreb.
@T.O.Cro………..I never said I was big hrvat, I only maintain that I am an educated hrvat. I have already lived in Cro for an extended period of time and continue to have business intrests in the country. I have no desire to return and live full time until I hit retirement age. The business culture is disturbing.
Same goes for Bosnians.
Why do hercegovians play for croatia but there is country called BIH?
Balić je gospodin, a gospoda ne razgovaraju sa govnima
HDZ POKRALA DRZAVU I SPORT! IVANO BALIC NOT ON LIST FOR HANDBALL WC
My childrens Magic 8 ball just said that he will choose Croatia so thats good enough for me.
@T.O.Cro
Hvala.
Actually, look at the bottom of the soccer website and who they got the article from… I didn’t realize index.hr wasn’t a “news portal”.
Ziva, if your such a big Croat consider moving here as I think you’d learn a lot. There’s a pretty big expat community…
or they tell it to you without any BS or homer glasses on.
The media in Cro is crap, but the sports media is slightly better although they have a tendancy to act as cheerleaders instead of unbiased reporters. Last thing I want to hear is somebody openly rooting. Instead, I want to have the sports news delivered without an agenda.
The same message you posted pops up all the time when the majority hears something in the media they dont like. This publication or website is jew-owned or this website is serb-owned. Just because they are owned by serbs or zidovi doesn’t mean the content is wrong.
While that Halolovic article is garbage, it comes from a soccer website, not a news organization.
The overall media is junk in Cro. We had the media in the country hiding many things after the war, but some of the things they were reporting on was the corruption by Tudjman’s people and HDZ who cloaked themselves in the flag and claimed they were patriotic. These ass clowns turned around and said the media were jugo-lovers (they may have been) to discredit their message/news. But, at the end of the day they were correct.
@Anonymous, this article shows you what a farce Croatian journalism is. That was pulled off of a fb page that may/may not be Alen Halilovic’s. Either way, it never states what the headline states directly, it’s just sensationalism. just It’s the way it’s unfortunately done here. Most lazy journalists just translate english articles and then take credit. Cro media is run by either Jews or Serbs (not to sound like Wallace, HAET or whatever the fu@k his name is) and it’s not to be believed. Not even the weather, maybe the obituary is the only believable thing, MAYBE. Then, you have trolls come on this site, because they could read Yugoslavian, they regurgitate what they read and pretend they’re some big Hrvati because they spread this Yugo pessimism from their basements…or mother’s basements…so, instead of uniting Croatians like this website intended, they accomplish the opposite. Just so they could pretend they’re always right, because most people know that that’s not the case…
Halilović: Neću se odazvati Štimcu ako me sada pozove
http://is.gd/uyOuUN
@Elvis…….players receive a bonus/payout for reaching the WC and Euros and also receive money based on how far they advance. Different federations have different arrnagements, but for Cro I think its been around a 50/50 split or 40/60 split in favor of the federation. Lets say Hrvatska gets 8 million euros for making it to the WC, that 8 million gets divided between the federation and the players. The federation gets 50% while the players/coaches/support staff split the other 50%.
Now, could there be some under the table sranje taking place to get Halilovic to select one side over the other. Anything is possible with the Balkans.
I’ll just go by his own words…..he has yet to make up his mind. That to me says it all. He does not consider himself to be a hrvat (and I have no issue with that because he is a product of a mized marriage). If he was a hrvat it would be easy to say, yes, of course I will play for Cro.
Too ahead of himself. He is sixteen! You were probably just learning to masterbate at that age!?!? Just kidding!
Why does he have to make a decision now? Where is that the rule? Has he even received the call? Drmic decided for Switzerland at 18. Maybe, he likes the attention by dragging out. The drama? It has really got him a lot of exposure…
His coaches, who SEE HIM EVERYDAY, say without a doubt he will be playing for CRO. If you don’t want him, because you THINK there is doubt, then good for us that you don’t make any decisions. 😉
@Elvis I am sure that some people have been swayed by money while contemplating places to play (the Sharbini brothers while considering Palestine comes to mind). But, on the up and up, the only money to be earned is you get paid when you are present for a game and the bonuses at tournaments…
Too ahead of himself. He is sixteen! You were probably just learning to masterbate at that age!?!? Just kidding!
Why does he have to make a decision now? Where is that the rule? Has he even received the call? Drmic decided for Switzerland at 18. Maybe, he likes the attention by dragging out. The drama? It has really got him a lot of exposure…
His coaches, who SEE HIM EVERYDAY, say without a doubt he will be playing for CRO. If you don’t want him, because you THINK there is doubt, then good for us that you don’t make any decisions. 😉
@Elvis I am sure that some people have been swayed by money while contemplating places to play (the Sharbini brothers while considering Palestine comes to mind). But, on the up and up, the only money to be earned is you get paid when you are present for a game and the bonuses at tournaments…
Excuse my ignornace but is there any money involved with playing for an NT? Could it be possiable that Hali and his Dad are holding out for some Kuna?
too ahead of himself???????? what the hell does that mean. If he is committed to Hrvatska there would be no debate on his part.
We’ll see, maybe the dinamo coaches are correct. But, if this kid was really committed to Cro he would come out and say it. There is no reason for him not to come out and say he will play for Cro unless there is real doubt on his part. I think there is doubt and because of that I don’t want the kid.
The kid is 16 and already plays for the Cro juniors, had an open invite to play for the BiH U21’s and didn’t show up…
Again, the kid is only 16 and maybe he doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself. He will prolly decide by 18… But, my contacts, who see him daily said Cro is a sure thing!
@ELVIS………..apples and oranges. I have no issue with him playing/staying at Dinamo if he selects BiH. Dinamo is a club team. Dinamo has had muslims on their squad before who have played for BiH. That is not the issue.
@Evo……I don’t want to take this into a political/ethnic discussion, but those Wahhabis are a loud minority in BiH. Most mujos in BiH don’t care about religion, but because of the Saudi dollars that have come into the country you do have a very vocal minority that preaches that shit.
The informal leader of Wahhabis in BiH, Nusret Imamovic, recently said that BiH should be regulated by Sharia law.
“Islam has an unbreakable bond with the policy. For us, the highlight of Islam is jihad. Allah loves those who fight in his way,” Imamovic said at the “Extremism, terrorism-volume and headings” forum held in Sarajevo on September 23rd.
This is coming to a beach resort near you Croats!!
@Ziva
If he doesn’t want to play then he can kindly go play his youth ball in say Turkey. I don’t like Janissaries running around Croatia.
How come you never see a Catholic man marry a Muslim women?
Hmmm…..
@Ivica………i don’t understand why any hrvat would complain if the kid picks BiH. If he picks BiH, he obviously doesn’t consider himself a hrvat and to me that means good riddance. I don’t want him on my repka if he doesn’t want to play for Cro or even if he has to debate or be begged to play for cro.
Until this kid makes his call, I’ll keep believing what somebody else has already said: Why the hold up in announcing where he will play. If he was committed to Cro, he would come out and already say it.
The best part of this is that I have a loser of a cousin back in Cro who actually sent Halilovic a message on his FB page asking/begging/hoping that he will select Cro. Safe to say that family member has lost it. Jock sniffing has moved its way even into my extended family.
I spoke to a couple of Halilovic’s coaches at Dinamo ZG and they say Alen will play for Croatia 8 million percent!!!
@Black Zodiac:
Thanks. Here is another recent one I get a kick out of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD_e3Ag8lN8&feature=plcp
Štimac: Od sada šutim, moram štititi svoju državu i igrače! Do Walesa neću medijski istupati
Stimac and his Halilovic plan?
http://is.gd/wBhTHf
Ziva – Is Rakitic a full blooded hrvat, or is he half swiss? If he’s full blooded it’s a bit different. Halilovic is half Croatian, so may have more of a connection to the land he was born, raised, and schooled in soccer in than Rakitic did. Plus, it benefited us. Why would you hear any of us bitch about it?
If this kid picks bih, I’m melting down like Chernobyl.
@Ziva
Croatia has given, just as much as it had received.
Switzerland got themselves Gavranovic and Drmic. I consider that a pretty good gift to them and will help them become a decent footballing nation (from being a non-existent one). Yes they were born there, but I doubt the Swiss would have as much hope in their footballing future without the first generation Swiss Croats (as well as Swiss Albanians) enriching their squad.
Other examples include Sweden getting themselves players like Ibrahimovic and Lucic. Ivica Vastic for Austria. Fredi Bobic for Germany. Belgium and Strupar. Mark Viduka for Australia (along with like 50 percent of their squads). Even one of Canada’s more notable players were Croats.
Anyway, there are plenty of better examples of professional Croat athletes becoming notable players in other countries. It’s only natural that they pay us a bit of a reparation for it with a defector or two.
Now you can suggest that Halilovic should be payment for us taking BiH’s players in the past, but when it comes to the Kashmir of the Balkans (aka BiH) you can’t take borders too seriously and you gauge that country based on ethnicity. I don’t consider guys like Lovren and Corluka as anything but Croats, and I’ll bet you that most Bosnjaci would agree with me on that.
As for Bosnjaci representing Cro, and Croats representing Bosna…they’ve used much more of our boys than we have theirs.
Alen Halilovic has every right to go play for BiH if he wants to, but Ziva man, don’t pretend like no Croat has the right to complain about it, because they do.
@ Jack V
It appears that he has good potential with speed. Good ball control for a youngster & not afraid to push.
Proof that my almost 5 year old pays attention during games.
I showed a clip of Ibrahimovic manhandling some opponents and he immediately emulated itl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSzKgV0hiTU&feature=plcp
I doubt he has been to a church or a mosque in the last five years.
Just prepare for the board meltdown when this kid decides to play for BIH. Nobody bitched when rakitic elected cro over the land where he was born, raised and schooled in soccer. Same situation here as he will decide on BIH.
@croFoSho
Well, using the Ibrahimovic and/or Srna theory:
Muslim father + Catholic mother = Catholic offspring
anyone know if halilovic is catholic of muslim?
i agree with ziva that i’ll take that article on halilovic with a big grain of salt. he didn’t actually say anything. his alleged best friend allegedly posted on his own Facebook profile that halilovic decide biH and that halilovic allegedly agreed to letting his friend post it on his profile. all very suspicious. after all the hoopla over where halilovic will play, i have skepticism that he would decide to announce it through his friends Facebook page
@ Toni
There is something powerful when your #9 is all about the shirt!
@ CSR
You guys are holding it down!
Great coverage on all our boys around Europe.
I wouldn’t base anythign on that Halilovic article.
I still think he picks BiH because all indicators are leaning that way.
Apologies, posted a link to the Everton v. Spurs clash with 10 minutes of HD game highlights… without posting the link.
Here it is for those interested: http://www.soccerhighlightstoday.com/2012/12/everton-2-1-tottenham-hotspur-barclays.html
Jela hands out about 10 high fives.
I call BS on that article.
@JM – Guess our guys are just trouble makers all over the world lol. That or that’s a damn stupid rule and they should be allowed to celebrate as they please. What is this, the NFL?
Alen Halilović igrat će za Bosnu i Hercegovinu!
http://scsport.ba/vijest/47362
@ colin i agree. i just found it funny . seems like whether its england (jelavic), italy (vukusic) or germany (mandzo), a croat can’t celebrate a goal without getting in trouble!
Ah, that’s no big deal. It was Vukusic’s first goal in Italy. Of course he’d celebrate a lot. And Jelevic?? He won the game for his team in the dying seconds of the match, after being down all game. That goal was huge! Of course he’d celebrate that with all intensity. I would take that yellow card all day.
not a good sign when its so rare for your nt players to score nowadays that they both get carded in celebration??? (jelavic, vukusic)
good to see these guys back on the board. or in vukusics case, on the board period.
Here’s a link showing about 10 minutes of HD highlights from the 2-1 Everton W over Spurs. Shows all the goals, celebrations, plus post game comments from the managers.
@ Vedran C., I don’t think it’s fair to say Mandzukic has ‘peaked’. Gomez was there before Mario #2 arrived and simply has more seniority than Mario, a lot more.
Mandzukic is in a great place career-wise; he has proven his worth in a short period of time for Bayern and subsequently his value has increased. I expect a lot of clubs are eyeing him and will have to front more than 13 million EUros for his signature.
Bayern need the depth he gives them up front. He hasn’t really gotten ‘cold’, more like he’s moved aside for now to allow Gomez to get back in form (which he has) and rest up for the second half of the season.
If Everton had the cash I’d like to see him go to Goodison Park. Forget 4, top 3 finish for sure!
“that is a version of what is known as a Za Dom GRB,” haha nice gotta love David Diehl half hrvat knows that its always bijelo prvo!
l
vukusic scored his first goal for pescara
Is Ivica Peros Roger Maras reincarnated?
Maras
http://is.gd/JHQJzd
Peros
http://is.gd/UfMaqT
I want to report an Ivica Peros sighting in Astoria on 30th Avenue
is the dude still part of Team CSR? What is he anyway? Dalmo? Istrian?
Fox Sports did a nice piece on David Diehl’s tats. http://msn.foxsports.com/lacesout/inked-up-giants-david-diehl/
Wesley Sneijder signs with PSG!
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/sneijder-prelazi-u-psg/651319.aspx
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvqe5d_eve2-1spur-spherachannel_sport
Jelavic winner
Jelavic scores an injury time winner vs Tottenham
Vukusic nets his first for Pescara
@Cico…….is winning a a game in the HNL really a win????
@Cico who cares?
Hajduk WINS
Looks like both Mandzo and Jelavic are taking Christmas vacation early with a goal-scoring cold spell this past month. Ozil scoring twice probably isn’t good news for Modric either.
Oh well, so long as they’re ready in March. That’s all I care about.
People were jumping on me when I said that Mandzukic had peaked at Bayern….
looks like gomez scores right awya in the 63rd for bayern when entering the game. he keeps that up and it could be trouble for mandzo
@19Tornado65
Faaack! Thanks for reminding me of that turnover…
Can we stop with that even if he scored Spain Probably would have scored the ref would have done even more for them to get a point or win, I dont forgive Rakitic for 1008 when all he had to doo was sit on the ball drill it to slovenia from that stadium but he goes for a counter losses the ball and we all know what the turks did, any way i think Corluka should shoot penalties!
For the natinal team i mean!
What about Rakitic giving Luka a header while taking a penalty, or i will if he scores!
I am open to Rakitic taking PKs for us……However, I am not open to Rakitic taking headers for us.
Good shit Marko, scoring for a big club means something no matter what, keep it up, Raki take the next penalty for the national team!