Germany
Mario Mandžukić celebrates after scoring his second goal against Greuther on Saturday
It was men against boys at the Allianz Arena on Saturday as Bayern München outclassed SpVgg Greuther Furth 2-0 in the first Bundesliga game of 2013. Super Mario Mandžukić started and played 85 minutes in the win. The former Dinamo Zagreb striker scored both of the goals and earned player of the game honors from Bild. Mario opened up the scoring in the 26th minute of play as his close shot from the right side somehow managed to beat SpVgg Greuther Furth keeper and into the back of the net. Just after the hour mark, Mario would double the score with a beautiful header off a Toni Kroos corner. Bayern finished the match with a 70-30 possession advantage and 17-0 corner kick advantage.
“There are reasons (for my good form) of course. I worked very hard in the off-season. I did that for me, because I know if I am fit, I am strong. I can help the team and do my job the best I can and I think I’ve done well today.”
~Mario Mandžukić
“I just said to him that he is the kind of striker who needs to work for his goals. He needs to run, to offer himself. Than he is in the game and is in the right frame of mind to convert his chances.”
~Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes
Mario Mandžukić goals
Photo: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen
Ivica Olić flops against Stuttgart on Saturday
Ivica Olić’ goal scoring drought continues after failing to reach the back of the net against Stuttgart on Saturday. The former Dinamo Zagreb striker started and played the full 90 minutes, finishing with only 1 shot and committing five fouls. Ivica hasn’t scored a Bundesliga goal since October 27th.
PHOTO: European cy
Ivan Perišić(left) makes his Bundesliga debut for Wolfsburg
Ivan Perišić made his Bundesliga debut for Wolfsburg after transferring from Dortmund during the winter transfer window. The 23-year-old winger started on the right wing and came close to scoring twice. Srdjan Lakić was left off the squad by Wolfsburg.
HSV missed out on three points and had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Nürnberg after giving up an equalizing goal in the 75th minute of play. Former Dinamo Zagreb midfielder, Milan Badelj, started the match and played the full 90 minutes for HSV in the draw. Milan played well and wasn’t at fault for the goal. Ivo Iličević failed to get into the game and watched from the bench.
Ivan Klasnić looked on from the bench as Mainz and Freiburg split the points in a scoreless draw. Mateo Pavlović also looked on from the bench as Werder Bremen were embarrassed by Dortmund 5-0 on Saturday.
SPAIN
Ivan Rakitić started and played 85 minutes in Sevilla’s 1-1 draw with Getafe on Saturday. Rakitić was lively throughout and picked up his team high 4th assist on Sevilla’s lone goal. He led the team with three chances created and 61 passes. He played Jose Reyes through in the 40th minute with a great backheel in a tight area. The point leaves Sevilla in 12th in La Liga. They have the crucial second leg of their quarterfinal Copa Del Rey tie against Real Zaragoza on Wednesday.
Luka Modrić was subbed on for Mesut Ozil in the 67th minute of Real Madrid’s 5-0 drubbing of Valencia, with Real already up 5-0. Luka went 13-13 with his passes, creating two chances. Look for him to get the start in Real’s cup tie midweek. They remain seven points out of second and 15 off Barcelona.
England
Fulham couldn’t get anything going against a much better Manchester City team on Saturday, falling 2-0 in front of 47,286 at Etihad Stadium. Croatian international, Mladen Petrić, came on in the 72nd minute of play for Fulham but failed to register a shot because of limited service.
France
Olympique Lyonnais dropped into a tie with PSG atop the Ligue 1 table after dropping points to Evian in a scoreless tie on Friday. Former Dinamo Zagreb defender, Dejan Lovren, didn’t have to take off his warmups for this one as the 23-year-old defender watched from the sidelines.
Italy
After opening up 2013 with an impressive 2-0 win over Fiorentina, Pescara have dropped two straight after getting shutout 2-0 by Torino on Sunday at home. Ante Vukušić came off the bench in the 74th minute of play but finished the match without a shot on goal. The former Hajduk Split striker was not to blame as Pescara played with 10 players for the final 10 minutes after Vladimir Weiss picked up his second yellow card. With the loss, Pescara remain three points clear of relegation.
Next Matches:
Wednesday, 1/23
Real Madrid at Valencia(Copa del Rey), Real Zaragoza at Sevilla(Copa del Rey)
Friday, 1/25
Olympique Lyonnais at Valenciennes
Saturday, 1/26
Everton at Bolton Wanderers(FA Cup), Fulham at Manchester United(FA Cup), Mainz 05 at Greuther Fürth, Wolfsburg at Hannover 96
Sunday, 1/27
Bayern München at Stuttgart, Werder Bremen at Hamburger SV, Pescara at Sampdoria, Getafe at Real Madrid
Monday, 1/28
Granada at Sevilla
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
‘Derbi Istoka’: Šahtar srušio Zenit, Dudu zabio na asistenciju Srne!
http://is.gd/0WdbsA
HAJDUK JE SPAŠEN! Josip Radošević potpisuje za Napoli, Hajduku 3 milijuna eura
http://is.gd/ymedLD
Interesting that Son Heung-Min gets to represent South Korea but Badelj does not get the opportunity to play for Hrvatska as they are both Hamburg players.
the guy trying to tackle perisic in the picture looks like corluka
Dinamo fans might enjoy that link.
for all Hajduk fans!
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/drustvo-prijateljica-hajduka-18/658366.aspx
I was hoping Badelj would play in the friendly. He is far-and-away the best DM we’ve had since Niko Kovac and is a massive upgrade over bums like Vukojevic and Dujmovic, and a big upgrade over the young Radosevic right now.
He will still likely start against the Serbs, but I want to see him develop more of that chemistry with Luka and the rest of our midfield. I really want us to start playing a five-man midfield with Perisic, Badelj, Rakitic, Modric, and Srna and the lone Mandzukic up front. That’s a nasty lineup.
Bayern has been playing the same style for a while, with different coaches.
I wouldn’t be so sure that Pep is going to change everything.
Come on Guys we are the best for a country of 4 million come on we are the best at everything IDEMO, Kovacic will be ok player Bundesliga clubs IMO Halilovic will choose in 2 yers time on his 18th birthday and we will see, you know what Ireland Scotland Wales whould do to be like us man for a corrupt small country be happy with what we have! Small country big hearts
I’m still sipping on the Kovacic kool-aid. Haven’t given up on him yet. Still really young, and you can only be so good playing in the HNL. Let’s see how he finishes up this season. Worst case scenario, he as a nice career ahead of him being the on-field representative of Mamic.
Also, my gut is saying Halilovic will join the repka over BiH. I could just be spouting BS, but despite his father, it just seems to be the logical choice.
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/mateo-kovacic-pokosio-sammira-/1080214/ my hero kovacic
I think Vida will be OK long term. One of those guys that is steady enough to be on the repka for a while. His problem has always been mental. He needs to find new friends, because when he is in ZG all he does is enjoy the nightlife. Which is fine, but it impacts his game.
I was never sold on Vrsaljko.
can’t agree with you more…
I was drinking the Perisic Kool-Aid the past few years thinking he would really blow up and be a rock in the middle for club and country, but he couldn’t get a spot in Dortmund and he really hasn’t cemented a spot with the repka either… Same with Vida and Vrsaljko…
you never know what the future holds……
in 5 years Modric will be 31 and on the tail end of his carrer (although, speed is not an important part of his game and I cna easily see him becoming a poor man’s Pirlo.)
On paper, that does look like a decent MF, but we have no clue if Halilovic and Kovacic will make it at a higher level. I have more faith that Halilovic will be a much better player than Kovacic. Right now, I don’t see anything special about Kovacic.
I think he’ll end up with them too…
but what a midfield it would be in 4-5 years (if the kids pan out) – Halilovic/Modric/Badelj/Kovacic/Perisic
nasty, in my book
Jelavic with another goalless game. From the chunks of the game I was able to watch, he’s not even getting the ball close to him. He did save his team today by sweeping a ball off the line though.
Croatia onto the next round. They took care of Belarus today. The French are next…should be a good one.
No, did not decide. He said he would pass up on the invite to watch the BiH friendly. I still think he picks BiH when it coems time for him to make a call.
why is Nikola Kalinic still getting call-ups? dude is gonna be like Jerko Leko when it’s all said and done – have 50-60 caps and never once could you remember what he contributed
@ ziva
might of missed the Halilovic announcement, but he decided on BiH?
@ Ziva Madzo is gonna leave bayern because Hes croatian Guardiola dosnt know where we are on the Map to him Croatia is like Latvia, and also you are right Ademi and wedding boy dont deserve call but Kovacic i will let slide for experience even if hes still young has has alot to prove, Badelj no call im shocked proble im hoping hamburg requested not for him to get called up, guys who should not be on list IMO are Sammir Vida Kranjcar Vukojevic Kalinic Maloca Olic, instead Kokalovic Pavlovic Kreliach Pamic Livaja Ilicevic if health,
B&H need to make moves like that if they want to continue to move to the next level, they could learn a few things from us lol.
Also Manzo will have a horrible time next year with Pep, if I were him id be looking to cash in on this great season and make a move to England, his height and style will do well on a mid level team, and he might even get a raise in the process. Pep doesn’t like to use strikers like him, even the other Mario will need to start looking for a new gig….
I know its a friendly, but I am still a bit shocked that Kovacic, Ademi & the wedding boy got called up. None of the three deserve to play for the repka based on what we have seen from them. Kovacic is no where near the hype that he has received. But, again, its friendly so this is the time to experiment.
Interesting move what BiH is doing. They have a freindly with Slovenia and they have invited four players who currently play for the youth national teams of other countries to come and watch the game and talk with the BiH savez about their future. We all know about Halilovic (who wont attend), but other expected to attend are the two Swiss-based player Seferovic and Hajrovic and Kolasinac from germany.
after this friendly with the Koreans, is next game the showdown vs. our friends to the east?
Hamburg requested that Badelj stay with the club rather than play in the Korea friendly and Stimac listened
With Pep going to Bayern next season, I wonder what that means for Mandzukic. If he wants to play anything that resembles what he had at Barca, then Mandzukic doesn’t fit the model. Pep prefers a forward that can drop, hold and handle the ball. Mandzukic’s biggest weekness is ball possesion.
I agree that Badelj should be on the list. He is without a doubt our best center defense.
Also what’s happening with Lovren? Is he getting a transfer?
Štimac za Koreju pozvao Kovačića, Ademija i Andrijašević
http://is.gd/crGHnh
Badelj should be on. One too many current Hajduk players. One should be scratched off the list. Otherwise it is fine.
Looks like the line up for the match against S. Korea has been released – https://twitter.com/HNS_CFF/status/293314069438529538/photo/1
Badelj is left off the roster. What does everybody think of the line up?
I think Everton has a game today.
because they pay better sitting on the bench than going to another club and playing. Got to feed the family
why is Cale still in wolfsburg? for 2 years in the club where he is not even on the bench..
In other news, Argentina (the Host) and Brazil were eliminated in the first round of the U 20 South American Championship and the both won’t be present in the next U 20 World Cup.
Mandzo with a brace
Perisic sees 75 minutes of playing time
Uh Oh…Mandzo’s back!