SPAIN
Ivan Rakitić scored his first La Liga brace for Sevilla on Friday, in the same week that he tied the knot with his new wife, Raquel. Despite his efforts, Sevilla drew 3-3 in an Andalusian Derby against Real Betis that saw tempers flare and Sevilla play the last 35 minutes down a man. Ivan was played through in the 7th minute by Jose Antonio Reyes and was able to finish from a very tight angle thanks to the keeper gambling on a cross and leaving the goal open. His second came in the 19th minute when he tried to play it to an offside Alvaro Negredo but it deflected off a defender straight back to Rakitic who finished easily as the Betis defenders appealed for off-sides.
Luka Modrić started and played the full match in Real Madrid’s routine 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao. It was a quiet performance from Luka, who looked a bit off his best. He completed 36 passes at an 89% success rate and created two chances. He was incorrectly shown a yellow card in the 17th minute, when in fact the ball had hit his head. With the La Liga title essentially wrapped up, all attention is now turned to winning the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. Their 1st round encounter with Borussia Dortmund is on Wednesday, April 24th.
RUSSIA
Stipe Pletikosa was in net for Rostov as they traveled to Kazan to take on the powerful Rubin Kazan. They drew the first blood, through Dmitri Poloz, but Rubin leveled in the 79th minute and the match ended 1-1. Stipe did very well to keep out striker Salomon Rondon, who was through on goal in the 5th minute. He also made a good save on a Bibras Natkho free kick early in the second half, but was helpless to keep out Gokdeniz Karadeniz’s leveling strike in the 79th minute. Rostov are four points clear of a relegation playoff.
Saves: 0:05, 2:10 Goal: 3:15
Vedran Ćorluka played the full match as Lokomotiv Moscow were defeated by title contenders Zenit St. Petersburg 1-0. Vedran was not at fault for Zenit’s lone goal, which was set up by a great run from Hulk who found Viktor Faitzulin for an easy finish. Loko remain 10th in the Russian Premier League.
Ognen Vukojević started for the second consecutive week for Spartak Moscow in their 2-0 victory over Amkar Perm. The win moved Spartak over Amkar Perm and into the European places. Spartak faces their greatest rival, league leaders CSKA Moscow next weekend. Vuko made it clear in a post-match interview that the club has its eyes on a Champions League place, with the remaining fixtures favoring them.
Mordovia Saransk and Tomoslav Dujmović play Alania Vladikavkaz on Monday.
Germany
A week after securing the Bundesliga crown, Bayern München continued to steamroll past the Bundesliga opposition by registering a 4-0 win over Nürnberg on Saturday. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Mario Mandžukić, looked on from the bench and will be looking for a start against Wolfsburg in the DFB Pokal semifinals on Tuesday in Munich.
Photo: Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg registered their fourth straight Bundesliga draw after splitting the points 2-2 with Hoffenheim on Saturday. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Ivica Olić, started and played the full 90 minutes for Wolfsburg in the draw. Ivica played well but couldn’t find the back of the net in two half chances at goal. Ivan Perišić remains sidelined because of a knee injury. No update on his current status.
Photo: Frankfurt
Srdjan Lakić started but played only 45 minutes in Frankfurt’s 2-0 loss in Augsburg on Sunday. Lakić didn’t play well at all and failed to register a shot in the loss. Frankfurt have lost three out of their last four and drop to sixth in the Bundesliga.
PHOTO: Bundesliga
HSV put an end to a three game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Mainz on Saturday. Croatian international, Milan Badelj, started and played the full 90 minutes for HSV in the win. The former Dinamo Zagreb midfielder played well and finished the match with only one foul. Ivo Iličević remains sidelined with an abdominal injury.
PHOTO: Bremen
Werder Bremen twice battled back from a goal down to earn a point away to Fortuna Dusseldorf. Former NK Zagreb defender, Mateo Pavlović, started and played 90 minutes for Werder in the draw. Mateo played well and picked up a yellow card in the 83rd minute of play. Bremen remain five points clear of the relegation zone with five matches to play.
France
PHOTO: olweb.fr
Dejan Lovren looks to have fallen out of favor at Lyon after the Croatian international defender went off on the team in an exclusive interview with Sportske Novosti a few weeks back. The former Dinamo Zagreb star was officially rested for Lyon’s 1-0 defeat at struggling Reims last Sunday and in a 3-1 win against Toulouse on Sunday. With the win, Lyon climb back up to third place in Ligue 1 and hold onto that last Champions League spot. However, Champions League is the last thing on Dejan’s mind as his status with the team is in serious question. Lyon manager had this to say about Lovren’s situation: “Dejan is a young player and he was tricked a little bit. Having said that, you can’t go against the club and the institution. I’ve spoken to him about it, and I cannot sanction what he did.”
Italy
PHOTO: Inter
Inter Milan stumbled to another defeat that all but ended their Champions League hopes after falling 2-0 at Cagliari on Sunday. Former Dinamo Zagreb midfielder, Mateo Kovačić, started and went the distance in the loss. Inter Milan have lost four out of their last five and dropped to seventh place on the Serie A table, nine points behind AC Milan for the final Champions League spot with six games remaining.
Photo: Atalanta
Marko Livaja and Atalanta couldn’t do anything against a much better Fiorentina side and stumbled to a 2-0 defeat in front of 13,000 disappointed fans at Stadio Atleti Azzurri on Saturday evening. Fiorentina enjoyed 71% possession and Marko finished without a shot in 75 minutes of action. The 19-year-old striker has expressed interest in suiting up for the Croatian national team after making a little bit of noise in Italy this season. “I’m happy at Atalanta. If I am able to play and score in Serie A with regularity then, sooner or later, there will be space for me in the national side. Although I know that there are great attackers ahead of me such as Mario Mandžukić and Eduardo, I do not have any fear,” Marko told Sport Net Italia on Wednesday.
Pescara are now winless in 13 Serie A matches after falling 3-2 at home to Siena. Former Hajduk Split striker, Ante Vukušić, was left off the roster sheet after Pescara president Daniele Sebastiani failed to pay Hajduk the second installment of a 3.7 million Euro contract signed last year. No word if Hajduk reported Pescara to UEFA to stop Pescara from playing the Croatian international or if Pescara is refusing to play him. Either way, Pescara are on there way out of Serie A and Ante will surely be looking for another home next season.
UKRAINE
Photo: Shakhtar
Darijo Srna played the full 90 minutes in Shakhtar’s 3-0 win over Zorya on Saturday. He assisted on the opening goal in the 81st minute, whipping in a corner kick which teammate S. Krivtsov headed home. Shakhtar would score two more late goals to cap off the home victory. Eduardo came off the bench in the 60th minute with the game scoreless but did not participate in the late scoring frenzy. Shakhtar hold a 17-point lead on second place Metalist and can wrap up their fourth straight Ukrainian Premier League title on Sunday with a win over Dnipro.
Domagoj Vida played the entire match in Dynamo Kiev’s slim 1-0 win over Karpaty on Saturday. The Croatian defender picked up a yellow card in the 42nd minute while holding his own on defense. Niko Kranjčar is still out due to an injury he picked up in Croatia’s 2-0 win over Serbia on March 22nd. Dynamo currently sit two points behind Metalist for the last Champions League berth.
Ivan Strinić played the full 90 minutes for Dnipro Friday as they came back to beat Chornomorets 2-1. The win keeps them four points behind Metalist for Champions League play with only six matches remaining in the season. Nikola Kalinić remained on the bench as an unused substitute. Will he play against Shakhtar on Sunday?
ENGLAND
Photo: Mirror
Not only is Nikica Jelavić (above) not scoring goals for Everton, but now he’s officially lost his starting job with the club. With Everton up 2-0 on QPR Saturday, Jelavić was inserted off the bench in the 82nd minute of play for Leon Osman. Everton won the match 2-0 without a shot on goal from Jelavić but when will the man return to his old scoring ways? Croatia will not need him for the Scotland qualifier in June but can he regroup in the summer to be ready for Belgium and Serbia after the break?
Mladen Petrić came off the bench in the 63rd minute for Fulham on Saturday with home side Aston Villa leading 1-0. Shortly after Petrić’s introduction, Aston Villa would put in an own goal to equalize the match at 1-1. It would end that way with Petrić only getting off one shot in his 30 minutes on the pitch. He started the season hot for Fulham but has gone ice old in 2013, coming off the bench when not injured or left off the squad. Petrić will surely not get playing time for Croatia in a match that counts unless he can start next season off with a bang.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 4/16
Everton at Arsenal, Wolfsburg at Bayern München(DFB Pokal Semifinals)
Wednesday, 4/17
Chelsea at Fulham, Roma at Inter(Coppa Italia semifinals), Dnipro at Volyn(Ukrainian Cup Quarters), Karpaty at Shakhtar Donetsk(Ukrainian Cup Quarters)
Thursday, 4/18
Terek Grozny at Rostov(Russian Cup Quarterfinals)
Friday, 4/19
Olympique Lyonnais at Montpellier, Lokomotiv Moskva at Kuban’ Krasnodar
Saturday, 4/20
Everton at Sunderland, Arsenal at Fulham, Mainz 05 at Borussia Dortmund, Bayern München at Hannover 96, Fortuna Düsseldorf at Hamburger SV, Schalke 04 at Frankfurt, Wolfsburg at Werder Bremen, Atalanta at Genoa, Real Betis at Real Madrid, Dynamo Kyiv at Zorya
Sunday, 4/21
Parma at Inter, Pescara at Roma, Atlético Madrid at Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk at Dnipro, Terek Grozny at Rostov
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
Miro, zivot is great & appreciate it, keep your head up & be positive, negative thoughts brings bad luck
@CroatHrvat
Is that why they wear different jerseys? Are you kidding me? So you’re saying if he plays great for his club, that technically has 0….ABSOLUTELY 0…effect on how he plays for country? If you want to believe that, that’s your thing, but I think that’s completely and utterly wrong.
In the last game Rakitic was the guy that ended up getting the deflection from Mandzukic…running from the middle of the field and sprinting to the ball. In every game he plays, he’s one of the top 3 players covering ground on the field. If he’s so bad, why has he started in the overwhelming majority of games?
Euros was actually last summer, Rakitic has been playing with Sevilla since then so I’ll take it as the beginning of this season and the end of last season? Doesn’t really matter.
Bad luck has everything to do with how a player grows. He could either be a piece of shit, let the stress get to him, and crumble in every facet of the game. He could also take failure against a top team and have that work for him, showing the rest of the world that it was a one time thing. If you don’t think players think about shit like that constantly, then you’re wrong. Ask any ball player in any sport about crushing failures like that, and they’ll tell you they think about it. It’s what drives them to become better.
Stop being a soccer snob! OMG Americans no nothing about soccer. BULLLSHIT. Sorry about the territory that I live in, but I’ve been following the European game since I was a kid. I don’t agree with the American game, but just because I live here doesn’t make me less knowledgeable about the game. You’re like an Englishman who says he knows best about soccer, while the rest of Europe comes in and takes over the premier league.
Bice bolje
@ 19Miro50 , everything has a way to work it’s self out , for the better .Take Care my Hajduk Friend .
Boston , we pray for U here in L.A. !
@Miro
please stop, it can’t be that bad
Zivot does suck ill be the first to say i have no future im lost.
@ Iggy
The cars went into the Splitska Riva, not into the river. The closest river to Split I’ve visited is Cetina, which runs through a small town called Omis. Anyway, its beautiful in and around Cetina and I wouldn’t want any old Yugo auto’s or Peglica’s in it 😀
Also, as for the girl, there’s no better way for me to say this, but I only say it as a Croatiansports.com friend: ne budi picka! 😀 Life sucks- your woman will leave you, your friends turn their backs, people suffer all day every day all around the world. Explosions go off at the Boston Marathon, war kills people, tears families apart, drives them away from their homes, makes them go insane for many years after the war ends (all too real for many of us on this site- myself included). Ultimately you can use all the religious/philosophic formulas to explain reality. But none of them work, until you realize that reality is not problematic- you are the problem.
@JP,
Lakers will be fine without Kobe. As long as we dont face OKC, we’ll be fine. The pressure is off the Lakers. Also, the team should be motivated to show the world that they don’t need Kobe. I think the Lakers can beat the Spurs if they face them i n the first round.
blind? cmon shes the hottest chick ever whats the matter with u god
Pletikosa
Srna, Joe, Lovren, carli
Rakatic, modric, kovacic, peresic
Olic, mandzukic
iggy wtf is wrong with u, r u blind? lay of the downers dude, I’m starting to worry about u
Sigh,, she’s so lovely
http://i50.tinypic.com/2zxt9w7.jpg
Sweet, hope the Mavs can land him as a long term replacement for Dirk! Though I’d also like them to get Trey Burke!
@Denis really bummed about Kobe’s injury!
looks like we got something to look forward to in the nba draft.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba–croatian-teen-dario-saric-declares-for-nba-draft-195321165.html
haha cool.. im glad serb cars visited the river.. awesome
Thanks
Modric played ok got a yello beacuse dumb ref thought it hit his hand but the ball smashed off his face wow first mandzo now luka bogus yellow adn that was early in the 10 min stupid ref
He wasnt too good, pretty average performance
How did Modric play today?
@ iggy yes in thats true serb cars went flying my old man and my tetak told me stories of that funny stuff.
https://twitter.com/NBADraftInsider/status/323532372047966208
@ CroatHrvat
Bollocks! Rakitic is a good player and deserves to be in the starting 11.
@Child
“Rakitic has been playing well this season. Aside from the bad luck in Euros, he’s actually been one of the best players for Sevilla.”
Was the Euros this season? What bad luck? Missing one header? What’s that got to do with him playing well for Sevilla?
This is why I don’t like engaging in football (soccer) talk with Americans.
@Child
Incase you didn’t know, club football and international football is not the same thing. It’s encouraging to see him do well for his club but that doesn’t improve his game for the national team.
I saw Rakitic live and he looked useless, it was a friendly however so I can let it slip. For the national team all he does is take set pieces, he doesn’t cover any ground, he doesn’t contribute to defence nor attack to be honest. If we could do roll-on roll -off substitutes I would bring him on and off just to take corners and long distance free kicks.
Modric starting in the Attacking Midfield role against Bilbao. Let’s see how this party goes!
Modric starting again!!
@Cico
you are an embarrassment to the Croatian people in general.
Bog, Hrvati I HNS.
@ Split . PLEASE change your hashtag . U are an Embarrassment to the Beautiful People , & City of Split ! @ Iggy , the Car story was True ! I had Family there that told Me about it ! They had Season Tickets to Hajduk for Years . Bog , Hrvati , Hajduk , i HNS !!!
has anyone seen that serb movie “klip” ?
Cico will blow his load hearing that hajduk story tho knowing him LOL
@Duff
This is international duty, where every game counts. It’s not like Croatia has an 82-game schedule to work off of, where they can sacrifice games to develop talent and/or get players out of their current slump.
This is what friendlies are for, and Jelavic played (and scored) in the last friendly against Korea. It still didn’t get him out of his current slump, but that’s what his games at Everton are for. I’m sure he’ll get out of his slump someday, and if not, then I’m sure one of our many other strikers (that are currently being developed on their club teams or on our youth national teams) will be ready come World Cup time.
I do like the idea of newly introduced younger players (ie. Kovacic, Pavlovic, Radosevic, etc) playing more regularly on our team and building chemistry together, but if playing them won’t result in putting forward our best starting eleven, then this should only come in games where the “win” is not required.
I get where you’re coming from with this long-term thinking, but it’s not like these guys aren’t playing football. They are professionals playing on big clubs as well as playing on our youth teams (with an occasional game in the A squad). It won’t be hard to integrate them into our starting lineup come 2014 if they take major steps forward.
@Duff
Olic last two games has been brilliant and without him Croatia would of lost points. Igor made the right call putting in Olic for both games and Eduardo in the last. We need to make the World Cup first and hopefully by that time Jelavic Is out of his slump and ready to contribute.
I allways keep thinking that Igor Stimac must consider more Nikica Jelavic. What’s the point of playing Eduardo or Olic when for the time the World Cup is here they will be 31 and 34 years old?
About Rakitic, i think he has earned a place in the midfield, im against pepole who try putting himo on his left side as an inside-out, he’s way better on his right wing. And, for those who think that Srna is better in that wing, Dude, face it; Srna will be out of the National side in a couple years! So, it’s better to have a young midfield that can hold-up for next years.
@ IGGY i have actually heard that same exact story/incident a few years back it must be true i cant shed too much light on it since i heard about it like you did but i’m sure that it had happened.
@cico
You drink coors light. Can’t get anymore lame. Enjoy second place dirtbag. . Bog, Hrvati, dinamo, Rijeka, Ciro, Hns.
Hey guys my dad was telling me a story..
about Hajduk hosting a game against some serb team not sure if partisan or red star anyway he was saying people i mean serbs had parked their cars all along the river and the hrvati fans went along and checked the rego for each car and if it was belgrade they actually got a group and picked up the cars and pushed them into the river lol.
Can anyone shed any further light on this cos it sounds hilarious ?
Drugi bio cheeky
Boy Hajduk can’t even get a break when they Win ! All (3) Goals they scored were offsides ! Funny all (3) , the Final Score was Hajduk 2 Cibalia 1 !! The 3rd Goal must be in someones Drunken Mind ! Also , the Ref’s Help Hajduk ? Dude’s U must have Mistaken Us for that Arrogant Mamic / dinamo team ! U know the guy’s who pushed Sammir on HNS , that some of U guy’s won’t support Anymore ! U Lame Ass Dirt Bags !!! Bog , Hrvati , Hajduk , i HNS !!! ALWAYS !!!
@ IvicA
We are a midfield producing nation. Our youth development puts particular emphasis on midfielders. Just like Italy is well known for producing defenders.
Also, Boban and Prosniecki basically put the #10 position into Croatian Footballing lore. With many kids today idolizing them and wanting to midfielders. Heck, even Kovacic was inspired by Prosnecki.
@Ante B.
Jadan Hajduk needs all the help they can get including the refs helping them out.
@croathrvat
rakitic has been playing very well for croatia. down 1-0 to macedonia he kicked the corner that lead to a goal and then he hit the free kick bomb to put us up to 2-1. against serbia he had the beautiful forward pass to olic that lead to the first goal
All three Hajduk goals were from the offside position and not one word from anybody here. Who are the refs for again? Pliz
Jelavic is mop up duty in last ten minutes of the game. My, how the mighty have fallen.
@CroatHrvat
So you don’t watch the guy playing for his club, but you question his abilities…makes sense.
Rakitic has been playing well this season. Aside from the bad luck in Euros, he’s actually been one of the best players for Sevilla.
We don’t need a team of superstars, we just need a team where everybody knows their role. Rakitic knows his, and has been doing quite well playing where the coach asks.
U20 World Cup
June 23
Uruguay v Croatia
That’s going to be a goodie.
Need a winger that can attack defenders and provide pace and width.
With our creative midfield we need to stretch the defense.
Is Halilovic playing with Croatia for the u21 World Cup ?
@19Miro
If you’re concerned about us not having young defenders soming up the ranks, don’t be.
We have some decent prospects in defense on our junior squads right now, but since we’re a midfield-producing nation…you’re only going to hear about the next #10 coming out of our country. Some prospects haven’t even hit 20 yet (ie. Kovacic) and they’re already talking about the next one (ie. Halilovi, Roguljic, etc).
Speaking of defenders…Mateo Pavlovic got the start for Bremen today and he played a solid game. He actually played as a left back (though it was in a 4-1-4-1 formation so it wasn’t like he was flying up the wing or anything).
I’m not worried about our defenders. I just want us to get a world class striker in our ranks (hopefully that Marko Dabro phenom is as good as the hype). With our consistently good midfield, a world class striker would take us to that next level.
Rakitic was a wonder kid when he was younger at 17 he played in basel big games he was born 1988 now hes 25 still young going into his best years 25-31.
I hope we find good defenders Halilovic chooses croatia Basic Rogulic are studs
a Croatian tem under the age of 21
Picak-Vrsaljko Jedvaj Simunovic Mamic-Halilovic Kovacic Radosevic Roguljic Rebic Livaja Kramaric.
@CroatHrvat
Google is an amazing thing.
http://www.mail.com/int/sports/soccer/1946512-wolfsburgs-perisic-to-4-weeks-to-injury.html
Speaking of which…can we have an accurate analysis of Perisic’s injury?! Is he out for the season? Will he even be around for the Scotland game? What’s wrong with that guy, what kind of injury does he have and how long is he expected to be out?
(Same goes for Illicevic, however I don’t care as much)
Added to that, I think there will come a time when he’s at his peak (27 – 31) and he will find himself on the bench for Croatia. Modric and Kovacic should be starting, a holding midfielder in Radosevic hopefully in a couple years. Possibly Halilovic somewhere in there too, Perisic looks good for the national team on the left also.
I remember watching Rakitic playing against Chelsea whilst he was at Schalke, I think he was 17…he looked very promising.
Since then however, I’ve never watched him play club football, but now he has matured and entering his peak I question his abilities. I’m not saying hes a bad player, clearly hes a good pro…but all I see for the national team is excellent corners and free kicks. Other than that, I don’t really see him contribute much from open play.
Some people dont age well.
Jelavic is in a huge slump man cannot even make staring 11 no more.
Carli lost 1-0 today to zenit he played ok Lokomotiv cannot score goals maybe Bilic should have bought eduardo or sammir.
Rakitic has been playing great. And Sevilla wanted to sell him for like 10 million euros last summer?
This guys is worth at least 17 million. He’s a great midfielder, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t move to one of Europe’s top clubs.
what r u guys gay talking about homey losing his hair?? who cares as long as he plays well for Croatia, u weirdos
Srna asistent u pobjedi Šahtara protiv Zorja
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/ukrajinska-premierliga–srna-asistent-u-novoj-pobjedi-sahtara/1096878/
Rakitic should get a toupee. It should help him with his heading abilities. I can picture him running around the field with it flopping up and down every time a little air gets under it. Speaking of weird hair, remember Fabricio Ravanelli from Juventus with his white hair. I remember saying whos the senior citizen that came out of retirement playing for Juventus? than they showed his age and he was like 28
I think Ziva might be too! 🙂
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
hhaahahaha
matesic
u are bald arent u ?
LOL
Great goals from Rakitic, certainly a boost after marriage 😀
Rakitic’s choice of frosting for his hair is much worse than losing hair.
Wow.
I guess we can add bald guys to the list of people to hate on.
I will roll with Zidane, Jordan, Agassi and the rest of the bald headed ass kickers.
Need Rakitic and his receding hair line to bring it against Scotland.
Speaking of balding…
As least he’s got the party in the back going.