Headlines:
- Ivan Perišić plays last six minutes of the DFB Pokal Final as Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund defeat Bayern Munich 5-2 Saturday to claim the German double. Ivica Olić, Danijel Pranjić did not feature for Bayern Munich.
- Nikica Jelavić closes out the season with a goal as Everton defeat Newcastle 3-1 on the final day
- Ivan Klasnić, Bolton can’t find the winning touch vs. Stoke City, will be relegated to the Championship next season
Videos:
Jelavić goal vs. Newcastle on final day…was it a handball?
Photo: AP
@Peter Radman
“I am keeping my fingers crossed for the Euros as well. I will be there for all 3 games. A lot of money will be spent and I am dreading that it will be spent to just watch them look completely lost”
Stay positive my friend as that will be an awesome experience!
What you need to do is get a machine that has the capabilities of making money just in case you run out of money.
🙂
Thank U Ante for all U do for this website & the Croatian – American Fans . Naprid Bili
@ Tom,
All games will be hosted by CroatianSports.com @ Alpine Village in Torrance, CA. No cover. Great German beers. Fantastic Bratwursts.
More information to follow shortly.
How can we watch the first Croatian Euro game here in the L.A. Area ?
I have a feeling we will have a tough time against guys like Bale and Hazard. Croatia just looks lost against speed merchants.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for the Euros as well. I will be there for all 3 games. A lot of money will be spent and I am dreading that it will be spent to just watch them look completely lost.
@Petar Radman
The French get what they deserve. They should have not even made it to WC 2010 as the missed call on Thierry Henry was hideous and by the same token they should not have won Group D in the Euro 2012 qualifying as the penalty call on Spahić on Nasri was a very favorable call for France in my personal opinion. The stunt they pulled during WC 2010 was a disgrace and to be honest I could care less what happens to them because you know something stupid is going to happen again and they get every break in the book.
Your second paragraph is on the money! If we can somehow get a victory in our second game in Belgium that would be massive! The group we are in is brutal and it has all the makings of many points being dropped by teams along the way. When Wales, according to the FIFA rankings, is the worst team in the group you know it is going to be tough. The draw was not very kind to us and it has all the makings of war to get to the top. If we can stay injury free I think we have a good shot! My fingers are crossed.
We have the Euros to deal with first. Fingers crossed as well.
🙂
Mihovil – With what a disaster the French were during the World Cup finals in South Africa, there is nowhere to go but up. I have always respected Blanc, so I am not surprised he has got them playing inspired Football. However, somewhere down the road he and the French FA will have to face Ribery and Evra once again. They did not stand tall the first time around and they will pay for it when those two punks pull another temper tantrum. Just ask Robben what kind of guy Ribery is.
Who knows how the Belgian National Team will play out. I think they have more than enough to take care of us, thats for sure. They are strong in the middle of the park with Fellani and Witsel, with Hazard out wide they have speed (something Croatia can never cope with) they have a strong back line and a top Goalie. We will have a hard time playing them. I believe that our group will be a war, an all out war to get first place. I could easily see the top 4 all divided by 4 or 5 points.
@Petar Radman
“I just do not agree with this thought that you get a coach in and he can cure these toxic situations. Laurent Blanc suspended every single member of their National setup for 1 game. Players like Ribery and Evra should have been suspended far longer.”
France is much more cohesive and in unison since Laurent Blanc has come into the picture. Ribery and Evra should have been suspended longer that is one hundred percent true but the new coach has helped the French. I am not saying it works one hundred percent of the time but a new coach that knows what he is doing can make a difference.
I hope Belgium falls flat on their face please don’t get me wrong. I hope two years from now you come on this site and say to me that I told you so! I would love that trust me!
Our WC group is as tight as you can get. No question about it.
@ Mr Black – Honestly, I would hope for the sake of their National Team that the talented players that they have somehow put it together. However, how often does that really happen in sport? I can vividly recall that key members within the National setup as well as former coaches were still talking about this spoiled and petty group of players during the last qualifying cycle. With how toxic this team is, I just cannot see it coming together for a sustained period of time. By sustained, I am talking about a longer time period than merely 1 qualifying cycle. Like I said, the most noticeable thing to me about this qualifying group is this; there is no one team that I feel is that much better than the others. If I had to rank them all out of 100, they would all be in the mid 70s. I personally believe that this will be a messy group with plenty of people dropping points at every turn.
If you look at the French National Team, specifically the disaster which was the 2012 World Cup. Fast forward now and the French seem to have a new crop of younger stars which they are relying on more heavily then the infamous 3-4 which conspired against Domenech. The French contingent within Newcastle, Yann M’villa and Sakho seemed to have. How the french come together after the latest scandal surrounding the blatant racism in the Youth setup will be another issue.
I just do not agree with this thought that you get a coach in and he can cure these toxic situations. Laurent Blanc suspended every single member of their National setup for 1 game. Players like Ribery and Evra should have been suspended far longer.
With the young Belgian players, I will believe it when I see it. How many great teams has the world been waiting to form. Jesus, how many great Dutch teams couldn’t get it together? The whole time stories of discontent between the White and Black players. You could even look at the Spanish. Players always use to talk of friction between the Real Madrid and Barcelona players. There was also the fact that the True Spaniards, the Catalans and the Basques could not get along.
crazy finish to the EPL season! i would love to get inside the mind of luka modric and see who he is cheering for next weekend…..does he want chelsea to win so he can join them next year in the champions league or does he want bayern to win so that he can stay at tottenham (and also see olic & pranjic win)?
so much belgium talk…interesting, but not the order of the day! so many more things going on.
@ mali hrvat….if you want interesting mls play, stay away from Toronto FC games. the crowd atmosphere is good and the stadium is great but the team blows! mls has some decent teams with ok entertainment….just keep an open mind about how it differs from the top euro leagues. also, houston just opened a brand new soccer specific stadium so the game is slowly continuing its climb into relevancy in north america. it will never rival the top sports but can carve out a nice little niche for itself.
@TheGoldenChild
What I am saying is they have a very talented squad on paper. That cannot be debated and I think most would agree. There is no debate in that regard.
Whether I know football or not is not what’s @ stake here. To make the claim that I do not know anything about football from my statement about Belgium getting a new coach is wrong and once again not the point.
Who knows maybe by Leekens stepping down they have someone else to replace him? Who knows?
Whether they get a world class coach is not the point either. I said if they could get a world class coach it would help. How is that wrong? I am not saying that they will get a world class coach. However, if you wave money in someone’s face things would change very quickly. It would be that simple.
You make a very strong point about the French team. What France pulled during WC 2010 was disgraceful!
Matt kuchar won the players…
Mladen Petric is apparently being courted to head to China also,looks like another good candidate,not selected for Euros,currently a free agent,still has some good quality.As for Jelavics goal,yes,handball,but it just shows how hot ,hungry and confident he is now to bring it down and finish like he did.
Petar Radman
I live in Belgium so I know something about the belgian national team. I agree, they didn’t do well latety but with the players they have, eventually it most work out for them. I hope the fuck up the next two years but I’m not at all sure of that. Even more, I’m guessing they will be very dangerous. Here are some names and the teams they play for :
GK : Mignolet(Sunderland), Courtois(Atletico Madrid)
Defense : Kompany(Manchester City),Vermaelen(Arsenal), Lombaerts(St Petersburg), Vertonghen(Ajax, but will probably go to Tottenham)
Midfield : Witsel(Benfica), Defour(Porto), Dembele(Fulham), Hazard(Lille), Fellaini(Everton), Simons(Nurnberg), Naingolan(Cagliari)
Attack : this is their weak point, they only have Lukaku(Chelsea) but it appears he’s not good enough.
Once they show some discipline, they will be dangerous.
@Peter & @Mihovil
Pretty good debate going on. I see Belgium’s weakness the same way I look at France. Lots of great talent, but nobody to instill discipline. Also, no world class coach is going to want to step in and have to deal with the burden of coaching as well as having to discipline the players. The last coach stepping down to go to Brugge just shows how much shit he had to put up with.
Also, I can understand ur frustration with people “not knowing futbol”, but it’s never the best way to come off when you act like you are the connoisseur of football. Read as much as you want, you’re never going to get the 100% truth from the media. They’re in place to fantasize and over exaggerate things at many times. If you posted more comments, and gave us a little taste of your vast knowledge I may be able to agree/disagree with you more. If everybody knew what they were talking about we’d be millionaires already, so be a little more relaxed.
Biliću 12 milijuna eura za četiri godine
http://tinyurl.com/7bq4on7
@Petar Radman
Mihovil – “yes, the article is old. What has Belgium done since? That is the point.”
The point is that they can “potentially” do well going forward” as they are very young. Noboday predicted them to do anything four years ago, and if they did it was not to the level and success of the most recent predictions. They are saying that they can “potentially” do something in the upcoming qualifiers or maybe not do anything.
“Actually do some homework and see how many more articles like this have appeared since.”
I have checked out some articles and they are all fairly similar in the gist of the message and in what had transpired and I agreed earlier that the players attitudes were very bad. Maybe this will change, but than again maybe not?
“This article is significant because the entire coaching staff and medical staff had to quit as a result of the players.”
I agree and this is what I said above.
“Your article does cast a very negative light on the players and their bad attitudes. That is absolutely pathetic on all accounts.” – I don’t know what else to add to that as even when I agree you try to argue the point.
“And no, you guys do not know football. The thought that a good coach will come in and all this will magically come together is a joke. There are only 2-3 coaches in the world that have the kind of reputation that can change these problems. Belgium will never be able to land one of those coaches. All that anyone can hope for in this group is that everyone is pretty much even. No team in that qualifying group is that much better than the team next to them.”
Ok, from us saying that a good coach could help Belgium going forward declares that we do not know anything about football? You got all that from us making that statement?
There is parity in our group that is for sure, but to say that there are only 2-3 coaches that could do something with the Belgium lineup is not true. Who takes the job I do not know but there are alot of good coaches that would love the opportunity to work with a lineup that has that much potential and talent.
Whether we know or do not know our football is irrelevant. Once again we are saying that on paper they look good and if they ever get their act together they have potential of doing great things. Nothning more nothing less. Whether they do or not remains to be scene. I hope they don’t get their act together!
How do we catch armada 875434566 & outraged tonight , on U strem?
Mihovil – yes, the article is old. What has Belgium done since? That is the point. Actually do some homework and see how many more articles like this have appeared since. This article is significant because the entire coaching staff and medical staff had to quit as a result of the players.
And no, you guys do not know football. The thought that a good coach will come in and all this will magically come together is a joke. There are only 2-3 coaches in the world that have the kind of reputation that can change these problems. Belgium will never be able to land one of those coaches. All that anyone can hope for in this group is that everyone is pretty much even. No team in that qualifying group is that much better than the team next to them.
Lakers & Clippers WIN !!! Both in game 7 . Great time for L.A. Hoops !!!
@Ivan the Red
They can celebrate all they want from the EPL point of view but our country towers over them all in football national accomplishments and that is the only way to look at it. The national level and the league level do not compare at least not to me.
@Petar Radman
“I guess with qualifying around the corner, some are already sizing up our chances once we disgrace ourselves at the upcoming Euros.”
Disgrace??
My point about the potential of the Belgians has nothing at all to do with the point you made above as they are separate entities altogether. What we do @ the Euros is another topic and they do not coincide in anyway.
“Those of you that do clearly show that you do not follow Football!!!’
We do know our football because what we are saying is if Belgium gets a good coach and get their heads on straight they have quite the potential to do some serious damage with the talented list of players at their disposal. That is all we are saying and that is a fair assessment. You agree with the talent aspect as well..
“Tons of talented players, no doubt”
Who knows how it is going to play out and trust me I hope they continue with their bad attitude but I don’t see that happening. Many of the football media experts predict them to win Group A flat out. What that is worth I am not sure? Your article is from 2009 and it will be almost a 4 year span after that article before we play them.
http://tinyurl.com/79c5lsk – Many more where that comes from that wonder what will become of this talented group of players.
Your article does cast a very negative light on the players and their bad attitudes. That is absolutely pathetic on all accounts.
Kompany does have his head on straight and just captained his team to an EPL title and has the makings of a great leader. Winning is contagious and soon after the attitudes of the other players will follow as they know what is at stake here and if they don’t that is just fine. There is great potential but potential can only do so much as the game is not played on paper as your argument supports and heart cannot be measured.
Current Belgium Squad
http://tinyurl.com/7qflqqd
Red Bull Salzburg with Niko Kovac as assistent coach champion in Austria. A Croatian legend who has something to celebrate!
Okay, I do not comment on this site anymore. However, I still do monitor it from time to time hoping that someone has a bit of news that I have not see yet.
Now, I have seen a bunch of people talking up the Belgians. I guess with qualifying around the corner, some are already sizing up our chances once we disgrace ourselves at the upcoming Euros.
Please STOP talking up the Belgians. Those of you that do clearly show that you do not follow Football!!! Have you even read 10 percent of the news that has been circulating the past 3-4 years about their National setup?
Once their players show up to training and games with boots, when they are not trying to weasel their way out of practice with lame Doctors notes, when they actually decided to come on as a substitute and when they stop partying to the early hours before qualifying games, then and only then will I consider them an actual danger. Tons of talented players, no doubt. No heart in any of them. Their youth team games were a joy to watch many years ago. You could see all the talent coming through. The this story broke and many more like it.
Enjoy the read on our opponents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/07/belgium-world-cup-qualifying
@Vatrena cast
What do you mean what?
They the enemy celebrate, fly their rotten flags, beat croatia to the punch. Yet still some cry for them and cheer for them.
Budala
hope chelsea can beat bayern…i really hope spurs will not qualify for CL…so that modric can have a higher chance of leaving spurs…i dont think he can develop further at spurs…his form and development has stagnanted…
@Mr. Black
If Belgium is able to acquire a solid coach than look out!
Once Belgium figures out that they are a good team they will be hard to stop as they have a great lineup of young talent!
That is why I am happy we go to Belgium @ the start of the WC 2014 qualifiers as apposed to the end of the campaign.
Trying to stay positive.
🙂
Leekens, the coach of the belgian team who we will meet during the qualifications for the World Cup 2012, has left the national team to become coach of Bruges. Belgium has excellent players at this time(Kompany, Fellaine, Witsel, Dembele, Hazard etc.) I hope their new coach will suck big time, otherwise it will be difficult to qualify.
@TGC
That is a good question. I took the link from home page of the website so I am not sure? However, the more I read through it the more I believe it to be a joke of some kind rather than an accurate depiction of events??
As a gorgeous English woman once told me:
“Anyone but Manchester United.”
Balotelli makes a fantastic play to get Aguero the ball! The guy is so so strong and when we play Italy he will be very tough to mark. I am not a Man City fan by any stretch of the imagination but please refer to the quote above and…
Learn it. Know it. Live it.
Hopefully Modric will not be going there anytime soon!
@ivan the red… what?
I guess Mancini’s pilgrimage to Medjugorje last month really paid off:
http://crownofstars.blogspot.ca/2012/03/seer-in-dream-called-mancini-to.html
http://crownofstars.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/roberto-mancini-manager-of-british.html
Joey barton is an absolute idiot! He handed man city the title.
A sad day croatian football. A serb, bosian, and montenegrin, have beaten croats to the champions podium.
Our enemys get the spoils.
and yet some shed tears for them, and congratulate them Sramota!
@Mihovil
That Kalinic article is dated 1/4/2010. Old news?
Wow, looks like I spoke too soon.
I didn’t know Mamic was the glavni direktor for QPR 😉
Unbelievable city game
I hated Man City since day one. But I had tears in my eyes after that comeback. What a historic ending to the EPL season. Congrats Man City…
What an end to EPL fantasy league… Ante and I been battling all season long. I was up 13 points heading into today (1,982 to 1,969)… Still waiting for the bonus points to come in, but we are 45points – 44points today. Little snack man comes up a little short. hell of a battle.
Tottenham will be rooting for Bayern Munich on Saturday. Bayern win and Spurs are in champs league, bayern loss and Spurs are in europa league.
@Ante B
Very nicely done! Bravo!
13.5.1990
For some a normal day and for others the day that started the war…
Either way you look at it, today marks the 22nd anniversary of the famous game between Dinamo and zvezda with Boban’s high kick. Many people at that game joined the fight for Hrvatska never to return. Let’s pray for all of them from all supporter groups.
Also Sretan Majcin Dan svima!
Bog i Hrvati
Za Dom Spremni
…nek nam zivi Dinamo i majka Hrvatska!
GO ON QPR! BEAT THE SCUM! I don’t want the dirtbag team to buy their way to the top.
Choke job by Man City
Once again, Jelavic scored. 2-0 against Newcastle.
Check out the link. It discusses a brochure that has been handed out to the polish on how to deal with Hrvati during the Euros.
http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Sports/2012-05-13/27019/Poland_Advises_Dont_mention_Yugoslavia_and_look_Croats_in_the_eye
Dejan Lovren announced on Facebook that his injury heals very well and that he will be ready in about 15 days.
@ Sime,
What are you referring too?
@ Mali Hrvat,
The man stuck a plastic fork into its body (while dinner was going on in the backyard), grabbed the entire gopher with one hand, threw him to the ground and stomped him out. Quickest KO I’ve ever seen.
You just don’t mess with a man’s lawn.
Please no one tell PETA.
Wild Night In Dnipro
http://tinyurl.com/coxscvr
@Ziva:
Thanks. I am not looking for superstars, but MLS sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.
The Red Bulls have a decent young kid from NJ named Juan Agudelo. They rarely ever play him, even though teams in better leagues with the threat of relegation seem to play their young players more.
Bundesliga teams seems to include young players regularly.
@Mali hrvat…..Sporting KC is usually a good team to watch.
Even though the soccer is not that good, the atmosphere for Portland home games is top notch. Creates a good atmosphere on tv.
Overall, MLS is what it is. If you are trying to compare it to the EPL or the Bundesliga, then forget it. It’s not that and its not intended to be that. It’s like watching the Greek basketball league or the Turkish basketball league and comparing it to the NBA. You can’t, totally different.
That said, tune into a Stoke City game or some lower bottom EPL team. That’s not a joy to watch either compared to some MLS teams.
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/photos-and-videos/videos/feature-modric-miniature-maestro.html
Nice piece on Modric. Don’t worry Allen, his interviews are in Croatian.
@Ante/Denis:
How can you kill a gopher with your bare hands? Perhaps your uncle should go into MMA.
Now that the Euro club season is ending, I want to once again give MLS a try. I watched the recent Galaxy-Red Bulls game and it was less than stellar.
Does anyone know which team(s) are fun to watch? Frankly, I don’t want to spend any unnecessary time watching crap games.
A little late Ante ?
Optimistic news for Lovren
http://tinyurl.com/767cbn4