Four tamburaša await Dinamo in Zagreb after their loss
Dinamo Zagreb returned to Croatia Wednesday night after a disappointing 4-0 Champions League loss to Ajax in Amsterdam. To their surprise, they weren’t met by a mob of angry fans, rather a group of four tamburaša.
As Dinamo entered the terminal in Zagreb, led by their fearless general manager Zdravko Mamić, the Croatian champions joined the group in song like they won the match instead of being dismantled 4-0. Goalie Ivan Kelava joined in on the festivities while striker Ivan Krstanović remained silent with a blank stare.
Should the singing after a huge loss be considered ‘fair or foul’ in the eyes of Dinamo supporters?
@ Dukic – Yes i have watched Croatian First Division games. I have Croatian satellite, I watch Hajduk every weekend.
@petar radman
no i dont think hnl is stronger then cypriot first division. have you watched hnl games?
@ Ziva Istina – Is the HNL stronger than the Cypriot First Division? I believe it is. Apoel seems to have no problem making the Champions League the past 4 years. They also have no problems scoring goals either.
Was anyone really expecting anything more from Dinamo in the CL?????
I sure was not. I said if they were able to get 4 points that would be a major accomplishment. THis is just more proof about the lack of quality in the HNL. Time to cut the league down to 4 teams.
guys why are you guys even comparing hnl teams to anybody in the world? even mls is better then hnl. our league is horrible.
@ TheGoldenChild – Ajax are currently languishing in 5th place in the Eredivise. I dont know what that tells you about Dinamo. It could very well just be one team had one of their worst nights of the year and the other was well motivated and everything went their way for one night. The answer is usually in the middle somewhere. Can anyone truly explain why the Saints lost to the St Louis Rams last week? Its sports, unpredictable.
@Peter
Good to know. They are definitely not what they used to be, but they still have some pretty damn good talent, besides the two you mentioned.
Also, what’s that saying about Dinamo if you can only think of two good players on Ajax. They climbed the hill to get to the Champions league, and instead of looking down, they looked back up to see Mt. Everest.
loved how big joe was like fuck this shit!!!
@ TheGoldenChild – I have been following the Eredivsie for as long as I can remember. There is no way this Ajax team comes even close to anything they have put forward in the late 90s to lets say 2002 or 2003. The Dutch League has fallen off dramatically and has been replaced by Portugal as the best feeder system for the rest of Europe. Remember back in the early 2000s when both PSV and Ajax reached the Champions League semi finals in the same year, playing Milan and I believe it was Juve. Yes, this Ajax squad has some damn talented youngsters, first and foremost, Christian Eriksen. Miralem Sulejmani has been a major disappointment since his gigantic transfer Heerenveen. Gregory van der Wiel and Jan Vertonghen are the only others who really impress me.
@Peter
Even though it’s not the Ajax team of the past, go and do a bit of research on their starting 11. They have some real up and commers on that team, and it showed with the game they played against Dinamo.
Mamic is trying to tell his guys not to hang their heads to low. Their goal this year was too make it to the champions league, that’s it. Like ziva says “anything that comes after is a bonus”.
We all know what the Croatian mentality is, as I suffer from it frequently myself. You’re shit until you’re #1, and even if you’re #1 sometimes you’re still shit. I couldn’t imagine the things these guys must here day in and day out from media and the fans. Hell, when I used to play my grandpa would leave if we were down 1-0 at half, telling us we weren’t good enough. When I came home with a W I can’t tell you how good it felt. I know that’s a weird story or comparison, but I feel like that’s everywhere in Croatian culture or maybe I’m just taking this story too far.
But if indeed im right, Mamic actually did something smart. He’s empowering his players to keep their heads up and not give up yet. There are still games to be played, and we can still go out with some decency.
Better team or not, it’s still not a result worth dancing about. Especially when you have fans as crazy as the BBB. Hopefully no one shows up at their training this week to strip them of their Champions League gear… 🙂
Real Madrid will want to win the group, to avoid the likes of possibly United, Inter, Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan, Bayern. 1 point is all they need to clinch the group. Their final match vs Ajax, they will feed their B squad, as I believe that week (or week after) they face Barca.
At the rate of this CL though, APOEL could be a top seeded team.
I am a HUGE Hajduk fan! However, I have to admit, I was easily rooting for Dinamo to give a proper showing and to showcase Croatian Football to the world. This was a tough group, probably the 2nd or 3rd toughest in the group stages. The Bayern group is without a doubt the group of death. I think its important that the Dinamo fans and the media in Croatia rallies around the team for the final two games (1 home and 1 away). They need to start getting ready for next years campaign and the best way to start is to end on a high note.
A tie against Lyon would be nice, so would a goal scored. The Real Madrid game will be tricky. Madrid will have no incentive to field a full strength team after already clinching. I am sure Jose will rest the “A” squad to use them in La Liga games in the hope they can add more space between themselves and Barca. However, fielding a “B” squad in Madrid is like most “A” squads for top clubs. Most of those reserve team players will be dieing for the chance to try and impress Jose, trying to increase their own playing time.
I still do not know what to think of the Ajax loss though. This is not the Ajax of years past, this is not the Dutch League which was once the strongest feeder league in Europe. Christian Eriksen is so the man though.
@JerseyCro…….that handball party was planned before the game, win or lose. That team deserved to have a party for putting on a great show throughout the two week event and making it to the finals. No shame in losing to France. Hosting the world championships in handball and getting to the final is not a minor accomplishment; that deserves to be celebrated.
Has the team regressed???? Sure, but those our tough expectations to live up to. I don’t see any new Balic or Metlicic walking through the doors, so we are expected to stumble a bit.
It doesn’t matter to me…I was more bothered how the Croatian handball team (which btw is also regressing big time!) were celebrating finishing 2nd place at the World Championships which they hosted as they won the tournament and the fans joined in as well when all they were doing was crapping on the team during the whole tournament. Croatian fans tend to celebrate even the most minor accomplishment
Not to bring Serbia into this, but its the same with them when their women players finished runners-up at Grand Slams, they would have a whole docek arranged for them for not even winning anything…
why should dinamo players be hanging their heads? They lost to a much better team, there is no shame in that.
Good point. I did kinda chuckled too in a “w.t.f.” shaking my head kind of a way. Maybe if we had just lost in Madrid I’d feel different, and we could be loose like this. I dunno, it’s still a strange scene. Only in Zagreb…
My initial reaction was: what the f… Then I thought this was kind of cool. Kelava cracked me up. Ivan is known as the big goofy guy on the team. I wouldn’t be able to clap and sing after getting bombed on 4-0. However, at the end of the day, a few of the Dinamo players realized how far they got and that Dinamo didn’t see Champions League in a long long time.
Also, surprised by Mamic and his actions. Still have mixed feelings about ordering tamburase after a loss. I like it. The last Dinamo trip of the year will be Real Madrid. Then the rest of the year will be domestic HNS football. For once, I slightly agree with Mamic.
Yeah, I don’t think thats cool. As a Dinamo fan I don’t wanna see that in public. They should be hanging their heads…