FORMER CROATIAN MANAGER MIROSLAV ‘ĆIRO’ BLAŽEVIĆ
Ćiro Blažević once coached the Croatian national team during their ‘Golden Era’ at the 1998 World Cup finishing third in the tournament. That was two years after qualifying the Croats for their first ever tournament being eliminated by eventual champions, Germany, in the quarterfinals of Euro 1996.
Now Ćiro has gotten Bosnia to the playoff round of World Cup qualifying and are only one game away from booking their tickets to South Africa. All they have to do is reverse their 1-0 first leg loss in Portugal this Wednesday as the Bosnians will play their home game in Zenica. Bosnia hit three posts in the first leg and deserved a better result. My prediction: 1-1 in the second leg as a Ronaldo-less Portugal locks up a World Cup birth.
‘ĆIRO’ AT HIS BEST (OR DRUNK)
HERE’S A QUICK LESSON IF YOU COULDN’T UNDERSTAND
DISCLAIMER: I don’t want to hear anything along the lines of me being pro-Serbian because I put this video up. If you speak Croatian you will understand the video and get a kick out of it. End of story.
Its only cheating if you get caught…..Henry's handball is no different than a defender go over a player for the ball and not being called for it.
At the end of day Bosnia is out now, but they hardly disgraced themselves. There is total corruption going on in UEFA though over that Henry incident. If that was Croatia they'd have replayed the game. France prob knew that if they got into difficulty they could pull out a trick like that and get away with it. Does this not fall under the same category as Eduardo of trying to decieve the referee. I think Platini needs removing. He's been awful. France also got to get rid of Domenech. He's atrocious. His team play awful football.
Those are all good teams, but none of them are capable of winning anything.
I don't think anyone said you cant follow a specific team (Bosnia). I think most of us were in agreement that we wanted BiH to lose and to lose bad. For me I cheer for Hrvatska and openly root against BiH, Slovenia and Serbia.
The reason crotian media outlets were covering the BiH game is for one reason…. Ciro is the coach. And shame on those members of the croatian media who openly rooted for BiH.
Austria, Poland,Turkey,Czech Rep,Russia, Sweden Romania and Croatia. 8 teams that were at Euro didn't make it to the World Cup. If you put together a tournament with another good 8 teams that didn't go, Ireland, Ukraine and so on that would be a pretty good tournament.
If someone wants to support Bosnia or doesn't i think that's a personal opinion. But i think someone who tells someone else they can't follow a FOOTBALL TEAM is kinda retarded. The comments complaining about other people's support of Bosnia is non sensical. Each to their own at the end of the day. Nobody has been knocking your disinterest in Bosnia so should keep it down when someone else wants to follow them.
Bosnia going out to Portugal narrowly is no great shame. I also think writers should be able to write about more than just Croatia. Yes its called CSR but its hoped readers would be a little open minded than wanting to here about only Croat issues. All the other Croat sides were covering the Bosnia match far more than CSR has. If people wanna be so devout Croat should try paying more attention to the Croatian league and its institutions rather than foriegn leagues.
@ Alex,
If I'm correct and I detect some sarcasm coming from you please let me explain. Bosnia are our neighbors who rooted against us. We can talk about them. I think it's appropriate if we can talk about in a somewhat professional manner.
And Vukovar. It was a huge struggle in Croatian history which we were all alive for and our parents had to watch on the news wherever they were. It's why Croatia can be so proud to play out on the soccer field. We can still directly remember these things. This is as political as CSR will ever get.
Comments are comments. I can't control that, although I can censor it. But this is a truly free and democratic Soccer Report so Ill leave it at that.
I'm glad this isn't called "Croatian Soccer & Political Report"- it would get old real fast.
U-21 Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orv9Ln7X8k8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2gK30Xzc9w
big deal….i am thrilled those fuckers from BiH did not make it. I was cheering for Portugal as if they were Hrvatska. Backwards fucken, yugo loving, tito loving bastards. They can now go back to be irrelevant.
So much anger and blatant racism on this site.
Croatia didn't deserve it, but i don't think Ukraine did either and also not sure Greece are any great shakes. We should all have been banned from going through. Isn't it interesting how so many Euro 2008 sides have gone out – Croatia, Turkey, Russia, Romania and Sweden all ditched out. I think this says something about world football and how little there is between any of the sides.
I've got over Croatia not qualifying ages ago. Shouldn't be worried though cos from what i've seen France, Italy, Argentina and Portugal are also crap and i don't think it'll take too much to come back with a good enough team to compete in 2012.
Kinda glad Bosnia didn't make it, it would have made the World Cup crappy to have 3 former Yugoslavia teams there and not having the best one of them all Croatia. It reminds me of Euro2000 abit Slovenia and Serbs there and not us .
Ziva your coming over like Slobodan Milosevic. Whats with telling other people what to think. Fair do's if you don't like Bosnia that's all fine, but why you telling other people what to think. This is like fundamentalism.
In the end i didn't pay much attention to the Bosnia game. In England the Slovenia and Russia game was on. Slovenia gave it everything they had. Sadly though this is gonna be like 2002 where Slovenia lacked the quality to make an impression. They fought like hell, but if Novakovic is the best striker they have then they won't go far.
At the end of day Croats could do with keeping a low profile at moment cos look at how poor that play off was – Greece and Ukraine. Croatia had an easy route to WC and didn't take it. Bad bad stuff:(
Hajduk fans should be happy about Bosnia anyway cos they've helped raise the prize tag of Senijad Ibricic double what it would be if he was judged solely on his club performances. Today there is talk of 6 million euro bid from Besiktas. This should put them in a strong financial position.
Yes we get to cheer Serbia and Slovenia on while we sit out.
Go Slovenia Go
Good by BiH.
And to those of you who were rooting for BiH….a double FUCK YOU to each and every single one of you.
Slovenia beating Russia 1-0…uhhh ohhh
Thats cos Ukraine are a average side. Slaven Bilic is lucky to still be in the job. I also think Ukraine were lucky not to be beaten twice by Croatia. They were worse in both matches. Its best to just ignore that match cos Croatia should be beating both Greece and Ukraine.
I cannot believe my eyes Ukraine have lost to Greece at home and along with the game their wc hopes.
eduardo signs long term deal:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8367304.stm
@ ziva istina
that's my point. the BiH team isnt a legitimate "reprezentacija" because they only represent mujos, nor would croats in siroki or serbs in banja luka welcome the BiH team in their stadiums.
i dont want their bus to crash or anything. it's not the players fault. they dont select themselves. like any other serious footballers, they just want to win and play on the world's biggest soccer stage next summer.
but i think we both agree:
go portugal
btw, greece up 1-0 to ukraine at the half.
that thing is a clunk of shit as well, almost as bad as the Zenica stadium….. Let's be realistic here…no chance Zrinjski fans would go for something like that.
@ ziva istina
How about the zrinjski stadium then ? 2nd largest stadium in the country .
I care about the game…..I want BiH to lose bad and for their bus to crash en route to the hotel.
Like it or not, that is the BiH national team. Yes, mostly mujos on the squad with a few serbs and hrvati sprinkled in. No sense in playing games in Siroki (too small) or Banja Luka (stadium is crap)…we all know what the crowd reaction would be if they played in those locations.
hilarious video clip, btw.
I think it's nonsense to question Ciro's patriotism simply for accepting a good job offer. If he gets them to the Cup, it will only increase his value as a manager in the world market.
I dont have a problem with Ciro coaching the BiH team. He's from Travnik, which used to be a majority Croat city before the commie era. If I'm not mistaken, his father was a Domobran. It's a paying gig, and he's a good coach who gets the best out of his players, as evidenced in France in '98.
All that said, I'm pretty sure Portugal will come away with the WC birth. It's silly that the BiH team claims to represent all of BiH given the fact that the entire roster is "Bosniak". In reality, it's the Bosnian-Muslim national team, not the national team of Bosna i Hercegovina. Croats in BiH will cheer for Portugal with good reason.
It's no coincidence that the game will be played in Zenica, which is the heart of islamic fundamentalism in BiH. There will be more green muslim flags in the stands than anything else. If the BiH team truly represents all of BiH, how about playing a game in Siroki Brijeg or Banja Luka?
My father didn't root for Yugoslavia, I'm not rooting for Bosna & Herzegovina. That amounts to the same f*cking thing.
Bosna & Herzegovina are, as far as I'm concerned, occupied Croatian territories – and should be treated as such.
The Serbs could care less about how B&H fares tomorrow, while the Croats in those lands, suffering under Muslim "Bosniak" hegemony, could give two sh*ts as well.
The only thing Croatian about the B&H side is Miroslav Ciro Blazevic – and that will last right up until he's eliminated, and the money dries up…
Ciro is a charlatan and, above all else, loves ATTENTION. But still, don't be fooled by his latest charade in B&H… it won't last much longer.
CROATS support CROATIA – and no other team. And, of course, that includes CROATS from every region, land, continent, territory, you name it… even occupied ones.
I am having one of the shittiest days ever and that video made me laugh hysterically. Nice find, Ante.
"tvoje kolo je jako ZELENO U BOJU!!!", the most random phrase but I found it hilarious the way he said it, reminds me of every person age 60+ in my family.
I sure hope `Bosnia` loses , really now i would rather cheer for serbia then for Bosnia .
@ Ziva and Ante BBB,
I basically posted this article for the laughs. Myself and other Croatians found both these videos hilarious. And Ciro was once the Croatian coach and he is on the verge of taking another nation to the WC for the first time. And he's not taking Iceland to the WC, it's Bosnia. I think that's relevant to Croatia with the history we have with our neighbors. On top of that, they celebrated a Turkish victory over Croatia. That's why I put it up. I'm curious to see who is for and against them.
I'm also curious to see how they would do in the WC. Could they finish better than last place Serbia in 2006?
Remember, keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
Sorry Ante, time to put you on the chopping block.
Awful article. Why? It has no place here. I have no idea why you wrote this article at all. Is it just because Ciro is Croatian or what? Ridiculous.
Nobody cares about this game and what's worse is that some of you who actually do are rooting FOR Bosna. Riddle me that Batman. Sramota.
who cares……that banana country wont beat Portugal
Bosnia To Win 2-0, Ibisevic scores 1st, then Ibricic seals it with the 2nd..
If So,Bosnia would be a dark horse in the world cup as Croatia was in 98,& its the same guy guiding them ,..Bosnia could acheive big things if they qualify while Croatia would be playing friendlies against mediocre teams..It was humiliating drawing with Malta in the 06 qualifieing campaign,but this campaign was by far the worst,id rather see us Draw or loose to Malta then give England the Satisfactory of thumping us 4-1, 5-1..REVENGE !!, I no its going to be a long time,but i just pray i get to see us knock England out for the count 1 more time..
Welcome back to the boards Joze! Long time, no hear. If Bosna wins 2-1 or 3-2 Portugal still goes through on away goals. Should be a good match though.
I have a feeling BIH will win but I'm really hoping Portugal make it instead. Blazevic has done a pretty good job to get them this far and they really should have scored the away goal in Lisbon they hit the post a couple of times.