Alen Halilović finally got his first goal of the tournament. Croatia still lost.
In an almost must-win game for the Croatian U-17 team, the mini Vatreni lost 2-1 to Uzbekistan in their World Cup group finale which will likely see them bow out of the tournament without moving onto the group stage. With all eyes on Dinamo Zagreb’s prized teenager, Alen Halilović finally got his first goal of the tourney in the 1st half when he made a move on the right side of the box and slid the ball inside the left post with his right foot. The goal equalized the game but Uzbekistan would score the winner in the 79th minute to all but knock Croatia out of the tournament. The only way they could move on as one of the best 3rd place teams is if both Mexico and Iran lose on Friday.
Halilović goal
Halilovic will be a good player one day i think..
im glad we gave him games, i want him to play for us
Also, these under-17 tourneys are suspect because a lot nations field overage players.
Halilovic scoring? He needed that to keep himself in the shop window. The last thing we need is another Freddie adu.
I hope to see this kid finally come of age and start for Dinamo.
@Ivica
Except for the time we won the youth world cup with Jugo and had all those great Hrvati players who went on to star for us in France 98
Very nice technical skills there from Halilovic and Roguljic. Too bad they’re cocky as fuck, and don’t play as a team.
It’s only U17, so I don’t really care. We’ve never done anything in junior tournaments anyway. I’m pretty confident we’ll continue be ahead of the Moroccans and Uzbeks in the future.
Really we still have a chance ? Cool. Also nice goal from halilovic .. good to see him show some of his talent
Fuck, every time I get on this website to check the latest news on our team it depresses the hell out of me!!!!
U17′s still with a chance to go through. Argentina must beat Canada and Sweden must beat Mexico tomorrow.
Sude Mi – I’m not pretending to be some insider, but I’ve followed European soccer in some deatil (except for the past few years since my kids are very active) and I’ll tell you…coaches in Europe are very scrutinized, under sever pressure and are always judged based on their record. In Italy, at one point it got so bad almost no teams played an attacking style which in some ways is why the Italians were laways very familiar with their National Team system…it was simple to play what you already most likely do with your club. Germans have always been a balanced team…Holland were attackers but if you notice….now most teams play with all 10 players behind the ball, breaking out is different than 20 years ago and each team is far more detailed with giving assignments to their players….I guess we could go on and on…
….to add to your comment, thats why we see players on the Repka sometimes playing out of their club team positions. Pranjic was adapted into his role with the National team and I actually liked him playing that role, the problem we have is we try to utilize what we have…each coach sees things differently and then they have their strategies to go along with the player personnel and formations. One coaches strategy can be defense first while anothers may be attacking…the end result is always in the outcome of the match, if you play one system you have to ensure you get the result you were looking for otherwise people start to tear apart your strategy. if you play a slower tempo, defend with 10 behind the ball BUT win, zavrsio si posao…if you lose then not only did you lose BUT you lose looking like shit!
awww shit we lost : ( ..
did expect this but it’s disappointing.. and we’ll be one of the two worst place 3rd teams for sure so no knockout stage for us
@Slavonac from Canada
Good point and maybe it is pie in the sky to point at the German program given the disparity in populations….they can “make” players to suit their system given their broad selection base.
At the same time, given the talent that exists in CRO, you would think a standard formation and a couple of derivations could be hammered out, but of course there needs to be a will to make a way and there certainly ain’t no will currently…
Italy played 4-4-2 for many years….and then played different variations of that system according to the offensive strengths of their opponents…they were always a defense first team…thats their system.
Many times….actually most times a system is based on the players you have, for example you can’t play 3-5-2 if you don’t have 2 very strong and fast wingbacks…you can’t play 1 striker unless he is a pure goalscorer…how many teams have a pure all and out goalscorer. so with all this said you create a system based on your personnel…find the best strategy with the players you have and ensure they understand the system…hence the comment several weeks back when Mandzukic said they didn’t understand the coach’s system!
We reinvent the wheel everytime.
Players play based on how the coaches want them to play….if the system is being changed constantly from age to age, or even from senior squad to squad (Bilic to Stimac for example) it falls apart.
Ther Germans play the same way at every national team setup….no guesswork, no re-indoctrination, no turning things on its head.
Thus, the players can simply play….
Bobby V is also correct…….when you watch our teams play, there is not much there to be excited about. It shouldn’t up to the national team coach of the senior side to implement a system to get them to play. Once these guys are good enough for the senior side, they should be familiar with the style we use. Instead, we reinvent the wheel everytime.
Sorry meant bud in my last sentence and fringe above. My apologies….
See Ziva and my response…..talent is there, a cohensive, functioning system top to bottom is sorely lacking….ergo a VACUUM.
As long as pseudo-kriminalci run the show, nothing will change as they pocket their take and life goes on. You can’t do that in Germany as the law is never far behind and their rigidity as far as systems and doing it the right way supersedes the fring criminal element.
No rose coloured glasses here bad, just the facts man.
I mean, it’s ok if there is little or talent – after all, we are a small nation….but, don’t mislead the fans.
Talk about homer glasses – these guys are now wearing the 3D type
The U-17 team is now 1-4 in their last 5 matches, losing to Bosnia, Portugal, Morocco and Uzbekistan.
The U18 team went 0-2-1 in a four team tourney last month, losing to Mexico and China.
The U19 team is playing well, going 5-1-4 in the last 10 matches.
The U20 team is 2-4-1 in their last 7 matches.
All I’m reading about is the fantastic talent in our youth systems, but every tournament I watch, it’s players on other teams that catch my eye.
Maybe the newspapers are talking about the U5’s – how are they looking?
@Sude Mi…………well said. As I mentioned, producing individual players will never be an issue in Cro. We have hungry kids who are talented and want to succeed and playing soccer is their way of getting out and making it. Very similar situation with the crnci in the USA who use basketball as their escape from the inner city. We lack an overall system that can take our skilled players and mold them into teams that can play winning, attractive soccer.
I watched all 3 games of the U17s…….some individual talent, but nothing as a collective unit. So, what will the savez do when these guys get back from Cro. Probably fire the coach thinking that is the solution and move on.
Bobby V lamented the state of Academy football in Croatia….I responded in kind.
There’s a difference between knowing how Croatia runs their developmental training program and the overhaul undertaken by Germany post their defeat to us in 1998.
The Germans combined efforts by the Savez, all the National teams and club teams to define German soccer going forward….how they were going to play, how to train their prospects to get there and how to ensure enough domestic players got top flight football in the bundes liga.
England is struglling with this same question currently.
Given the leadership vacuum currently in the Croatian Savez, don’t hold your breath. Fact remains though, given the plaudits given to Romeo Jozak and the number of players Croatia produces vis a vis their population, producing talented players is not the problem.
A unified program top to bottom as per the Germans, is the issue. Again, I wouldn’t hold my breath for it in Cro….
Dinamo’s results at the U15 tounrey meaning zero if it doesn’t eventually translate to the senior side.
Results at the junior level have never been important to me. I want to see player development. In cro, we are able to produce individual talent – and always will – but what we lack is a creative, attractive system of play.
The nations I am going to mention have more money to play with, but they also overhauled their developmental system in the last 10-15 years. Belgium and Germany. Then add in Holland and France who did it a while back. They have a plan that was very detailed and overhauled the existing developmental system. I would love to know how Croatia runs their developmental training program.
@ Bobby
our academies are teaching the youngsters how to go to cajke clubs and dance to that turbo serbo nonsense.
Reference to Dinamo victory….
http://www.manchesterunitedpremiercup.com/
Clearly someone is teaching it in the Academies given Dinamo’s victory against some very impressive sides at the U15 tournament run by Man U this summer….
Same thing will all our Croatian nogomet sides – no creativity in the final 1/3 of the field and nobody who can shoot from the outside – except Niko Kranjcar.
1998 had Suker, Boksic, Boban, Vlaovic, Stanic and Jarni who had powerful and accurate shots.
Where has this all gone? Anybody see Zlatan’s goalasso yesterday? Anybody teaching this at our academies anymore?
@CroatHrvat
I see some creativity in these highlights…..
http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/highlights/video/video=2204877/index.html?intcmp=livecoverage_box_u17worldcup_hp_en
Same with these, especially Roguljic’s goal…
http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/highlights/video/video=2201770/index.html
lyon 1 – 0 Rijeka
Benko’s mowhawk wasn’t quite tall enough today to reach that header. He needs Rakatic to help him out with a strong and taller hair style.
you talking about the Rijeka game………..i’m not paying attention to that one. No rooting interest for me in that one and no money on the line.
i meant Benko missing a cista prilika with his head
no whipping boy. I bet against us today, so you wont see me complaining about the result.
Benko will be Ziva’s new heading whipping boy? 😀
I have now seen the exact same problem in the senior team, U20’s and now U17’s. What is wrong with these guys, is it the coaching? Is it a cultural movement within Croatia?
These guys CAN NOT create a single clear cut chance. Not a single one-on-one with the keeper. Nothing.
The vast majority of the game is spent passing the ball around the back four, and when they do enter the opposition half there is NO penetration or creativity.
There are problems in Croatia.
jm, he had an injury. It wasn’t serious though.
@jm…it was prayer time for him in the middle east……….sorry, couldn’t resist.
any reason halilovic was subbed out with 30 minutes tot go?
easy money, ya’ll…….Uzbekis were a nice payoff.
well, not really. I didn’t expect much from this squad and they are showing that.
Laku noc svjiraci!
Oh well, now at least Canada can beat Argentina tomorrow….did I say that? LOL
Croatia 1 – 2 Uzbekistan
Crap
this game is ugglllllyyyyyy.
not a bad half, if only he let the ball go through to the keeper, a coach needs to really get on halilovic about the ball hogging, i think he is quite the talent but painful to watch a guy torture the ball so much. Kinda like suker wasting all those balls rather than passing
Playing better, almost another goal. But Halilovic is such a fucking ball hog. Someone needs to teach him that it’s a TEAM sport.
GOAL by Halilovic 1 – 1
atta kid! One more
goooooolllll halilovic
Great an own goal Croatia 0 – 1 Uzbekistan
@Mishko
If we draw this game, I believe we are through.
The next round is a 16 team knockout round. Since the top-2 teams of each group make 12 teams, they take the best four (out of the remaining six) 3rd placed teams.
Russia finished in 3rd in their group with 3 points. Slovakia finished 3rd in their group with 4 points (but with a minus 3 goal differential). If we get the draw against the Uzbeks, we are guaranteed to finish ahead of these two.
But finishing third would put us against a tougher initial opponent. Still need to play for the win and try and top this group which is still possible.
Uzbekistan is going to park the bus, it’s going to be a hard game. OUR boys need to be ready for the counter. Should be an interesting game.
.
@Croatia vs. Antwerp…….no, I use a couple of online websites. All are based outside of the US.
Not predicting anything…..I just said I like the odds for an Uzbeki win or tie. Have to look into much more.
Besides, these are game predicitions. They are always 50/50. I’ve never bragged about that.
@ Ziva
Where are you placing your bets? With a vegas website?
So you predict an Uzbekistan win. Will be interesting to see if another one of your predictions goes wrong.
I like the odds on the Uzbekis today. Might put some money on them. Not impressed at all how we have played so far.
Petar Mamic looks like he could be a top left back. Halilovic isn’t stealing the show, but he does show that he is more than capable.
Karlo Lulić is out for this game. Too bad. He’s another one to watch.
I am yet to see a performance from Halilovic that justifies the hype. No doubt he is a talent but he needs to produce more.
i wish this game was 1 day later cos then i could drink and stay up and watch it but no way i can watch this during the week : (