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YOUNG YANK HEADED TO ZAGREB

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SPORTSKE NOVOSTI/ VINCENT BORDEN

Written by Ante Baričević

My friend calls me today from work, “Dude! Did you hear about the American kid who’s going to play for Dinamo?”

“Kaj?”

I immediately hang up without even saying goodbye.

In a landmark and unprecedented decision, Dinamo Zagreb acquired the youngest player in team history, 12 year-old American Vincent Borden of New York. Borden, dubbed a ‘wunderkind,’ exploded onto the scene and has the Dinamo faithful, home and abroad, waiting in anticipation, and quite surprisingly, shocked.

What is even more interesting than Borden actually signing for Dinamo is the way he actually got there, thanks to, you guessed it, the internet. (I wonder if CSR was one of his stops?)

But it begs the question–

Why Dinamo (and Croatia in general)?

“I have no personal connection to Croatia and am not Croatian. I have to admit that the only way I heard about Croatia was because of its soccer…My parents surfed the internet and after talking to a couple of coaches, they found out that Dinamo has the best youth program in Europe next to Porto from Portugal. We picked Dinamo and headed off into the unknown…”

Borden currently resides in Zagreb and is learning the ‘in’s and out’s’ of Croatia. He has signed up to attend school and to learn Croatian, which he claims he is picking up slowly, but surely. So far, the coaches, especially head coach Sead Halilović, are impressed with young Borden’s actions on the field. Hopefully the young ‘wunderkind’ will live up to the expectation and hype.

We at CroatianSoccerReport.com wish Vincent the best and all of the success in his career with Dinamo Zagreb.

We’ll be following Vincent and commenting on his progress in the near future.

  • actually, they found a kid in Cleveland they are interested in. My friends in C-town tell me he is really good. Is he good enough for Europe…who knows??????

    The goal of these camps is not to discover Croatian-American talent or Canadian-Croatian talent…..because there is NONE. The goal is to find any kid with talent.

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  • Well, at least this kid is white 😉

    This is the first I ever heard of any Dinamo camps in the US. San Francisco, Cleveland and Vegas? I don't believe that the latter two are considered hotbeds of youth soccer, so I'm a bit suprised they haven't set up anything in New York or New Jersey.

    If they did a better job of "spreading the word", there might be quite more Croatian-Americans that they can bring aboard.

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  • If any of you guys have spent time in ZG and know anything about the mob scene in ZG, then you know all about Jelavic. He and his boys are not to be messed with.

    Hajduk playing 0-0 in no surprise. Dinamo wrapped up the league title after the 5th round in September.

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  • Jelavic's uncle (or some other relative) is involved in some Croatian mafia, which is still the reason why today I feel he got to play for Hajduk, lets be honest, his HNL career wasn't good but he made a name for himself in Austria and got a transfer to Rangers

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  • @JP,

    hahaha… I wonder if Mamic met the kid yet.

    @Ante B,

    "As much as I loathe Mamic and want him out of Dinamo, you have to give him credit when it comes to producing youth players and the youth system at Dinamo Zagreb."

    I agree.

    Great job on the article once again. Great story, considering its a Yankee. However, I still dont understand why the Croatian media hypes it up so much.

    No Ramadan is not over! Tomorrow I will post Hajduk's 21st anniversary.

    @Boris,

    thanks for the link. I'm sure Fistonic will be all over this. He covers Scotland for Croatians Around Europe.

    I knew a little bit about Jelavic' background. However, I never thought it was this serious.

    @Ivo Miljanovic,

    hahaahahhaha… Obviously this guy is a Dinamoooooooooo fan. He could have at least played a little basketball instead of stickball.

    thanks for the video.

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  • As much as I loathe Mamic and want him out of Dinamo, you have to give him credit when it comes to producing youth players and the youth system at Dinamo Zagreb.

    I was presented this article and I did a write up about it because it deals with Dinamo and an American player ala Skrinjaric but this kid has no Croatian roots and is only 12. It's a decent story.

    Time will tell.

    PS- Is Hajduk Ramadan time over?

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  • If they want him to be the next Messi, they should've sent him to Argentina where he could get some Human growth Hormone prescribed to him. Although, I'm sure Mamic could probably get his "blatne papke" on some. The kid is already bigger than Modric so put him in the lineup with our other young Messi… and Dinamo will have Champions league sewed up! 🙂

    I'm not sure that Dinamo & Mamic understand what they've just done. They better handle this youngster very well… with "kid gloves" you might say… or else he'll have CNN on his ass, asking him why he thought it was ok to take his shirt off, take the kid to Discos, and give him shots of slivo at 14.

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  • I pretty much agree with Denis on this one.

    As with any kid that is described as the next great thing….I'll wait to actually see something.

    Delac has been described by some as the next great goalie and he has yet to show anything that makes me beleive he will be that.

    As for American soccer interests about this kid, I doubt US officials care or are paying attention. He went to Croatia, not to Germany or England, so there wont be any expectations about him.

    Plus, he is 12. Fricken parents probably living through their son. I just find it wrong for them to take a 12 year old and move him overseaes. Let the kid finish junior high before you move him. Either way, Dinamo has nothing to lose with this. If it works out, great for them. If not, not loss to them either.

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  • Nemoj srat….

    Oh i just read the fine print:

    "Mamic promises parents 4 story villa on Dalmatian coast, a yacht, and cevape for life"

    It's great that this kid could get a start at a proper Croatian club like Dinamo.(yup, said it)

    In all seriousness though, better him come to Croatia than stay in the USA. He's going to learn how to pass(not dribble), and better hone his skills.

    I think our game fits a US player a lot better due to the fact that we're not dribbling all over the field, and passing is the name of the game. All in all a great place to be minus the conspiracy.

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  • Great job Baričeviću. I think its good for Dinamo, however, the croatian media blew up this story as if they signed the next Messi.

    Also, stealing a kid from the good ol US of A for soccer is equivalent in taking a 12 year old American bobsledder to Croatia. Americans dont care.

    I dont get all the hype. Anything American makes major news in Croatia.

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  • nenad zigante je maloga priporucija dinamu. on ti je branija za lokomotivu u 70e i 80e. bija je odlican goloman. to kad je 2hnl bila bolja od serie a i epl-a….. aee teske a lipe godine

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  • LOL imagine if this kid actually turned out to be a solid player at a young age….might see espn pick up some Dinamo Zagreb games to fill some time slots. The American media love to hype up young athletes, especially if they look like the real deal. Could be a massive move for Dinamo if it turns out well, do not see any negatives in a move like this.

    Good for Dinamo, might be real good for HNL in the future if it goes well.

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  • Happy Birthday CSR. Good Luck to Vincent. Personally, I would love to see a formal partnership with a HNL club and an American youth club. England has been keen to do this and they have 12 times the population of Croatia. Perhaps America is where we can get our next "Eduardo".

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