Written by Anthony Zorić
It’s been two weeks since Croatia lost to France and I can’t stop thinking about it. What could have been. What should have been. The referee. VAR. It goes on and on in my head.
Before the World Cup started I was optimistic as always about Croatia’s chances. I knew we had a top quality team with a good atmosphere after new coach Zlatko Dalić joined. Luka Modrić was in wonderful form after helping Real Madrid to a fourth Champions League trophy in five years. I knew Modrić, Rakitić, Mandžukić and Subašić would be especially motivated since it could be their last World Cup.
Before the World Cup I felt that a minimum quarterfinal appearance would be a successful run for Croatia. When it comes to knockout matches; anything can happen. We saw the Vatreni play the best football in the first round of Euro 2016 only to go out to eventual champions Portugal. I was at the match in which Portugal sat deep and invited possession from Croatia. The chances were minimal for both teams but Portugal managed to get a winner just a few minutes before penalties.
Croatia finished the first round of Euro 2016 with two wins and one draw. We were unlucky that Portugal finished third in group F. Iceland or Hungary would have suited Croatia much better in the round of 16. Even though Croatia played good football in France, something was missing. I believe Ante Čačić was not qualified for the coaching job in the first place. He did get Croatia to play some good football but didn’t make necessary adjustments against Portugal. Another major issue was that the players did not respect Čačić. His resume was light and he didn’t know how to deal with big players on our roster.
For a coach to get the maximum from his players he must have their respect. The loss against Portugal hurt because our players watched that team win the European Championship. Čačić did not make necessary changes in the match. Most notably, he changed nothing when Renato Sanches came into the midfield and took control physically. His strength took over the midfield and we had trouble getting anything going. Another mistake was not bringing Marko Pjaca on earlier, a player who was arguably the best player in Croatia’s win over Spain the previous match. It was unlucky Portugal scored a 117th minute winner but if Čačić made necessary changes Croatia could have scored first.
This generation of Croatian players has suffered some shocking losses. The loss to Turkey at Euro 2008 was by far the most depressing. Croatia was a couple of possessions away from beating Turkey and setting up a semifinal with Germany. Unfortunately, a late equalizer from the Turks lead to a penalty shootout which Croatia lost. The Vatreni had already beaten Germany 2-1 at the group stage. They would eventually lose to Spain in the final and the Croats were left wondering what could have been. Several key players of this squad were part of that loss to Turkey including Modrić, Rakitić and Ćorluka.
Croatian players always had the skill to compete with the top teams in the world. We’re a team that has never been beaten by Italy in six official matches and beat Germany the last two matches at a major tournament (WC 1998, Euro 2008). The question was always whether we were mentally strong enough to go deep in a major tournament. The 1998 team had so much to play for. Fresh out of a war for independence the Croats had a wonderful mix of talent and passion. That drive lead Croatia to third place which was an amazing accomplishment for a country in their first World Cup.
The question was: could a deep run like that be duplicated?
Since qualifying for their first tournament in 1996, the Vatreni have only missed two tournaments: Euro 2000 and World Cup 2010. For a country of less than 5 million people, that is quite impressive in its own right.
Prior to the 2018 World Cup, there were many questions to be answered. Was Croatia mentally strong enough? Does Croatia have a true leader or several leaders? I had a wonderful discussion about this with journalist Mihovil Topić. He informed me that in Croatia very little is done for players on psychological preparedness. This goes for all major team sports in Croatia including basketball, waterpolo and handball. Topić explained to me that other countries invest much more time and money to prepare their athletes mentally. There is no doubt that Croatia is one of the most talented countries in producing high quality athletes. I believe this comes from a mix of genetics (natural athleticism), sports culture and a good development system. No one doubts that Croats aren’t top athletes. The problem comes when many of our team sports crumble in high pressure situations. Any Croatia sports fan has seen their football, basketball, waterpolo and handball teams fall apart in big matches. It’s become so common that it’s a surprise when we pull through and find a way to win.
Youth development is large reason why Croatia is so successful in sports. So many people ask me how Croatia has so many top quality players for such a small country. I was lucky to witness both American and Croatian football systems growing up so I had something to compare. I spent a majority of the year training/playing in the US and summers in Croatia. During summers, my father always set me up to train with youth teams of NK Zadar or NK Hajduk Split. I was fascinated by the selection process at Hajduk Split. I was often training there during youth trials. Since it’s one of the top two academies in Croatia there are tons of players from all ages that come on trial. I noticed that most of the players at the academy were naturally talented. The academy coaches looked at skill and touch first. Could you play? Do you have a good touch? At early ages fundamentals were focused on. Trainings at academies are minimum once per day and sometimes twice. At early ages speed and strength were a factor but not the most important factor.
In general, Croatians love players with skill and a feel for the game. In Croatian we call it ‘osječaj’…Natural instincts…Vision…things that you cannot teach a player. Many of these instincts come from young players spending hundreds of hours playing on asphalt courts. In the US you can compare many young basketball players developing their skills on street courts. Players in Croatia often play for hours per day with friends in competitive games. Competitiveness is instilled at an early age. The best street players often find themselves going to a more structured environment of academies but they have a good idea of how to play already.
By the time a player is 20 he’s played 80-100 matches in a fairly competitive league. Croatian League is by no means a top-5 league but every player is competing to make a move to a bigger club or league to increase their salary. In the last 10 years the best players in Croatia often leave between the ages of 17-21. This often hurts the development of the players but the clubs profit heavily. Dinamo Zagreb alone has cashed in over €250m in the last 10 years. A substantial amount in sales for much bigger clubs in Europe.
The development system obviously works but there is minimal focus on psychology of players. The 2018 Croatian World Cup team proved to be special. Key players-Modrić, Perišić (15) Lovren (18) Rakitić (18) and Mandzo went through constant obstacles in life. They were not privileged or given special treatment. They had to fight constantly proving themselves at every level. Several were refugees during the Croatian war for independence. Luka Modrić wasn’t deemed good enough for Hajduk Split when he went on trial. Then, he was loaned twice by Dinamo Zagreb before returning to become a key player for the squad. Ivan Perišić left home at 15 years old for French club Sochaux. His father was bankrupt and the money Perišić would earn in France would feed his family. Both Dejan Lovren and Luka Modrić were refugees. Struggles are a common theme in the lives of all the footballers. As Slaven Bilić recently mentioned in an article, the players are not given everything at a young age. They are made to work for success.
When you combine their life hardships with their on field struggles you look at an army of footballers. Soldiers who needed a general. They found that general in Zlatko Dalić. I’ll never forget a quote Dalić gave, “These guys all know how to play football, I can’t teach them that.” Dalić was exactly what they needed. A positive personality who just let them play. The players warmed to him and the combination was unstoppable. They fought like lions. Three knockout matches in a row they were scored on first and had to come from behind. Against Denmark, Modrić missed a penalty with barely any time left and Subašić would end up being the hero who put Croatia through to the quarterfinals by making three penalty stops. Against Russia the Croats fought from behind to tie the match. In extra time, Croatia would go ahead with a Vida winner only to see Russia get a shock leveling goal with five minutes left. Again Subašić denied the Russians with two penalty blocks which proved enough to put Croatia in the semis. England would prove another difficult match as a fifth minute free kick goal meant that Croatia would once again have to fight back. After a slow first half Croatia took over the match and tied it with a wonderful Vrsaljko cross which Perišić put away in the left corner. Mario Mandžukić would make sure there were no penalties as he put the winner away in the 109th minute.
By beating England the Vatreni reached their first World Cup final. Only the 13th country to do so which in itself is a wonderful achievement. By reaching the final they had also surpassed the 1998 ‘Golden Generation’. Something I always wondered could be done. The Croatian development system may not focus much on player psychology but this team of Croats took a different route for their mental strength. Both their life hardships and football experiences helped them push harder and dig deeper than they ever have. Anyone who goes down a goal in a game knows how hard it is to come back. Doing it four matches in a row is almost unheard of. It takes incredible focus and mental strength to find a way to put the ball into the opponents goal. It’s especially difficult in modern football because teams get all eleven players behind the ball. The Croats showed heart, passion and exciting football. An English friend told me that that we are currently the team everyone wants to play like. A great honor for the entire world watching and thinking ‘I wish my team played like Croatia.’ Our team won the hearts of the world and showed that no matter where you come from you can rise to the top which is an inspiring life lesson for all.
Croatia didn’t win the World Cup but we were very close. The first fifteen minutes of the final Croatia was in total control. France didn’t create one dangerous chance. Unfortunately in the 18th minute Griezmann started falling before contact and Brozović hit his leg when he was on his way down. If the referee was close enough he could have said play on. Croatia would concede on own goal on that free kick and have to fight again. When Perišić equalized the stadium erupted and the dream of lifting the World Cup trophy came alive. Then, the game’s villain, Nelson Pitana, chose to go to VAR on a call he initially said was a goal kick. He watched the replay which did hit Perišić’s hand but there was clearly no intent and the player’s hands were in a natural position. Pitana watched the replay, walked away and then returned to watch it again. It was clear he wasn’t sure what to do. After watching it in slow motion he made up his mind and awarded the penalty that Griezmann converted. A World Cup final should never be decided by a questionable call like that. He should have let the game go on to see how the game would develop. A 1-1 halftime score would have been a much different match. Every football pundit whose comments I read said it wasn’t a penalty. It’s unfortunate that the one person who mattered decided otherwise. After two unlucky French goals the Croats just couldn’t get a leveling goal. France would convert two counter attack goals which would all but seal the game. A Mandžukić goal on a Lloris mistake would make the score 4-2.
I watched every Croatia match this World Cup. I was honored to attend the England and France matches. I believe Pitana was not suited to referee the World Cup final. If a more quality referee officiated, anything could have happened. Croatia may not have won the World Cup but they have earned millions of new fans. This loss hurts more than any loss in Croatia’s history.
Watching the parade in Zagreb was special. The players deserved a heroes welcome and they had over 550,000 fans in attendance. The smiles on the faces of all those Croatians brings much needed joy to their struggles. The standard of living is low in Croatia and that’s why thousands of people are leaving for other parts of the world. The politicians are using this as a PR campaign. In reality, we want the politicians to use this to turn Croatia in a new direction. One where jobs will be created, people will stay in Croatia and the standard of living rises. This could be a new start for Croatia with the footballers to thank. The Croats dreamed of a World Cup trophy and it almost happened. Maybe now they can dream of a better life in their homeland.
We can be sure that young children experience this feat will want to be the next Modrić, Rakitić and Mandžukić. Since none of the current crop of youth will have go through anything close to what Modrić and company had to with the war, it may be a good idea to add psychological preparedness into youth development education. The current team had turbulent lives and the next generation will not have it as bad. Croatia may need to add psychological aspects of development to prepare for high pressure situations. One thing is certain, we must make youngsters continue to fight for their success. No super talents should be put on pedestals above others because that will only hurt their development. Hopefully Croatia will invest in youth because the future can bring many more Modrić’s, Mandžukić’s and Rakitić’s. Simple things like training facilities must be built and others updated so children can at least have decent all around atmosphere to develop in. So many facilities lack basic necessities and modern facilities would allow kids to develop in a normal setting when it comes to Western standards. Let’s hope the accomplishments by this team will motivate investments in modern youth facilities. In the past 20 years Croats have enjoyed two deep runs in the World Cup.
I hope that we can do it again and with a smaller gap than 20 years next time Croatia makes a run at a World Cup trophy.
What’s up to all, the contents existing at this website are really
awesome for people knowledge, well, keep up the nice work
fellows.
Unreal success Of such a small country that my friends is a dominant gene pool. Everyone keep bringing up Uruguay won one that shit was back in 1930 so some crap there hasn’t been a small nation in the modern era that has had he succes Croatia has had…ZDS
A tiny nation got to the final despite tons of **** and undeserved criticism from media- and Modric, who is from Zadar, which is where my family is from, got best player. Pretty big win in my book. Bravo!!!!!!!!
One of the cool groups i joined on FB during / after the WC is this one:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1162161303931928/
Pretty cool place to keep up with news as well so recommend joining : )
Man what a run and what a fucking opportunity to win the cup…the ref fucked us sideways. I still haven’t watched the highlights of the game. What a month it was both physically and emotionally taxing….lijepo li je hrvat biti majko hvala ti
Soul-with Inter also trying to get Kovacic back, I know who I am rooting for in Serie A and CL (even tho I doubt they get Modric or Kova.)
Funny how AC Milan has picked our duds (Pasalic,NKalinic,Strinic,Halilovic), and Inter has picked our studs (Brozo, Perisic, Vrsaljko, young Kovacic)…relax Halil not a dud, but he has not come close to meeting his lofty expectations.
That Derbic between Ac & Inter going to be like watching a Croatian team intra-squad scrimmage.
https://m.calciomercato.com/en/news/report-inter-in-talks-for-modric-27520
Wait a minute ..
Inter Milan taking the Vatreni mojo to win the CL !!
Brilliant.
Inter Modrić is just what they need to get back in the mix as a top European Club.
Icardi may score 50 goals with Croatia behind him.
Spalletti is plus one in my book.
Serie A is BACK.
Out of respect I will refer to Inter Modrić as IM to honor Inter Milan .. but will always be giving deference to Luka Modrić and the rest of our World Class contigent at Inter.
Kovačić gets to play and Real Madrid and Modrić writes yet another chapter.
Hvala Bogu .. that my parents are Croatian!!
Not sure if there are any indie rock nerds on here, but …. Stephen Malkmus … (legend)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl4Kwc-Fk6k/?hl=en&taken-by=official_jickstagram
He also wore it at their SF earlier …..
you guys make me so happy sometimes. i’d like to meet some of y’all. if i come over the the US sometime i wanna meet up. iggy i got a friend in melbourne…..
hic!! slivovica
@ slavonac
I think you’re right in many regards
Brozovic was an undercover star in this tournament for Croatia. has tactical execution of covering an incredible amount of ground in front of the defense and finally releasing modric and rakitic forward was pivotal
Mandzukic also had a tremendous tournament. I was down on him at the start and thought kramaric should start ( for good reason) but in the end mandzukic might’ve fit in the tactical puzzle better. With perisic and rebic continuing to drop down so far on the wings defensively, mandzukic ability to serve as a hold up outlet in transition was vital. I still have my doubts though about Croatias offensive potential with him at the helm though
I just hope Jedvaj doesn’t turn into a Pranjic who is played out of position and flounders.
I know I’m being extremely idealistic here – but if these young kids pan out could you imagine a mid of Coric, Kovacic, Brekalo, Pjaca, Halilovic? Greezus!
I thought we wouldn’t see another team like 98 and we did this tourney. This team in the WC 2018 were playing in higher clubs. Don’t take my word just listen to Bilic and Boban say the same thing. The interview is out there on YouTube.
If the kids pan out, they can potentially be the next big run. Hope for the best, have zero expectation.
@BZ – Jedvaj is used as a right back but his preferred position is CB. He’s only been used for us at RB and at Bayer they use him there as a makeshift option but he’s a CB by trade not RB.
I agree, wasn’t and haven’t been impressed with him at RB. You can see he’s a CB playing out of position it’s obvious.
I agree with everything else you posted.
All in all I think there is no doubt the talent with our young guns is there, how they develop is a different question.
Kovacic was always on the up and up and lulled a bit in Madrid. You can see he’s technically gifted but lacks game time.
Perisic was in France as a teen, Dortmund was his early peak then went to Wolfsburg and peaked again a little later at Inter.
Rakitic was supposed to be a wonder kid in Basel as a teen then lulled in Germany with Schalke and did well in Sevilla earning a spot in Barca. Not everyone’s trajectory is the same.
Realistically, Kovacic has potential to really flourish considering Modric was signed by Spurs at 23 and Kovacic was the number 10 at Inter at 19. That says a lot about what people think about him. I’m hoping he does well when given the chance.
How is Benko playing these days?
Rog is a beast..
Pjaca, caleta-car, jedvaj,moro,kovacic, vlasic,perica, kalinic lovre….
I believe will get their chance very soon to show what they got
These other guys here:
Brekalo, Halilovic, Coric, Majer, Benkovic, Semper, Balic, Sosa, Krovinovic…..
have some way to go to convince me….either of their ability…… or mentality…… or physical preparedness
Caleta – Car was apparently the best looking player on the Croatia team according to a website.
Young guns:
Rog-just like many of us were right about plopping anybody at cdm instead of Badelj, I am going to say Rog is worse than Badelj. We need control & skill in our midfield, not head first clumsiness.
Caleta-Car- Can see him being better than Lovren. Big beast, with better header skills than any of our current CBs. He will go thru growing pains, and will get skewered by media as most CBs do in a loss.
Jedvaj- I have seen enough to say, “Next”. Downgrade from our current RB in speed, ball skill, and defensive skills. I would have also said ball crossing, but Vrsaljko has yet to regain his masterful command of his crosses.
Brekalo-small but is really talented. Great creater, but does not have that track back beatdown size and speed that Perisic and Rebic have (which is what I think separates us from other country’s Prima Donna wings.) Will definitely help us offensively at some point in his career.
@Slavonac from Canada i also like Pivarics energy in the England game he also dribbled past two English men which was good to see maybe it was the fresh legs vs the tired in ET. Who knows how Coric Balic Sosa Jedvaj Brekalo Pjaca will turn out hopefully at least half of them turn out to be above average.
There are 25 talented players and on good tracks who are 25 and under. Not counting Lovre Kalinic who at 28 is the now goal keeper and for the next 3 major tournaments.
Need only a handful of them to breakthrough to the next level of their club careers.
The point is we can cast a wide net now.
Give all these kids a chance.
Fighting for a spot on the national team is the best experience for all young players to get to the next level.
The war effected our ability to complete our evolution past ‘98.
It took 20 years.
Now we can move forward to a more prosperous future.
We see that we cannot afford internal sabotage as there are external forces that are not ready for us to be champions.
Boban in FIFA is big. Don’t blame VAR for ref who sold out.
We are NOW a footballing POWER.
….oh, I got carried away about Kalinic and forgot to make my point about Mandzukic.
Mandzo’s fighting spirit, work rate, calmness around the goal and ability to score and make the right play in very big moments often goes unrecognized. I find it strange that some people will comment on Kalinic’s cheeky re-directed goal vs Spain a couple of years ago but those same people don’t recognize the key goals and assists at key times, Mandzukic has provided for us. Not only that…how much did that guy battle in the opposing side of the field and in our own end….is there a more responsible player in the world than what we see from Mandzukic? Man…what he offers is just unbelievable! it takes a world of strength, stamina and pure will to do what he has done for his country! In my opinion, he deserves a lot of respect!
in the spirit of this forum, I’m gonna just say that I felt Dejan Lovren exceeded all of our expectations, he did for me. The guy stayed focused except for that one bone-head hand ball…the rest was top class!
Perisic finally began to play in the 2nd half of the England game, his game is world class when he’s interested!
I felt Brozovic was an absolute beast, the guy played his role incredibly disciplined and almost perfect…I couldn’t have asked for him to do any better.
Many of you might be surprised by my next comment, I honestly liked it when Pivaric entered the game a few times. I really like his attitude and work rate. He is eager and is always ready to make another run…his service wasn’t bad either.
We’ve all talked about Modric, Rakitic, Vrsaljko…the usual’s that all did their job and impressed the world, I’m gonna bring up Mandzukic for a moment!
Prior to this tournament, many here were trashing him…Anonymous, I remember you in particular but there were more. I always stand up for certain players that I feel have character and put the team first…not like Kalinic, whom a big amount of you were counting on for him to be the “difference maker”…and he was, thank God he left cause we would most likely never have gotten this far if he would have started.
for me, the saddest part of the tournament was not getting Badelj on the field often enough. I’m not complaining about it, I just like the player he’s become and I really enjoy his calmness, vision and talent…he has a tonne of skill and really does a great job of winning balls and distributing.
when we talk about our future, so far I really don’t know who will step up. If Rebic continues on this path, he will be a great attacker. I don’t know where guys like Vlasic and Balic are at in their development and career. I have seen a few glimpses of Brekalo, I’d like to see more, Caleta-Car has been good and bad…maybe he needs more playing time? Jedvaj looks inconsistent and sometimes irresponsible. Halilovic isn’t even in the conversation, for now…lets see how he does in Milan.
Thoughts?
Remember how Gavranovic was playing at Schalke in his younger days now hes at Dinamo Zagreb it doesnt always work out. Look at another example Marko Marin used to play for Germany now he plays in the Greece League.not all these youngsters turn out good so we will see about Krovinovic,Pjaca,Coric and Halilovic.
@ Svima
What are we going to call Inter Milan?
Inter Crolan
Inter Croatia Milan – IC Milan
Croatia Milan – CM
I am going with Croatia Milan – CM as a working name.
Perišić should stay and lead this crew on a CL run.
It’s nice to have a crew of Hrvati on one club.
We have the most young talent in our pipeline then we have had in the last 20 years.
Need to give all these young guys a shot with the UNL.
Vlašić steps on the pitch like he hasn’t eaten in a month.
Rebić showed all these young guys what is possible with the Vatreni. Off a great season he comes in, fills a need and takes off.
These boys are inspired.
Dalić can now sit back and select who he feels is ready.
9 months ago he had to harmonize with the current squad and chose to roll with them.
Over 30 crew needs to rest during the UNL breaks.
They have all had a long and intense 15 months of football.
Our Croatian identity is based in heart, intelligence, technical mastery and direct play.
I’d like to see tactical flexibility in the UNL.
Seeing different players coming in allows for some fine tuning.
England match will be like a scrimmage behind closed doors.
I personally like to teach a footballing lesson another two times and especially in England.
There arrogance is unparalleled in World football.
@ Svima
I’d skip on the psychologist and invest in a set piece coach that can train us to make set pieces be routine for us.
We actually conceding back breaking set piece plays against us.
Maybe that begins with Lovre Kalinic.
We should find the best coach for that and bring him in STAT.
Should say salty Serb is iggy phrase. Also he did say the psychologist stuff before I remember clearly
Crnkovic slavonac and souls champ always been positive
I always felt rebic woudl come back
He ain’t Ronaldo but he plays balls out plainand simple
Looks like we finally got some wingers
Caleta car looks like he could be solid back there for us
Great experience now to become a leader perhaps
Haven’t been on this site
I’m in cro soaking my ass in the water
The game was a joke we all know
I knew only “luck ” would really beat us
If anything maybe the 2nd place is fuel for another future run
I get it modric won’t be around
But one of the youngsters with talent like that krovinovic kid will come and want to be modric or Better
Hope they don’t have too much pressure to perform now but something they have to learn to deal with
We are good like a sport franchise don’t need to blow anything up. Just a little retool and we should remain competitive
Seen this crnac wearing a jersey in cro. People love us just enjoy it. Don’t be a salty Serb(high phrase) and let’s do this
Who can legit be the most influential couple young guys coming up over the nexr 2-4 years?
I think the team will be rather unmotivated after this past tournament
As i mentioned before, the tactics dalic utilized required an extremely high work rate
A work rate the players were happy to give on the world cup stage, but will they be willing to give it for some random qualifier or l of n game in the middle of club season??… Not so sure
@ Crnkovic
Robo Rog is a BEAST!
He killed it against Spain, 2016!
He is the only nogometaš willing to lay the wood for us in the middle.
Put him down on that UNL roster.
Can’t wait to see the u30 roster!!
@ Svima
Psyche = Soul.
Modern day Freud was just sick pup.
Vatreni only needed to BE CROATIAN and play like it.
Going forward we will be CROATIAN and let the nogomet take care of itself.
Modrić je Hrvat.
I don’t want non Croatians convicting him in the court of public opinion.
He made mistake ? Then let him pay a fine and be done with it.
He is a champion of Croatia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa8l3fFOfpQ
just think what the boys will feel when they pull on that shirt against spain. especially the young guys who didn’t play much yet. U BOJ
ciro blazevic was performing admirable psychology…telling suker than boksic loved him and vice versa. look in peoples eyes, use your brain, hold your faith, believe in yourself, stand up for your rights…play for your people. it should be enough. psychologists my ass…hehe
epic brozo’s dad was a great psychologist…making his boy sleep with a football
all human beings are “psychologists”. from the thief, to the teacher, to the youtube troll.
@iggy “top quality psychologists”. don’t be ridiculous. did muhamad ali employ some twerp who did his/her homework at school, then went to university and read a bunch of books, all the while kissing ass, about a bunch of stuff everybody knows already, to get a badge that says they’re a psychologist…. PAlease. did pele employ a psychologist? does cristiano employ a psychologist? did maradona employ a pyschologist? what nonsense. get a grip…
We might have been better on the day but we didn’t create many clear cut chances at goal. Lloris really wasn’t tested with the exception of his save on Rebic early in the 2nd half.
If you control the play but cannot create anything from it, then it’s all for not.
Enough with this sports psychology crap.
Croatia were the strongest team mentally in this entire World Cup.
They came from behind in all of their knockout phase matches (including France after that demoralizing bullshit free kick goal).
They were unlucky and had a lot of bad calls go against them throughout the tournament, and they still played. They didn’t even give up in the Iceland game after that penalty (and noone would have blamed them) yet still won that one.
They were supposed to be way more tired than any of their opponents, yet they out ran and outplayed all of the well rested youngsters from England and France.
They won two penalty shootouts, and you could tell from the England match that the English commentators wanted NO PART of Croatia in extra time or penalties and were whining about how they were only 25 minutes away from the Finals. They had no faith in their team when regulation was coming to a close. THIS is proof that you are the mentally stronger side.
Croatia has a system now (something that we lacked since our 98 team, with each of our very stupid coaches trying to implement something new). Bilić was the closest to implementing something similar, but he buckled at times and we approached too many games with too much hesitation and fear (which cost us in key games such as Greece in 2011 and Italy in 2012). We also would fall apart the moment someone took a lead over us.
Stick to this current style, and play with no fear. This is exactly what we did this tournament.
Blame the ref. Blame Fifa. Blame Mamić. Blame HNS.
Except when we win
I had a wonderful discussion about this with journalist Mihovil Topić. He informed me that in Croatia very little is done for players on psychological preparedness. This goes for all major team sports in Croatia including basketball, waterpolo and handball. Topić explained to me that other countries invest much more time and money to prepare their athletes mentally
Regulars of the site will recall years ago me talking about this issue and how we don’t need a coach, we need a depth-psychologist.
And i wasn’t kidding. If i was at HNS i would be getting top quality psychologists involved immediately. I said it then and i’d still say it now.
hehe
I was surprised that no mention was made of the Rangers fans singing anti-Catholic songs against Osijek.
Would the Croatian protestant have a problem with the Rangers fans songs?
Does that make the Croatian protestant anti-Croatian?
It seems that the modern day Croats, or new Croats, love to hang shit on other Croats, but have no issue with what the Rangers fans did.
Oh, and Slavonac, Croatia is a divided country, there’s Catholics, Muslims, protestants and schismatics all living together, believing their faiths to be the one true faith, whilst not giving a shit about the people they deem to believe falsely.
I was surprised…until a week later! I am really pissed off at how that game unfolded, we were the better team, playing a better style and controlling the play.
The ref was a dog, he will one day remember how he affected us and will get what’s coming, life always pays us back.
Too bad Mamic wasn’t there to fix that one for us!
😉
no kengur. thats not how it works. its permanently fixed to profit certain people. when the underdog wins its usually legit. usually.
anyway as bjorn borg said:
“if you can’t win with a few bad calls against you then you don’t deserve to win”
Muhammad Ali:
“it’s not the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe”
Dems da breaks.
If anyone hear actually thought those 2 French calls weren’t gonna be made you’re kidding yourselves.
We came out strong but they weathered it and in the 2nd half showed how well they can counter. By then fatigue had kicked in. All lot of it mental too. Having shown them and ourselves that we were better on the ball and beating them to everything yet to be down 2-1 must be draining. I know we’d done it 3 games straight but you can only pull that off so many times. Not only did we play the extra 30+pk, 30+pk, & 30, but we also had one day less rest than France.
It’s fucking gutting the way it happened but none of it surprises me.
the whole world is full of criminals. sport should be different but of course it’s not. we know that…especially today when there is so much money on it. france win how many beers sold? 60 million? at 4 euro each? croatia win ozjusko happy, karlovacko happy. countries are bombed into the ground for money, millions are killed. bad referees dont surprise me at all. my son cried and cried after the game. what could i say? i had to pick him up and move us forward…we’ll get them next time
@Slavonac from Canada
“hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!”
I’m sure Zoric was hoping that Croatia would win the world cup, and if that was to happen then Modric would surely be a big part of that.
When it comes to playing football I don’t think anyone is anti-Modric.
Couple of questions for ya, are you pro perjury, lying under oath with God as your witness?
Do you believe it’s possible to separate his football from his alleged perjury?
PEOPLE CANT SAY ITS FIXED WHEN WE LOSE AND NOT FIXED WHEN WE WIN. ITS EITHER ALL FIXED OR IT ISNT. SO WHEN WE WIN ITS FIXEF AS WELL YOU COULD SAY.
uvijek vjerni, da
can’t wait to see the next match…
PEOPLE TRYING TO RATIONALIZE CORRUPTION.
FIFA IS FULL OF CRIMMINALS!
No but some
People are still trying to rationalize that game. It
Was pushed Frances way. No debate.
Interesting piece but as always, you guys confuse results with process
The question everyone on this site must ask is how would you feel about dalic and this team if Denmark had won that penalty shoot out?
Does this team still have grit and grind? Or were they heartless choke artists again?
I think dalic did a solid job, but one could make the argument that some things were questionable as well.
For example, Croatia gave up an incredible amount of goals on set pieces which should largely be a coaching thing
@ Soul Champ
One million percent agree about our mentality. Winning on PKs against Denmark exercised most of the demons in winning the game against Denmark. Our confidence grew with each game after. Against France we were excellent in the first half and completely dominated the half. One awful call (flop) and the questionable handball did us in. We had to open up a bit and they hit us on the counter.
I truly feel our mentality has completely changed after this incredible run. Everyone knew the possibility was there but the players needed to believe it. Now they do. Just as important so does the rest of the world. A little more fear in playing against us with help us just as much….
@ Crnkovic
Aside from the treachery of Pitana.
I do feel 50/50 around that final.
Lovre Kalinic was healthy and ready to presence his 2 meter form between the sticks.
2nd half subs came way to slow.
Deschamps subbing off out played and out classed Kante “the Modrić stoppper?” That was the move of the match.
Actually, lack of timely subs allowed 3 matches to go to extra time for no reason.
I digress .. as we still made the greatest run ever.
Samo naprijed.
Boys are ALL playing at top clubs.
UNL chance to blood the next wave of world class ballers.
Uvijek vjerni.
it’s true…. of course pitana knew france was supposed to win AND needed some help because we were destroying them pure and simple.
HOWEVER. the way we dealt with those situations was suspect.
1) near post corner like that needs to be dealt with aggresively and confidently. perisic jumping like a rabbit on drugs.
2) brozovic with one of his semi from behind wrong leg reach around tackles on griezman. ok it wasn’t a foul it was a dive but similar to modric foul on lingard for the trippier freekick it came from players switching off not being aware enough of the danger and being ready to get to the ball first and clear lines.
3) then subasic.
4) then that defensive line inside our own box to defend the freekick is asking for trouble.
—– several question marks there.
yes we were very unlucky, very very unlucky, and cheated in line with big fish little fish rules.
BUT all that is out of our hands.
what we CAN control is our own mentality and what we need to do is demand higher standards of organisation and higher expectations of ourselves…… both as individuals and as a people,
and of our leaders
and representatives
in politics
and sport….. in otherwords
quit whining and start building for more success….
good analysis Ivo. you stay up all night working on that? hehehe..;)
soul champ top comment ever
@soul champ, nice one bro!!!
“The struggle to cultivate one’s natural talent and make a positive difference in the world gives meaning to life.
For 20 years we have struggled/suffered through an odyssey with our beloved Vatreni.
Each of us over the last 10 years in our own way and style posted our frustration around seeing self sabotage thwart the promise of the Croatian national team.
We do not need some superficial BS pop psychology training.
Now we believe we are the best footballers on the planet.
That belief is our true trophy.
No VAR or BS fifa or English media can take that away.”
Best comment ever!!!!!
you’ve been staying positive as far back as i can remember on this site. I just want to say big respect to you for that. Good to hear about your kid feeling 10 feet tall. Nice one my brother
!!
@soul champ, nice one bro!!!
“The struggle to cultivate one’s natural talent and make a positive difference in the world gives meaning to life.
For 20 years we have struggled/suffered through an odyssey with our beloved Vatreni.
Each of us over the last 10 years in our own way and style posted our frustration around seeing self sabotage thwart the promise of the Croatian national team.
We do not need some superficial BS pop psychology training.
Now we believe we are the best footballers on the planet.
That belief is our true trophy.
No VAR or BS fifa or English media can take that away.”
Best comment ever!!!!!
you’ve been staying positive as far back as i can remember on this site. I just want to say big respect to you for that. Good to hear about your kid feeling 10 feet tall. Nice one my brother
🙂
You can argue that Pintana was very average to poor, which I believe he was but Subasic playing with a wonky hammy/groin didn’t help either. A healthy goalie can stop that 4th goal and potentially the 3rd one as well.
But, what’s done is done. Can’t jump into a DeLorean and change history.
The Portugal match had two stomps one was on Luka,
RED CARDS
This match was fixed. They the calls were not simple
Mistakes.
Za Hrvatsku nasi Australci Simunic Didulica.
Kalac,Culina,Viduka,Skoko Nasi Kenguri.
The same can be said about Stephan Tomas discovering his love of volleyball in that game. That was a bizarre game.
How about the Kalac howler let Niko Kovac easy save go in very fishy in the 2006 World Cup.
One thing you fail to mention in your article is the number of times the man with the whistle put Croatia out of tournaments.
2018 -Croatia France – Ref give France 2 goals
2016- Croatia Portugal- over 30 fouls 1 yellow
2 red card stamps not called as well as a handball
2014- Croatia Brazil – Ref gave Brazil 2 goals
PK to Neymar Oscar goal was started by a tackle from behind on Rakitic Croatia has a goal called back
2012-Croatia Spain Offside handball goal Iniesta
Corluka judo thrown by Busquets no pk call
2010 didn’t qualify
2008 Extremely unlucky in its truest sense
2006 Croatia Australia offside goal by Australia ties the game and sends Cro crashing out
2004 Croatia France Trezeque handball goal counts- koing the team
2002-Cro was spared but that whole WC was fixed for South Korea
2000 didn’t qualify
1998 relatively clean
1996 Germany Croatia dubious red card massive foul on Croatia defender that was uncalled leadin to the winning goal
The man with the whistle is usually the reason Croatia gets eliminated in soccer not mental weakness.
This World Cup was no exception.
Croatia is normally on the wrong side of the fix.
I would have no problems but now suddenly this website loves the Croatian National team when only a few months back they were calling for a boycott of the National Team and posting anti-Modric stuff on twitter.
That being said, there is a lot of good, young, natural talent in Croatia where a strong national program can be implemented that allows these kids to grow as players so that they can become the next Rebic, or Modric, or Lovren, etc etc. Dinamo has done great with their academy and the other teams should follow suit though Hajduk is too busy creating boogie men and blaming the HNS for their own problems. Then set up a national program where you identify the top talent and train it. Here in the USA, USA hockey has a the US Development Program which trains the best players in the country. This is something that the HNS needs to do and try. Also, they need to improve the facilities from the stadiums but most importantly the training grounds. The stadiums should be up to each individual team to improve but from a national standpoint that’s up to the HNS to do because we cannot let this opportunity that we just ha go to waste.
I did post the clip of Modric being asked a question at a press conference on twitter where he looked very bothered. It’s not often players get unsettled in press conferences. For anyone who follows me on twitter that I haven’t blocked(Slavonac) knows Modric is my favorite player. Not a fan of his relationship with the Mamic family but for me the best in the world. I never said I liked the question that he asked. Also, those who follow me inow I always fall out Holiga for his anti-Croatian propaganda
@slavonac
Great write up.
Great posts Slavonac!! Way to go!!
My posts are not coming through, gee I wonder why..
LOL!!!!!!
“…you called Dalic another “Mamic guy”, just as you called Cacic his guy (TV repairman) and Kovac “Kum Kovac” a Mamic guy….if things would have gone wrong, you’d have said this was just another Mamic story…hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!”
Yep, agenda and bias, and the truth!
Way to go Slavonac!!
All sports are scripted and rigged. Croatia was a Underdog feel good storyline. The fix is in.
No question the counter from Portugal was due to the Strinic blunder, there is no doubt.
The counter starts from his mistake, and the rest is history.
Only agenda and bias would see that situation in another light.
Officiating screwed us in the Portugal game as well. Truth be told.
…ps…you throw in Strinic is the “best lb we have”…sure, I can agree, but he still has several gaffe’s! you are not very analytical dude, maybe Srna and Corluka were out of position, I can’t remember without going back BUT the most obvious thing that happened in that play was that we were attacking and had many body’s forward and Strinic had every opportunity to knock the ball into the box first time or keep it away from trouble…he decided to try and settle the ball and then beat 2 players!
I’m not sure how you can’t see that?
I’ve seen it several times and I can tell you that if you look at the play, 2 players were closing in on Strinic and he panicked, then lost the ball…they quickly countered (like we did vs Spain) and the rest is history!
Slavonac Strinic lost the ball 80 yards from the goal and Portugal has a 3 vs 3 situation. Not exactly a 4 vS 1 counterattack. Watch the play again and you will see it was horrible defending by Srna and Corluka. Strinic had a solid Euro 16 and WC 18. He’s the best pure left back we have
@ Slavonac
Just got Modded myself.
my comments always end up being moderated…
@ Anthony Zoric
World class piece !!
My background is in psychology with a focus on Self-Actualization (becoming who you are).
The struggle to cultivate one’s natural talent and make a positive difference in the world gives meaning to life.
For 20 years we have struggled/suffered through an odyssey with our beloved Vatreni.
Each of us over the last 10 years in our own way and style posted our frustration around seeing self sabotage thwart the promise of the Croatian national team.
We do not need some superficial BS pop psychology training.
What we needed was the embodiment of the Croatian Champion archetype. It came in the form of one Luka Modrić.
His path has transformed the stereotype threat of Croatian football.
That is what he was speaking to with the English media.
This run has given us a stereotype LIFT.
Now we believe we are the best footballers on the planet.
That belief is our true trophy.
No VAR or BS fifa or English media can take that away.
My 10 year old son feels Croatia is the best footballing nation on the planet.
He has chosen soccer (both Mom and me were basketball players).
In NYC you have thousands of kids who want to be the next Pulisic from all over the world.
As a Croatian-American kid he steps on the ptich … READY to rock.
damn moderating…this sucks!
a few days before the finals I saw Zoric retweet another anti-Modric story…about a divided Croatia and how he should stand trial…
…you called Dalic another “Mamic guy”, just as you called Cacic his guy (TV repairman) and Kovac “Kum Kovac” a Mamic guy….if things would have gone wrong, you’d have said this was just another Mamic story…hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!
Many of you called Dalic another “Mamic guy”, just as you called Cacic his guy (TV repairman) and Kovac “Kum Kovac” a Mamic guy….if things would have gone wrong, you’d have said this was just another Mamic story…hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!
…Many of you called Dalic another “Mamic guy”, just as you called Cacic his guy (TV repairman) and Kovac “Kum Kovac” a Mamic guy….if things would have gone wrong, you’d have said this was just another Mamic story…hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!
a few things:
Cacic was a dummy but his lack of changes didn’t lose us the game vs Portugal, Strinic decided he’s try and take on 2 players, with 3 minutes left in the game, instead of just sending the ball into the box or blasting it into the 64th row and getting back into position….Cacic made many mistakes but that was 100% on Strinic and he knows it!
Sure, psychology is important, we all have to agree with that, but each player gets that at their club! Our issue has always been a lack of leadership and having players step up…I believe Dalic set the stage and allowed his players to follow through and play their role! This was the absolute best we’ve ever seen a display of leadership at this level!
a few things:
Cacic was a dummy but his lack of changes didn’t lose us the game vs Portugal, Strinic decided he’s try and take on 2 players, with 3 minutes left in the game, instead of just sending the ball into the box or blasting it into the 64th row and getting back into position….Cacic made many mistakes but that was 100% on Strinic and he knows it!
Sure, psychology is important, we all have to agree with that, but each player gets that at their club! Our issue has always been a lack of leadership and having players step up…I believe Dalic set the stage and allowed his players to follow through and play their role! This was the absolute best we’ve ever seen a display of leadership at this level!
Many of you called Dalic another “Mamic guy”, just as you called Cacic his guy (TV repairman) and Kovac “Kum Kovac” a Mamic guy….if things would have gone wrong, you’d have said this was just another Mamic story…hard to read your story when you were posting anti-Modric stories on Twitter only a few days before the finals!
Nice write-up. Great facilities are definitely beneficial but when it comes to fighting for success… something can also be said about training in the grit of a roughed up pitch.
How many professional boxers who train in world class gyms become successful as opposed to ones who trained in dingy old gyms in the ghetto. Who tends to comes out with more drive and grit?
Lots of the talented Brazilian footballers grew up grinding it out in really poor neighborhoods.
Call it …our way of adding psychological preparedness into youth development.
Maybe FIFA gave us a scripted Hollywood storyline ending it was our 20 year anniversary of the 1998 World Cup team finishing third. And Modrics last World Cup so because he is a big name now he plays for Real Madrid and has won 4 Champions League titles.