After a 2-0 home win in the Champions League 2nd qualifying round first leg last week, Dinamo Zagreb won again by the same margin in Lithuania Tuesday night. After a scoreless first half, El Arabi Soudani opened up the scoring in the 47th minute with a lob shot from a tight angle while captain Josip Šimunić doubled the lead just two minutes later against home side Zalgiris Vilnius off a corner kick. The 4-0 aggregate win ensures that Dinamo will play in the next qualifying round where they will meet Danish champions Aab. The first leg takes place Wednesday, July 30th in Denmark. If Dinamo can get by Aab, they are guaranteed six group stage games in Europe this season, either in Champions League or Europa League.
Hajduk Split escaped a late two goal second half against Irish club Dundalk FC on Thursday at Poljud to hold onto a 3-2 aggregate win. Hajduk won the first leg 2-0 and will now play Shakhter Karagandy in the next round. The first leg is in Kazakhstan July 31st. Rijeka defeated Hungarian club Ferencváros 2-1 in the second leg and will now face Vikingur in the 3rd qualifying round. They are expected to advance.
Rnk Split came from behind last week to defeat Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2-1 after going down in the first half. Former Croatia internationals Tomislav Dujmović and Mate Bilić both scored goals in the closing 15 minutes to cap off the victory. Split will now play Ukrainian club Chornomorets Odesa in the next qualifying round after their scoreless draw in Israel. It would be extremely surprising if the Croatian club could keep up with Odesa.
@Istria-Dalmacija-Toronto
great win today, If you watched the game you would of seen that josip simunic played great today, he shut them down and no goals conceded, well done simunic
@ziva
doesn’t say much for your hajduk
Lets be honest……..a man half dead could be productive for dinamo against everyone else in the HNL.
@ Sime
simunic is captain and love that he is still productive for dinamo
Lol istria.
Now you know you are the idiot. Good come back. Next time read the post without making a comment. Yeah you have money and brains. Lol. Two stupid things you said in the past few days. Keep it coming you are worth the laughs. 🙂
@moj dinamo Agree with you something istria did not comprehend in the post.
@Split. Hvala. I laughed myself. It was way too easy.
Sime,
I have lots of money. Plenty….Plus brains, something you lack for sure. Not going to engage in stupid talk with you, because reading what you write leads me to know that you are not very intelligent. But that’s ok. I forgive you. There’s an old saying….you can’t help stupid, so rather than trying to help you, I will forgive you for your stupid ways.
@Sime
Great line and got a good laugh out of it. – I would love to take your money but I get the sense you have none
need to put my two cents in this, i am a dinamo fan and in no way can anyone say simunic is shit, the guy plays well for dinamo, as for the repka he won’t be playing just like so many of the senior members will not be returning, you dont have to a rocket scientisit to figure that out, pleti, eduardo, vukojevic gone, hopefully pranjic, olic and a few others follow suit.
Istria I am still laughing at your line of the promised land. Who said he should be in the euros? Not me moron. Dinamo is perfect for him and this is where he belongs.
I would love to take your money but I get the sense you have none. 🙂
IviCa speaks with intelligence. Sime, you not so much. Not interested in debating basic soccer philosophy with you. You will see,mark my words, he will not play in the upcoming Euros. Like IviCa says, maybe a qualification game or two he will play but that will be out of respect for slashing the legs of the Serb in helping get us into the World Cup. He is certainly not boo’d by me, he is boo’d by Croatians in Croatia. Guess you don’t read well in seeing what I wrote. But you probably watch the games from a basement internet feed outside Croatia so what do you know. That’s ok though, even you are entitled to your opinion even though it’s not worth much. Cheers buddy! I like your thought process, let me know if you ever wanna go head to head on a bet sometime, I’d love to take your money… 😀
Simunic is good as a non-playing member of the team who is patriotic and would likely pump players up before matches.
The only problem with him is he seems to think he should be starting (when he shouldn’t be) and he lashed out at Bilic after Euro 2012.
But everyone here would agree that the Corluka/Schifo CB pairing was a very good call in Euro 2012.
At this point, Joe is much too old to play for us. Maybe call him up one last time for a good sendoff. He didn’t deserve that politically motivated 10-game ban for being patriotic. He deserves to be called up to one last game. He’d probably pull the ‘Za Dom Spremni’ chant again, lol.
@Elvis
Bosnian born but he/she is Serbian.
Their family lived not to far away from me here in Melbourne Australia.
Nobody should be making fun of Suspension Joey. Nobody!!!
He is booed by idiots like you because of his actions – za dom. I watch the games. He defends and scores. Jebega he does it all.
Promised land? Lol. This is Hns no promise land for any of these teams. Get your head out of your ass.
You need to watch a game and not just a highlight. He’s shit. He’s an old man playing with kids, and they out do him. He is boo’d and whistled everytime he touches the ball. If he was a beast Mamic’ would have sold him by now. He scores 1, causes 2 against due to defensive liability. Is he paid to score or defend? No doubt he wears the Croatian heart on his sleeve, but that won’t take you to the promised land of success outside the Croatian first division.
Simunic is a beast and keeps producing. Last game even scores in qualifying. Guy continues to produce. Svaka ti cast.
Watched the full Dinamo game here in Rabac, Simunic is garbage. Gave away the ball too many times, both in the Champions League match and in the Super Cup. His passes are soft and lazy, doesn’t look where there going or who’s reading the pass for an interception. He defends poorly yet he is Mamic’s backbone. Why doesn’t Mamic’s sell him or trade him for a bag of pucks.
Rijeka look good, Tudor has work to do with Hajduk. I hope they both make it through to the playoffs, good luck to Split as they are going to need it.
Big Derbi tomorrow night, Rijeka vs. Hajduk….
This is much better commentary regarding Croatia:
“Jedna od stvari u Hrvatskoj koja je najteže objašnjiva je odnos Hrvata spram svoje neovisnosti. Hrvati su stoljećima dresirani u duhu vazalnog odnosa, posljednjih stotinjak godina uglavnom spram Beograda, i psihološke posljedice toga su vidljive u odnosu spram Perkovića. U Hrvatskoj je jedno vrijeme isticanje slika Ante Gotovine bilo dovoljan razlog da ostanete bez posla ili bar budete proglašeni ultimativnim primitivcem, a kad je trebalo platiti obranu generala Praljka – zbog onog što je uradio ratujući na hrvatskoj strani, ne, kao Perković, na srpsko-jugoslavenskoj, javnost se digla na stražnje noge. U bilo kojoj drugoj državi bi izbile velike demonstracije kad bi došla pjevačica koja je u ratu bodrila neprijateljske vojnike, u neprijateljskoj uniformi, neovisno o motivima postupka. Kod nas, mi samo što se takvima ne ispričavamo, i uvodimo ih u Arenu u Puli na crvenom tepihu, dok je pjevaču koji je bio hrvatski ratnik i branitelj tamo nastup zabranjen. Hrvatski kompleksi su brojni, i teško objašnjivi i psihijatru, kamoli novinaru. Takvi paradoksi mogući su samo u Hrvatskoj, i Perković je jedan od tih neobjašnjivih paradoksa, posljedica hrvatske intrinzične potrebe za indulgencijom. Toksični otpad bivše države i kojekakav jugoološ to obilato koristi da bi i dalje podrivao interese države i pljuckao po Hrvatima i istovremeno dobro živio na njihovoj grbači.”
-Marcel Holjevac
@ luka
thanks for the article. this is the danger of big government that people don’t understand. when government grows and takes on the responsibility of transferring money between people, too many people have a vested interest in keeping their source of money flowing, even if it is wildly inefficient.
another great point is highlighted that the skilled croatians will leave croatia now that its in the eu and who can blame them for that
solutions
1) leave the EU
2) cut corporate taxes
3) MASSIVELY de-regulated and trim the beauracracy
–> create a positive, efficient business climate where croatia can prosper like ireland and estonia
without these steps –> croatia continues to face huge unemployment, poor gdp/capita, and continued population decline as emigration holds too much appeal
Our coach is not the concern. People enjoy throwing him under the bus. Kovac will do just fine for the euros. Our players need to show up for these big tournaments.
Our defenders are fine. They always pull through despite our concerns about them.
We just need to find a DM and a coach. Those are our biggest concerns now.
Our wing play used to be an issue, but looks like our young wingers are actually beginning to step up and take those next steps for us, like Perisic, Vrsaljko, Rebic, who were among the better players in the World Cup for us.
so some good moves for cro defenders….hopefully another one or two emerge giving more depth for euro
Strinic going to west ham.
Great comment I found on that article. Spot on! Well done! “It seams to me all those communist heritage you talk about is more a problem of diaspora people then of us who have to live here in Croatia. But still you sound just like a croatian politician, and all they are care about is whos father has been ustasha and who has been socialist – instead to care about economy. Please just burry down those debates and start living in present time. Wake up to reality. Stop blaming a past because 1/2 of croatian was on one side and another 1/2 was on the other side and make peace instead of blaming over and over again the other side for all evil in the world. We do not care any more for that. We only want to work and live like decent human beings who have a job and money to provide for our children and all we get – is getting back to years 1940-1945, or 1968-1971. Well thank God I would not to have to listen about Perkovic, Tito, Pavelic never again because I got job in normal country because my is stuck in history instead of going forward.”
Lovren signs with Liverpool for 20M pounds.
Who is Ante Budimir?!
Is he national team material?
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21608758-croatia-eus-newest-basket-case-mighty-mess
This is not sports related but posting it for whoever wants a good read.
I caught the game. Dinamo was better and deserved to win. Loko ran out gas. Gave a good battle but Dinamo kept coming.
@Armada87……..not too mention:
– lopovi
– serb musicians in the summer time
– and a village that is home to “gospa” (although never recognized by the Vatican) and some good tourism dollars
Who caught the dinamo game? Wow and people say lokomotiva doesn’t let dinamo win
What you can find in Hercegovina:
-Some good cevape
-Mafija
-Trans-gender ‘women’
sweet.
Thats a man Baby… Austin, really….
Check out this Bosnian babe.
https://www.yahoo.com/health/model-andreja-pejic-comes-out-as-transgender-92841649992.html
nother loss for Mamic…….http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ajax-potvrdio-fifa-srusila-suspenziju-hnsa-muric-ponovo-trenira/762007.aspx
Good to see…….hopefully more of the young kids do the same throughout Cro.
Plus, more proof of jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk truly living up to the name of jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk………..http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/nova-kazna-stigla-na-poljud-vucevic-i-vucko-na-mjesec-dana-izbaceni-iz-nogometa/762022.aspx
Friends, this just goes to show you that you can take off your pants in front of the ref and hope to get away with it. Shame on jadan, maili i nemocan hajduk for not taking some internal action first.
No surpirse about these comments directed at Look at Me Livaja. The dude is a headcase and hopefully we will never see him lay for the repka.
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/trener-atalante-o-marku-livaji–enciklopedija-bi-bila-premalena-da-pocenom-pricati-o-njemu—–/1208899/
Another loss for Mamic…….http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ajax-potvrdio-fifa-srusila-suspenziju-hnsa-muric-ponovo-trenira/762007.aspx
Good to see…….hopefully more of the young kids do the same throughout Cro.
Plus, more proof of jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk truly living up to the name of jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk………..http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/nova-kazna-stigla-na-poljud-vucevic-i-vucko-na-mjesec-dana-izbaceni-iz-nogometa/762022.aspx
Friends, this just goes to show you that you can take off your pants in front of the ref and hope to get away with it. Shame on jadan, maili i nemocan hajduk for not taking some internal action first.
I love that cliff…they should keep a sliver down the middle at least!
of course he will be a gun for madrid but for Cro he will be average, just like rakitic and the rest
@Bobby V
It’s fair to say he was average at the wc but the liitle fella is a gun for madrid, it will be interesting to see if he can get any better.
http://www.croatiaweek.com/modric-now-most-expensive-midfielder-in-the-world/
Modric in the top 10 – and highest among midfielders.
tomljanovic was quoted as saying “za australiju spremna!”
tennis federation looking into possible suspension
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/freddy-adu-joins-serbian-club–his-10th-team-in-as-many-years-183422405.html
hahaha
Shame about this tennis chick switching away from Cro,she is a handy player at the least .According to everyones fav info source( Wikipedia) ,she has a Cro dad and Bosnian mother,Emina or something like that.So Ivica appears quite correct in what he stated earlier,and she is not so hard core Croat and maybe therefore a bit of a “Soldier of fortune”with who she represents.
A shame,good luck.Rumour has it that she resides in a basement and reads from the same Za dom spremni manual that Ziva does.This would explain much about her actions.
The debate about that new Kantrida stadium is still all about that cliff and whether or not the stands will cover it.
That cliff was the best part of Kantrida. Hopefully they do it right.
@Armada…new Kantrida stadium…will you still be able to see into some of the staduim from street level above? Looking forward to the new updated look but it was something being able to simply pass by and check the field out.
Shakhter Karangandy beat Celtic last year 2-0 and almost made the Champions League. This won’t be easy for Hajduk at all.
Also, us losing Ajla Tomljanovic (our highest ranked female tennis player) to Australia is a big, big loss.
I still think Ana Konjuh is our biggest prospect, but Tomljanovic is right up there and will be a top-50 player for a very long time. The chick is already ranked 55th and made it to the 4th round in her last Grand Slam tournament.
Having all three of Konjuh, Tomljanovic, and Vekic would have been excellent. One of them will turn out to be a star. Hopefully now, it’s Konjuh or Vekic.
I’d probably be more upset about this if it wasn’t female tennis, lol. But a loss is still a loss.
@Ziva
Vekic comes off to me as a pretty traditional and die-hard Croat. She trained in England since she was like 10, and still chose to avoid representing them. That’s not easy to do as I’m sure she was pressured. Also, unlike Tomljanovic, Vekic is from Osijek and not Zagreb…and I think Tomljanovic may be from a mixed marriage (her mom is from BiH) so that might tone down the die-hard Cro pride as well, lol.
Armada,
I don’t know about Krizanac. But Prokivac sure plays fr Shakhter Karagandy.
So Rijeka will face Vikingur (Faroer Islands) who elimated Tromso.
Hajduk against Kazachstan’s Shakhter Karangandy.
Rnk Split with the difficult task to eliminate Ukraine side Odessa.
Lets just hope jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk makes it to Shakhter Karagandy without their plane being shoot down when they near the Ukraine/Russian border. Then again, maybe that is the fresh start jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk needs…..to start from rock bottom.
Rijeka has a decent path to the Europa Liga Group Stage again… that Pot 4 they’re going to land in doesn’t have any scary names in it…. Would be a huge accomplishment to make two group stages…
Sorry to say, but I don’t see Hajduk getting past Shakhter Karagandy… They made a decent run in the EL last year. Rijeka cast off Krizanac plays for them now…
She may not be the last female tennis player to leave Cro and play under the flag of another nation. Vekic has been rumored for a long time to have been approached by the British tennis federation.
Can’t say I can really blame them for wanting to leave. In Tomljanovic’s case, the aussie federation is going to pay for most of her coaching and expenses. The Cro federation cant do that.
As for Europa League…………..jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk (remember friends, they don’t deserve a capital “H”) proving they are jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk. Plus, did you see the condition of the field. That is what they get for letting pedophiles, druggies and homosexuals take over Poljud for the Ultra music festival. Speaking of Ultra, I’m kind of surprised Lovren wasn’t there.
I saw the Ferencvaros-Rijeka game. Rijeka was way better than the Hungarians. Kek did a great job. Only what about Krstanovic. In Rijeka he used his elbow and the ref gave him yellow (should have been red). The poor Hungarian dude had to play with a bandage around his head. Today when it was 0-2 for Rijeka, Krstanovic took two times yellow, leaving his team with 10 for the last 35 minutes. The second yellow was once again for using his elbow. Again, the Hungarian dude had to play again with a bandage around his head for the rest of the game.
I’m impressed with RNK Split but Hajduk (losing 1-2 against some Irish losers). The result is a disgrace even if they go to the next round.
It’s gonna be a nervy final 5 minutes in Split.
Hang in there Cico!!
PLACENICI MARS IZ DINAMA!!!!
is this the anti-joe simunic?
rising croatian tennis star, switches countries she plays for to australia after obtaining aussie citizneship
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/rising-star-ajla-tomljanovic-to-boost-australian-tennis-stocks-20140724-zwg4c.html
Right now we are in the most interesting part of the Croatian Footballing season. It’s not league play where we know Dinamo is gonna win by 20+ points….
But rather qualification for European club competition. So far we got 2 teams entering the next round, and hopefully two more commin’. Playing in European competitions gives our teams a chance to go up against better clubs.
I’m hoping 2 teams qualify. Besides, I get friggin’ bored in the middle of the week waiting for the next HNL round. Some mid- week matches makes things a bit more interesting.
Atleast big josip’s actions stand for something.
He sacrificed himself in the Serbia match and he sacrificed himself for what he believes in.
He earned my respect.
He is one of very few that his efforts in this generation that I will look on and can hold his head high.
Who cares if it’s a touchy (taboo) subject, simunic je pravi hrvat, I just wish there were more like him.
U BOJ, U BOJ, ZA NAROD SVOJ!
ZA DOM?…..SPREMNI!
This is what makes me, this is who I am!
I make no apologies for that.
Exactly Armada, they did not come to his defense for that exact reason. No one did. Has nothing to do with being “liked” and I doubt Big Joe gives a fuck who likes him or not on the team.
During the qualification he was solid in the back four.
We officially have a hrvat back in the NBA
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/11249275/brooklyn-nets-sign-bojan-bogdanovic-three-year-contract
Edit: Make that two with Damjan Rudez in Indiana as well
I don’t think it was so much the fact that they didn’t like Suspension Joey for who he was — it was more along the lines of jumping into that whole ZDS issue and jumping into that is like jumping into a minefield
Sort of like the same thing that happened with Sterling and the Clips… He made that comment and I’m sure a number of people feel the same way he does, but do you think anyone is going to open their mouth after seeing how bad Sterling got roasted in the press?
Motivate the guys??????? You realize Simunic is not the most well liked guy on the repka. I’m not saying he is hated, but there is a reason no player came to his defense for his selfish actions after the Iceland game.
no it wouldn’t, Joe knows how to play and how to motivate the guys, if our players played just half of what he did in Belgrade we would of been moving on to the round of 16
If Joe played in Brazil, that fake penalty on Fred would have been a real one, lol.
big joe could have been used in brazil at least his presence… dude ain’t a pussy
As much as people dislike him, I felt genuinely happy for Big Joe to score. Happy he’s still collecting a pay check. Just don’t see why he should play another game for the national team, unless it’s a friendly as an tribute.
How they are allowed to continue playing in that dump is a mystery.
Hoping one day before I go that Zadar plays in Europe – probably have to borrow another team’s stadium though.
Bravo simunic I bravo dinamo