Croatia take on Russia Tuesday morning (North American time) in their last match of 2015; a year that saw nothing short of ridiculousness for our beloved Vatreni.
We saw Croatia:
-start the qualifying campaign undefeated and in complete control of an automatic Euro 2016 berth
-have their home match with Italy moved from Zagreb to Split only to have the match at Poljud played behind closed doors
-play that game against Italy with a swastika burned into the Poljud pitch
-draw Azerbaijan and lose to Norway in the same weekend
-have manager Niko Kovać sacked
-qualify for Euro 2016 automatically with a 1-0 win over Malta and help from Italy on the final day
And after all that, “Croatia” will be one of the names in the Pot 2 bowl in Paris on December 12th for the final Euro 2016 draw.
As for Russia, it will be a meaningless friendly without Rakitić or Modrić, who are both out with injuries. Hopefully we’ll see some young guns showcase some talent and Nikola Kalinić continue his fine form; this time in checkers. The last two matches Croatia played Russia was in Euro 2008 qualifying, yeh the time we crushed England twice, with both games ending in 0-0 draws.
Soul Champ is back!
I agree with you about Vrsaljko, I think we all do NOW.
@Anonymous
Yea, Vrsaljko has surpassed Srna in every single facet.
Srna’s strength is that he is a tireless runner, but Vrsaljko is just as good as him in that area.
However, Srna’s inability to send in a good cross as well as his defensive gaffes (which are becoming more and more common) are major liabilities in keeping him on the field.
As “meaningless” as some people may think this friendly is, it really showed how good we can be with Vrsaljko running up and down that right side. Setting up two goals in 45 minutes of play is no joke.
Hopefully Cacic has the balls to sit Srna, or at least start to sub him out more often. It would be a shame if Srna puts in another Mexico-caliber performance at the Euros and it costs us.
From 6:11 onward is the best:
“Mamic manipulira u skupstinu, u skupstinu ima 80 ljudi…”
“Mamic manipulira izvrsni odbor, u izvrsni odbor ima 18 ljudi…”
“Mamic manipulira Hrvatski nogometnom savezu, u nogometnom savezu 200 ljudi…”
“Mamic manipulira ljudima u Dinamu, zaposleno 200 ljudi…”
“Pa dajte meni izaberite jebote Bog za premijera predsjednika da vas izvucem sve iz problema, kad sam tako mocan i sposoban!!!”
@ svima
How fast and dynamic is Vrsaljko ?
LB?
Pa da.
He is the RB NOW and for ever more.
When does the Srna testimonial tour end?
With Modric and Rakitic you need speed on the flanks and width down the sidelines.
Basic Pivaric looks 10 times better at LB than Sranjic.
Can’t wait to see the full crew with all the young studs fighting for spots.
PS – Mamić je Hrvat, znamo on je criminal ali sto posto je Hrvat. Drugi ljudi u Hrvatskoj tko zna?
ZDS
You guys can laugh at that Mamic clip. but if you can get past the craziness and listen to what he’s saying, he’s right.
He may be a crook, but there are much worse than him, that’s for sure. The Cro media is literally human garbage.
Armada ,lmao…I love that clip!
Ordinate did above
it confused me too cos he called it kosovo highlights but that’s the game
You guys should post the Russia Cro Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOWCo5dMMg
some nice goals
I would like a T-shirt that says “Keep Calm and Cacic” and has an outline of a moustache on it
someone should really make that haha
@ Mishko
man, that sound board reminded me of my favorite Zdrakec sound bite…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y84PFodkUZw
what a legend
I agree Iggy, Kalinic is looking the goods and at the moment I’d play him ahead of Mandzukic. At least those chances in the box would be finished. Vrsajlko was brilliant in this game and I just don’t know why we don’t start with him at left back as a lock.
@livno1981
you said it, he is the one constantly complaining about the communists and they do not like that
here’s a tribute from Dire Straits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsumIcvGNU
LMAO, Mamic soundboard. hahahahahaha
http://www.zdravko-mamic.com/
Mamic being arrested is all political.
LEAVE HIS KIDS ALONE FFS !!!!!
http://youtu.be/48t4_kkoRZk
Stay strong Zdravkec, and remember …
Ne može ti nitko ništa …
http://youtu.be/f46LkPDypSY
England Can Host.
So Just Fontaine reckons France can’t host the Euros, so who can host it, maybe Belgium or Germany, what ya reckon?
Read an article about the u21 loss to Spain. Croatia was the better team even playing with a man down. Players upset with the referee for not calling a penalty for us when Pasalic was pushed as he was about to head in a beautiful right-footed cross from Halilovic ( seen in the last video below)
He also was handing out yellow cards and giving warnings to our players but nothing against Spain.
Check out Halilovic’s nutmeg at the 2:43 mark and he hits the crossbar at the end of the video. Like I said before, check out how many times he draws 2/3 opposing players to him. So valuable to have in that it opens up space for teammates.
Spain scored on a penalty and a goalkeeper blunder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-5U3nM6A3g
1) Mario Pasalic goal
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3e9gei_1-3-mario-pasalic-goal-uefa-euro-u21-qual-group-6-17-11-2015-croatia-u21-1-3-spain-u21_sport
2)Josip Radosevic penalty
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3e9ikl
3) Alen Halilovic vs. Spain U21
http://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/nogomet/video-pete-tuneli-precka-halilovic-u-akciji-protiv-furije—416724.html
Zdravko Mamic arrested and in jail again.
Nikola Kalinic is kinda growing on me
i mean, i know he isnt the best striker in the world.. but he is technically proficient and has some nice touches here and there
hope his purple patch keeps up.. good onya nikola
No.
Not sure what the point if that Q or what u thought the answer would be ziva
i know u want to downplay the “heart” talk here and i do too but obviously there were issues at that time that did indeed prevent the players being focused on the task at hand
Did they represent with pride against Norway?
Good thing the boys didn’t listen to coach Ziva any of the half dozen times he said the Bulgaria game “was meaningless”.
The result of a friendly is certainly meaningless, but it is a good sign that we played well without several of our best players. Russia has a great home record and has been in good form yet we dominated the game. The early goal for Russia was against the run of play and off a poor give away from Vida. We linked passes together well, created a lot of chances and made 3 quality goals.
Bottom line is that many of the players are trying to earn a spot in the Euros or impress the scouts, so they took it seriously. The team represented with pride and took care of business.
Interesting!!! but don’t worry za dom spremni is still a lot worse!!!! (facepalm)
damn turks
How was Milovic? i missed most of the 2nd half
Hajduk might actually make some legit money from Kalinic in a transfer. Apparently Newcastle and some other English club were interested.
When was a Croatian goaltender ever sold for anything other than peanuts?
Pleti and Subasic had good careers, but Hajduk sold Pletikosa for nothing and Subasic left on a Bosman (free) transfer.
I think Delac holds the transfer record for a Croat goaltender, lol.
Zlatan gonna Zlatan, huh? What a fucking bomb by him vs. the Danes.
“They wanted me to retire, I just sent their whole nation into retirement”
lol what a boss
Hajduk’s goalie Lovre Kalinic looked good – made an awesome diving save from point blank range with his long arms to save a sure goal. No way Subasic would have stopped that one.
Turkish scum
You mean the U21, oh well.
I didn’t see the game, but a red card in friendly, must’ve been a hotly contested game!
Turkey should be fined big time and possibly lose a point for the start of Euro2016, would fifa have the balls? (of course not, because theyre fat old protistitutes in suits)
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/soccer/video-soccer-fans-chant-allahu-akbar-paris-tribute-article-1.2438142
Turkey fans boo moment of silence or Paris victims. yell “Allah Akbar”, this is a huge insult and news sportos. Are the glorious fifa going to dock them any points or fines? http://www.torontosun.com/2015/11/17/turkish-soccer-fans-boo-minutes-silence-for-paris-victims
..or are they too scared. wtf are turks doing in the euros anyway, don’t the fifa geniuses know history or ever even how to look at a map? turkey is 95% in asia, only the part that includes the old constantinople is in Europe, the part they stole from Greece. (known as Anatolia before the turks moved into the area in the 11th century, before that there were no turks in the area) turks have no business in being anything Europe, geographically, historically, civilizationally or culturally. fifa is a joke if they don’t fine turkey big time, a bigger joke than I ever thought.
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/11/17/turkish-soccer-fans-boo-minutes-silence-for-paris-victims
No more bats over redtube anymore for you Iggy, well done champ!
ah thanks superordinate
well, it’s a good effort to win in russia with our kinda B team
good job
oh fuck my tits i didnt get to see it
anyways, any highlight vids?
i know it’s a meaningless game but there is always some meaning in the lesser players playing who might become regulars
Good second half. The first half was bad. I wouldn’t read too much into this game. Anytime a red card comes into play early in a game, the entire flow of the match changes.
@ Ziva
pretty impressive that the U-21’s almost came back after Spain went a man down and Radosevic converted the PK.
what a bomb from Brozovic vs. Russia… why do we only see goals like that from the NT once a year or so?
came back kinda lost 2-3 with a man down till spain got a red in 81st min but slovenia 1-0
good to see Vrsaljko involved in 2 of the 3 goals!
Good lord, the U21s getting spanked by Spain. This will be a flukey result for Spain because they are playing a man up. But, a team should be prepared to play a man down. That is something that is discussed with the coaches and who comes off and tactics to use.
Kosovo soccer league highlights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOWCo5dMMg
proof that serbs are shitard mutant offspring of turks and arabs again, always jealous of other cultures and nations and full of shit themselves. This guy decides to put the serb flag instead of russia (and misspell the word “first” you’ll notice also), without a doubt one of the followers of serb pseudo historians who think serbs live from spain to sweden to russia and that all europeans are serbs, probably has a seselj t-shirt he wears while counting his serb krajina dinar currency, he’s upset its worthless and he can’t buy a bottle of serb cabbage and turnip whiskey and then rape some granny with his pals. Lets step it up in the serbs are always losers reminders all over the internet, that they’re named after slave shoes and that they’re less related to russians and slavic nations than even assyrians.
https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=croatia+vs+russua+freindly&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=QnNLVonZCseC8QeT_o8Q
Have fun watching the Kosovo soccer league serbos slave shoes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5vU5qhy9gE
Agreed……good confidence. But, if we had lost 5-0, I would be saying the same thing and I don’t think our confidence would change either way. I never value the result in a friendly. I care more about style of play and avoiding injuries than the result.
german stadium being evacuated game vs holland has been cancelled
@Ziva Istina
The power of confidence in sport should not be under-rated….Russia has been on a roll, nice result in a hostile environment, take it and move on.
@Ziva Istina
The power of confidence in sport should not be under-rated….Russia has been on a roll, nice result in a hostile environment, take it and move on.
http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/2715382
Sure, but nice to see Mandzukic finally get one 😉
Keep the updates coming when you can. I really appreciate them.
Don’t get too carried away here………….meaningless game, meaningless result
Great goals all the way around, runs from Vrsaljko from the back beautiful….Brozovic hit a beauty!!!
Pivaric the other player.
3-1 mandzukic
Kalinic out, milovic in
Leskovic
Brozicic, kalinic kalinic, mandzukic, mocinic, vrsaljko, badelj, visa, periodic,
Are some of the players, good movement without rakitic modric.
Two beautiful goals that we rarely see from Croatia. The first a great counter-attack from start to finish (Kalinic) and the second a rocket (from outside the box!) from Brozovic that slightly hit the underside of the bar.
Thanks everyone!
2-1 brozovic nice shot
2 really nice goals…
@ Darko
1-1, Kalinic just scored.
kalinic goal 1-1
this friendly had ‘stinker’ tagged all over it
at least there are some good regional friendlies later
turkey v. greece
austria v. switzerland
germany v. netherlands
and then some big boy games
belgium v. spain
england v. france
Does anyone have an update on the score?
Meaningless game, meaningless result. You only hope no injuries take place.
and mandzukic missed a break away with him and the goalie
http://ifirstrowus.eu/watch/388037/2/watch-russia-vs-croatia.html
Need to be quick closing the pop up ads. U-21 game later today should be good.
idk but brozovic sucks n #8 is garbage
What’s the starting lineup?
Munir is overrated he’s no good. Stick to the Mexican women.
Munir is overrtaed from Barcelona he’s no good. Stick to the Mexican women.
1-0 russia off a turnover
@ anonymous
the u-21 game today will be a real slug fest of young talent
cro will feature halilovic, pasalic, kovacic, pjaca ….not to mention your usual past hopes like radosevic
spain will a serious stack of young talent in this game as well such as munir from barcelona. if my memory serves me correctly, their cheapest player on the pitch will be valued at 6m euro on the transfer market
will be a pretty nice game to see how our future of football looks against possibly one of the world’s future best
@ Iggy
Like Salma Hayek ?
anybody know the lineup for the under 21s today? I think Halilovic is on the squad,
Congratulations Iggy!
@ Iggy
“Well down!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihsdyWu4I3Y
heeh armada no i didnt at all
she’s from a spanish background actually
cutie lil spani-californian girl hehe : )
@ Iggy
how much did you pay her family so you could put a ring on it?
😉
i actually forgot about this game
anyway
my cutie fiancee and i hopped over to NZ
she’s cutie cali girl hey
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpt1/t31.0-8/10472613_10153363675164888_4657815462778383254_o.jpg
cutie : )
The serbs will be watching the KOSOVO soccer league action, bottle of homemade cabbage whiskey in hand and milosevic, karadzic and seselj photos on the dresser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5vU5qhy9gE
Wonder if Serb Hoolies will be at match.
Any links to watch the game in Canada?