CROATIA Starting XI vs. Greece: Subašić – Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strinić – Rakitić, Brozović, Modrić – Perišić, Kramarić- Kalinić. Mandžukić on the bench with a thigh injury.
Wow! Who saw that coming?
Croatia will be in cruise control Sunday versus Greece, and barring a complete catastrophe in Piraeus, will be heading to Russia next summer. The Vatreni put a 4-1 shellacking on the Greeks Thursday night in Zagreb and will be headed into the second leg full of confidence.
Croatia looked incredibly faster and hungrier without Juventus striker Mario Mandžukić and preyed on a Greek defense which basically looked like Swiss cheese on the night. You can argue that three Croatian goals came from complete Greek blunders, but at the end of the day, you will always take what the other team gives you.
Croatia’s Awakening.
Outside of goals scored against group minnows Kosovo, Croatia only scored 8 goals in eight games against the other four teams in Group I this qualifying campaign. Against Greece Thursday night, Croatia scored four goals in first 50 minutes of the match.
Modrić was on point. Perišić looked dangerous down the wing. Kalinić was always in the right spot. Vrsaljko was slinging crosses all over the field. Kramarić gave much stability to the attacking core.
Croatia’s only mute point was Dejan Lovren’s lack of focus in the back which led to the Greek corner where they scored. It appears Lovren is still not at 100% confidence, but who can you replace him with at this point. Domagoj Vida saved Lovren from embarrassment once, but this cannot continue to happen.
The Croats of the North Balkans fared well against the Gyros of the South Balkans
Correction:”…hasn’t been able to match its earlier success…”
@Stipe
Again, Davor Suker’s contribution to WINNING speaks for itself against Modric especially for the National Team:
THIRD PLACE WORLD CUP 1998 vs Group Stage ’06 & ’14
GOLDEN BOOT 98 (6 goals) vs 0 goals in 2 World Cups
45 international goals in 69 games (65%) vs 12 in 102 (11%)
And finally:
241 career goals in 523 games (46%) vs 72 in 554 (12%)
Modric is definitely the greatest MIDFIELDER Croatia has ever had so far, but the greatest and MVP Croatian player is still Davor Suker as he was a natural born scoring machine wherever he played, and would create goals ON HIS OWN out of nowhere for most of his career (just go on YouTube already and enjoy the insanity of some of his goals for Christ’s sakes!)
Goals win the games, my friend, not possession, and Modric in spite of his elegant style doesn’t score any significant amount of goals for both club and country to be considered the “greatest” Croatian player.
Incidentally, the main reason why Croatia hasn’t been unable to match its earlier international success is exactly because we haven’t find another world class scorer like Suker ever since he retired.
Sorry, but you are quite clueless and can’t see the forest for the trees here…
@Traditional Croat. First name Robert. Family name Prosinecki. Where the hell would you ever encounter an ethnic half turk with such a name? Father is Croatian through and through, Born and raised in Germany, moved with his family to Croatia, started his professional career with Dinamo, played later for Croatia Zagreb aka Dinamo, and Hrvatski Dragovoljac. Yes, he played for Red Star but it doesn’t make him any more half turkish. He’s also been assistant manager for Croatia several years. This information is easily attainable online. Za dom.
To Lovren’s credit, he nearly scored a goal for us; however, his defending was terrible. He and Brozovic were the two weak links in the side. Greece generated it’s chances up the middle, and that shows a disorganized defense. A great win, but we still have some liabilities.
I thought Prosinecki was a Serb that played for Red Star but had a Croatian mother? Surely Serbia could claim they produced Prosinecki?
Been saying that for years…lovren has to play, hes good. The dude can bang. Lpool havent defended for years. Dont judge him on that garbage team
Suker got 1 minute in that CL final, but that was kinda cos he was out of favour and tbh even past his prime (even tho it was before France 98). His Sevilla days were his best (kinda like Rakitic) and also his early RM days. You should look up some compilations of the amazing goals he scored, truly an anomalously brilliant player.
@Toronto Croatia
Ok Suker won the golden boot at the World Cup in 98. One goal was the penalty kick against Romania. I am not taking anything away from Suker, the player, but you saying he is the best Croatia ever produced? I would say best Croatia ever produced was and forever will be Luka Modric, second is Robert Prosenski. Robert is the second best Croatia produce but he was rarely ever fit. He drank and smoked cigarettes and didn’t use his natural born skill to be household name in soccer. Because when Prosencki was at his best, there weren’t that many players better.
Davor Suker didn’t even start for Real Madrid. If I remember correctly, Real Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 in the Champions League Final. Suker was on the bench and didn’t even play in that final. Pedrag Mijatovic got the start over Suker, and rightfully so. Mijatovic scored the game winning goal for Real Madrid to beat Juventus. Forgive me for saying this, I think Mijatovic was a better player then Suker, but not the better scorer.
Suker was slow as shit. Extremely show. He could only shoot with his left foot. His “weak” foot, his right foot, he couldn’t do anything with it. BUT Suker was good dribbling in small tight places. And he had a nose to score goals. You give Suker the ball in the box, 8/10 he is going to score. He had a nose for scoring. Boksic is way better then Suker. Unfortunately, Boksic was unlucky and injured a lot. He has way more skill then Suker. Boksic can kick with both feet. He was fast. But he was unlucky with injuries.
Modric is Croatia best born player. We will never see a better player then Luka.
Nice win. But in the long haul we still need to deal with the corruption. Players should walk off the pitch next day! Protest suker and mamic!
Now this is real Vatreni quality. Keep it up until the end!
hey iggy!! you good my brother? hahahaha
I believe anon said it earlier. Vratija se Sime.
the goal against us sucks but it appears we have done enough
vrsaljko showed his legs quite a bit… he had the other injury that obviously slowed his career and maybe the move to atletico wasn’t the best but he still young enough to get his stuff in order and make a big wave
he def looked strong and athletic and hungry today….
lets face it him and strinic made a pretty big impact today
i agree lovren may be hurt and all that… i sure he hope he turns it round but obviously he has mental issues… its happened before in his career… wasn’t he basically in shambles in france and then was awesome at southampton then wishy washy for the most part at liverpool
i guess he is streaky… just notice it lot more with defenders
They should walk off the field in protest on Sunday
Thanks Lovro!
You could be right Lovro, I’m just hopeful his confidence rises…I think he has potential to be great if he puts together some good performances.
@ Slavonac,
When I saw that reaction toward Vrsaljko, I thought it was more that he might have been down after that ill-advised back-pass to Lovren that led to Greece’s goal.
Vrsaljko was more at fault for not playing the ball up the field – kinda left Lovren hung out to dry there.
It’s total goals. If Greece wins 2-0, Croatia wins 4 -3. If Greece wins 3-0, the total goals would be 4-4 and then Greece would win the tie-breaker – 1 away goal for them, 0 for us.
I’m watching the game for a second time and just re-watched our 3rd goal. After seeing the replay and then watching how the players reacted to Vrsaljko I get the feeling they are really happy for him and are aware he is battling something to regain his old form. Whatever it is, I hope Vrsaljko is ok…he seems like a quality person and I hope his confidence is coming back.
What happens if Greece wins 2 – 0 next game?
Do we go to overtime, then penalties?
Someone said they have to win 3 – 0 or they’re out.
So this’ll be our fifth playoff and fifth success, we’re FIVE and ZERO guys
pretty good, also you fuckers should all be thanking me personally cos generally these playoffs are around these dates and since 11/11 is my b’day, clearly the Vatreni feel extra motivated to win due to that factor since they don’t want to disappoint me on my b’day, so really i take some personal credit for this win
😉
Suker best finisher ever. Boksic awesome player as well. Mandzukic, what do the numbers say? 5 goals, our leading scorer, but when have a look at who he scores against, who gives a shit about the numbers of the defensive striker.
I would claim that scoring for Lazio in the Italian league is actually more difficult than scoring in almost any other league. You know what type of football they play in Italy. The most possessive and stingy type there is, just like the Azzuri when they play… Have you ever watched a Serie A game where the winner scored more than two-three goals? It happens all the time in other leagues, but not in Italy.
Kralj, numbers don’t lie. I loved Boksic too but you’re 100% wrong, Boksic’s goals per game are far less than Sukers were. He was a very good player but not comparable, not as far as production goes.
Boksic .32/goals per game
Suker .45/goals per game
In 100 games, Suker scored 13 more goals than Boksic…that’s quite a bit of you ask me.
I really like this Dalic dude, he says lots of intelligent stuff during interviews, he’s no pushover, he instills confidence in the boys obviously. Let’s see what will happen going into the future, but I hope HNS will give this dude a chance to stay on for a while, let’s see how far we can go. He’s got one thing right from the start: let the players play in their natural positions. Also he seems to be a good motivator. These boys needs to get their heads filled with winning mentality, they showed today what we haven’t witnessed in a very long time. Croatia played like a proper team, all cylinders blazing, no fear on the pitch, offensive and aggressive tactics. This is the only way Croatia should play. I even loved the bit of tika taka, fast passes, lots of possession. I hate tika taka when Spain plays, but I loved it tonight when Croatia played. Sweet and lovely to watch.
I’m not one to normally support Lovren but he’s been playing injured. Even his body language and confidence seem off. I think he’s banged up. Physically and emotionally.
Beautiful performance all around.
If we go into Russia playing like this, look out!
I would have to say Suker was the best player Croatia ever produced …2nd being Modric.
Both put forth game winning performances for Croatia… but maybe because Suker scored more goals, he gets more glory.
Croatia placed 3rd in World Cup 1998 ..we have yet to match that performance. Suker was the Golden Boot winner (top goal scorer in the tournament with 6 goals)
And it was our first appearance on the world stage as an independent nation. Lots of pride to be felt.
That set the tone for WHY we expect so much from our players today.
Also that photo of Luka is incredible ! haha looks unreal! can he really jump that high? wow!
We are missing a striker yeah for sure.. if we had someone like a Boksic or Suker obviously it’d be a different story, i think we need someone else to step up in that regard for us to be proper contenders, but it’s a long way to the wc so who knows what will happen, let’s get in and maybe someone will be in a purple patch around middle of next year (hopefully)
Deep run coming in the world cup!
Great day for sports: Canucks and Seahawks games on tap!
Dannyj/Slavonac RE: sports net world I ordered it yesterday too, just cancel it Monday am and you only get charged 5$ its pro rated.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/11/luka-modric-goal-photo-video-croatia-greece-uefa-world-cup-fifa-football
Do u guys still feel we are missing a superstar striker to make a deep run? Or is it possible with the tools we currently have?
Frig I was just talking about boksic technical skills making defenders look like fools back in his day..youtube vid above ..he brings back great memories of god gifted soccer talent..hes in peles calibre.
Don’t you know, truth troll is always right. If you predict all outcomes as possible, you’re never wrong when one of the outcomes becomes true!
https://youtu.be/47vOENX5oAY
@ truth your calculations were way off lol go back to jerking off in your moms basement
I’m old but not senile. Suker was incredible, but Boksic was even better. He missed out on the major competitions, sadly. We would have won in 1998.
Boksic best by far? What planet are you from? Gimme a break dude…now you’re pretending you know something we don’t.
Boksic was a fast, powerful striker that could score goals in bundles but he was also capable of missing the ocean while shooting from a dock! Please don’t tell me he was our “best ever”…cause that’s very untrue! He was very good…streaky, could score incredible goals and like I said, miss some easy sitters!
I watched him play every weekend it was on satellite or tv, don’t tell me things that just aren’t true!
You guys talking about the old guard, you seem to forget Boksic who was our best striker by far… he was just very unlucky and didn’t play in any major competition, being injured every time Croatia had qualified…he was tall, athletic, was a scoring machine and we would definitely have won that 1998 World cup if he had not been injured, I’m 100% sure.
I’ve said it a million times, Strinic is by far our best player on the left back position, I’ve been howling for repairman Cacic to put him back on the squad, but he was comatose to the idea. Now, moving forward to Russia, Sunday’s game will be a formality. I predict a 2-1 victory in gayreece. What is your prediction, Ziva aka the truth aka I’m a dumb serb? Has your xbox finished crunching the numbers yet?
And wow Porno-Heinz Vrsaljko looked lost as a left back, but on the right side he shined today. Let’s keep this formation and we can beat just about anybody. Fantastic game today, very impressive. Dalic da man!
Mr Black, I kinda agree with you. Boban was a great team player but wasn’t the type to turn a game, that was Prosinecki…but he was too inconsistent…super slippery and creative but just not always in his best form.
I hate to admit this but Suker was one helluva great player to watch. He could score from many situations and was always dangerous…the guy had a lot of desire and talent!
Benkovic is being looked at by a few teams from what’s said online
Sounds like he has the goods
Tall and athletic looking 6 foot 4
Greeks are plain and simple shite and should of lost 7-1 and like I said earlier count your fingers when shaking a girks hand…they frigin stole a goal from us and it better not haunt us on Sunday.. we will be ok.
Does mitrovic start over lovren??
He has looked stronger then lovren defending and let’s face it we don’t need our cb for offense Sunday
Greeks are plain and simple shite and source lost 7-1 and like I said earlier count your fingers when shaking a girls hand…they frigin stole a goal from us and it better not haunt us on Sunday.. we will be ok.
Croat agreed we could have had more but important thing is we are playing together and just starting to heat up. I think most would agree we have an even higher potential
We were basically at our lowest against turkey Finland Iceland
Be positive
At least we aren’t just running it wide and crossing it in and hope for the best. We had all sorts of attack
We had some nice tiki taka going
I’m very thankful for the play and effort
I’m very thankful that after greeece scored we just got motivated and took it back
Lots of positive stuff today boys and girls
Let’s get a early goal in Greece
I was never afraid of Greece as much as I was afraid of a shitty effort from our team! We came out and forced them…imposed ourselves on them and when we are in possession, outside of some gaffes, we are far more superior to the Greeks…they have no business being on the same field.
Wow Luka Modric. He was more than brilliant today. It’s like Luka decided Croatia would go to Russia 2018.
I’m old enough to say this. I really think Luka is the best Croatian player ever. I’ve had the luck to have seen Boban and Suker play for Croatia but they never impressed me like Luka did today and in a lot of other games.
Okay, he didn’t yet manage to reach the semi finals for us like Suker and Boban once did but that’s because he had some bac luck.
My only concern is our backline. Lovren and Subasic weren’t impressive at all today. It’s unbelievable what Lovren allows the Greeks the score their goal. First he manages to lose the ball like a moron. Vida saves his ass but is forced to give away a corner. And on that corner, he doesn’t even with Sokratis so Sokratis manges to score.
I’ve heard Manchester City is about to buy Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb. Benkovic is still young, maybe he could be our solution.
Mb13. Vida is the man
There was that one play where he put his hands behind back and knocked down a dangerous ball and bounced to suba
He has that killer instinct and brains lovren lacks
I sure hope corluka has another good tourney left in him he a warrior too
Agreed on rakitic. There was the one play in mid field Which he slipped but stayed with it and one it back very nicely. Never quit
As much as we need modric we need rakitic
When we firing many international teams would be hard pressed to mark our weapons
And that’s not homer talk The caveat is when we are firing
Corluka will be in his water polo hat lol, but too be fair the chances we gave greeks today if it was a better team they would have finished it off
Lovren is what he is
Corluka will be back and off to his clothing line he goes
Subasic I don’t know I guess let’s hope he starts playing with more confidence. Ya he made that good save at the end but was scary a few times
Lets hope the young guns keep stepping it up rebic Vlasic pjaca in the future and can be helpful In Russia But first a clinical 90 mins in Greece Won’t be be ez. Playing away no fans yes we sit pretty but we still got to play our game
But really we had so many options going forward hard for Greece to contain
Commentators made it sound was more bad defending then our great offense
Sure they didn’t play their game but we didn’t let them plain and simple
@slavonac – I agree with all your comments. If you ask me, Rakitic played his best match in a long time. If he continues to play like he did today, sky is the limit. I think it can be said, how Rakitic goes, the rest of the squad follows.
Lovren – man, I can’t wait to see him on the bench.
The rest of the squad played great – I think Vida deserves a little more love. Very underrated!
Why were some of you scared of Greece? I was hoping for them, plus if Croatia wins the playoff, Serbia is relegated to a #4 seed for the World Cup. Double wammy. A 4-1 score is flattering to Greece. Their goal was only due to a stupid pass between Vrsaljko and Lovren.
^
Not playing defensive mid is what I mean, it was Brozovic and Rakitic today, this is a big change by Dalic and one I fully endorse!
I don’t think Vrsaljko is 50% of what he can be…he’s still indecisive and hesitant but he did much better today than in the recent past.
Kalinic is a problem. He can’t create and he has troubles scoring easy goals and half chances. His goal today was nice but what was more revealing is that he misses too many goals and can’t make a play for someone else!
Perisic has to step up if we want to be a contender…he’s our best attacking weapon but has taken the last 5 months off.
Rakitić was awesome today…brilliant composure and passes, switching the play and distribution great balls.
Kramaric was greedy but I’m kinda ok with a striker being that way at times.
Brozovic was off balance often but I thought he did well today.
Lovren has insecurities and it’s clearly visible, Strinic player great the first 30 minutes and average after that!
Modric is a special player, I really can’t find words to express how blessed we are to have him!
The only thing swelling is my huge erection after that performance
still only half-time tho, if we get a goal in greece we should be right but i dont wanna celebrate too much just yet, tho it would take a catastrophe to lose from here
@Ernest
You are absolutely right about Modric. I am from a cela outside of Zadar. I am 32 years old. I’ve been watching Modric since his BBB days. I followed him his entire career. Yes, we as Croatians complain about lineups blah blah blah. But Modric as player? HE IS FUCKIN AMAZING.
It’s going be a sad day when Modric hangs up his cleats for the repka and just focus on Madrid. Just like @Ernest said. Us as Croatians, Croatia will never produce another Modric. Yes we produce good players. But there will never be a Luka Modric.
Really, Modric been doin that since the day came out the womb
You guys impressed me with your work rate today!
“Talent without hard work is nothing.” – Ronaldo
Today you guys were something.
@Iggy
Don’t let your head swell too much.
Vratija se Sime!
@Brkic
I seen it, I just want you to tell me?
It was the Ustasa spirit today, no quater given and none asked!
Fuck the Yugoslav team.
@anonymous – open your eyes and you will see the difference. I can’t believe that you watched this game and Ukraine and don’t see it.
On Dalic, I’m not sold because he lacks experience. What don’t know how he will react if he faces adversity or a difficult decision.
Sorry lol cacic not cacciatore
Offensively we looked really good. Defensively actually very shaky but the Greeks just don’t have enough to expose that. Should we qualify, that should be cleared up with the return of Carli and banishment of Lovren to the bench. It might be time to think about a switch at goalkeeper too. It won’t happen but i don’t trust Subasic. And just one more thing below….
Take a moment to appreciate Luka Modrić. I am 28 and assume most on this site are either my age or older. Just know this, in our lifetime we will never again see a player of his quality play for our country and very few in the entire world. We bicker about lineups and the guys that aren’t doing well but let’s not forget that football is about entertainment and for my money he is the best i have ever seen wear our colors. Today was maybe his best game ever for the national team and i am going to rewatch just to see it again. He is 32 and i will be extremely sad once his career ends because a player like him is born once every few generations.
@ Anon and Brkic
It started well with Cacic, his one big issue was a hesitancy to make subs. But towards the second part of the qualifying cycle he just lost the players, they no longer responded to him. And sometimes for that reason alone you have to Fire a coach.
Anyway so far so good with Dalic, inexperienced yes, but ultimately time well tell whether he was a good selection.
And no Croatia shouldn’t hire foreign coaches. But rather work on a system of developing sound domestic coaches. Like germany does, I know they have a school for coaches there.
Modric was amazing today, this is what I always wanted Modric to be doing, I have a tear in my eye!
Look we don’t know all what’s going on behind the scenes but dont think the boys had confidence with cacciatore to say the least
Wow Northern Ireland got screwed hard by refs
Watch the highlights
FIFA wants the multi nation Swiss to go through
Dalić is from pure HDZ territory my man!
Ya modric is the absolute key for the team . He is for Madrid too. He’s a special player. Very cerebral.
@Brkic
Why is he a big upgrade on Cacic, what has he done differently.
Why aren’t you sold on Dalic, what concerns you, is it that he’s not a foreigner?
What ever happened to that Greek Bunker???
They got blown outta the water! Croatia beat a good Greek team today, it just shows you how good Croatia is.
Dalic has got these boys playing some of the best football in years.
Vatreni were just carving the Greeks up like Gyro. It was wave after wave of relentless, fierce, attacks–showing not a SHRED of Mercy!
Greece has to beat Croatia 3-0 in the next game …if not ..we’re going to the World cup!
Good Game and we seemed very comfortable to do it without Mandzukic.
Lovren is still our weakest link …
I dont have much confidence in Subasic…
Other then that ..the team played well.
Enjoy Modric boys-
Won’t be around forever-
Absolutely clinical today!
Don’t know why but I like Ivica on the coaches bench-
Ya man the euro prob would have played different With dalic
Who knows if he our manager for the future but we sure as shit look like a diff team now with him
So as long as we don’t lose by 3 goals we are golden??
swiss won away in nth ireland 1-0 in the other game today for anyone who cares
tomorrow italy vs sweden and – most importantly, AUSSIES v honduras lol
Yesshhh
Well done, fellow members of the croatiansports.com nation! We have prevailed yet again when the chips were down and when it counted !
Whew. Half way home. 90 more minutes of solid football needed boys
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GG
No way we would be up 4-1 with Cacic. It looks like a different team out there… still not totally sold on Dalic, but he’s a big upgrade over the TV repairman.
But, you all don’t think managers matter…. 😉
Damn guys. Defend
Who would have thought olic would have been into the manager team lol
Ciro is watching the game too
Ha, Čiro sharing a blankie
Ya subasic is scary. Holy man.
Rebić in
Man perisic damn
We toying with them
Please one more goal so we can relax proper
LOL i dont know if anyone else heard but when sime vrsjlako lost that ball Dalic was swearing at him
Verse-ah-lee-ho
Man, nobody butchers croatian names like the Brits
When modric passed that ball he should have shot it
FUCK POOL. CFC !!!!!!!!!!!!
We’ve gone all Liverpool style. All attack, while depending on Lovren to hold down the defense by himself in front of a suspect keeper
Iggy got to do the psych work on lovren for real
Lovren sucks sooo bad
Rebic gonna get some time soon??
What other changes or little and just ride this game out?
The pillow biters are not saying much today….i would love a post.
Should say firing on all cylinders. Haha
Honestly man subasuc so scary with the ball
Firing on cylinders!
Kramaric with a great play but perhaps too selfish
I can see ziva saying it now
Just can’t concede anything
Lol…Iggy you da man!
I’m sorry man I have a man crush on ugly vida. I think he is just great
OLIC STILL RUNNING ON THE TOUCHLINE LIKE IN HIS DAY
Maybe we should get ourselves a fireign coach like the Greeks!
Vrsalkjo wut a game!
LOL ANOTHER GOAL? you look away for a second and its a goal
FOUR — FUCKING FOUR ONEM 1!!!!!!
MY DICK IS DEFINITELY HARD NOW FELLAS!!
We making em look like puppy dogs!!
Ya boy!!!!!
It’s true kalinic gets the most random goals and can’t score the ez ones
Let’s put em way now
I liked how they pressed quickly with long balls and quick runs along the flanks, not giving the Greeks enough time to park the bus. Need to keep this up – can’t let the gas off the pedal.
Mandzukic is our biggest handicap up front
Re
…two things we need to address:
Perisic needs to start working…Kalinic scores frnjoke goals…he keeps missing easy chances!
my prophecy in the adamant stage.
Perisic the one who actually be wasted in this game
covered well byStrinic. And Subasic who will be our gaffe covered by his scapegoat -> Lovren. But Manager is the key!
if it’s Stupid Cacic, Croatia would never gain so much.
Hope you guys can keep going.
Dalic just has to tell them, “don’t expect greece to go away, put ’em away.” If they keep going it is hard not to see Croatia getting two more goals, at least.
Sude Mi spot on about Modric, can not believe some of you guys wanted Modric to keep rotting away at defensive midfield.
Ziva…you’re wrong!
They pressed the Greeks and give them nothing…our chances come when we force them, not sit back and play a slow tempo game!
Prediction? Hahaha!
The players are playing but obviously dalic has an idea to play attacking football which is really the only way we are going to win let’s be honest
Seems like my prediction that Croatia would be much better offensively without mandzukic is proving correct. I have been surprised though by how open the greeks have left themselves. Embarrassingly so. Speaks to a coach not properly disciplining his team or simply a lack of talent. But even kosovo can bunker better than this
I like Dalic!
Greeks goalie is our lovren
Best explanation ever thanks
I always get the feeling that with Subašić in goal ..all a team has to do is get a decent shot on net and it will probably go in.
Not a good feeling
Wer playing so nice i might cry. Best football from us in a LONG TIME
Well if it stayed the same they would have to open up to score on us. Then we would at least get one if they played open
it’s not that complicated, if the aggregate score is level, then whoever scored the most away goals goes through, if that is still level, then extra time/penalties
if greece won 2-0 in greece they would go through cos they scored an away goal and we didnt
Would be amazing to get two more in second half and then second leg is nothing but a formality
Ya but lika joey is kalinic better going forward??
Ya heard that
No one plays with more heart then olic
So if we get one goal in Greece that essentially kills their goal in Zagreb? I never get the away goal thing
I said last week Subasic is a liability.
Ya cigan if that was kramaric with the rebound it’s in
But beautiful play from perisic and nice turn round from kramaric
IVICA OLIC IS A MANAGER NOW AT CROATIA!!!! WOOOO!!! did you hear the commentator he said Olic was his fav player
bruhhh kalinic, how do u not finish that???
Man…. got to get that
Keep the pressure boys
Luka is the straw that stirs our drink….Delic needs to stay manager as he has figured that out. Put our best player at the fulcrum of our offence and see what happens.
Carli and Vida have a better rapport than Lovren/Vida.
Luka is the star that stirs our drink….Delic needs to stay manager as he has figured that out. Put our best player at the fulcrum of our offence and see what happens.
Dang, Rakitić even appeared to sprint for a moment there
Corluka and vida in the back in future And we be ok
They can’t now that’s for sure
That’s when we can really kill
Like I said we needed that early goal and that will change it up
Iggy, we control Greece! They aren’t good but can look good if we play a slow paced game!
greece aren’t bunkering, FYI
wow
who would’ve thought 4 goals in the first 33 minutes when we knew greece were gonna bunker!?
Agree is kalinic a reasonable option for us in goal in the future??
WHAT A GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
BACK ON TRACK BOYS !!!!
Beauty we can score at will
But we also have a handicap named lovren seriously
hell yes!
Subasic is awful.
man kramaric could’ve lined that up
Man Subašić is really bad
i think we prolly need another goal, 3-1 would be good
play 3 at the back without lovren
Agree Cigan we have to play for the kill
ohhhh shit
there we go celebrating too early
sloppy, sloppy, sloppy
lmao thats wut happens when you think you’ve won the game and start playing sloppy
Lovren sucks end of story
holy shit thank heavens for Vida
Arrogance!!!
IDEMOOOOO
Lol my neighbors just knocked on my door seeing if everything was ok lolol
Greece just sitting back now… love it.
We just have to stay on doing our thing
We dictate it we are Croatia
Iggy: Kevin Spacey wants your cock.
Strinic a great player. Love that he is back on the team.
i can’t believe how well this is going
guys
my penis is becoming erect !
also who was that guy who said he had a feeling 3-0, 4-0 or something??
hahah omg you’re right someone did say cheeky side foot
fuckn good prediciton dannyj
wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww strinic with a beautiful ball!
been advocating strinic this whole time, he so confident and so calm
WHAT A GOAL!!!
FUCK YEAH !!!!!! KALINIC U BEAUTY
Who called the cheeky kalinic side foot???
fucking thrashing, i called it
Strinic with 2012 euro type cross
Luka scored on a penalty
shit i went to the dunny and came back and we’re winning
WHAT HAPPENED?>
Maybe Stay with Dalic? or if he is switching maybe Bilic
Keep it coming
They are weak now
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
To!!!!
Totally agree with u slavonac
Who taking it
I hate pk
Omg penalty ugh
OMFG PENALTY!!!
What did I say? Press them like we did Ukraine in the 2nd hal!
We have to score this or we will lose!
greeks already getting chippy
Close keep pushing boys we score they will change their game and we can do our thing
Greeks are very physical
dirty greeks already fouling away
That’s a yellow right there on Luka
U boj u boj!
Listening to the gayreek national anthem is like 11 cats pissing and howling in the wind. Waiting now for the World’s most beautiful anthem…
Za dom!
Maybe brozo plays lights out
I think overall he has done more for us then rakitic or pretty darn close to it
Agree slavonac totally
They will want to slow it down and kill our rhythm for sure
No one wanted Greece but we got em and if we can beat this bunker we can beat anyone’s bunker
i am personally currently using this stream:
http://hellosports.stream/live-tv-channel/ten-1/
but since the game hasn’t started i dont really know which is best yet
here’s the usual reddit compilation of streams:
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccerstreams/comments/7bv3cs/1945_gmt_croatia_vs_greece/
it’s on Watch ESPN, for those needing a stream.
Maksimir loud already.
Should still be goid enough to beat these Turkeys
Kalinic too
Strinic Brozo & Lovren yikes, get this.
Anyone have a streaming link?
Let’s go. Let’s do this. Russia 2018 here we come!
…remember folks, in my opinion…the key to a victory will be fast moving plays and then press them when they have possession. If we speed up the tempo of the game, we will win!
lol-ovren
Yeah Kalinic doesn’t fill me with hope tbh.. i think Rebic has a better chance of being a gamebreaker
Let’s get this!!
So what basically our only wild card we can bring on for offense is rebic really
lol they told me 17
I spend like 100 something every month and they scam us for one channel
Better then watching some 2nd rate Greek feed online though lol
I feel Mario has more power to break the bunker
But kalinic gonna get one of his cheeky side heel on something and score(I hope)
Dannyj…I did that the other day!
I think it’s $18 btw!
Just spent 17 bucks on sports networld and 2 hours on the phone. We better win!
Rijecanin’s lineup is the official lineup.
No Mandzukic, Kalinic will be our striker.
soccerway has the formation listed as kramaric striker and kalinic right wing, pretty sure they just got the formation mixed up though
Ana-
Baltazar in Astoria
With scorpio closed where do people watch games in nyc now?
Truth, I’m sure you mean “with the stakes this gay”….
And please let us know the results after crunching those parameters on your homosexual xbox.
well boys, time to put on our big boy pants on and get the job done
AJMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Subasic
Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strnic
Brozovic, Rakitic
Kramaric, Modric, Peresic
Kalinic
Mandžukić out.
Wish truth troll was out too.
Business? Common sine… 4rth grade and trolling internet websites isn’t business anymore than playing Xbox is computer modeling.
Sorry if I’ve been absent . I know how many people rely on me for truthful analysis… Especially with the stakes this guy
Just been swamped with that business though
So as i update odds on this game, i see win/tie/loss as 37/40/23
In my own personal opinion of where the model might go off is that it doesn’t fully account for greeces desire to bunker so my personally slanted win/tie/loss is 25/60/15
…fanboy organizations are not my thing!
OK so the gayreeks are fielding an 8-2 formation today, according to the article posted earlier. Will be a tremendous snoozefest for sure. It’s not an easy task trying to find holes (no pun intended!) in the gayreeks homosexual defensive play formation. All the while pinching our ass muscles together to prevent any gay and festive penetration…
Ass-ignment to truth aka Ziva aka I’m a dumb serb aka Iceland lad…put these parameters into your xbox and let it crunch: mama’s boy, homosexual, dumb, serb, gayreek, ass, penetration. Please let us know the results.
https://www.dreamteamfc.com/c/news-gossip/356711/greece-plan-on-making-tonights-world-cup-play-off-against-croatia-the-most-boring-game-of-all-time/
@ Slav
We are the Torcida and you are not.
Is there a place to get cevaps and watch the game in the area between Hamilton and Oakville?
I think truth troll aka Ziva aka I’m a dumb serb aka Iceland lad is cleaning his room now coz his mom told him he couldn’t watch the game today unless he was a good boy and does like his mama says. His mama will prepare some milk and cookies for him when he’s done.
On another note, let’s get it on and go out all cylinders blazing at full throttle. Movement, pace and those clinical passes who will find Krama’s foot and hit the back of the net. Sweet! Predictions for tonight is 2-0 maybe even 3-0 if we do our thing.
Lastly, here’s the statistics that truth troll was looking for. Feed those numbers into your xbox and let it crunch for a while:
https://www.11v11.com/teams/croatia/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Serbia/
right just started an argument with my boss so he sent me home, heading to the pub to watch the game. come on boys. dont let us down!!
@Adame
ya i think cro is gonna win like 2-0 or 3-0
They’re a compact team
For sure a game we need the young guns rebic a healthy pjaca perisic kramaric guys that can make things happen
Make some runs so modric and rakitic can do their things
I’m not a football expert but space will be a premium. We have to pressure them and create space from the way I see
We have to play gladni that’s it. We have to want it more. The bus sucks but we have the ability to break it. We just have to maneuver carefully and when called for smash it
Plain and simple guys it’s ZDS or go home!
Call me crazy but I’ve been feeling for a while like we’re gunna blow them out today. 3-0, 4-0, maybe 5-0 or more. I hope to god I’m right and i’ve Knocked on wood 100+ times so we’re good.
Latest reports speculate Mandzukic is out
…this type of shit has to stop! Just who the hell do these Hajduk supporters think they are attacking someone?!
https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/nogomet/igraci-na-meti-bijesnih-navijaca-hajduka-ohandza-pozvao-policiju—495549.html
We can discuss lineups and formations all day…the most important thing in this game will be how our boys go out and play! We have the players and the ability to break through their defense, it’s gonna come down to the overall intensity and tempo of the game. If we press and keep the tempo up, we will win…and win without too much struggle…if we play a slower paced game and hope the Greeks give us a free-bee…we are doomed!
I hope we go out today like we did in the second half vs Ukraine. Show some desperation…make the Greeks cough up the ball and force them backwards. We can definitely do this, the question is will we?!
When Mandzi scores -we win . the correlation numbers are over very high- can’t explain it but that guy putting the ball in the net is always the key- I hope he’s ok to go and has a good game-I’ll say he does well and we squeak out 1-0 win. That would be a nice result for nasi decki. Ajmo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO CRO !!
@TorontoCroatia we also have Brozovic – really our only player that is a real threat from outside the box. I’d like to include Krama and Modric in there as well but have not seen us as a threat from distance.
If Greece is gonna park the bus…am I the only one who thinks Kramaric will be our best chance of getting a goal then?
We have talent but we really need strikers who are not hesitant to strike.
Croatia is a team who should beat Iceland Finland and turkey…..oh wait…..
The Northern Turks (aka Greeks) ready to, “Park The Bus”…..
https://www.dreamteamfc.com/c/news-gossip/356711/greece-plan-on-making-tonights-world-cup-play-off-against-croatia-the-most-boring-game-of-all-time/
Grcke Picke !
Croatia is a team that should be at the World Cup we been ranked top 15 in the past decade. Iceland qualified more out of luck and may never qualify again. You cannot tell me that teams like Panama, Iceland are better teams them Chile and say Netherlands just because they qualifed and others didn’t. Fact is teams like Iceland benefited from us dropping points like i mentioned Finland.
Pog has become a real jerk of late
My croatian friend told me to say ” jebo te Hitler koji te ostavio.”
I’ll apologize in Croatian.
Odjebi!
Are you angry because we topped the group and that has got you guys daydreaming about having a yugoslav team again.
I want an apology and I will leave, you have my word.
Awe, did I hurt your feelings?..
How about not coming on a Croatian site and spewing your shit?
Nobody here gives a fuck about your country.
Find somewhere else to celebrate Iceland’s “accomplishments.”
@Poglavnik
Your comments sound like one of those yugoslav people.
You guys have treated me worse than you treat the serbs that come here. True what my croatian friend says most of you are yugoslav? You would of topped our group with that yugoslav team from the other day for sure.
I️ am sad l work 9-5 tomorrow
Your chant sounds like 300,000 Icelanders collectively taking it up the ass. Congratulations!
That Ronaldo quote is for people like you and all the other soccer playing children of the world.
Iggy thats the truth troll don’t bite.
@Iggy
We just lost to the Czechs in a friendly that stopped my head swelling too much.
We were trying some things so probably just a blip on our way to Russia.
I apologise for Iceland being so shitty and Icelandic people being utter cunts
is that close enough?
😉
Here’s a gift for you on the way out, just to keep things in context and stop your head swelling too much:
https://www.11v11.com/teams/croatia/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Iceland/
@Iggy
If you can give me an apology for yesterday I will leave, you have my word.
@Poglavnik
You guys are not united? That is why you do not have a celebration like our players have with us fans.
What would you say to Ronaldo regarding his “talent without hard work is nothing”? Tell us why you say “talent without hard work is something”?
oh and in answer to the above Q – qualifying is the most important thing, much rather undeservedly get in than play really well and miss out
it is always a million times better to qualify than not, no matter the context or how you get there
tbh it doesnt really matter how u get in – we’ve seen from our guys in the past when we just squeaked in we did really well in tourneys and when we steamrolled in then we did poorly in tourneys, it’s just important to get there
oh GAWDD is that icelandic shitgurgler seriously in this thread now? Can you fuck off already. No one gives a shit about iceland. When you beat england it was kinda a fun story but now you’re just being monumental cuntrashes and we’ve all had enough so please to fuck off to icelandcuntsports.com or whatever site you dipfucks use
The one and ONLY reason you topped our group was due to the relationship between our Federation, players, and fans. Simple as that.
I’m not questioning your teams work ethic but no one here cares about that as much as you do.
Talentless teams love to hang their hats on “hard work.”
Speaking of talentless teams, you sure you’re not a Greek?
@Poglavnik
The ? should be on the outside of the quotation marks, I’m not the one questioning our work ethic are you? It is because of our work ethic that we are getting what we deserve!
“Talent without hardwork is nothing” – Chritiano Ronaldo
You say Croatia work hard and has more talent than we do but we topped the group. Makes our effort even more meritorious!
man..
do you think Subasic will cause the havoc’
also, Perisic only be the wasted player later!
LAknat 89.98% RIght (Almost Right 100%)
Thats truth troll pog!
What’ll get this Icelander to shut up and go away?
Does he want a cookie or a pat on the back for his country’s “hard work?”
Hopefully he finds a site that gives a fuck about him and his 300,000 people.
I have a Champions mentality so I would say …If we can’t beat Germany (Current champs) ..we don’t deserve to be in the World Cup.
I believe truth troll is a douche bag, now playing Icelandic troll
@Marko
Do you believe Croatia deserve it because of talent alone or because you guys gave it everything you had you left it all on the pitch and worked so hard for it and for that reason you deserve it? Which one is it?
Could it be both and we still topped the group!?
I hear you Marko. We ok.
Stop with this bullshit of deserve or not deserve. Iceland don’t deserve to be there but they are, had we not conceeded that late goal against finland Iceland would have most certainly missed this World Cup. We want Croatia at the world cup even if it means 2 ties with the away goal bottom line is to qualify!!!! However it happens i really dont care just want us in.
Like i told iggy. If Luka can break down Juventus vaunted defense he will figure this crap eventually. Watch him explore and figure this out!
Turkey 80,000,000 population not going to the world cup!
We beat Turkey twice you guys could not beat them once why do you think that is? Is it because Turkey is 80,000,000 population and you guys 5,000,000?
Our population is 333,000 and we are going to the world cup already!
Population, 1 fourth grader with internet access, also known as truth troll
I will enjoy it! 333,000 population and we’re in a world cup!
Iceland sucks!
Your chant is gay and Sigurdsson is garbage.
Enjoy your one and only World Cup while it lasts.
You mean she says anonymous!
Yes. He’s nothing but a troll in need of attention
^
You have no name! Why does it matter what name someone has? Do you look at the name before you read the comment (if you read it at all?) and make a judgement on the comment based on who wrote it?
I take peoples comments on face value. The truth says some things that are true. Do you just disregard everything he says?
Fuck off truth troll, under all your names
@Iggy
What would you rather to make it and not deserve it or to miss out but to have deserved to make it?
Why did you tell a person from Iceland to fuck off but you did not tell the serbian person to fuck off? Is it because you are the guy my Croatian friend would call a yugoslav? My Croatian friend told me @The truth is a yugoslav. I am from Iceland we have a population of 333,000 people and we are going to the world cup. You guys are on the cusp and like the yugoslav said you do not deserve it. I still hope Croatia can make it for my friend.
If we can’t beat Greece we don’t deserve to go…..we beat them we go but we couldn’t beat Finland Greece > Finland Greece > turkey?
He’s completely right
Beat it truth troll
I am at peace with the concept that if cro doesn’t beat Greece they don’t deserve to go to the world cup because at the end of the day, none of these teams on the cusp really “deserve” to go to the world cup. Luck just so happens to bounce their way like the 98 team
In terms of mandzo up front, it’s terrible. He’s no longer a striker. He’s a defender playing forward. It’s ok if you have juventus offensive stars carrying the load but not if you’re Croatia depending on him scoring goals
I would take a combo of perisic, kalinic , kramaric with a rebic sub any day over mandzo playing against the bunker
Exactly Bobby so if he’s being a defensive forward week in week out don’t understand how some here expect him to score you don’t just turn on and off these things
One thing that jumped out on me with the stats that Lovro posted on the Italian League is that Mandzukic has attempted only 17 shots on goal this year.
In comparison, Dzeko has attempted 56.
When you are asked to play a certain role, like Juventus has done with Mandzukic, it means that he is out of practice for what Croatia needs him to do.
Word is that Greece is going to assign Zeca (Portuguese born) to harass Luka Modric the entire match.
My main worry is that our central defenders will have trouble with Mitroglou on the counter attack – he doesn’t need much space to do damage
We will win 4-0 at home, I’m absolutely sure of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omyLZPPH0r0 Some pump up music for tomorrow
Kinda bs how tomorrow esnp (1 or 2 i forgot) are showing northern ireland vs switzerland but not cro vs greece
The game will be live in the US on ESPN3/WatchESPN app.
First time poster, love the site!
Idemo!
I still think we should just boycott the game. Players walk off after the national anthem!
lopta je okrugal
Tooooooo ilija
If we can’t beat x then we don’t deserve to be at y is the most cheesiest statement ever
Yes, im so sick of hearing this every fucking time. We all know in soccer BS happens, the better team doesn’t always win, sometimes the refs are cunts, there are a number of factors that can prevent the more deserving team winning, that’s why i hate this statement.
If it was AFL or something where teams score 100 points, fair enough, but in soccer, we could absolutely dominate, hit the post 30 times, play 99% of the game in Greece’s half, and they get 1 corner and head it in and win.
That’s soccer. Did we not deserve to win? It’s a foolish statement to make about soccer. Undeserving teams win ALL THE TIME in soccer.
Dario Saric 25 and 10 last night
We will have to beat similar teams to get past the group stage if we make it.
If we can’t beat x then we don’t deserve to be at y is the most cheesiest statement ever
You try running with your butt cheeks clenched together!
If we can’t beat these PILLOW BITERS we dont deserve to go to Russia.
,@SoulChamp
Belgium is bloody classy, Vatreni are on another level at their best.
November to remember !
@ Bobby V
Thanks for all the info/links around who is broadcasting the match and when the draw is in December.
@ Svima
The Greece playoff is an ideal challenge for us to get our crew together.
We need to grow to the next level.
Are we closer to Belgium or Greece ?
Next two matches will show who and where we are as footballing nation.
Time for the on field BBB – bunker busting beasts … to represent.
We call the national team … reprezentacija for a reason.
Vatreni lives within all of our heart’s.
We will remember this November.
U boj
IM SCARED !!!
Edge of the seat time! Let’s hope that on December 1st, we will be watching what World Cup group Croatia will be drawn into. Bog i Hrvati!