Written By Branko Tomasović
The World Cup final between France and Croatia was a classic illustration of what small countries face when they encounter traditional soccer powers in major tournaments; in that the scales of justice tend to be tilted. This game clearly showcased this fact for all to see on the biggest stage in the world.
Croatia, the Cinderella story of the tournament, managed to fight their way to the final by winning three extra-time games against Denmark, Russia and England; two of which resulted in penalty shoot-outs. The problem that small countries like Croatia face against traditional soccer powers is that they have to win outright. Rarely do they receive game changing calls in their favor and often they are victims of these calls when traditional powers struggle.
In the final, Croatia started the match in dominant fashion and totally took control of the game in the first half, such that France managed to register just one shot on goal. It was then that the officials began to throw France a life-line. The first controversial call against Croatia came in the eighteenth minute of the game when French forward Antoine Griezmann clearly dove to win a free kick. This World Cup, set pieces have resulted in numerous goals and as such was no small call from the distance of the goal that it was whistled.
Griezmann Dive
This resulted in Mario Mandžukić scoring an own goal and giving France the early lead. When the free kick was played in, it appeared that Paul Pogba was in an offside position, not to mention he clearly shoved Mandžukić in the back, which contributed to the error and the goal. What made this play fascinating is that VAR (Video Assistant Referee), used for the first time in a World Cup tournament, did not intervene to reverse the goal, which left many puzzled.
Pogba Offside On Free Kick Own Goal
Yet, Croatia battled on and amazingly equalized in the 28th minute with a brilliant goal by Ivan Perišić. At that point, Croatia appeared to be in the ascendency and had regained the momentum. The turning point in the game came in the 38th minute with a French corner kick which accidently hit Ivan Perišić in the hand. Referee Nestor Pitana did not initially award a penalty but was then notified by VAR to examine the play. He went to the monitor and looked at the play for over four minutes, left the monitor to make his call, and went back to double-check, before he awarded France a game changing penalty shot. According to VAR rules, in order to overturn a call made on the field, the mistake has to be clear and obvious. The fact that the referee had to double check the monitor showed he wasn’t certain of the call he was about to make. Instead of opting to keep the original call, he threw France another life-line and awarded a game changing spot kick, which ultimately titled the match completely in France’s favor. France converted the penalty and never relinquished the lead in the game, ultimately winning the game 4-2.
Perišić Handball
Pundits from BBC Sports, TSN and ESPN former referee Howard Webb, all believed an incorrect call was made. One has to wonder how two game changing errors of that magnitude can be made with instant replay available to the referee. Clearly, when in doubt, the referee automatically defaults to giving the call to the soccer power. Ask yourselves if the roles were reversed and it was Griezmann who handled the ball in the exact same manner would the referee have awarded Croatia a penalty kick? I think we all know the answer to that question. This built in bias in the officiating is the margin of error between victory and defeat in soccer- not to mention selective VAR use.
The Pros Talk About The 1st Half Calls
Further evidence of this can be seen in the 23rd minute of the game when Croatia had a free kick and Luka Modrić sent in a cross into the box and Mario Mandžukić was dragged down by Paul Pogba. This play was simply ignored by VAR and the referee, as he simply waved play on.
No Call After Mandžukić Pulled Down In Box
If one compares this foul to that of Harry Kane in the game against Columbia, the referee awards England a penalty for the same foul that was ignored on Mandžukić. The fouls were almost identical, yet the decisions were different. It’s just another example of selective soccer justice.
Kane Penalty Against Colombia
If one looks at the stats in the game, Croatia were the better team, yet lost 4-2 to France.
How is this possible? Croatia was very unlucky in that France received lucky bounces from the referee to help them- which in the end he did. However, if the roles were reversed, would the same game changing calls have been made for Croatia? I highly doubt it. In the final analysis, the built in bias that referees have towards small nations, as well as the selective use of VAR makes it practically impossible for any small nation to win a World Cup. Croatia can take heart that they came the closest.
They may have not lifted the Cup, but they were the “People’s Champions” this summer!
How An Average American Comedian Saw The World Cup Final
Censorship has always stopped progress you fucking morons. Claiming to be pro croatian while you’re anti-white is the greatest example of DOUBLETHINK in human history.
the choice is NOT between two semites.
“the people’s champion”, no, the White champion.
White countries.
“against small countries”. No, against
https://youtu.be/1cfPr-D_4iY
Found this boban Jan kovic serb in the Greek league really messed up.
Head butted basketball net post and dropped ,paralysed.
I recall ABC wide world of sports a ski jumper I think slovenian crashed at the end of jump went through a huge banner 100 kms hr ,looked like train wreck,1970s unbelievable he walked away.
Vido Loncar assaulted and seriously injured a referee after a loss, excusing Loncar with the argument “I believe that he is not a butcher or as bad as this act makes him look. This was part of his excessive ambition in that moment”.[5] Loncar was subsequently banned from boxing for life.
IS there any other old school stories from sports way back cros,yugoslavia frigin up, olympics whatever I don’t care if it’s from back, be much funnier if a serb fucked up .
As per my bet with the site shareholders, I am quitting the site.
Bye CSR/CS.
Hercegovac with a massive head. Here from Toronto, my old man used to spar with him at the gym for shits. Said his hands and head were made of steel.
Hey kresimir, how did you not know about George Chuvalo? Muhammad ali went to the hospital after fighting him. He was never knocked down in his whole career.
Hey peter north, did Croatia get ANY calls their way throughout the WHOLE campaign? No.
I don’t see the problem with the song. Luka Modric can sing what he wants , with who he wants. Croatia is a free country. I wish people will stop trying to force there political correctness on other people. There is nothing wrong with the song. He can do what he wants.
You must be kidding? So you don’t want Rakitic or Joe Simunic or the Kovac brothers or any of the scores of foreign-born Croats playing for us? There are more Hrvati outside Hrvatska than in it, you dolt, for obvious reasons. We should be pursuing everyone with Hrvati blood to play for us, EVERYONE since they are actually Croatian.
@Peter
Toljan is still eligible to play for us, but I don’t think we are pursuing him. He’s likely trying to make the German national team (as he is part of their U21 team).
He’s not that great anyway. If he was a star in the making, then I would want us to pursue.
Personally, I don’t like us going after guys who aren’t born and raised in Cro…but pretty much every nation in the world does this (including teams like France, Spain and Italy).
I would rather give Borna Sosa the LB spot and see what happens.
@ Nikola
We’re always the “bride’s maid never the bride” ???? LMAO!!!
Tennis:
Iva Majoli= 1997 FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION + Goran Ivanisevic = 2001 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION + Marin Cilic = 2012 US OPEN CHAMPION + Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic = 2005 DAVIS CUP CHAMPION !
Handball:
Croatia = 2003 WORLD CHAMPION + 1996 and 2004 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Water polo:
Croatia = 2007 and 2017 WORLD CHAMPION + 2012 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Skiing:
Janica Kostelic = 5 times WORLD CHAMPION + 4 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Ivica Kostelic = 2003 WORLD CHAMPION !
MMA:
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic = 2006 Pride CHAMPION + 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix CHAMPION + 2014 IGF CHAMPION + 2016 Rizin Grand Prix CHAMPION !
Stipe Miocic = 4 times UFC heavyweight WORLD CHAMPION!
Boxing:
Stipe Drvis = 2007 WBA Light Heavyweight WORLD CHAMPION !
Kickboxing:
Branko Cikatic = 1993 K-1 Grand Prix WORLD CHAMPION !
Stefan Leko = 2001 and 2006 K-1 Grand Prix WORLD CHAMPION!
Antonio Plazibat = 2017 K-1 Grand Prix WORLD CHAMPION !
Thai boxing:
Ivan Stanic = 2010 and 2011 WORLD CHAMPION !
Taekwondo:
Filip Grgic = 2007 WORLD CHAMPION !
Ana Zaninovic = 2011 WORLD CHAMPION !
Rowing:
Sinkovic brothers = 4 times WORLD CHAMPION + 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Discus throw:
Sandra Perkovic = 2013 and 2017 WORLD CHAMPION + 2012 and 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD !
High jump:
Blanka Vlasic = 4 times WORLD CHAMPION !
Sailing:
Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic = 2009 and 2016 WORLD CHAMPION + 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Javelin throw:
Sara Kolak = 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD !
Trap shooting:
Josip Glasnovic = 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD !
And all in only 25 years from a SMALLER country that will keep on winning more world championships, Olympic medals and already went way further in football than BIGGER Serbia ever will HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
PS – I was an usher at my Argentinian friends wedding that week we beat Argentina.
I didn’t say shit about the game but in his wedding card the note I left said 3-0!
They were very respectful I must say and told me how great we played and good a team we have especially with our size of a country. It’s only us and Uruguay that can somewhat compete/qualify on a regular basis. Icelands, Slovenia and Panama are one offs. Even Uruguay made 6 of the last 11 world cups.
If you told me before the tournament we would lose to France in the finals I would be content but if you told me and showed me how I would be pissed.
Branko Tomasovic I agree with your article. We had good luck until the final game. I still think we didn’t have the greatest teams the other years we didn’t make noise. Some of them. Unfortunately the calls do go to the bigger team it seems like.
No way we or any small country get a PK or momentum changer in a WC final.
Suarez made a good point when he told Griezmann via reporters he’s not buying his non celebration vs Uruguay/ I love your country act. He said Griezmann will never know how hard we have to work to qualify for tournaments.
I do think we’re too hard on ourselves at times with being overly ambitious. The loss was a hard pill to swallow because the team that played better didn’t win and every game we won prior to the finals luck or not/PK/own goal etc we were the better team 100%. Nigeria, Argentina, Iceland, Denmark, Russia, England, France.
Thats just the way football works these days and we can’t do shit about it.
@Slavonac and Maminjo great posts!
First goal we can’t complain about the call because diving happens in soccer. We’re ok when it works for us but not against us. It’s more to do with Pogba being offside then jumping for the header after. FIFA rule book says that’s offside but it was missed.
It did hit Perisic’s hand but not deliberate again which is the FIFA rule. Don’t take my word just listen to 90% of former players/pundits and existing players.
After that it’s too hard to come back vs France playing kontra with Mbappe, G and P. Suba got down late and they scored on that and individual skill but still France were given the first 2 goals according to everyone and anyone with a brain.
We do have fire/young kids on decent teams coming up but it depends on how they develop. If the younger crop do well and older crop don’t get injured I think we can make noise at the next Euro. A lot can happen.
Lika Joey the best too! Anyone Croatian is the best.
Poglavnik, Roger Maris…Frank and Peter Mihavelic.
Me too pog. Kordic brothers are the best.
And 2 of my favourites, John and Dan Kordic
Zeljko Mavrovic!
Iggy, Filip Hrgovic is a future star!
@Peter
We have a black Ms Croatian Universe. Do we need more?
Question for guys in the know, whatever happened to the Toljan kid (defender) who plays in Germany and is eligible to play for Croatia. I’m assuming that boat has sailed and/or it never got off the ground as something the federation looked into?
@truth, winter in 2022 comes after summer, making him 6 months older
@Iggy- They is literally youth competion qualifying going on at the same time frames as the Nations League (uefa 2019).
At the time he said he was going with youth, I criticized him for not realizing how far we can go in this tournament.
If you think England is gonna send a 2nd team youth squad against us in a revenge game, you are crazy!
Only reason it would be a youth show is if the club teams demand their star players to be rested. This is likely, cause with this many meaningful International games, club football will lose some luster.
Iggy, why would it be a youth training camp? The match dates are at the same time normal qualifiers are scheduled and the winner of the LoN qualifies directly to EC2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/marseille-signs-croatia-defender-caleta-car/2018/07/20/65d09284-8c0a-11e8-9d59-dccc2c0cabcf_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ba933c0a2145
It’s six months older, not younger. It’s end of the year, not beginning.
Also he won’t be 35 at Euro 2020, he’s 32 now.
Jesus don’t you guys know BASIC things like this? Need IGGY to fill you in! 😉
For those who like to dream of the modric still contributing in a world cup, the Qatar games will be held in the winter making modric 6 months younger at the time than otherwise. Like with toddlers, at modrics age 6 months can mean a lot
Modric and Rakitic were just above average in the Semi Final and Final. Perisic was our best player in the Semi Final and Final also Vrsaljko was our second best player in the Semi Final Modric will be almost 35 in Euro 2020 Iniesta retired at 34 who was still productive at this years World Cup.
Im sure it won’t be the A squad for nations league. I know you guys are keen to get back into the action and see us competing again but im sorry to say most teams dont care about the nations league and it’s gonna be basically a youth comp
u gonna have to wait till euro 2020 qualies to see proper Hrvatska A-squad, sorry fellas
I hope we use our A squad as well but im just going off what Dalic said. It can all change obviously. (sorry for the multiple posts)
using “young players” in the nations league**
I didn’t include Perisic because before the world cup Dalic said he’ll be using “young players”. So i made it based off that (excluding lovre kalinic)
let’s put 98 players with their glorious 3rd place into our current finalist lines up ~!
….………………Ladic………………….
…….Vida…..Lovren….Simic..…
Asanovic…Prsinčki…Rb Jarni
….Modric.…Boban….Rakitic….
…………….……Suker……….…………..
Perisic is actually good but need ball position and more chance to create a goal. Imagine if Perisic in the France team for the recent game, they won’t get the 3rd and the 4th goal. Perisic needs waste at least 3 clear chance to get 1 goal and won’t be effective if we don’t have a creative player like Modric!
@Goku-what wonders do we need? We outplayed our opponent in a world cup final! That lineup gets pummelled by our starting lineup vs France even in 2 years.
Why no Perisic?
Did Pjaca show you anything?
I want to win the Nations League.
I’ll go on record as I have time and again, Rog is nothing special. Not even worried about a “Modric is a bust” moment here.
If we insert anybody from our youth ranks, the only person that might give us a boost is Halilovic (likely as a sub.). His left foot is something we don’t have in our attacking, and though he isn’t an upgrade to anybody, he can add some benefit just by being different. Though Perisic’s left foot is awesome, he doesn’t thrive at RW, perhaps Halilovic can do better than Rebic and Perisic on the RW.
(and even all this is unfair to our current players, Perisic’s left foot is actually better than his right, Mandzukic scored with his left, and Rebic forced Lloris into a leaping save with his left too.)
If goal keeper isn’t fumbling and not letting the ball in.
If the oppenent dont take a goal from this goal keeper!
We are invisible no 1 without doubt!
The issues that I had exposed regarding to Subasic and Perisic before the world cup, have an effect to the final stage. Yes we are being robbed by refree. I dont have issue with Dalic, because of his decision to replace him in Russia march! He would be perfect if he could replace Subasic right away after his sluggish with no attempt to reach the ball!
You forgot all the tennis players, we have 3 singles grand slam champs (Majoli, Ivanisevic and Cilic) 😉
Also Branko Cikatic who came before Mirko and was the first K1 champ ever iirc is worth a mention, despite being a complete psychopath lmao
Hrvats have good genetics we will have a new crop of footballers in the future ,no worries and we will keep upto the soccer powers who have fifas refs on their payroll!!
Here’s some other croatian legends in the sports world..feel free to add more cros I don’t know of!!
K.miocic,mahovlich,sakic,fritz the comet,elvis grbac,cuvalo,incredible bulk mandarich,cro cop,roger maris,lots of basketball nba players,Pavelic miracle on ice 1980,Kostelic sking+sister,water polo,handball,coaches saban alabama,belichick,and legendary Lou saban..name some more legends.,idomo.WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE HIGH CALIBRE SOCCER PLAYERS FROM BACK HOME!!!
Forgot about Mitrovic..put him in for Jedvaj
I think a young motivated team could do wonders for us in the Nations League. Dalic before the world cup said he would use young players. A possible lineup:
Kalinic
Vrsaljko- Jedvaj-CaletaCar-Sosa-
– brozovic-
Rebic- Kovacic- Rog- Pjaca-
-kramaric-
Well, that’s exactly right. If youre sitting there for 10 minutes umming and ahhing, going away and then returning to look again – lol – and then deciding to overturn (which is only meant to be done in clear and obvious errors) obviously the rules aren’t being followed…
Stipe Perica has transferred to newly promoted Serie A side Frosinone, leaving Udinese, where Balic and Coach Tudor remain.
Ivan Santini goes to Belgian side Andrrlecht.
Mario Pasalic has a verbal agreement to join Atalanta but is with Chelsea on their summer tour hoping to make an impression.
Osijek advanced to the Europa League second round with a 2-1 win at home today against Moldovan side FC Petrocub
Your team and mine Hajduk plays Slavia (Bulgaria) in the second round of the Europa League. First match July 26.
Recall, England also had Kane’s initial opportunity that Subasic saved one on one, the rebound that Subasic also stopped which then hit the post would not have counted if it did go in. If Subasic doesn’t make the initial stop on Kane and England goes up 2-0, we aren’t even talking about what happened in the final.
I honestly think on that double save, Subasic aggravated the knock he was carrying from that Russia game and in turn he was nowhere near 100% for the Final.
I mentioned before, the 3rd goal I can cut him some slack because he was obstructed from seeing the shot and he was going the other way initially as was clearly shown on replay.
The 4th goal however, should of been stopped, no doubt. He didn’t even make much of an attempt, if any, to get down to stop the shot which didn’t have much pace. Even the placement of the shot wasn’t of the highest quality.
Yes, France initial goal was setup due to a poor award of a free kick but we need to defend those set pieces. In truth our guys were pretty awful on set piece defending once the knockout stage got underway.
V Denmark, goal resulted from a long Knudsen throw in.
V Russia – extra time, Fernandes header off a free kick.
V England – not much could be done on Trippier’s master class FK, but we almost conceded in extra time if not for Vrsaljko heading off the line.
V France, the Mandza own goal.
That’s not pretty.
With regards to the pk, it can be debated until we are blue in the face. The thing that bothered me about it was why, if Pintana thought it was a PK, it took him so long to make the call? Surely if it was conclusive, he would have had a look at VAR once or twice and within 30 seconds pointed to the spot.
The lengthy delay tells me he really wasn’t sure and thus a penalty should not have been awarded.
^^ and that’s not even including all the horseshit games we got knocked out of unjustly as outlined by King Bronk from 2006 to now.
My 2 cents;
@Rodney opasanfield Nothing wrong with Geni Kameni and reference to 1945. Yugoslavia was not good for Croatia since 1945, just like 1995 was very good for Croatia.
Another thing to remember, while everyone is feeling very proud at being Croatian at the moment, this WC achievement and celebrations wouldn’t have been possible during Yugoslavia OR if it wasn’t for those heroes that sacrificed their lives for Croatia. Dalic mentions this a few times, proves how much he is in touch with sacrifice and humanity when it comes to Hrvastvo. I hope everyone else is remembering why this is all possible.
In regards to Thompson, we have to realize that anyone that is slightly right of centre can be called a fascist these days, Thompson is a easy target and always will be. I’m proud of the way the players have backed him, for once, Thompson doesn’t have to defend himself, others are doing it for him.
Moving onto Filip Bradaric, he is a legenda, a lot of balls to do what he did since he was a squad player only.
The best tweet i seen went something like ‘If you’re against Thompson, you’re against Croatia’
Enough said
ZDS
Lol some fuckers saying this was our chance. Just 2 years ago a whole bunch of ppl on this site said FARK THAT was our chance cos our euro 2016 draw opened up.
2 years later we in the world cup final.
We have lots of chances, actually.
1998 SF
2008 QF
2016 Euro horseshit game
2018 F
It’s not irregular for us to go knockout and do well and have a realistic chance of winning so just buckle up boys we gonna look forward to Euro 2020
I dont think we’ll do well or play best players in Nations League so dont get ur hopes up for that, but Euro 2020, the actual big one, we could do really well yet again for sure
Hrvatska is getting whacked by the goons
Jebi se
France had every call to help their “win”. We know the real winners.
Shrimp dick griezmann and the bastards will forget the cup soon.
Fifas respect and no racism campaigns are hypocritical as they are disrespectful of the game and the biggest xenophobes. Shame on fifa.
Every single call was for France.
Midget boy Grietzmann and his bastards can call this a win and forget it very quickly because they know who the real winners are.
FIFA have propaganda campaigns…RESPECT……NO RACISM.
So clever? They are disrespectful, corrupt and xenophobic racist gangsters.
When was FIFA founded?
How long did they wait to help France win 2 world cups so it doesn’t look obvious that the shits fixed?
Lol!
The Francais federation needed every single call against Hrvatska to “win”. It’s like playing against another league. With the bastard cigans who don’t know their ancestry and history with le Francais federation.
It’s a smokescreen gor the masses for FIFA to have propoganda campaigns like RESPECT and NO RACISM when they are the most disrespectful and xenophobics cunts to walk the earth. Fuck you FIFA.
Federation Internationale de Football Association
What language is that?
Oh well, no point dwelling on it now.
I just hope that we Subašić retires and gives Lovre the chance to start.
We’ve been really bad at transitioning goalkeepers. We almost always play them too long and only change them after they cause us a serious string of losses.
We waited too long to move away from Ladić and Pletikosa. Ladić hurt our Euro2000 campaign and Pletikosa hurt us badly at the last World Cup. Suba isn’t as good as he was two years ago, and he’s probably on a downward trend.
Lovre Kalinić just won the Belgian Keeper of the Year award for a second year in a row. It’s his time now.
My 2 cents;
@Rodney opasanfield Nothing wrong with Geni Kameni and reference to 1945. Yugoslavia was not good for Croatia since 1945, just like 1995 was very good for Croatia.
Another thing to remember, while everyone is feeling very proud at being Croatian at the moment, this WC achievement and celebrations wouldn’t have been possible during Yugoslavia OR if it wasn’t for those heroes that sacrificed their lives for Croatia. Dalic mentions this a few times, proves how much he is in touch with sacrifice and humanity when it comes to Hrvastvo. I hope everyone else is remembering why this is all possible.
In regards to Thompson, we have to realize that anyone that is slightly right of centre can be called a fascist these days, Thompson is a easy target and always will be. I’m proud of the way the players have backed him, for once, Thompson doesn’t have to defend himself, others are doing it for him.
Moving onto Filip Bradaric, he is a legenda, a lot of balls to do what he did since he was a squad player only.
The best tweet i seen went something like ‘If you’re against Thompson, you’re against Croatia’
Enough said
Za Dom Spremni!
If Subašić was injured, and Dalić knew of this than Suba should not have played in the final.
I’d hate to think he was injured and didn’t say anything and even worse, I’d hate to think any of the coaching staff knew and played him anyways. Maybe we’ll find out some day!
Subašić was injured in the end of the Russian match, the England match and the France match.
His penalty shootout heroics were against Denmark. He wasn’t jumping great against the Russians and it was because of the Russian-Brazilian dude’s miss that we won that shootout.
England had one shot on goal, and it was a goal.
France scored four on six shots, but yes, Vida did get fooled by Mbappe’s shot and it threw off Subašić.
However, Mbappe’s shot wasn’t that good (it bounced its way into the net). A lot of keepers could have saved that shot, even with a late reaction. Subašić didn’t even move. He actually didn’t move for ANY of the goals in both the England and France games.
He’s either injured or was possessed by Pletikosa.
I honestly don’t know what to think. From a front view it looked like he didn’t even try but from the back view it looked like he was going one way and couldn’t recover. I didn’t get a real good look but even so, I wish he would have made a better attempt. If he was injured then it’s on him to let the backup play.
Well said Maminjo. Slavonac, do you think Subasic was injured in the final? My wop buddy said he wasn’t, but he just couldn’t see those two goals because of guys in the way.
an article is out where Dalic says it is the right time to leave, while on top
he states he had actually decided to leave already during the friendly tour in america
saying, especially after the peru game, he could sense subversive currents in the air trying to oust him and he was not a fan of how this went down. although he does say Suker stayed behind him even though publicly not supporting him
he says, looking at the love of the people shown in the team’s return, he’s made to think twice about leaving
but lets face it…he’s going to go….there is too much money at stake…no upside left in croatia….and only down side
he loses two qualifiers and they probably fire him. he better get out…make some dough…and who knows….maybe some day he’ll come back to coach croatia
so who should be the next coach? the return of igor stimac?
with that heavy purse from the world cup…maybe croatia can higher a fancy manager?
Good posts Maminjo!
@Maminjo
Good posts! And thank you, they make me feel a little better. 🙂
Croatia plays best when their heads are level once Croats start thinking they are the best in the world and unstopable is when you crash.
For the high press…
We have a lot of fast and capable wingers in Perisic, Rebic, Pjaca, Vlasic, Halilovic, Brekalo, Fran Tudor…all we need are two.
Losing Mandzo can be mitigated by having Krama in his natural center forward position..but if we want to use that role to press the opposition, Rebic and other players have shown us that they can play there.
Modric will be the big loss, but Raketa can still play another World Cup. Brozovic will only get better. Kovacic (like all Croat footballers) will be a late bloomer and get better after 25. Plus, we have a repository of youngsters in Krovinovic, Coric, Rog, Majer, etc. We only need one to get better.
Goaltending is not an issue with Lovre Kalinic.
We always seem to drum up a decent back four. It’s also not an issue either.
We just need to continue to play this offensive style, dominate possession (like Spain does) but unlike Spain, actually use our wingers to crash the opposition defense, have our deep lying midfielders support our backline in settling the ball and bring it upfield, press the opposing defenders with our wingers and striker…
This can be done with or without Modric.
FIFA can’t have Croatia win- all good examples listed till HNS and country politics become politically correct- were a long away from that
If we keep Dalic’s system, we’ll be fine no matter what.
Italy has had HORRIBLE players for the past 10 years but their system allowed them to qualify for most of these tournaments and somehow they’ve had better success than us still (aside from this year of course). They actually went to the quarters at Euro 2016 and only barely lost in sudden dealth penalties to Germany with a CRAPASS team.
In the last World Cup in Brazil, we had pretty much every starter we have today plus Srna and Olic (with Modric, Rakitic, Perisic and Mandzo in their primes).
What good did that do us?
We still got bounced by Mexico.
Sonomabic,
I think we have the players but I also think it’s more than the lineup. We had almost the exact same players in the World Cup as we did in the qualifying, the difference was the buy in from the players, the belief that Dalic instilled into them and the plan they all stuck to!
With different style players comes different weapons! Yeah man, we have real good players but they all have to be mentally and physically prepared…with no distractions from the boycotts, those that want Modric in jail and those that insist on destroying the overall good of the team. We have the tools, we just have to make sure the buy in and players are all on the same page.
Shit, I’ll go back to 2008 when they didn’t let Bilic
Use a substitute and two minutes was added on
Mysterious. The match should have been over after
The guy with bad kidneys scored.
Don’t forget the Portugal game they stomped on us
Twice that’s a red card. We are always fucked. Need some
Justice cro style like the old days.
It’s Croatian soccer –
Prediction for the next year
1) Dalic will be out before Euros
2) team will change at least 5 starters
3)more Mamic corruption stuff will get big news worldwide
4) new coach will be a puppet again
Our love Croatia and I love the team- the corruption did us in- FIFA could never see us win as they know that a mountain of political crap comes with this team -it’s on this site all the time- no site covers it more honestly
Thanks Slavonac for posting your comments, I really enjoy reading them. That was the second biggest bullshit Croatia game I can remember with refs. The first on my list although obviously not as important was the Cro vs Brazil game 2014. This one stings more for obvious reasons, being the FUCKING FINAL! Slavonac brate, do you think this team can do serious damage in the future with the youth we have? Modric, Mandzukic, Rakitic, etc aren’t getting any younger and I worry the next generation may lack a little heart like these current guys. Please as Poglavnik said, give me some perspective or tell me how you really view the future state of Hrvatski nogomet. Also, a missed call that burns my ass as well was against Spain in 2012, when Corluka was being ripped down in the box on a header he made contact with and was never called. We would’ve won that game as well!
Of course it hurt.
Who knows if we’ll ever get that close again?
But there’s also a little thing called perspective to take into account. And I’m pretty fucking impressed with what we’ve accomplished.
We have more young talent then in the history of modern Croatia.
The Croatian people are with the Vatreni.
Dalić is a light years ahead of previous 3 managers combined.
UNL is the vehicle to cultivate the next generation of super stars.
Nikola, we scored 14 goals in 7 games. That is an average of 2 goals per game. We also had several different players score which shows we are very flexible when it comes to scoring goals. We did show weakness in scoring during our qualifying campaign for the WC, but that was not due to lack of quality. Dalic is sorting this aspect of our game out. We can only get better.
My point is Serbia lacks everything lol.
Nikola; you cedos lost three wars….your holy land is an Islamic state…Croatia has its own identy and respect…Serbia = Maldova in global appeal…Kosovo has great halal chevaps…what do you have? Djokovic….who lives in monaco and parties in monte negro because Serbia is a shit hole. Djokovic is your Janica Kostelic…difference is he is all you have.
My point is Croatia always lacks the final punch. Always the bridesmate never the bride.
Nikola, they said 98 was a once in a life time event…remember we are Croatian…we will be back! We did in 20 years what Yugoslavia couldn’t do in a 100.
here is the best I could get from the transcript of the French team at half time:
he said exactly :
you saw, they use their elbows, their body.
the guy has his back front of the net, he will not hurt us. no need for you to pass above him, we controle him.
what they do ? they search to make long balls in the axis, except sometimes they make diagonales.
they search directly mandzukic.
mandzukic he do header, chest or foot in deflection, so we take care of that, we have to stay around him. after he can win the ball with his head. we stay around, moving, shut the aera. think about this.
don’t make it complicated. they are agressive, you saw the energy they spend ?
be the most simple as possible, if you carry the ball, you know that a second guy will come. give the ball as soon as possible. give it to kylian.
antoine, try to stay stuck to the forwards line. we need you to being an opportunity.
griezmann
guys, go on, relax, we can do better than that… selveconfidence.
deschamps
45 mn, you know what is waiting.
lâchez vous un peu (that’s an expression for saying “don’t stay in the starting block”)
we recieve the ball, hop ! we give it to a teammate.
varane
guys, it’s in your head, if we believe, we will win. we’re gonna win this match. allez, allez
look Nikola, it doesn’t matter if you watched this game as a Canadian, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Serb, Italian, African…any person that has somewhat of a soccer mind can see that the obvious team that was MUCH better…was Croatia. I say this as a soccer fan…not only as a Croatian.
I saw a video of the French team at half time. Deschamps was worried and panicking…he told his players that we are sending long balls to Mandzukic and that he can use all parts of his body! Pogba and Griezman were both trying to encourage their teammates…its damn obvious they knew they were outplayed and they were winning at that point. google it and you can see for yourself!
any time a team goes into a knockout game down a goal, they know they have to take chances to even the score. we did and we got caught.
the point that we Croatians have a difficult time with is the two terrible calls against us, in a world cup final! if those weren’t given…or at least if one of them wasn’t given, we’d never have entered that 2nd half the way we did!
Poglavnik As much as it was a good run you must admit it did hurt gettting oh so close and falling short.
@Nikola
Yeah! Big time embarrassing tourney for us…
you know what…I’m still baffled about the hysteria? Honestly!! Thompson was invited by Modric and Dalic, he sang very little so I really don’t understand why anyone would get upset.
Also…I’ve seen soo many soccer games where actual fans sing discriminating songs against their opponents and we did none of that! The fucker Griezmann did some joker dance and put up an “L” on his forehead, I’m assuming its to call us “losers”…Mexican fans call the opposing goalie “puto”, everytime he takes a goal kick….Italians call Balotelli a monkey…
More like historical crash in the end.
Slavonac i was talking aboit about Croatia. Im not debating the fact that Croatia has did good in all WCs Modrić is a player that is outstanding. As a team you always played good but my point is this was the time to win it the time to lift the trophy. Croatia had a once in a lifetime opportunity and blew it at the end.
@Nikola
Your chances of keeping Croatia off your mind are slim to none. Hope u enjoyed our historic run. 😉
Nice write up Slavonac!
Not sure if u realise though that ref had no option to go to VAR on the Griezmann foul that led to the 1st goal. Even if he wanted to he has to be signalled on his watch by the VAR team to look at the review.
@slavonav
Great post. I guess it was in the moderation.
I love that the team sang with Thompson.
read up bro, I added it yesterday…its near the top!
@slavonac
I wanted your take on the final. You have been quiet.
Nikola, how did your team do?
Being in the final is huge but Croatia lacks the final punch and thats why you get stuck with second and third. France gave it to Croatia two times. As much as it is a success it’s a painfull one because the chances of Croatia getting in finals again are slim to non.
Scoreline is what took the trophy to France.
Fifa rankings supposed to come out today not that it means anything but I’m curious to see where they put us.
Nikola, you sound like someone that just looks at the score line and not the game.
……and who is to say the other two even happen without the first two.
at that point a 100 per cent different game/tactics etc.
It should have been 4–1 had the French goalie not made that mistake. Problem with Croatia you will never be first in anything you do good but a second third is what you get congratulations !!!! A World Cup final is excellent but its the time you go for the kill and get that trophy. This was the time it will never happen again and you blew your chance.
But 2 were fake goals.
Stop crying you conceded 4 goals in the finals
Jerko Leko was the best.
Branimir, you pricks celebrate Yugoslavia because without Croatia you are a peasant nation! In the future Moldova with have more, prestige than Serbia. Your holy land is a Muslim country now lol. Fuck you and Yugoslavia!
The rumblings have been growing about thompson performing with the team
Calls for coach in Serbia to be fired for liking a photo rakitic posted with Thompson
A lot of outrage over modric request for geni kameni to be sung at the end.
On the flip side, their is equal outrage that the organizers cut off the microphones so it could not be sung
In retaliation, super sub filip bradaric at the welcoming in split condemned this and turned into a pop singer and performed the whole geni kameni himself
This song seems innocent enough until we really get into the second verse. In the second verse, they sing how 1945 was a terrible year… The implication being that the ustase lost power… How do you think the rest of the world feels about conquering 1945 a bad year?
The verse proceeds to talk about blue blood and white faces. Other Nazi trademarks
The national team leading in the singing of this song quite risky
1.Modric 2.Suker 3.Prosinecki 4.Boban.
@KING BRONK
They came back pretty good and won the 2006 WC LMAO!!!
@ Ivan how did the Italians do against South Korea in 2002 when the ref screwed them? Did they come back?
Luka Modric is our greatest ever player now he gas passed Suker Boban and Prosinecki.
Has Luka Modric surpassed Suker Boban and Prosinecki as our greatest ever player he has won 4 champions league titles and came second with Croatia also won the Golden ball award.
Is it fair to say with all of Luka Modrics club Uefas Champions League wins 4 out of the last 5 and winning the Golden Ball at the World Cup also Croatia finishing second has he now surpassed Suker Boban and Prosinecki as our greatest ever player with his consistency for club and country. Hes been doing it since 2007-2008.
Did we get screwed , Yes .
Am I surprised, No .
Is there anything we could do about it ? No
How many times have the Italians got screwed by bad ref decisions? but they always come back, play well and manage to win a cup here and there…
Look, in 5 World Cups, we managed 2 podium finishes… That is fucking impressive!
We just gotta keep pushing and play some quality soccer, we will eventually win the gold!
I am excited about the Nations League and Euro 2020 … our confidence is sky high and some amazing youngsters are coming up.
So lets stop this negativity and start looking towards the future.
BTW, the FIFA rankings should come out today … Croatia should end up 3rd … what an amazing ranking for such a small country!
I think you guys are in for a big disappointment in this new league tournaments it could change for the euro because that is a high-pressure tournament where the players want to win don’t expect her a shirt to win against England or Spain . They will not be playing at the World Cup level.
In my opinion to stop these bad calls from happening to us again Croatia needs a nuclear deterrent only then will we get the respect we deserve. Croatia should contact North Korea immediately and ask for nuclear technology and start building some nuclear weapons.
I think the players will be extremely motivated to play after seeing how much their accomplishment meant to the Croatian people; despite not winning it all. In fact, now they may set the goal to win a championship — instead of just saying “let’s get out of the group and see…”. With their newly found confidence the League of Nations and Eurocup trophies are beckoning. Croatia has what it takes to be at the top. I can’t imagine the players are not hungry for glory. Even the old ones.
the upcoming league of nations and qualifying will be interesting for croatia
i can’t imagine these guys can be too hyped up for this event and there is serious burnout risk
this is especially troubling given the formational stability dalic found in the end
as i had mentioned many times through the tournament, the dalic solution to the modric-rakitic condumdrum was to play a 4-1-2-3 formation that really contiuously morphed into a 4-5-1 or 4-3-2-1…..
and the key to this formation was massive brozovic work as cdm, but more so perisic and rebic using incredible work rate to move from attacking positions all the way back to defensive positions in line with brozovic….
this left 3 man pressing front of modric and rakitic with manduzkic up top
they would then using these two and mandzukic up top for hold up play, to then play it off to the wings for perisic and rebic
meaning those two wingers were up and down like crazy
do any of these players really want to play this high work rate system when its no longer world cup?
we already saw how quickly france scored 2 goals in transition when there is the slightest crack in this system
@ Poglavnik
Lol Brate!
@ Svima
The team could of used some young legs for this campaign.
Dalić has to use UNL to get all of our 24 and under players ready.
I see Modrić retiring and focusing on last chapter of club career.
Or ..
Dalić sets it up where he improves every other position in the team which allows Modrić to simply sprinkle his magic touch into the match.
Maybe Modrić plays a lesser role for club and his legs are fresh for the Vatreni?
Both Modrić and especially Rakitic run way too hard for their clubs.
They both need knew roles as creative midfielders with way less defensive responsibility.
They both have vision and creative passing talents that should be brought out exclusively by their clubs.
Let the young guys run on defense or the Kante’s of he world who have ZERO purpose offensively.
Curious how all this will shake out as we move forward in September.
UNL ensures we cannot go backwards with Šuker setting up BS friendlies to stack his cheddar.
Spain and England have a pipeline of young talent that our boys will do well to compete with.
Maybe UNL should be exclusive for under 30 talent pool?
INIESTA WAS BETTER THAN PIRLO MODRIC IS OUR INIESTA AND HALILOVIC IS AT AC MILAN HES OUR LAST HOPE FOR NOW.
Still a longshot but if Modric is playing decent club football at 2022 he can be our Pirlo. Pull some strings and get subbed off in the 2nd half for a younger guy
I’m thinking Modric can comfortably go to Euro 2020 at least, though.
Ronaldo just signed a 4 year ~$150 million deal and he’s older than Luka.
I know Luka runs more but who knows eh? In any case we looking forward to Euro 2020 now. If he retires after that, hopefully Coric, Brekalo or Moro step up by then with any luck. Let’s just worry about winning Euro 2020 for now 😉
Don’t you call me a synical self hating Hrvat, Soul Champ!..
We’d all love to see this Modric playing at this level at the next World Cup. Fact is because its a winter World Cup Modric will be 37.
Regarding retirement, I don’t know if anybody saw it, but while we were sitting around waiting for the medal ceremony, Dalic gave the team a speech, and they looked more unified than I have ever seen them.
Hope nobody retires, and we finish what we started. Nobody should retire after having shown they were the best in the world during a World Cup final!
Really the biggest red light went off when England’s Maguire dragged Lovren to the ground when we were down 1-0 to England.
Refs are literally scared to make a call that goes against any big country with worldwide media outreach. Croatia needs a PR group in foreign countries to bitch on it’s behalf.
Why were we so bad on set pieces compared to other semifinalists? We didn’t drag people to the ground BECAUSE WE KNOW VAR WILL GIVE OUR OPPONENTS A PK!
Meanwhile our opponents drag, push, and hold us on every set piece.
Just the way it is, some things will never change.
Few posts ago we talked about how the prizemoney could be better used.. looks like the Vatreni feel the same:
Croatia will donate their £21 million prize money & bonuses to underprivileged children so that they can go on summer holidays.
Still winning hearts
What’s with all the Serb shit?
Are u assholes trying to ride our coattails or some twisted shit? Did u celebrate with Greece in 04 too?
Zivjela Jugoslavija!!!
@The truth
“I’d like him to perhaps explain his psychology in that moment a little more cause it is expected by a lot of hrvats and id like to understand more as I’ve always been such an unwavering hrvat that it’s tough to comprehend.”
He thought Mamic had a negative effect on the team.
After the Ukraine game he asked, “was Cacic the problem all along?”
Ante K thought that the team should be performing better, and because of their struggles he was looking for reasons why, and like many he took the simplistic approach and blamed it all on Mamic.
A wise man once said, “that we don’t know anything until we know that it cannot be otherwise.” Understanding that, we can see that when he asked “was Cacic the problem all along?” he indicated to everyone that he didn’t know what he was doing when he wrote his “walk off the pitch article.”
Remember thinking isn’t knowing, Ante K thought he knew, only to find out that it was otherwise.
^
Get rid of dickhead comments that are posted by dickheads with the username Anonymous would be good to.
Yes we still need heavy handed moderation here! We need more! Truth Troll is still here spouting his crap
https://www.rt.com/sport/433399-france-riots-world-cup-two-dead/
a bunch of blacks and arabs rioting, looting, and vandalizing. good ol multiculturalism!
@ Anonymous
This is why I wrote this article and have been a critic of FIFA and UEFA for a long time now because they constantly sacrifice small nations with bogus officiating when they are up against the big boys – presumably for rating purposes and sponsorship deals. We have instant replay now yet this ingrained bias continues. Croatia historically has been on the wrong end of many of these game changing calls at practically every tournament dating back to 96 Euros.
I think by writing articles and making videos pointing out this bias creates positive change.
If you wish to read about this bias that’s effected every Croatian
team from their first tournament in 96 please take a look at my article. It has video to back up all my claims.
http://croatiansports.com/?p=27171
@The truth
“I’d like him to perhaps explain his psychology in that moment a little more cause it is expected by a lot of hrvats and id like to understand more as I’ve always been such an unwavering hrvat that it’s tough to comprehend.”
He thought Mamic had a negative effect on the team.
After the Ukraine game he asked, “was Cacic the problem all along?”
Ante K thought that the team should be performing better, and because of their struggles he was looking for reasons why, and like many he took the simplistic approach and blamed it all on Mamic.
A wise man once said, “that we don’t know anything until we know that it cannot be otherwise.” Understanding that, we can see that when he asked “was Cacic the problem all along?” he indicated to everyone that he didn’t know what he was doing when he wrote his “walk off the pitch article.”
Remember thinking isn’t knowing, Ante K thought he knew, only to find out that it was otherwise.
@ Anonymous
This is why I wrote this article and have been a critic of FIFA and UEFA for a little no time because they constantly sacrifice small nations with bogus officiating against the big boys for rating purposes and sponsorship deals. We have instant replay now yet this ingrained bias continues. Croatia historically has been on the wrong end of these calls at practically every tournament-normally against the big boys.
I think by writing articles and making videos point out this bias
creates positive change.
If you wish to read about this bias that’s effected every Croatian
team from their first tournament in 96 please take a look at my article. It has video to back up all my claims.
http://croatiansports.com/?p=27171
The fix was definitely in. Croatia were not the only victims. I agree with Roy’s comments about the penalty and also about the dive. Stranger still no one mentions the pussy riots stoping a break away counter attack. It was clear no advantage was to be given to us, Regardless of the dive and penalty we should of been smarter. As impressive as we played we were still lacking the quality to finish. We out played Denmark Russia and the Brit’s and none of them should of went to overtime. All of those games should of been won in regulation. As much pressure as we put on the French we should of had 2 goals before the penalty happened. We should of forseen this. I know
it’s easy for me to say that. Perhaps it’s because I am still angry and just making excuse to myself and need to vent. This World Cup might of been the last ride for this generation. I don’t know if Luka or The rocket will be healthy or in form for the euros. There not getting any younger. Ante mentioned in his Facebook video in Zadar by the sea organ you don’t think Luka is done and might have one more big tournament left in him. I hope your right. This generation that began in 2008 should of went far but failed to reach its potential and seemed to reach it peek at this cup. Our team for the last 10years has been plagued by mis management. There were players allowed to play on the team for to long and others who had no business on the team. And coaches who should not be allowed to coach a group of 5 year olds. We all need to ask the question is Davor the brand suker smart and savy enough to bring the right leadership to mangage the repka. The brand seems more concerned about building a national stadium then building a soccer program. We need to build a strong youth league And build a mentor ship program we’re senior players can get hold of Young talent and mold them. Perhaps even try to reach to Croat in the diaspora in Germany Austria Switzerland and other places. The biggest problem we face to build a program is money. Strangely enough for the bullshit and problems of mamic and Dinamo that dinamo actually produced some great talent for the European market and placed some good talent on good teams. They actually have a good soccer youth academy. We need to build one in split Zadar and the remaining big cities. Suker asked for the diaspora around the world to support the team and not bash it. Easier said then done. I for one would not mind to spend some money like I do for bila noc hadjuk. For the national team it’s a different story. There are way to many shady characters to trust . I remember years ago a buddy of mine bought always faithful card from some site called Croatian mall it was some online thing. Turns out the whole site was some scam. Croatia will never be anything until we get rid of the corruption. Suker wants money from the dispora he needs to show he is serious about getting rid of the cancers that are holdings us dow.
We need to start bringing younger players on now rather than later and need a foreign coach, we need to sponsor our kids to go to Ajax Bayern Munich and all the big soccer academies until we can devolope our own. I want us to win, but more important I want people not to recognize us as a joke. I want Us to get out of the groups. Go to the final four and to show people we are not a joke. Sorry for the long post and thank you all for allowing me to rant and rave
This is why I wrote this article because I am tired of FIFA and UEFA constantly sacrificing small countries with these nonsensical calls to keep the big boys in for ratings and sponsorship deals. VAR was supposed to provide transparency-instead it created the most controversial final in World Cup history.
But we are screaming and no one’s listening we need to make them fear us and hear us.
Zadar needs and deserves a new stadium. Hope someone will invest in the club and help develop more talent from our area. Great pics/videos today of the celebrations with Modric, Subasic, Vrsaljko and Livakovic.
One banner from a boat near the bridge read “ And we were herding goats with Luka Modric”
Zrinjski Mostar eliminated today in the Champions League. Osijek plays at home tomorrow against FC Petrocub (Moldova) after playing away 1-1.
Guys we should have won the game, walked off the field then let Paris go into riot and have them go totally ballistic on they own people and property in there own country.
Well at least the last part.
@The truth
“I’d like him to perhaps explain his psychology in that moment a little more cause it is expected by a lot of hrvats and id like to understand more as I’ve always been such an unwavering hrvat that it’s tough to comprehend.”
He thought Mamic had a negative effect on the team.
After the Ukraine game he asked, “was Cacic the problem all along?”
Ante K thought that the team should be performing better, and because of their struggles he was looking for reasons why, and like many he took the simplistic approach and blamed it all on Mamic.
A wise man once said, “that we don’t know anything until we know that it cannot be otherwise.” Understanding that, we can see that when he asked “was Cacic the problem all along?” he indicated to everyone that he didn’t know what he was doing when he wrote his “walk off the pitch article.”
Remember thinking isn’t knowing, Ante K thought he knew, only to find out that it was otherwise.
I think an apology to Zdravko Mamic from Ante K would be a good idea.
@The truth
“I’d like him to perhaps explain his psychology in that moment a little more cause it is expected by a lot of hrvats and id like to understand more as I’ve always been such an unwavering hrvat that it’s tough to comprehend.”
He thought Mamic had a negative effect on the team.
After the Ukraine game he asked, “was Cacic the problem all along?”
Ante K thought that the team should be performing better, and because of their struggles he was looking for reasons why, and like many he took the simplistic approach and blamed it all on Mamic.
A wise man once said, “that we don’t know anything until we know that it cannot be otherwise.” Understanding that, we can see that when he asked “was Cacic the problem all along?” he indicated to everyone that he didn’t know what he was doing when he wrote his “walk off the pitch article.”
Later Ante K was upset when Dalic didn’t declare Croatia a great chance of winning the world cup.
Remember thinking isn’t knowing, Ante K thought he knew, only to find out that it was otherwise.
I think Ante K owes Zdravko Mamic an apology.
Do we still need the heavy-handed moderation now the WC is over? It really sucks writing a long thought out post and seeing it go to moderation for 1.3 years
@Truth – France was given 2 goals, plain and simple.
Perhaps they finally launch operation kvartuc and walk off at the next match
Have we ever gotten a formal mia culpa article from ante for that article
Don’t want to single him out. He was not the only one that was “ne uvijek vjeran”
I’d like him to perhaps explain his psychology in that moment a little more cause it is expected by a lot of hrvats and id like to understand more as I’ve always been such an unwavering hrvat that it’s tough to comprehend
I dont really wanna get too bogged down in the dogshit calls since we have a lot to celebrate but obviously we didnt have any luck there.
What’s awesome is all of Croatia is still in celebrations as the players are now touring their hometowns. Been great to watch HRT news each morning here in Aussie-land and see the celebrations just going on and on day after day.
Super proud and happy and really looking forward to upcoming games, even the nations league thing which i know may not be our A-team but still should be fun!
Just listen and watch almost every former and current player – Joey Barton, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Luis Suarez, Ilker Casillas, Robbie Savage, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand, Peter Schmeichel all said the same thing. Barely any pundits were for the call, so it’s not us “conspiracy loons” pulling something from nothing or being poor sports. That call goes against the smaller country all day, plain and simple. That’s why it’s a hard loss to accept.
Pogba offside, Perisic not “deliberate,” how insulting to a player’s intelligence to claim they would DELIBERATELY handle a ball in their own box in a WC final. You have to be kidding me. That’s why it was rulled a PK because it was judged to be deliberate.
VAR was NOT wrong. It’s simply a video replay to allow the ref to make a better decision. The human element here was wrong which was the referee’s decision to award the penalty.
Don’t get me wrong if you told me we’d lose to France in the final prior to the tourney I’d be happy but not if I knew we’d lose like this. I kept saying geeze we’ve had luck on our side for the most part this tournament. I was waiting for a “Bundy Luck,” moment. For those of you wondering what that means google it, you’ll most likely agree. Married with Children Fans will know what I’m talking about. The final, when it mattered most, we didn’t have the luck.
PS – Streetsville (where I live) in Mississauga/Cro Park was crazy on Sunday!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L4BK88Tkg&t=21s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A9F4wG-W4Xw&t=5s
Hats off to TS for an an amazing performance. Fantastic DJ.
Modric won the Golden Ball a prestigious award he will never throw that out or away.
The question is what do we do with all these bogus penalty calls how do we gather attention to all the times that we’ve been screwed . Luka should’ve thrown that trophy he won to the dirt and walked off the pitch. This has to change soccer already has a reputation for being fake . The players are in for two especially those close to retirement Luka should’ve made a big stink about it
Wow. Some in the media love to bash Croatia. Holiga is an especially disingenuous twat
Has anyone asked the question why are there are so many players of African decent on the French team? Because of centuries of French imperialism and exploitation of those people’s that’s why. Do you think African migrants came to France for giggles. What joke.
They are praised for their multiculturalism but the truth is they have subjected those regions for centuries. Where are those articles?? Did you see the pride of Peru making a cup or Panama scoring just one goal in the cup? They should play for their people and regions that have centuries of tradition instead of being dumped into the ghettos of France. They made it out but how many haven’t and won’t?
But they have black folks on their team so they are cool and Croatia is homogenous and has this singer Thompson so that’s more important to critique. Sram vas bilo, mrs.
Bingo
King, I read the article — it is well put together. I guess FIFA needed another underdog run like in 98 to garner positive attention and have a nice Cinderella story, but ultimately they needed France to win.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6mxg47
Check this out
The exact same ref went to VAR and didn’t award Sweden a PK and ruled that the handball wasn’t intentional. Compare the two plays and the two calls and see for yourself. The only difference was the opponent. One was Sweden small country the other was France big country. This is the biased I am talking about.
I hope modric stays on for 2 more years. Smart enough on the pitch to do it. Just saw an amazing article when at the celebration in zagreb he brought a boy with downs syndrome up on stage with him. Unreal dude! Just a class act our Luka!
Like I’ve been saying for years more often than not the ref puts us out of tournaments not our play. You had a great example of that in the final.
You can read all about the history of “bad calls” against Croatia in major tournaments that I wrote about back in 2016-it’s clearly a pattern.
Check it out
http://croatiansports.com/?p=27171
France was shook in the first half.
Matter of time before we scored.
Phamtom free kick stabilized them and then VAR set them on there way.
Absolute manipulation by the ref in a World Cup final.
That dude is TOO much .. former actor ..
Jebi ga
I feel great!
We accomplished a mission we have been on for 20 years.
Even on this site for the last 10 years with all these self hating Hrvati experts on nogomet.
We are true champions of World football.
This platform will lift us to a new level of sustained success.
France was shook in the first half.
Matter of time before we scored.
Phamtom free kick stabilized them and then VAR set them on there way.
Absolute manipulation by the ref in a World Cup final.
That dude is TOO much .. former actor ..
Jebi ga
I feel great!
We accomplished a mission we have been on for 20 years.
Even on this site for the last 10 years with all these self hating Hrvati experts on nogomet.
We true champions of World football.
I just want vengeance.
Check out what Peter Schmeichel had to say about the final.
https://www.facebook.com/SPORTbible/videos/3029751080503737/
three days later, this still stings.
bull. shit.
Here are the seminal refereeing moments in tournaments where we were screwed over, that I remember.
1. Euro 1996 – Germany scores the 2-1 after Mathias Sammer fouls Nikola Jerkan. The foul is ignored and Germany gets possession right at the edge of the box and Sammer scores. Germany advances to the semi final and goes on to win the tournament
2. WC 2014 – Brazilian striker Fred flops like a fish in front of Lovren and is awarded a penalty. Brazil equalize the score at 1-1. Oscar closes out the affair after fouling Rakitic with the 3-1. Brazil HAD to win this game. We HAD to take the fall. Against Mexico we needed a win and Mexico didn’t and we crapped our pants. Hypothetically we could have done well at this tournament too, but going into the last game with our backs against the wall didn’t bode well for us.
3. WC 2018 – Look up there.
I guess you can look at the glass half full — at least FIFA let us make it to the final. I wonder why.
Initial reports are coming out that modric, corluka and rakitic will retire from national duty
Mandzukic plans to stay for euro 2020
Var was one thing…Subasic was another! The third goal is when we fell apart…Subasic was horrible! Two weak goals he let in.
my comment still being moderated???
Yea, FIFA fucked us in the first game of WC 2014 and the last game of WC 2018. How about that? The opposing team HAD to win.
That final challenges us all to be Soul Champions.
VAR.. meni KURAC!
We are pravi champions.
Second half Dalić could have inserted fresh legs earlier.
Nzonzi for outsclassed Kante was the move of the second half.
France was shook in the first half like we knew they would be.
1-0 at half time and then they have to come out of there bunker.
All good.
We have been waiting for 20 years to establish our football brand on the global stage.
Next time we will get those calls.
Every Croatia kid in the world wants to represent us on the football field.
The world and Hrvat in it wants us to be successful.
This run allows us to release remnants of Jugo/Srbi influences in our media.
You thought I was optimistic before ?
Now it’s on!!
For fuck sake. VAR is is a VIDEO SYSTEM, not some AI or person as is FIFA a SYSTEM. Neither of those play well for a country like Croatia. Our tiny homogeneous country like Croatia does not play into their Globalist multicult game plan. Even if Serbia, Poland, Hungary, Czech etc were playing to our standards they’d get screwed too. Did we already forget when we play Brazil the first game in 2014? We’ll NEVER get any calls, well unless we put in a full squad of Africans.
Did you see how painful it was for some pundits to tell the truth? You guys need to get real. BTW in Stubicke Toplice right now it’s fricken amazing. I’m so glad I left L.A.
The ref was from Argentina and still mad at the fact that we beat them 3 to 0 . lol
Seriously the call on Brozovic fouling Griezman was bs . score at the end of the first half should of been 1 -1 . Missed calls will happen but I feel that Croatia dominated the game and just missed opportunities to score .
ante kvartuc is a yugo
^ ^
France also had an extra days rest.
I’d like to see anyone get their arms out of the way of that ball.
Also 4 Hrvati were between the net and the ball when it struck Perisic. Such a bad call.
1st half the ref was shit.
2nd half fatigue kicked in and we let in 2 shitty goals. Fatigue that was piled on by the atrocious calls that led to the first 2 goals.
This match was so similar to our opener at Brazil in 2014.
This is why Footy is dying in America. The Americans have seen how WWF it is.
Funny to see French fans frustrated in the World’s response to the final.
That Croatia was the better team, that Croatia was robbed by the referee, but, most surprisingly, the Croatian celebrations around the World.
Incredible that fans in Croatia did not allow us to be disappointed after the final for very long.
There are probably just as many obsessed Serbs visiting this site as there are Croats.
Still cannot get over their former love that wants nothing to do with them.
It’s like begging someone to be your friend or marry you!
What about how France was fresher they didnt play a single ET game we played 3 thats like playing an extra game. I say if anyway told us Croatia would finish second you would take that some said just to get into Semi Finals. We still beat ourselves Dumb Mandzukic header Perisic should have moved arms away and bad Subasic.
VAR completely ignored the offside and foul on the first goal.
Not to mention the ref gave a France a dangerous free kick on a dive.
The foul on Mandzukic was completely ignored by VAR and the ref while a similar play earned a PK for England.
Finally,the decisive penalty shot was given on a play that had to be clear and obvious. A ref double checking for four minutes is clearly not clear or obvious.
Yugoslavia is long dead buddy.
Serbs are still nostalgic about the times when Croatia was feeding them!
We have separated from you a long time ago! You guys need stop accept it and get over your obsession with us. We can care less about your third world country that can’t pay tourists to visit it!
France looked better in the second half because Croatia was forced to chase the result being down by a goal. Had the score been 1-0 or 1-1 at the half Croatia would have played a more cautious game and France ‘s counter attack opportunities would have been nonexistent like they were in the first half.
That Penalty really killed the game for Croatia.
Ah the Yugo second placers are out.
Dear Zlatko,
Thank you for your guidance, and teaching all future coaches how to drive this Ferrari. Surprised the other coaches didn’t even know where to insert the key.
That said, please take the biggest cash offer you can get. No hard feelings. Success is fleeting in the sport of soccer, so parlay this success into prosperity for you and your loved ones.
Regards,
BZ
We played a good first half. Our second half was very bad we looked burnt out and didnt create many threating opportunities also we looked very tired. Lets move on second place is an amazing result in the World Cup lets now go and win the Euro 2020 tournament.
Anyone here anything on potentials retirements?
Thought this would be more useful to discuss rather than how Croatia was robbed of 4-3 loss instead of a 4-2 loss.
Bill Burr loves us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QNothncpfo
Nothing but garbage posted on this site.
@ Branko
Well written article, I agree with everything you said.
While I don’t see FIFA changing it’s ways anytime soon, the only way to improve the situation long-term, is for Croatia to become a traditional soccer power in the future!
Most of the current squad has 1 or 2 tourneys left in them. Plus there is plenty of up and coming talent. So we will be a formidable force in the near future.
And I’m optimistic about the state of Croatian football, as I see it improving, creating talent in the years to come. And one day perhaps becoming one of the “Big Nations,” and getting favorable calls as well.
Indeed they played their game, with the help of the referee. The French style was obvious. Our mistake was the second half, we should have changed strategy and tightened the game. Counter attacking teams rely on the pace and tactics of their opponents. We never adjusted and left ourselves wide open . We had 45 minutes to score 1 goal to tie, instead we played to win, at least we went down playing.
I thought I’d put this here as well!
Sonomabic…here are my thoughts on the final:
I was shocked but pleasantly surprised that we came out the way we did vs France…full on possession, attacking them, dominating the midfield, battling to win the balls back…we looked like the far better team.
I usually do NOT comment on officiating but in this case and regarding this game, I have to, because the ref was involved and somehow put his mark on the match. Prior to the first free kick that lead up to their first goal I noticed that we were getting fouls called against us, even in circumstances where we were just far more hungry and winning shoulder to shoulder duels. I remember one particular incident when we were trying to win the ball back…one of our guys tried to step in but was beat, then Modric quickly jumped in front and stole the ball…and then the ref called it a foul…it perplexed me.
From the view of a fan, it was very easy to see who wanted this game more. Our guys weren’t just controlling the midfield, we were winning many duels, the energy was extremely high, the optimism was honest and clear as the sky on a sunny day…I’m convinced we were going to win that game…everything we were doing resulted in total domination!
When Griezmann got the foul called in his favour my first thought was…”uh ohhh…this is gonna hurt”! I’ve been in many games where we are dominating and the other team gets a favourable call…I saw the writing on the wall…my only hope was a VAR…BUT the ref chose not to use it.
We kept on playing, the tempo was high and France still did very little to convince me that they had this game…they scored and our guys responded with some very good soccer, pressure, controlling the play and when Perisic (we go as Perisic goes) saw the opportunity, I could see his urgency and concentration…I knew right there that he would score and I was happy we were level!
The penalty! Once again, I’ll just say that we’ve all been in games where the bad calls have totally fucked our game…well, this ref, in my opinion, lacked common decency and an understanding of what his job actually was! The ball definitely hit Perisic’s hand and yes, it looked strange from different angles…my issue is this: If you can’t make a decisive opinion on the first few reviews and it takes you more than 1 minute…then you are looking to justify something that may or may nor have happened. A hand ball has to be a clear intent to move your hand to stop the ball. This ref became part of the scenario and was a topic…which should never happen! After he fucked us on the first goal and then took what seemed like 3 to 4 minutes to decide on the second goal, I then, for the first time in many years, felt like this retarded South American is gonna make history and put his footprint on the finals….AND HE DID JUST THAT!
The rest of the game really isn’t as important. Croatia went into the second half, having to score a goal. France had the half time to re-adjust and make a few detailed changes. We went out and had to risk scoring by pushing everyone to the limit…and they caught us!
I’m bitter…and at the same time I’m very proud of this team! I never imagined we would dominate such a big named team like France….in the WORLD CUP FINALS! We dominated France, England and everyone else prior to them! In particular, our performance in the finals was beautiful to watched and yet everything was marred because the ref decided he would put his mark in history. We made them look really juvenile at certain points of the game. I was waiting to see a magnificent Kante, Griezmann, Mbappe, Pavan….I wasn’t impressed with any of them. Mbappe is dangerous and a good attacker, the rest were fucking douche bag actors! After the penalty shot, Griezmann put up an “L” on his forehead and did some ridiculous fucking dance. When did you guys ever see any of our players do something fucking ridiculous like that?
I’m proud to be Croatian and to be completely honest, I’d never want to be French or German or Belgian, English….we are a fucking awesome nation…that has some incredibly wonderful traditions and culture! I honestly don’t care who calls me a fascist because I like Thompson…I like him even more now! We have something that few or maybe even nobody else has…we have an IDENTITY! nobody is like Hrvatska…we are a strong people that produce tons of talented and intelligent people. we never back down and always fight the fight! My Slavonci are fighters til the end while I see that its the exact same in every other region!
in my eyes, we are the best team in what everyone has called the best World Cup ever. we played a great brand of soccer…NOBODY can dispute we were not in the top 3 teams of the tournament….we, in my opinion, are the BEST on and off the field!
They just say France “deserved” it and outplayed them because they have to, football etiquette. Look at the key stats on that match and they were outclassed in every category, they were in fact, dominated. Their striker had 0 shots on target the entire tournament and their goalkeeper couldn’t clear a backpass, they were awful, disgraceful. What Croatian FA should do is file a complaint for misuse of VAR, where was the clear and obvious error on the field when it was happening? The guy signaled for a goal kick and then took 15 min to reach a decision, doesn’t seem so clear or obvious, which means you wave it off and continue 1-1 match. It would make a statement and fight the corruption.
Called it the morning of, that if France were struggling they’d get a penalty to usher them along…sadly much like vs Brazil in 2014 (which I also predicted), this match was never going to be Croatia’s, no matter what they did.
Having said all that, we still need to be proud of our boys, our team and our country…we will go on another deep run again (eventually), but FIFA/UEFA will never let us lift a trophy…that is the sad reality, whether we choose to accept it or not.
It’s interesting, most of the analysis I’ve heard/read from the experts said France outclassed Croatia
I was curious how they interpreted the game given in the surface Croatia dominate possession and doubled France’s shot total
One counter to why many on this site think Croatia played better was not actually the best team, is Frances style of play
As i had pointed out pre match, France plays surprisingly defensive and relies on their offensive talent to score goals while outnumbered
Kind of how it played out in a way
France was content to concede possession to Croatia and allow Croatia to deliver relative ineffective crosses into the box
Meanwhile, they would wait to strike on the counter and indeed they executed this game plan
Correction that was July 17th
Fyi regarding the Croatia ‘believe’ checker t-shirts the latest update I could find was on Twitter for July 15th in which Nike said: “There are no current plans to offer that shirt on Nike .com Keep an eye on our site for possible future updates.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/nikefootball/status/1018559662227062785
Seems kinda dumb to me ..why would you have the players literally advertise them if you’re not going to sell them to the masses? But then this could be a marketing ploy to test the waters and see if people were interested.
When you have the ball, Go as far as you can. Put all your effort into getting the ball even one step closer to the goal.
– sorry for Perisic – this isn’t his mindset, kinda affraid of this all the time (prove at his dribble), but i give him credit in his effort for defence. Only The God of Halilovic can do that!
ref fucked croatia every chance he got
Can someone make a youtube compilation? To drive in the screw, they gave Griezmann Man of the Match. Hard to tell if FIFA is even serious in these key tournament matches anymore, are we watching a sport or theater?