Official Thread: World Cup Qualifying Games

[JureM]

Our first game is a long way away (Sept. 4th) but its never to early to talk about the NT and its chances of qualifying for its 3rd WC in as many tries. We open up against Hungary.

The groups we have is fair and if we play smart and not lose any points to the lesser teams, we have as good a chance as any of winning this group obviously Sweden and Bulgaria will be tough but we must get max points against Hungary, Iceland, and Malta.

With the right coach...the right players...we can get first place.

[Zvonimir]

I think we will do it again. This WC is as close as we will ever get to play at home unless one day the Italians get it. We MUST qualify! I have to be there watching it live!

The key will be if we can at least snag a draw in Sweden I think. Beat them at home and then no phuck ups against the "smaller" teams like last time vs Estonia and we will be in great shape.
The Bulgarians will be tough but their coach resigned and they are coming off a 3 loss Euro so you never know. They did embarass us in Bulgaria so we must avoid that.

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Lol. What is the point of even putting Malta in the poll? We will win the group for someone reason we play good against Scandanavian countries even we were bad remember the last time we faced Sweden we beat them in Sweden and we were pretty bad back then that's when are best striker was T.Maric and Stanic was still playing for us (well that was his last game) anyhow it's a pretty tough group and we'll have to bring our game to everyone except for Malta of course.

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Plus. I really hope we qualify I'm already starting to collect money so I can go to Germany in 06'. And if Croatia don't qualify I don't think I'll go unless Canada pulls off a miracle and qualifies then I'll still go. :Grint:

[kezele]

i just found this board and couldn't help joining it.

I feel Croatia have a great shot at qualifying for the WC pending on who they keep in their squads. Babic, Srna, Klasnic all had no playing time (except for Srna) in the euro finals. This has gotta change, i hope when they announce the next HC on thursday he won't be an old fart lover like Baric was.

I agree with all the posts so far, we need to get max points from the smaller teams and at least draw with the swedes. The bulgarians seem to have owned us in the euro qualifying stages and it was quite embarassing watching them in the finals thinking how they beat us :roll:

But who knows, we got a new coach and hopefully can pull out a solid squad he can stick with for a while.

[JureM]

Welcome to the board. Only problem is you won't find to many Dinamo fans here. :crazyt:

[CroatTommy7]

I'd rather we don't qualify at all if we are going to play like scared losers when we get to the big tourny. It would hurt like hell not being in the W/C but whats the point in just barely qualifying just to play not to lose once we get there?(last 2 tournaments 2002 and 2004). We have to start playing this new generation of young guys and guys that care about Croatian N/T soccer. Only guys from this Euro 2004 team that I would keep for this next qualifying campaign that are veterans are PRSO-R.Kovac-N.Kovac. Rapaic(Age and fitness factor not heart factor) Tudor-Simic-Tomas etc... have to be re-evaluated. Seems like when we have guys from many different age groups(20-24, 25-29, 30+) we don't play cohesively or attractively. Get all the guys that are hungry and of roughly the same age(prefferably younger now) and start building for the future not neccessarily for the next tournament. Yes world cup in Germany is very conveniant for Croatian fans but Euro 2008(far away I know) will be co-hosted by Austria-Switzerland I believe so that would be even closer to Cro and just as important even though World Cup is definetly more prestigous I just want us to finally be able to progress through a group stage with confidence like in 96-98 instead of just being happy to be there, thats BULLSHIT for me and I know I'm being greedy but thats the way I feel.

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Tudor-Simic-Tomas etc... have to be re-evaluated.
TUDOR???!!! Are you joking? No way! Euro 2004 wasn't a great tournament for him but he is still world class and besides his goal against England was undoubtely the best header of the tournament. :froggy:

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

I don't understand you're opinion Croatman we don't have near the talent we had in 94-98 so why even bother to compare the team's heart from there and now. But now I think we will have the talent coming in to be a really great team. With all the young guys coming in that are willing to make a difference. What was really weird to me about Baric is that he picked his 23-man squad to players he thought were the best that Croatia had to offer but then made his 11 players he thought would best play together in his system (whatever that was :fingergr: ). I agree to what you said in how we have to focus on the younger generation but not completely we still need Prso,N.Kovac and R.Kovac for a couple a years, but other than that everyone else over 30's gotta go fast! And let's not put 110% faith in one person because he played great in one of our friendlies (eg. Baric) but normally plays like crap on his club (eg. Bjelica). We need a coach that will look at all our best players in the world and watch them play every week to see their strengths and weaknessess we need a coach that will do some serious scouting not Otto who looked as though the board members on FF know more about Croatian NT players then he did. What I'm saying is if Prso dosen't play good for his club then he'll probably not play good for the NT. Most importantly we got to try to play on our strengths not try to improve on our weaknesses because we no longer have time for that.

[dinamovac11]

Simic was one of our best players at Euro.


We need a squad, not for a new coach to come in and try out 100 players again. We need a group of 25 players or so that are always going to be called no matter what is going on with their clubs and a fixed formation from the start. Only this way can you make a team.

[CroatTommy7]

Thats what I said! Robert-Niko Kovac and Prso are the only ones that are older that based on their consistent play for the N/T I would automatically include for these qualification games for the W.C. 2006. Everyone else has to be re-evaluated. I have always believed in Tudor but his lack of concentration and his overall casual attitude sicken me. Sure he is world class but his dedication(probably injuries too I understand) and attention to detail is totaly questionable. Rapaic is great I love the guy but also his dedication to his fitness is really disturbing, last time I checked you have to run to play modern soccer. Simic was good this Euro but never plays for Milan and will probably continue to sit on the bench, and sure with Baric fucking him up with positioning he looked lost sometimes through no fault of his own but he still has to get some starting important games in for Milan not just Italian cup games like he did last year. Like I said the 3 guys I mentioned plus maybe 1 or 2 that I forgot are lock ins in my opinion everyone else young guys that are already on the team(Srna-Leko-Babic-Klasnic) along with even younger guys such as Kranjcar etc... have to be the back bone not just for this qualification games but for Euro 2008 and W/C 2010, we have to have another generation and with the talent we have with young guys maybe we can build that instead of just relying on average older guys who can possibly make us qualify for 2006 but then again they will be gone once we stink it up in the real tournament. Keep riding and whipping the same guys let them get to know each other. Let them play together for 4-6 years and you will see what happens. WIN LOSE OR DRAW! we must have faith in the plan and faith in the guys who would be willing to give maximum to this plan not some guys just in it to be on the international scene.

[croguy]

i agree with croatman on this one. Tudor has to go in my opinion, with many others. he has only hurt the NT when he has played. and dont anybody give me any lip about "world-class".

Hello???? did anybody see the last EURO, for crying out loud???? Did Greece have any WORLD - CLASS players??? no. just a solid, HUNGRY, team.

so, that world class argument is null and void! :)

the tottis, zidanes, henry's , and tudors, all world-class looked like SHITE!!!

Croatman10, i agree with you 200%

[CroatTommy7]

Thanks CroGuy :rock3: . I wasn't trying to be unreasonable but to play in international soccer you have to be dedicated not just talented. I mean sure when you have the whole package(Prso) its great, but some of our guys just have big names and don't neccesarilly display thier greatness consistently. No one really thought Srna could do anything special untill he actually played for the N/T the first time and he had a hell of a game and in my opinion every time he was played for the N/T he has played with heart at least and then every so often his great skill would shine through as well, what does Baric do with him? keep him as a sub or not even play him at all for the Euro's. Same with J.Leko and Klasnic. Eh if the guys I just mentioned get a big ego and in 2-3 years time they just assume they are natural starters without having to try every game then I would be calling for them to be replaced as well. A good amount of talent coupled with hard work and proffesionalism(Robert Kovac perfect example) will go a long way in you being appreciated by the fans and coaches. Rapajic has way more skill than most of the guys on our national team and even other N/T's but he doesn't prepare like a proffesional should and thats why he isn't one of the greats. I still think he should be on our N/T within a proper role because even with his lack of fitness he does more than many(had a great game against France scored and set one up) but other games he just dissappears and thats not cool if we are counting on him that much. Guys that don't care(saying you care and showing you care by preparing yourself and playing well are 2 different things) should be kicked out and the N/T should be a team for guys yearning to play well every game not just to make thier name on the international scene win lose or draw :stupid:

[Ljubuski]

I still think we got the players, and damn good ones too.

They've been poorly employed the past two regimes in Jozic and Baric.

About Tudor, definitely below par, but he is still deserving of a chance to play, he's been badly hampered by injury and that's not his fault. He's no Tomas.

Kranjcar HAS to do what D11 has been saying and develop a concrete squad.

Have NO FEAR versus anyone and things will settle themselves. And for us, with the likes of Prso, Leko, Srna, Klasnic, R.Kovac, Pleti and Tudor we'll do just fine.

Cheers

[JureM]

As long as we don't give away points to the lesser teams I can see us winning this group..it all comes down to the young guys stepping up and proving they belong. They are getting their chance now, so they have to make the best of it. If not..well, we could be in trouble.

I'm interested in seeing the friendly against Israel. While they may not be a power, I want to see how Kranjcar manages the team and how the team responds. Then on to the Hungarians in September.

[markOH]

to those taking issue with tudor and simic -

aside from a few tudor blunders, our defense was more than addequate in the euros. yeah, england scored 4 against us, but after rooney scored the second the team was forced to throw men forward, and the goals that followed were ultimately irrelevant.

and at the risk of souding like a tudor apologist, the guy just didn't see enough time with the team to simply slide in with what the team was doing prior to the tournament. through injuries or card bans, tudor was not a real factor in our qualifying at all. also, the guy hasn't had a coach that let him play one position either. he's been shuffled between central defense and teh midfield repeatedly by both baric and lippi. let the guy adjust and stay healthy, i'm confident we can have our tudor back.

we talk about our younger players on this board. srna, krajncar, babic, leko, maybe carevic, and then id have to stretch it even further to get to neretljak.

if i have to go six deep to get to our first promising defender, i don't think we should be so quick to give up on a very capable backline of simic-tudor-kovac. i liked simunic in the euros, i'd call him our fourth. zivkovic can bring them all their water.

[CroatTommy7]

Haha good point on Zivkovic :rock3: . My only problem with Tudor has been his overall inability to stay consistent. Sure he has the most talent of anyone on our D line etc...but if you can't make the simple plays......simple well then thats a problem. Its true as well that he has been hampered by injuries and coaches who like playing players out of position but it seems like its his lack of proffesionalism thats his biggest culprit. Defence is supposed to stop opposing teams from getting good scoring chances against its keeper if they do that well then thier job is done. Anything else is just bonus but it seems like with Tudor he is more bonus than the steady. He really has to play one solid season with Juve to get things back on track and play consistently he has the ability. Only then can he adapt back into the N/T role easily and esspecially with Kranjcar hopefully setting up a normal team with players playing in thier positions Igor will be settled in then. Otherwise don't use him if he and the team aren't ready or suited for him.

[markOH]

let's not forget that whatever type of favor tudor may or may not have been in with lippi, he's got a new coach that' he'll have to work for. it'll be interesting to see if the new coach is even willing to give tudor the first team play that he needs or if we'll just see him ride the bench ala simic. simply playing in the odd cup match and coming in for injured players is not going to be enough to keep our d in form.

[DerbyCounty]

has Sablic even been playing in the starting 11 for Dinamo Kiev? I haven't heard much about him recently, and if he is playing regular football for Dinamo Kiev he should be in this squad. We cannot have guys who don't play regulary for their clubs be on this team, no matter who you are. One player that worries me is Simic, again he does not look like to be in the first team plans of AC Milan...Miki Rapaic (although maybe its time for him to go) has not found a new club...we don't know if Tudor will play often for Juventus.

[Ljubuski]

Defence is supposed to stop opposing teams from getting good scoring chances against its keeper if they do that well then thier job is done. Anything else is just bonus but it seems like with Tudor he is more bonus than the steady.

BRILLIANT point. He does those things that stand out, but the basic defensive stuff seems to be lacking (at the most inopportune times).

I still think if he can find some consistency with the playing time wherever he goes he'll be great for us.

About the boys not playing, it's up to them to make sure they show in training that they deserve to play. We can't always blame the coaches that our players aren't playing. The desire and work has to come through training from the men also.

About Sablic, agreed.

Cheers

[dinamovac11]

All in all, I think Sweden are clear favourites to win the group with us and Bulgaria fighting it out for the second spot.

Not that we can't beat Sweden but at the moment they are a steady team that did well at the Euro's while we were horrible, have a new coach and have only one game to prepare a team before the qualifiers start. Bulgaria are similar to us. It makes me happy that Stoichkov is there coach.

:groan2: :scream: :frustrate :explode: :crazy: :doh: :mad: :angryf: :mad1: :fero:

If smilies were real people, these would all be Stoichkov.:grin2:

[CroatTommy7]

Agreed Marko and Ljubuski. Dinamovac yeah and it does seem good that Stoichkov is coaching Bulgaria. We both performed bad at this Euro. Bulgaria being the worse team than us and that was the bigger shock because we all knew we had Baric as our coach lol but Markov did good with Bulgaria getting them to the tournament.(this proves we had the better class and what a coach can do for the team, it really does). Sweden are better coached than us(they have a partnership coaching tandem don't they? and they have been working together for like 4-6 years now(thats consistency and a smart nogometni savez) but skill wise They are not better than us in most positions(except Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic who I think are very very good)

[croatian king]

i think we have a good shot to make it we beat sweden 2-1 last time we meet as was said in many other posts we need to beat the smaller teams i would like to see marijo maric more as wellas marko babic (which happens to be my exact name :tongue1: ) also ivica olic should start up front it shoould be olic prso and klasnic midfield niko kovac marko babic jerko leko and giovanni rosso and d efence should be tudor simunic simic and kovac

[BOban_2]

king babic :D

just a question...are your period and Enter keyboard buttons broken? :D

[croatian king]

king babic :D

just a question...are your period and Enter keyboard buttons broken? :D
lol they have those on keyboards. sorry about that i will try to use proper punctuation.

[CroatTommy7]

Its o.k. I'm a big culprit of run on sentences too and Ero is the king of bad grammar. I think its our rush to put our thoughts onto the screen before we forget them that leads us to forget proper sentance structure. :beer:

[AdelaideCroat]

yeh i think croatia have the players to win a tournament.. but theres no team spirit.. it seems that half of todays team doesnt play fro thier country.. back in the older days it was a privilege to play for your country.. now players take it for granted.. when playing for the national team you should give your all and never say die.. i think the only players in todays squad who truly play with their heart are kovac brothers, prso and simic.. the others need to think and play together as a team and make our country proud.. wc 2006 is around the corner.. we have a new coach so he should make a new team, a new style of attacking football so croatia can relive the glory years of 96 and 98

[markOH]

in an admittedly weak qualifying group, iceland looked pretty strong at times in euro qualifying. i think it's a haul for most to get to their stadium and it can be a tough place for teams to play. (colder, darker, dif time zone, all those little things). on top of that, they seem to play well as a team and i think are quite capable of upsetting a team or two in the group.

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

tudor has been screwed up by injuries...in 2002 he was easily the best young defender in the world and was well on his way to becoming world class and was going to be one of the best defenders in the world

that injury before the world cup screwed him up and he hasnt been the same since IMO

i remember juve fans used to tell me that he would be their next captain and how good he was...this and that...these days they want to get rid of him because he is too injury prone

its frustrating for us...imagine how frustrating it would be for igor

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

All in all, I think Sweden are clear favourites to win the group with us and Bulgaria fighting it out for the second spot.


I have to disagree we seem to have a very good record against Scandanavian countries as of late, including Sweden.

[JureM]

I have to disagree we seem to have a very good record against Scandanavian countries as of late, including Sweden.


See, that's the way to challenge someone's opinion and I agree with you. We beat Sweden pretty good in that friendly earlier in the year and I can't see why we can't at the very least split with them or even take 4 out of 6 points from them.

[Zvonimir]

See, that's the way to challenge someone's opinion and I agree with you. We beat Sweden pretty good in that friendly earlier in the year and I can't see why we can't at the very least split with them or even take 4 out of 6 points from them.

4 out of 6 wold be great vs them. As long as we take 6 from Iceland and Hungary and at least 4 of out of 6 vs Bulgaria we are off to Germany... :beer:

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

4 out of 6 wold be great vs them. As long as we take 6 from Iceland and Hungary and at least 4 of out of 6 vs Bulgaria we are off to Germany... :beer:
Don't forget 6 out of Malta as well :hammer:

[Zvonimir]

Don't forget 6 out of Malta as well :hammer:

Goes without saying. If we don't get 6 points against them, then every player on our team deserves to be shot. :lazy:

[Ljubuski]

Call me crazy but I think we can take maximum points out of the whole group.

I can't explain it but I just feel we're on to some big victories. Maybe I'm too optimistic I don't know, but our top strikers are turning into true World Class players and we have a great defence and two class goalies and some young and very exciting midfielders...

Properly organized and that could turn into a very dangerous equation.

Cheers

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

Call me crazy but I think we can take maximum points out of the whole group.

I can't explain it but I just feel we're on to some big victories. Maybe I'm too optimistic I don't know, but our top strikers are turning into true World Class players and we have a great defence and two class goalies and some young and very exciting midfielders...

Properly organized and that could turn into a very dangerous equation.

Cheers

and with the help of da silva maybe? :tongue: :thumbup2:

[JureM]

and with the help of da silva maybe? :tongue: :thumbup2:


Please, please, please, don't get him started. :howler: He'll write 3 more books and a produce a documentary. :roll:

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

and with the help of da silva maybe? :tongue: :thumbup2:
No, No , No! I don't want to see that guy to ever play for us. He is not Croatian and that is that, and plus I don't think he's good enough anyway.

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

No, No , No! I don't want to see that guy to ever play for us. He is not Croatian and that is that, and plus I don't think he's good enough anyway.

quick question...who are we to tell him he is not croatian?

who is better out of our young strikers? ljubojevic hasnt shown anything recently and was outshone by eduardo at the u21s and is currently being outplayed by eduardo at dinamo


maybe i should shut up before we get into this argument again :D

[croguy]

ljubuski,

that is a very reassuring statement, but i feel less optimistic than you. i mean, hungary have been playing some great football recently, and sweden has awlays been solid.

maybe its our teams performance in euro that has made me feel this way.

plus we hardly squeaked by israel. its not so promising.

but, we will see come sept 4th. i predict a draw actually.

[CroatTommy7]

Damn I can't believe qualifications games are just around the corner(2 in a span of 4 days!) I too think we need more time to prepare and get used to the new style of play that Kranjcar is trying to install. 1 practice game against Israel is definetly not enough. We may be off to a rough start right away just like the Euro 2004 qualifiers. The important thing is that we play with young guys and attacking soccer so if its a win lose or draw at least we know we are going in the correct direction unlike playing defensive tactics with old guys and still tieing or losing(its pointless). All I can say is I'm exited and nervous for this new/old style of Croatian soccer to be played finally after 4 years of mostly boring defensive games(except 3: Italy 2002, Belgium 2003, France 2004 lol one a year) sto god bude, neka bude samo da napadamo i idemo na njih!!!!! :big: :cool:

[Ljubuski]

--
Like I said in an earlier post commenting on Croatian King's question over Da Silva, I'd prefer him not play as he's not of the Croat Narod but if he's a taxpaying citizen of the Republic there's not much I can do or anyone else opposed to it.

But he's playing for us now, and I wish him all the best, but he will be under serious scrutiny if he says things that some nationalists don't want to hear or if he puts in a performance or two that are lacklustre. I can't wait to see the reaction some ULTRA groups will give him once he puts on OUR shirt.

If he were a Hrvat there wouldn't be any controversy over the thing, but since many are against it I don't see how this is a good, or a Croat thing. He doesn't have our blood, njegov jezik nije Hrvatski, njegov domovina je Brazil nije Hrvatska, i njegov prezime je Latinski nije Hrvatski.

How he's a Hrvat how some of you say I don't know. And how you can say that after 50 years of 'Brotherhood and Unity" when they couldn't make a Jugoslavian nationality work because we wouldn't let them, because we kept true to ourselves, and now some Brazilian comes and is a Hrvat? I always thought the term 'pomirenje' (I remember hearing this a long time ago) was some sort of phrase, and not a real sporazum between the old fraticidal problems. Breaks my heart to realize that, but it's fact so....

There's no other way but to look at this than the (for lack of a better word in the English language) 'ethnic' way...

If he's living there now, and that's the criteria for a Hrvat then why are Australians, Canadians, Americans bothering to write here? Those who think that 'where you live' is what you are then what the heck are ye doing here?

By default you have to accept the point that our blood is what determines our nationality, otherwise all of our posts and time are moot. If you use the defence 'my parents are from there' well great, that just adds to the point you inherited their blood, and in any case Da Silva's parents are not from Croatia. They're from Brazil making him.....Brazilian.

So I see in defence, only the modern belief that where you're attached to by citizenship is where you originate. And like I said if you think this way then all your posts should be on Canadian, Australian or American soccer boards. Not divided, or entirely devoted to here.


This type of policy sets precedent for more dangerous and important things.


Just my reasoning that's all.

And I still think we're going to pummel the Madari. Big victories coming our way, wait and see...

Cheers

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

i agree with most of what u said ljubo, and my original post was only tounge-in-cheek

but the way i see it is this....i know many cros who were born in croatia but moved here to australia and now call themselves australians with a croatian background...and if they had the choice they would play for australia before croatia

now he has lived over there for approximately a quarter of his life...while he might not have croatian blood he still has the right to consider himself croatian and there isnt anything we can do about it...and if he is willing to bleed for the cro NT (some of the current players with cro blood in them dont see to want to) then i dont think its right for me to tell him to go get fucked

i dont like the way international football is heading but there isnt much we can do about it

:D

[BOban_2]

Ljubuski,

since we are on the topic of language :D


njegov jezik nije Hrvatski, njegov domovina je Brazil nije Hrvatska, i njegov prezime je Latinski nije Hrvatski.


should be...

njegov jezik nije Hrvatski, njegova domovina je Brazil a ne Hrvatska, njegovo prezime je Latinsko a ne Hrvatsko

:D

[gasparov]

Ljubuski great post, VERY WELL PUT. BAD BLU BOY, THESE HRVATI, THAT YOU KNOW WHO SAY THEY ARE AUSTRALIAN FIRST AND HAVE A CROATIAN BACKROUND NEED TO STOP DRINKING THE RAKIJA. Shame on them. I myself am a first generation American I love this country and everything it stands for, however I am sure that there are people in this country that would not consider me 100% American, just based on my name.When ever I meet someone new, one of the first questions I am asked is what kind of name is that? I consider myself a Croatian first and formost the reason for that is I was brought up in that way of life, even though I have lived in America all my life. If I ever had the opportunity to represent Croatia I would do it in a second, no question about it. IMO, I do not feel Dasilva should play on the national team because of the fact that he is not Croatian. If he was good enough to play for Brasil I am sure he would represent his homeland.

[croatian king]

i agree with gasparov and da silva should not play for us Ljubuski already told everyone and i agree 100 %

[BOban_2]

Question for you guys...

what if da silva was married to a Croatian or if he was half or quarter Croatian?

[croguy]

hey man, if hes good, and can help us win, then put on the checkers, and play your heart out.

[gasparov]

If he was married to a Croatian, I still don't think he should play. If he was half Croatian or quater Croatian. I think yes he should be allowed to play. I really don,t know how good of a player he is however IMO, like I said earlier if this guy was really good, this would not even be an issue because he would be playing for Brasil. I am sure that Brasil would be his first choice and not Croatia. For that reason, as well as the fact that he is not Croatian he should not play for Croatia.

[CroatTommy7]

agree with Ljubuski and Gasparov 100%

[Zvonimir]

Those who think da silva should not play for us, what do you think of the bulgarian dude winning a medal for us in weighlifting? Aren't they exactly the same in terms of no bloodlines but both are now citizens?

Also, with foreigners buying up our beautiful coastline (pisses me off actually with how much it is occuring)..what do you think when some actually decide to live there permanently and have sons one day who are born and live in Croatia...will you consider them okay to play for our NT? These guys will have been born in Croatia and went to school, etc there...

[gasparov]

The Bulgarian dude who one the medal,really bothers me. Regarding the people who come from outside of Croatia and decide to live there and have families,yes I feel their sons should be allowed to play for Croatia, based on the fact that they were born in Croatia.

[gasparov]

The Bulgarian dude who won the medal,really bothers me. Regarding the people who come from outside of Croatia and decide to live there and have families,yes I feel their sons should be allowed to play for Croatia, based on the fact that they were born in Croatia.

[Ljubuski]

Ljubuski,

since we are on the topic of language :D



should be...

njegov jezik nije Hrvatski, njegova domovina je Brazil a ne Hrvatska, njegovo prezime je Latinsko a ne Hrvatsko

:D

I knew I'd get burned on that one, I need a year or so in Cro to get that refined. I still stand by what I said though...

Cheers

[Ljubuski]

--
About the Bulgarian dude, he still came and took advantage of an opportunity to win, he would have gone to any other country for his own sake in order to win a gold. Same goes for footballers.

About him marrying a Croatian girl either Da Silva or the Bugar, I don't like it, but if he's part Hrvat there's nothing wrong with it, as many of our athletes (and posters) were part. Prosinecki to name one, Ljubuski to name another.

Great point gasparov, whenever I tell people my last name I always get 'where are you from' or 'but you're a Canadian right?', well if there wasn't any innane feeling that I'm from someplace else or of a different people then there's no reason for asking. We tried that here in Canada for a long time, trying to fuse Anglos and French and it's been going on alot longer than anything Yugoslavia tried and boys...it ain't workin'.

About those foreigners who are buying up land...Oluja, don't be naive in thinking if problems start again any of those rich pukes will allow their families to stay in Croatia. Many of our own rich class bolted, so why in heavens would others stay? But if any do stay and live there then that's their country and have every right.

I just don't like importing players who have no connection to a country, any country, and 'play their hearts out' as if it were club football, which has allowed itself to get raped by the pursuit of profit, and it appears country football is choosing to go the same route.

BBB-dude, if there were many Aussies who wanted to play for Australia I don't see how that works when Didulica, Seric, and Simunic play for Hrvatska and I'm near certain Viduka would do the same if he could. Maybe I'm wrong but it doesn't correlate. (How you Aussies produce better candidates than us Canadians I don't know but we'll find your secret sooner or later.)

And it's reassuring to see how everyone who supports Da Silva doesn't address my main question from above.

Great thread, and it's nice to be able to post something and get civil responses, without being called a 'disgrace to the nation', just because you disagree with Ljubuski.

This is the whole point of a 'forum'.

Cheers

[JureM]

My God...I told you guys Ljubo would write a book! When is the documentary going to come out? :laugh2:

By the way, just for all of us here, you go to Croatia half the people consider you and "amerikanac" or a "Kanaden" etc. To those people we are Croatian by heritage. All you have to look at is the treatment that young lady from California got in Hrvatska when she showcased her film about the horrors of Yugoslavia and Tito. The movie is called "Freedom from Dispair" and it was well recieve all over Europe yet, in Hrvatska it was lambasted..."Ustaska propoganda," it was called by the Croatian press...they also mentioned "ovako su Hrvatska diaspora naucila svoju dijecu," etc. Then you know pretty much all there is to know about over there when a young lady makes a truthful movie and is stabed in the back by her own.

Me, I'm Croatian-American. Born in the US, proud of my country and also just as proud of Croatian heritage. So, its unfair to say that because some people consider themselves Croatian they are more Croatian than those that say they are American or Croatian-American (or Canadian, etc). I spent my youth protesting with my parents in from of the Yugo embassy in the dead of winter and getting laughed and spit at by those same people who called themselves "Jugoslaveni" and now are the biggest Hrvati on the planet when its easy to call oneself a Hrvat now.

As for me, if I was a world class athlete and I was good enough to play on a NT and represent my country, I would chose to represent the country I was born in and spent my entire life in and that's the US. If people have a problem with that, it doesn't bother me one bit. It doesn't make that person less Croatian than the guy who would chose Hrvatska..its just a matter of choice. But thats just me.\

As for Ljubo...he's writing a great book:

"Unfit to Play: The Chain Smokers Guide to Physical Fitness." The book is a biography on Robert Prosiencki. Look for it at a book store near you. :tooth:

[CroatTommy7]

I gotta get that book :sun:

[Ljubuski]

If I had a dime for every book JureM wanted me to write....

If I had a nickel for every time BBB said "Ljubo I agree with you 99% but..."

If I had a penny for every time D11 and JureM shot remarks at each other...

I'd be rich.

Cheers!

[JureM]

If I had a dime for every book JureM wanted me to write....

What are you talking about? You've already writen all those books.

If I had a nickel for every time BBB said "Ljubo I agree with you 99% but..."

Yep, agreed 99% on this quote, but, I'd raise it to a quarter.

If I had a penny for every time D11 and JureM shot remarks at each other...

Hey, its not my fault he keeps starting it all the time! :rocker2:

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

ljubo i agree with u on the da silva thing...but :winkg: :rotfl:

i dont like the idea of da silva playing for us either...i dont want to follow the path of the other nations in world football because they are turning it into a club competition

but like i said before...none of us have the right to tell him to fuck off because he isnt croatian and none of us can prove that he would take brazil over croatia...thats my point

as for the seric, didulica and simunic thing...well for every seric there is 15 players who choose australia

didulica, and to a lesser extent, simunic both wanted to play for australia first and foremost....simunic was rejected in favour of hayden foxe (a hopeless player who was considered better than josip by the australian coach at the time)...josip was then injured and missed out on the olympics and eventually told australia to get fucked because they kept ignoring him

didulica mainted the whole time that australia was his #1 choice but eventually got sick of waiting for the call and decided to play for croatia since australia ignored him...now isnt he doing exactly what you think da silva is doing?


and i can name at least 20 cros who chose to represent australia over croatia...skoko, viduka (he was asked by franjo to play for croatia and he rejected), zelic (even though he did sat that he wanted to play for croatia), bosnich, kalac, milicic etc...

:winkg:

[Zvonimir]

and i can name at least 20 cros who chose to represent australia over croatia...skoko, viduka (he was asked by franjo to play for croatia and he rejected), zelic (even though he did sat that he wanted to play for croatia), bosnich, kalac, milicic etc...

:winkg:

Viduka is the only one I would consider we could use. But even at this moment, I would rather have Prso and Klasnic up front over him...

who are kalac,milicic, zelic and skoko?? No offense, but but whoever these guys are, they couldn't make our team...as for Bosnich, I have heard of him more for his drug intake then his keeping abilities... :stoned:

[Tommy]

Kalac- plays for Perugia after having a long spell with Breda in Holland, good keeper but wouldnt make CRO NT

Milicic- played for Rijeka now in Malaysia, ok striker that never fulfilled his potential internationally

Zelic- Won Bundesliga with Dortmund and played with many other clubs in Europe. Very good creative midfielder that could also play sweeper definitely would have made the Cro Squad.

Bosnich-At his peak with Man Utd a top 5 keeper in the World would have taken him over Ladic anyday.

Skoko-Played for Hajduk a few years back i believe he was captain as well then had spells in Belgium with Genk and now is in Turkey. Not good enough for Cro Squad.

As for the other Cro's from Australia that have represented Australia the is list is very big :D
Juric, Milicevic, Popovic, Horvat, Bosnar, Culina, Zdrilic, Galekovic, I.Zelic, Adzic, Arambasic, Marko Babic and Zeljko Babic, Bilokapic, Krncevic, Ante Moric, Tommy Pondeljaketc etc for those keeping score at home thats about Australian Cro's 20 North American Cro's 1 (I give u Ante Razov) :D Heck even pub side quality aussie cro's like Mile Jedinak can get contracts in Croatia :D

Do u Cro's there even know how to play football by any chance? :winkg:

[Zvonimir]

As for the other Cro's from Australia that have represented Australia the is list is very big :D
Juric, Milicevic, Popovic, Horvat, Bosnar, Culina, Zdrilic, Galekovic, I.Zelic, Adzic, Arambasic, Marko Babic and Zeljko Babic, Bilokapic, Krncevic, Ante Moric, Tommy Pondeljaketc etc for those keeping score at home thats about Australian Cro's 20 North American Cro's 1 (I give u Ante Razov) :D Heck even pub side quality aussie cro's like Mile Jedinak can get contracts in Croatia :D

Do u Cro's there even know how to play football by any chance? :winkg:

That's a big list for sure...but if they were so good, shouldn't Australia actually have ever qualified for a World Cup? :headph:

P.S Our Cros here in Canada have better success in other sports (soccer here blows)

Just afew for you to think about...Joe Sakic, George Chuvalo, Tony Maderich (a bust I'll admit, but he cashed in $$$) and my man, Johnny Kordic (RIP)...American Cros have success too...Elvis Grbac, Kevin McHale (okay 1/2 Cro), etc...etc...plus the American Cros are reality TV stars...(Bill Rancic fromt he Apprentic and the lovely Amber from Survivor :kol: :kol: )..

Anyways, who gives acrap...we have what we have, we need to make the WC! To victory! :clap: :clap:

[JureM]

That's a big list for sure...but if they were so good, shouldn't Australia actually have ever qualified for a World Cup? :headph:

P.S Our Cros here in Canada have better success in other sports (soccer here blows)

Just afew for you to think about...Joe Sakic, George Chuvalo, Tony Maderich (a bust I'll admit, but he cashed in $$$) and my man, Johnny Kordic (RIP)...American Cros have success too...Elvis Grbac, Kevin McHale (okay 1/2 Cro), etc...etc...plus the American Cros are reality TV stars...(Bill Rancic fromt he Apprentic and the lovely Amber from Survivor :kol: :kol: )..

Anyways, who gives acrap...we have what we have, we need to make the WC! To victory! :clap: :clap:

Well there were a few Croatians that did play in the old NASL (North American Soccer League) and Toronto Metros Croatia did win the NASL Championship back in the 1970's with a healthy Croatian lineup as well as Portuguese great Eusabio. Then there was Mark Pavelich who had a short but very good NHL career as well as a Gold medal from the 1980 Miracle on Ice US hockey team in the Olympics that year.

Don't forget Hall of Fame Hoops player George Mikan who was voted as one of the 50 best players in NBA history. Of course as we know the Mahovlich brothers Frank and Pete who are in the NHL Hall of Fame (not sure if both are but 1 is Frank I believe) both of whom had great careers in Hockey.

But, hey, we one up the Aussies because yes, we do have the lovely and beautiful Amber! :clap:

In the end, we do need to make the WC final...we are in a favorable group and we have no excuses not to finish in the top 2 in the group, though I'd rather not finish 2nd and have the headache of having to go through a playoff against another 2nd place team just to get in.

[gasparov]

Jure, that movie that you mentioned "Freedom From Dispair" do you know if it is avaliable on DVD?

[Ljubuski]

--
I nor anyone else told Da Silva to 'fuc.k off', I just don't agree that he should play for our people.

No offense, but to say those 20 Cro's who chose Australia over Croatia implies they had right of refusal or first choice between the two. That can't be true.

Tommy is right with who would play and the story I heard was that Viduka played as a junior with Australia first and wasn't eligible to play for Croatia anyhow.

And our football here in Canada yes, is total shi.te. And in the States it's improving but still nowhere near the European standard but we can only go so far as the systems here allow in sport, and if you look above we've punched way beyond our weight when contributing to Canada's sporting heritage.

Cheers

[JureM]

Jure, that movie that you mentioned "Freedom From Dispair" do you know if it is avaliable on DVD?

Actually, I was on the website and you can put your name in for purchasing the movie when it becomes available on video/DVD. Here's the info from the webpage:

If you would like to reserve a copy of the film to purchase once distribution is secured, please send an email to freedomfromdespair@yahoo.com with the word "copy" in the email subject line. Don’t forget to include your name, address, and phone number. You will be contacted as soon as copies are available for sale.

[gasparov]

Thanks Jure, I just reserved my copy.

[Licki Macak]

I know that Im a bit late in responding to this thread but I just read it again and couldnt resist. When I was a little punk playing for Toronto Metros Croatia juniors, the big senior team were in a tournament with the likes of Celtic,Benefica, and Sydney Croatia....this was around 1978 lol.

Toronto killed the Aussies 5-0 lol, so please stop your little bragging. Ive been to Mel a few times and watched the Knights play[love the Bat Cave] lol......and the Knights and Sydney United are no powerhouses.

May be the reason you have an ambundance of soccer players is because there are a lot more Cros living in Oz then in Canada.

As for your Viduka{who by the way has a gorgeous sister lol} and other Oz stars they are no match for the great Cro-Canadian Branko Segota, he played for Dinamo a few seasons. He played for the Rochester Lancers in the old NASL and MISL indoor league. One if not THE best indoor player of all time.

[JureM]

I know that Im a bit late in responding to this thread but I just read it again and couldnt resist. When I was a little punk playing for Toronto Metros Croatia juniors, the big senior team were in a tournament with the likes of Celtic,Benefica, and Sydney Croatia....this was around 1978 lol.

Toronto killed the Aussies 5-0 lol, so please stop your little bragging. Ive been to Mel a few times and watched the Knights play[love the Bat Cave] lol......and the Knights and Sydney United are no powerhouses.

May be the reason you have an ambundance of soccer players is because there are a lot more Cros living in Oz then in Canada.

As for your Viduka{who by the way has a gorgeous sister lol} and other Oz stars they are no match for the great Cro-Canadian Branko Segota, he played for Dinamo a few seasons. He played for the Rochester Lancers in the old NASL and MISL indoor league. One if not THE best indoor player of all time.


I was in Imotski right before the war and was able to watch Sydney United (croatia) play in Imotski and also against Dinamo at Maximir that same year. They were not that bad a team....

I believe Segota also played with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL as well. But, I remember him most playing in the MISL where there were a lot of very talented Croatian players playing. The New York Arrows had Steve Zungel, Branko Segota, and Zadar's own Mark Liveric (from Zaton I believe). Depends on who you talk to, but from a pure goal scoring point of view, Zungel was the all time best indoor player, but as an all around player, Segota was one of the best.

The Cosmos had some Croatian guys playing for them as well...Boris Bandov who can tell stories like you can't believe, played with the US NT...one of his best stories was talking about his time with the US NT..they are playing in Brazil at Maracana, and this is how he tells it..."200,000 people in the stands, 22 players on the field, 14 players on the bench, 3 referees, and who does the bird shit on?" Anyway, Boris was a great role player for the Cosmos in their heyday. The Cosmos also had a Croatian-AMerican on its team named Brkic (or Brcic).

[Ljubuski]

Canada can produce some good players, there's no question, but the problem is the damned infrastructure.

Hargreaves, Radzinski, Staltieri...to name some recent ones, we're still nowhere near as good as the Aussies but we can still play a little.

LM, no offence, but Sydney and Melbourne still have the better systems than we got here, they must, because what's happened to our soccer here is a disgrace.

Sport here is simply not a priority, not even hockey. My home town, (I think one of the wealthiest per capita in N.A.) has a serious problem of a shortage of hockey rinks. People just don't want to spend their cash on things such as rinks, or football pitches.

I can't tell you guys over in the States and in Australia how bad soccer is organized here. It's terrible.

Cheers

[gasparov]

Jure, you forgot to mention one of the greatest goal scorer's in the history of the MISL, Ferdo Grgurev, he is also Croatian. He also spent some time playing for the Cosmos.

[Licki Macak]

Yaa Zungel was a fantastic player, do any of you guys know why he left the Yugo league to play here?

Brcic was a goalie.

[Tommy]

Toronto killed the Aussies 5-0 lol, so please stop your little bragging. Ive been to Mel a few times and watched the Knights play[love the Bat Cave] lol......and the Knights and Sydney United are no powerhouses.

May be the reason you have an ambundance of soccer players is because there are a lot more Cros living in Oz then in Canada.

As for your Viduka{who by the way has a gorgeous sister lol} and other Oz stars they are no match for the great Cro-Canadian Branko Segota, he played for Dinamo a few seasons. He played for the Rochester Lancers in the old NASL and MISL indoor league. One if not THE best indoor player of all time.

Big whoop u beat Sydney Croatia in a tournament 5-0, i bet they wouldnt have even sent their best side. Knights and Sydney Cro may not be the powerhouses anymore but they have been Australian Champions :respect: Also my local team Canberra Deakin (technically an amateur club) is current National Youth League Champions beating the likes of the AIS who get hundreds of thousands dollars of government funding plus all the other professional clubs. We also produced Simunic, the Zelic Bro's, former Hajduk player Susa, current Hajduk player Talevski, and some of our youth players play in the inter and lyon youth teams. Plus we are also a feeder club for Manchester United (a mate of mine went for to trial there last year) under the Parramatta Eagles youth system, not bad for an amateur club :Grint:

There are about 200,000 Cro's in Australia i would think there would be more in Canada and the States. The reason we have an abundance of players is because we have better systems in place, better coaches and Australia has one of the best youth setups in the world. Our only problem is transforming from youth players to professional players, we lost on pens in 99 to Brazil in a youth wc final but not 1 of these players is ready for a senior callup! Our senior team is also more talented than the US and Canada :halo:

When you produce true World Class players like Bosnich, Zelic and Viduka maybe then we can compare who's better but as of the moment you are our bitches so to speak :hammer:

It's Australian Croatians 3 (Seric,Simunic,Didulica) NA Cro's 0 :grin2:

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

well said tommy :beer: :bow:


the yanks and canadians just cant compare to our success :yeldance: :nono: :Grint:

[Zvonimir]

Our only problem is transforming from youth players to professional players, we lost on pens in 99 to Brazil in a youth wc final but not 1 of these players is ready for a senior callup! Our senior team is also more talented than the US and Canada :halo:

When you produce true World Class players like Bosnich, Zelic and Viduka maybe then we can compare who's better but as of the moment you are our bitches so to speak :hammer:

It's Australian Croatians 3 (Seric,Simunic,Didulica) NA Cro's 0 :grin2:

Last I checked, the Americans were in the quarters of the WC...and Canada-although a joke in soccer-was in the 86 WC at least....you guys may have a strong youth system but so too does Ghana, and at the sr. level they blow...and the SR. team is what counts... This isn't a knock on you guys, it's just reality. When was the last time Australia was in the WC??? I can't even remember them ever being there... That being said, the success Australia just had in the Olympics with a population of 20 million people was quite amazing...

In Canada-hockey is king, and our very own Joe Sakic scored in the opening World Cup game against the Americans the other night... :thumbup2:

I would actually say it's Australia 1-NA Cros's 0 as Seric and Didulica to this point have had little to zero impact on our NT...but who cares as long as Australia, US, Canada, Germany, etc...etc...produce players for our NT, that is the most important thing!

G'day mate! :hug:

[Licki Macak]

You Aussies are under the impression that Im putting you guys down, which Im not. Im a fan of the Knights and the United, I even have their jerseys which I got when I was in Oz. In 2000 I even played half a game for the Knights in a exhibition game when one of the new arrivals from Cro was jet lagged...man was it hot that day.

Also dont forget the climate for soccer in Oz is year round here its not.

Not sure what you mean by those 3 players, but if you want to have a pissing contest :wave: I would rate our Croat Joe Sakic as the best hockey player in N.A. if not the world. Like I mentioned previously there have been a few good NA Cro soccer players. If Branko Segota was in his prime now he would give Viduka a good run, on second thaught it would be no contest. The more I watch Viduka he doesnt impress me any more, Segota on the other hand got better as he got older. He played a solid 2 years for Dinamo and finally left for greener pastures{$$$} in the MISL.
One of the best goalies in the NASL was Zeljko Bilecki who for many years led the Toronto Metros Croatia, he led the league in SO,wins and save %.

I agree with you Aussies that you have produced many world class players but your 2 Cro clubs were not even close to Toronto Croatia. Can you seriously say that the Knights or United could have defeated the strong teams in the NASL like the New York Cosmos,Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Since soccer is not popular here we tend to play more hockey,baseball and American football.

Roger Maris held the home run record for over 40 years, the Mahovlich brothers are legends in Canada, pro football players like Elvis Grbac, coaches like Bilitch etc.

I know I have gotten off topic here :shake: but we up here in NA are not that bad!

[JureM]

Its funny..but, when it comes to Croatians, Aussie's tend to produce more Croatian talent when it comes to soccer...but, in North American, the Croatian talent is usually in other sports like Hoops, Baseball, football, and ice hockey..which is fine. What's interesting is that I've been to a lot of Croatian Soccer Tournaments here in the US and Canada, and I've seen a lot of very good and talented young Croatian players but, unfortunatly none ended up in big leagues in Europe like the AUssie-Croatian players. The only reason I can think of is that after the NASL folded there was no where for players to go and play professionally..and its harder up in Canada because they really have no professional league to speak of, though there are some A-League teams in Canada. So, the Aussie-Cro's had a bit of a head start since there were teams like Sydney Croatia (United) and Melbourne Croatia (Knights) in the Aussie Pro-Leagues. Now, unfortunatly, with Sydney and Melbourne pretty much shut out of the new professional league being formed in Australia this may hurt the talent. The big problem with Canada is the weather, and their leagues are played during the summer months. The MLS here in the States goes from Spring to fall so it doesn't go on a European system though many semi-pro leagues do play the European way.

What I remember about Segota was that he was small, but the guy had a wonderful finishing touch and was fast as lightning. This guy was perfect for the indoor game. He also had a rocket for a shot..the man was good.

[markOH]

fellas fellas fellas,

let's all calm down -

we sound like a bunch of puerto ricans trying to claim half the baseball players in the major leagues as our own.

so, let's slow down with the half croats and when someone comes out and identifies themselves as a croat, and tells us who their starting eleven would be, which to my knowledge joe sakic has NEVER done, then let's embrace them as one of our own.

[CroatTommy7]

MarkOH Joe Sakic has stated his Croatian ethnicity many times. I remember once reading that the guys in the Colorado Avalanche dressing room used to call him Suker after the 98 W/C because he was so into soccer.

[JureM]

fellas fellas fellas,

let's all calm down -

we sound like a bunch of puerto ricans trying to claim half the baseball players in the major leagues as our own.

so, let's slow down with the half croats and when someone comes out and identifies themselves as a croat, and tells us who their starting eleven would be, which to my knowledge joe sakic has NEVER done, then let's embrace them as one of our own.


How about taking some time out to read and learn about the player before passing judgement on something you seem not to know about. Joe Sakic has many times talked about both his parents who are Croatian and about his dad who came here at a young age from Croatia. He was also interviewed by Slobodna Dalmacija as well. Just because you don't know about a player doesn't mean someone else doesn't know as well...so sit back and read what others say without passing judgement on them and belittling them. Thanks.

[JureM]

For the "Doubting Thomas" out there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sakic

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

the americans made the WC? wow....u have to qualify against the likes of mexico, costa rica, honduras etc... and u still have 3 direct qualifying spots

its the easiest confederation in the world along with asia and the only reason u get so many spots is because of the obvious benefit FIFA gets out of the US qualifying

[JureM]

the americans made the WC? wow....u have to qualify against the likes of mexico, costa rica, honduras etc... and u still have 3 direct qualifying spots

its the easiest confederation in the world along with asia and the only reason u get so many spots is because of the obvious benefit FIFA gets out of the US qualifying


Actually if you think about it, how difficult is it to get out or Europe? It's not like you have the top teams playing against each other in the same group. You have what? A 5-6 team group with the top team moving on and the second place team getting into a playoff and with 14 total spots available. Not that difficult if you are a good team.

Oceania is just to bad a region to get direct qualifying BUT, going into a playoff against the 5th place South AMerican team or an Asian team SHOULD be a piece of cake for a top team in Oceana. Australia lost I believe to Iran one year in a home and home? If you can't beat and Asian team or a 5th place South AMerican then you don't deserve to be at the WC.

The US has no choice but to play in the region they do...and if you look at the region, Mexico when they qualify always seems to advance to the knockout stages and always seem to pull off an upset. Look what they did to us in 2002...the US did a great job in 2002 and played very good soccer...they beat Portugal in group play, tied the host country South Korea who went to the semi-finals...beat Mexico in the first round and then gave Germany (a WC finalist) all they could handle in the quarterfinals in a game where Germany had a hand ball on the goal line which the ref didn't call a penalty. Costa Rica finished tied for 2nd place in their group in 2002 at the WC but failed to advance because of goal differential as they lost to Brazil (WC Champs) in their last game of group play. So, CONCACAF is not a bad region at all....outside of Europe and SOuth America there isn't a better region...its better than Africa, Asia, and Oceania thats for sure.

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

i wasnt arguing that oceania deserved a DC spot...but id put my house on australia beating any team from CONCACAF...not in a one-off game but in a series of games

i also wasnt arguing that mexico and the US dont have good teams...i was arguing that anything more than 2 spots for CONCACAF cannot be justified

as for europe...while the top teams wont play each other, the 15 spots are still justified...of course the top teams wont play each other, thats what the WC finals are for

in the end...all 15 teams who qualify are quality teams and u still have the likes of the czech republic, holland and ukraine missing out

as for australia...well we didnt actually lose to iran, we drew twice... 1-1 over in tehran and then we were 2-0 up at home with 15 to go and we blew it

from memory, we are the only nation that did not lose one game in the qualifiers but still didnt qualify

as for CONCACAF being better than africa...well i disagree ;)

:Grint:

[coreuptrec]

the worst part is Canada doesnt qualify! how bad is that?

[Hajduk1911]

Even though i dont post much here i gotta get into this arguement, Australia is MUCH better then the US in soccer, by a country mile, can u name me any US players doing really well in a quality league in Europe, and EPL doesnt really count as a quality league by the way, at least the Aussies have got a few players in Italy and Spain. As BBB said Australia has the hardest qualification route to the World Cup then any other country in the world, if we were in CONACAf we would qualify every time, without fail. The US is so short of talent there best player is a 15 yo!!!!!!!
By the way we might see a bit more of Seric in the Cro squad now, he has moved to Lazio,which should be good for him, he deserves a shot in the national team, we have'nt had a decent left sided player since Jarni

[dinamovac11]

How about taking some time out to read and learn about the player before passing judgement on something you seem not to know about. Joe Sakic has many times talked about both his parents who are Croatian and about his dad who came here at a young age from Croatia. He was also interviewed by Slobodna Dalmacija as well. Just because you don't know about a player doesn't mean someone else doesn't know as well...so sit back and read what others say without passing judgement on them and belittling them. Thanks.

What is wrong with you?

[coreuptrec]

i don't doubt that Aussie team is better then the states but for arguments sake...you said to name one player in Europe that is doing well...what about Howard (Man U)

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

-------------------shwarzer---------------------

----neill-----popovic------moore-----lazaridis----

---emerton----bresciano------grella----kewell----

----------------viduka----aloisi-----------------

much better than anything the US has :winkg:

[Tommy]

BBB :beer:

My lineup would be:
_____________________Kalac_______________________
_____Neill_______Moore(C)______Popovic______Lazaridis

______________________Grella________________________

______Emerton_________Cahill_________Bresciano________

___________________________Kewell__________________

_____________________Viduka_________________________

Only US players that would make our team would be O'Brien at LB and maybe Friedel in goal. The fact your star player Donovan bombed at Neverkusen and doesnt wanna go back to Europe cos he knows he will fail sums it all up!

The Iran game in Melbourne was the most cruel sporting event i have ever seen, up 2-0 with 15 mins to go then some nut goes and breaks the net causing a delay. We start thinking about France (we should have been up at least 5 goals) and then bang 2 quick goals from Iran which never looked like coming and we go out on away goals. This Iran team then went on in France 98 pushing Germany and Yugoslavia and finally beating the MIGHTY FOOTBALLING POWER that is the USA :grin:

In 93 Australia went out to an Argentina side containg the likes of Redondo, Batistuta, Maradona, Balbo etc through a freakish own goal in Buenos Aires. Then in 01 we lost out in Montevideo a place where both Brazil and Argentina struggled. How is it fair for Australia to have 0 competitive fixtures before a 2 legged playoff against a South American side who have had 18 hard competitive fixtures as preparation over 2 years?

Australia should go into Asia, but they dont want Australia cos they know we will destroy them (except Japan). Whoever said they werent impressed by Viduka :eek2: Viduka is a great striker, has excellent touch for a big man, very good in the air and holding the ball plus he is also a good finisher. 20 goals in one of the top leagues in the World with a mid table team with no midfield isnt impressive? Scoring 4 goals against a Liverpool side under GH at the time were one of the best defences in the World isnt impressive? But playing for Dinamo and in America is impressive i guess :thumbup2:

Btw watch out Yanks, for Andrew Bogut, future top 10 NBA draft pick and the best basketball player under 20 in the World :happier:

[Hajduk1911]

Tommy id agree with almost everything u said, "Duks" is a world class striker, for such a big guy, his touch and vision are suberb, and his abilty to hold the ball up for the runner is great. And that Iran game, that was a killer, i was there and it tore me apart to see us throw away our ticket to France, the only other game that has got me more pissed and close to tears was the Cro France 98 semi final. Only thing i slighty disagree on is i would have emerton RB instead of Neil, i dont rate neil at all

[Zvonimir]

Btw watch out Yanks, for Andrew Bogut, future top 10 NBA draft pick and the best basketball player under 20 in the World :happier:

Tommy, Bogut is quite good but let's not kid ourselves...if he was the best under 20 player in the world, he wouldn't be playing in college at Utah (not even a big-time program) and he already would be in the NBA...kind of like my man from the 'Cuse Carmelo, who is what 19?

[Hajduk1911]

Well Bogut did win the Under 20 world champs MVP did'nt he??? He is a massive guy, ive seen him a bit, he lived in the same suburb as me,a few streets away

[Ljubuski]

--
That US game vs. Iran was as cruel as the Aussie one (I remember catching
extended highlights of the Aussie match).

The Persians had now business winning either of them.

Cheers

[markOH]

i'm agreeing with dinamovac here.

jure, i qualified the statement with "to my knowledge" and it (citing joe sakic) was only a small example of a larger point. i wasn't belittling anybody, i just think we're getting carried away pulling names like amber brkich out of the woodworks to help ourselves feel better about being croatian. let's talk about the coastline instead.

also, seeing a "ch" at the end of a name, like tomjanovich, or brkich, tends to imply that someone is QUITE far removed from any substantial and recent links with croatian culture or history (though i completely understand it's not always the case) and i'm not in the business of trying to figure out who might be 4 generations removed from a croatian immigrant to gain some sense of belonging in an uberethnicity.

i think you got too mad for no reason, but, to each their own.

marko

ps - let's be real clear on one thing. if this isn't a croatian (anything) message board, there is no talk whatsoever about joe sakic being the greatest (any qualifying adjective other than "croatian") hockey player ever.

[Super Croat]

Well I guess we can forgive you for having a 'lack of knowledge' :kotc: .

[coreuptrec]

What is wrong with you?


sakic even has a house there...its right by ours.

[croguy]

i dont know where this sakic argument got started, but i think he is true blue, and doesnt need to know our starting eleven to be cro.

ANYWAY,
tomorrow is Hungary!!! is this a WC quailfying thread or what????????

lets get pumped!!!!!!!!!!

Madari are going down!!!!

[Zvonimir]

i wasn't belittling anybody, i just think we're getting carried away pulling names like amber brkich out of the woodworks to help ourselves feel better about being croatian.

I mentioned amber brkich because she is a great piece of ass. :pimp:

P.S One more thing on Joe Sakic, if he isn't Cro, then neither are any one of us born outside Croatia... :irritate: And then why the phuck am I getting ulcers worrying about our NT if I am a "Canadian" like Joe? :ass:

[markOH]

zvonomir,

i'm not saying sakic isn't croatian, i just think it's a silly pissing contest to get so involved in this "my team, your team" and explain our cultural identity as croatians, whatever that means to you, by picking through washed up football players and b list celebrities.

example/question for the board -
you're starting an american football team today. who here has the nerve to put tony mandarich or todd marinovich anywhere near their squad?

and hey man, about amber being a piece of ass - you do your thing playa'

[JureM]

zvonomir,

i'm not saying sakic isn't croatian, i just think it's a silly pissing contest to get so involved in this "my team, your team" and explain our cultural identity as croatians, whatever that means to you, by picking through washed up football players and b list celebrities.

example/question for the board -
you're starting an american football team today. who here has the nerve to put tony mandarich or todd marinovich anywhere near their squad?

and hey man, about amber being a piece of ass - you do your thing playa'


So what you're saying is that if a person is a 3rd generation Croatian or beyond they aren't Croatian anyway. But, what if they are proud of their ethnic background like Rudy T is and even Amber Brkich? So, what makes them different from people like us who were born in the States, Australia, or Canada for example while our parents were born over there? It's the same thing because like a Rudy T or an Amber, or a Joe Sakic, none of us were born in Croatia, regardless of long we were here.

What is important is that the Croatians have made a name for themselves in far away lands and did well for themselves. Its great to hear about guys like George Mikan who is in the NBA Hall of Fame, considered one of the 50 greatest players to play the game...or a guy like Rudy Tomjanovich who is a great hoops coach...or a Mark Pavelich who won a Gold Medal...or a guy like Joe Sakic who is destined for the Hall of Fame and is one of the best players of his generation....and its great to hear that they are Croatian. Just as the Italians are proud of Joe Dimagio or Frank Sinatra. Its a great thing and if you don't care for it, thats cool but other people do so why shouldn't they talk about it and if they do, just don't read it if it bothers you so much.

[Zvonimir]

So what you're saying is that if a person is a 3rd generation Croatian or beyond they aren't Croatian anyway. But, what if they are proud of their ethnic background like Rudy T is and even Amber Brkich? So, what makes them different from people like us who were born in the States, Australia, or Canada for example while our parents were born over there? It's the same thing because like a Rudy T or an Amber, or a Joe Sakic, none of us were born in Croatia, regardless of long we were here.

What is important is that the Croatians have made a name for themselves in far away lands and did well for themselves. Its great to hear about guys like George Mikan who is in the NBA Hall of Fame, considered one of the 50 greatest players to play the game...or a guy like Rudy Tomjanovich who is a great hoops coach...or a Mark Pavelich who won a Gold Medal...or a guy like Joe Sakic who is destined for the Hall of Fame and is one of the best players of his generation....and its great to hear that they are Croatian. Just as the Italians are proud of Joe Dimagio or Frank Sinatra. Its a great thing and if you don't care for it, thats cool but other people do so why shouldn't they talk about it and if they do, just don't read it if it bothers you so much.

Very well said my friend. :cheers:

[markOH]

you're making the same fundamental mistake in putting too much literal stock into what i said, which was simply a broad and/or exaggerated example to convey a point.

i think it's what let you to accuse me of belittling people in the first place, something i'm not in the business of coming here to do.

other than that, a thought out, proper, well worded reply, i applaud your passion.

marko

[robin]

can i close this thread?????????????

this is unbelivable!!!!!!

tomorrow is Hungary and we are arguing about Joe Sakic!!!!

(and might i add its a f*****' World Cup qualifying game!)

forget about Joe Sakic!!!!

NAPRID HRVATSKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rocker:

[dinamovac11]

This thread is a big lol.

Just wait untilll BBB starts with his swimming facts then Australia will really be the best in the world. :shake:

But I have always wondered why American and Canadian Hrvati put a "ch" at the end of their name?

Well Bogut did win the Under 20 world champs MVP did'nt he??? He is a massive guy, ive seen him a bit, he lived in the same suburb as me,a few streets away

haha.. you must live near me. :cheers:

btw... Is it true that Pelikan has been let go by dinamo?

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

i thought the AUS vs US argument was a pretty good discussion :D

and i think the aussies won :cheers:



now back to the WC qualifiers :shake:

[CroatTommy7]

Well said Jure sumned it all up nicely. Dinamovac I agree that CH at the end of Croatian last names here in Can-USA is absurd in my opinion but I guess it's a way to adapt to thier new countries. My parents never did that and I don't inted to do that just so someone can pronounce my name properly I'll take the ik sound gladly as long my name is spelled the way it was intended to be spelled. But like I said some people chose to do Americanize thier names and thats cool too because after all its thier personal decision. Its like saying its not right when Croatians give thier kids first names like Greg or Scott or Amber because that name coupled with the last name of lets say Simic sounds funny lol. Its everyones personal choice. No one has the right to tell someone what to do. The longer you live in the diaspora the more you get accustomed to the different culture just like Steve said about the Italians, they have adapted a lot but still retain thier traditions in some ways.

ANWAYS IDEMO HRVATSKA!!!!!!! I don't expect much actually I just want to see entertaining soccer even thought its only a qualifier and entertaining soccer rarely occurs in those, I want to see at least something resembling old school CRO SOCCER!!!!!

[Tommy]

Only thing i slighty disagree on is i would have emerton RB instead of Neil, i dont rate neil at all

I agree i dont rate Neill that highly but he is a better defensively than Emerton and there is no decent replacement for Emerton at RW, who would we put on the right? Ahmad Elrich :wallbang:

Now back to the important WC Qualifiers :bounce:

[Hajduk1911]

Pelikan has'nt been let go by Dinamo, although they are treating him like shit, they wont play him, yet they wont let him go out on loan to another country, which would be much better for him, that club is fucked, its all politics. I hear more then half the squad have'nt been paid at all this year, yet Mamic still wants to fine em.

[Hajduk1911]

Dinamovac11, where r u from??? we could be neighbours!!!!

[dinamovac11]

I live in Endeavour Hills. The shopping centre side if you know what i am on about.

Yeah Dinamo is being run as a dictatorship by Mamic. Abit like this forum.:grin2: I didn't know about players not being payed but it doesn't suprise me.

[Hajduk1911]

Hey, thats where i live!!!!!!! Im just off John Fawkner Drv!!! hows that we're neighbours!!! And as far as the players not getting paid, its a fact, only the so called "star" players have been getting paid.

[dinamovac11]

haha.. I live off of Thomas Mitchell drive, near the school. joj, we are walking distance away. :beer:

[Hajduk1911]

Damn we are real close, thats freaky, i must have seen ya around. Have u seem a car around the hills with license plates " hajduk"?

[dinamovac11]

YES I have seen it!! Jebote, I think we have met before!!!! Have you got a cousin with the initials KP?

And did you ever go to Holmsglen?

[JureM]

haha.. I live off of Thomas Mitchell drive, near the school. joj, we are walking distance away. :beer:


Is he Croatian? Thomas Mitchell that is? :grin:

By the way...my prediction of the game:

Hrvatska 2 Hungary 0....Joe Sakic will score both goals. SO there.

[CroatTommy7]

So this is what it feels like when doves cry :grin: haha just joking guys

[Ljubuski]

I mentioned amber brkich because she is a great piece of ass. :pimp:

P.S One more thing on Joe Sakic, if he isn't Cro, then neither are any one of us born outside Croatia... :irritate: And then why the phuck am I getting ulcers worrying about our NT if I am a "Canadian" like Joe? :ass:

You're right, the ONLY way we're all Hrvati is if we accept and admit the 'ethnic' argument so wonderfully stated by a certain seasoned and well respected poster, making Mr. Da Silva an outsider and an agent of some opportunists in Zagreb.

If he's a Hrvat than we're not. Making this whole thing of ours moot. And we should all be on other forums not this one. No way around this fact and have a nice day.

And by the way....

U boj, U boj, za NAROD SVOJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[markOH]

well, the good news aside from our result is that sweden can't possibly have any more goals to score come wednesday...

[croat hogan]

Austrailia vs. the US in soccer is a no brainer its the US. They have the results while Australia don't, very simple. Do they have better talent than the US the argument could be made. But talent doesn't mean anything talent isn't worth much of anything. And so what Donovan hasn't made it in Europe. Have any Aussie's made any impact in international football other than beating Fiji 20-0, and the rest of the Oceanic countries. Donovan, Beasley, McBride, Berhalter, Reyna, Bocanegra are all very good players.


Good job by our guys today for whoever saw it how did Niko play, and why no Jerko leko

[Licki Macak]

Wow I had no idea this would go this far. But I must admitt the Aussies are producing more players for our NT and for Europe, it still means diddly sh**t cuz the Aussies havent done a thing in the WC, no matter how long the journy is for them.

Im not sure if you guys know the entire Canadian roster{I sure dont lol} but 75% of them play in Europe, not all in 1st Division teams but its still better than playing for the Lynx or even Toronto Croatia in the CPSL.

Now bear with me as I put to rest the question of Joe being Cro.
We all know that he is a Hrvat just by his last name thats a given.

Two years ago Colorado was playing Ottawa and one of the local Cro papers sent a reporter to do an interview with Joe. The reporter made arrangements with the teams PR and he met Joe just as the practice was ending. The interview was going grear when Joe noticed the reporter was in a hurry, so he asked him what the rush was. He said that he left his wife and kid in the car and forgott to leave the keys, they must be freezing by now. Joe quickly along with the reporter went outside to the car and escorted them into the arena. They had a nice long interview while Joe was holding the little boy in his arms, who by this time in awe!!!!

Just as they were finishing up Peter Forsberg{Swede} skated up and Joe shouted to him......Hey Pete look at the next Croatian hockey player, he is from Lika just like me. At the end he signed his stick and jersey and gave it to Marko.

The man has class and he will never forget his Cro roots and neither should any of us.

It shouldnt matter where any of us is born, even if I was born on Mars I would still consider my self a Hrvat.





The ch Cros in the US and Canada put are their own business but that doesnt make them less Hrvati than us.

I remember about 8 years ago during one of the masses at church our priest Father Djuran was traveling through the US around Georgia I believe when he spotted a Marine at a restoran with the name tag Jovanovich. So Father Djuran goes up to him and starts a conversation in Croatian. After talking for a few minutes the Marine politely says a few words in Cro and explains in English that he doesnt speak Hrvatski. He is a 5th generation Cro-American, but is taking Cro classes and wanted to learn perfect Cro so that when he goes back to Dalmacija he can talk to his relatives in Croatian. This guy may be 5th gen but he still calls himself a Hrvat, this is remarkable from a guy who lives in a country where they really dont support ethnicity.

[JureM]

this is remarkable from a guy who lives in a country where they really dont support ethnicity.


Great post up until then because that's not really true. Look at all the "china towns","little Italy's," etc all around the country. Hell, the "Food Network" just did a piece on Kansas City and one of the areas they visited was the old Croatian town where the Croatian tradition of food making is still carried on by the locals even though a lot of the Croatian community has left.

If you visit Pittsburgh for example, you will find 4th, 5th generation Croatians who are proud of their roots and they still carry on many Croatian traditions...in fact, you go there and people all talk about the Croatian workers who used to work in the Mills. If you do visit, ask anyone if they know what a Croatian is or if they know a Croatian-AMerican and they will say of course they do and they themselves maybe just that.

So, I wouldn't go saying what you are saying without knowing the facts...I've lived here all my life and visited many areas of this country and I know very well that ones ethnic background is respected and cherished greatly and encouraged.

You visit NY and they have the 9th Avenue food festival every year where there are foods from all around the world cooked by people that have roots in those countries...you have the Puerto Rican Day Parade, Salute to Israel Parade, Stuben Day Parade (Germans), St. Patrick's Day Parade, Columbus Day Parade (Italians), etc etc....

I'll give you a similar story to yours..I was in Kansas City about 10 years ago late in the year. My friend and I went to watch a Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card playoff game at Arrow Head Stadium. It was a pretty warm day for January and I wore my sweat shirt with "Croatia" and then the grb on it...the guy that parked next to us asked if I was a Croatian and I said I was and he said so was he. He was in the Army stationed in Missouri and was from the Pittsburgh area. We talked and he was a 5th Generation Croatian and he didn't speak a word of Croatian though. WHat did he miss the most though? His mothers Sarma...he said he can't get enough of it..lol.

The point is, that Canada, AUstralia, and the US are very similar when it comes to this kind of stuff but the only difference is that in Canada and Australia most of the Croatians for example, are 1st Generations where their parents were born there and the kids born in Canada or Australia..where in America, depending on where you are, you'll have more 3rd, 4th, or 5th generation Croatians because their great great grandparents came here. With that comes forgetting the language because, well along the way someone married someone who wasn't Croatian..but the interesting thing is they still remember their roots and their background..but, as I mentioned before they are also proud of the country they were born in and that is the US and that is a great thing too.

I went to school and it was never ever discouraged to be proud of your ethnic background...in fact it was encouraged.

[Licki Macak]

Sorry I think I wrote that wrong, I meant to say that the US is more of a melting pot unlike Canada which supports multi ethnicity. Thing is that the Canadian Government supports it and encourages it, now in the US I ddont think its the same. You cant stop people from having their own events. Its stories like these that make us proud of our roots.

I have another story but Im in a hurry to the Cro dance, Mate Bulic is playing :noidea:

[JureM]

Sorry I think I wrote that wrong, I meant to say that the US is more of a melting pot unlike Canada which supports multi ethnicity. Thing is that the Canadian Government supports it and encourages it, now in the US I ddont think its the same. You cant stop people from having their own events. Its stories like these that make us proud of our roots.

I have another story but Im in a hurry to the Cro dance, Mate Bulic is playing :noidea:


Thats cool...enjoy the dance. By the way, does anyone know what happened in the Croatian Tournament this weekend?

Yep, I agree and I think that its great that people who have been 3, 4, 5 or more times removed from their native land still remember and are proud of it.

[Tommy]

Austrailia vs. the US in soccer is a no brainer its the US. They have the results while Australia don't, very simple. Do they have better talent than the US the argument could be made. But talent doesn't mean anything talent isn't worth much of anything. And so what Donovan hasn't made it in Europe. Have any Aussie's made any impact in international football other than beating Fiji 20-0, and the rest of the Oceanic countries. Donovan, Beasley, McBride, Berhalter, Reyna, Bocanegra are all very good players.

So Australia beating France, Brazil, England in London, Scotland in Glasgow, Uruguay in the last 3 years arent impressive results? Australia has a silver and bronze at the confederations cup so its something :cool:

What do the US have to show as good results a lucky win vs Portugal? where if i wasnt for a slack portuguese start and poor finishing u would have lost. 2002 WC was a joke, America drew to a pub side in Korea (didnt they just lose to Maldives), lost to Poland (a very average European side), beat Mexico through a lucky call and some good counter attacking, then lost unluckily i might add to IMO the worst German side i've ever seen who were without 7-8 top players. I expect the USA to finish in 06 around what they did for France 98, 32nd :)

If u put Donovan and Beasley together then maybe u would have a player as good as Harry Kewell! Viduka is miles better than Mcbride, heck even Aloisi and Agostino are better than Mcbride. Reyna is about the same as Skoko, but i would take Skoko due to his long range shooting ability!

Dont just judge Australia on WCQ's, its a bad way to measure how strong a national team is, if we were doing that countries like Korea would be considered better than England, Spain and Portugal :howler:

[JureM]

Not to nitpick here at all because the Aussie NT is pretty good but Tommy, if you are going to put those games as important games that you listed (France, Brazil, England, Scotland, Uruguay) as big victories then you have to put the Portugal win as one for the US and not put it down. It was done in a World Cup Game (regardless of how bad you thought that WC was it was still a WC game). In fact, the USA scored the first 3 goals of the game.

Now, you look at the Aussie results...you mentioned Uruguay. Yes, you did beat them. But, that was in the 2nd leg of the World Cup playoff, which in reality was meaningless because, well, you failed to mention that Australia lost the first leg 3-0.

Once again, we tied Korea in the World Cup in front of a hostile home crowd...it was a tough tie, and if you look at it, Korea was a semi finalist in the World Cup and they beat some pretty good teams along the way to get to the semi-finals. Australia LOST to Korea in 0-1 in 2001.

Also, as bad as you say that German team was, they still were able to get to the Championship game of the WC..no matter how bad you think they may have been, you have to be doing something right to get that far in a major tournament.

For every nice win Australia may have had..they still had games like losing to New Zealand 1-0....then winning games against Tahiti 2-1 and Vanuatu 2-0.

Stats usually don't lie either...looking at the stats:

Kewell....16 games with the Aussie NT 5 goals. that compares favorably to Landon Donovan's 52 games and 16 goals with the US NT...it averages out pretty closely.

You look at Viduka, who has not done much on the International level...25 games, 3 goals...2 goals came back in 1997 and then 3rd came in 2003 against the Irish. Not good at all...

Now you look at Beasley, 36 games and 8 goals with the US NT....McBride, 77 games and 25 goals with the NT...Donovan 52 games 16 goals with the NT.

Anyway, that's that...the US may have finished 32nd in 1998 but that is still better than Australia did that year in the WC isn't it? :respect: :tongue1: :roll:

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Great Counter point Jure! :respect:

[JureM]

Great Counter point Jure! :respect:

I'm scared...I'm turning into Boban_2 and I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing... :roll: :noidea: :clap: :shake: :sun:

We love you B2 :respect:

[Zvonimir]

For every nice win Australia may have had..they still had games like losing to New Zealand 1-0....then winning games against Tahiti 2-1 and Vanuatu 2-0.



I at least hope those game agains Tahti and Vanuatu were on the road and the Aussies were completley hammered before the game... :hmmm:

Sorry and pardon me for being geographically challenged, but where the hell is Vanuatu? :embarass: :stupid: :D

[croat hogan]

Great post up until then because that's not really true. Look at all the "china towns","little Italy's," etc all around the country. Hell, the "Food Network" just did a piece on Kansas City and one of the areas they visited was the old Croatian town where the Croatian tradition of food making is still carried on by the locals even though a lot of the Croatian community has left.

If you visit Pittsburgh for example, you will find 4th, 5th generation Croatians who are proud of their roots and they still carry on many Croatian traditions...in fact, you go there and people all talk about the Croatian workers who used to work in the Mills. If you do visit, ask anyone if they know what a Croatian is or if they know a Croatian-AMerican and they will say of course they do and they themselves maybe just that.

So, I wouldn't go saying what you are saying without knowing the facts...I've lived here all my life and visited many areas of this country and I know very well that ones ethnic background is respected and cherished greatly and encouraged.

You visit NY and they have the 9th Avenue food festival every year where there are foods from all around the world cooked by people that have roots in those countries...you have the Puerto Rican Day Parade, Salute to Israel Parade, Stuben Day Parade (Germans), St. Patrick's Day Parade, Columbus Day Parade (Italians), etc etc....

I'll give you a similar story to yours..I was in Kansas City about 10 years ago late in the year. My friend and I went to watch a Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card playoff game at Arrow Head Stadium. It was a pretty warm day for January and I wore my sweat shirt with "Croatia" and then the grb on it...the guy that parked next to us asked if I was a Croatian and I said I was and he said so was he. He was in the Army stationed in Missouri and was from the Pittsburgh area. We talked and he was a 5th Generation Croatian and he didn't speak a word of Croatian though. WHat did he miss the most though? His mothers Sarma...he said he can't get enough of it..lol.

The point is, that Canada, AUstralia, and the US are very similar when it comes to this kind of stuff but the only difference is that in Canada and Australia most of the Croatians for example, are 1st Generations where their parents were born there and the kids born in Canada or Australia..where in America, depending on where you are, you'll have more 3rd, 4th, or 5th generation Croatians because their great great grandparents came here. With that comes forgetting the language because, well along the way someone married someone who wasn't Croatian..but the interesting thing is they still remember their roots and their background..but, as I mentioned before they are also proud of the country they were born in and that is the US and that is a great thing too.

I went to school and it was never ever discouraged to be proud of your ethnic background...in fact it was encouraged.


I agree I'm always truly amazed how many people come out of the woodwork in the US and are Croatian and know it and are proud of it. We are a huge country with 300 million peole and i'd estimate that many croaitans live here probably more than any other country other than Croatia but because of our immense size in population and land mass the Cro's can become easily unorganized but the cro's in this country have remained very organized and very proud.

I remember my folks went to Houston Texas a few years back and they met this guy who was a southern baptist 60 yrs old. My dad was wearing some Croatian shirt and this guy appoarched him and asked him if he was Croatian. The guy's great grandfather came from Croatia to California during the gold rush in the 1850's . He also explained that he had a grandmother that was croatian from his mothers side who went to missouri. The man's not catholic and doesn't know Croatian but the mad told my dad that he he was going to go to Croatia later in the year to Makarska to see where his great grandfather and grandmother came from. The guy spent the whole day talking to my pop asking him questions about Croatia how is it their. This guy even wrote several letters to Washingotn during the war urging our government to help out croatia. How many full blooded cro's would do that. They actually spent the night out together over dinner talking about Croatia. And i remember my pop when he told me that stpry said this guys not catholic, doesn't have a clue about croatia, doesn't know the language nothing. Yet he's probably more croatian than croatian immigrants here in the US. He desperatley wantsd to visit croatia. This texan had this nostalgia view of croatia. My pop was very touched to meet this guy.

I remember personally i went to st pete's to visit my baba. And i went to blockbuster and i paid for a movie with a credit card and she noticed that my last name ended with an "ic" and she asked me what my ethnicity was and i told her i was croatian. She said i am too and she told me her grandmother came to this country to Ohio and then moved down to Florida but through marriage and other circumstances she never got to know her Croatian heritage so she just asked me about Croatia and our traditions and our culture. She told me that she went to a few of the Cro functions in St. petersburg to find out more about Croatians. (The Cro functions in St. Pete's are entirley consisted of 90yr old cro's its a retirement area.) We spent a good 15 minutes talking about Croatia with this girl who was 20 yrs old.

[JureM]

I at least hope those game agains Tahti and Vanuatu were on the road and the Aussies were completley hammered before the game... :hmmm:

Sorry and pardon me for being geographically challenged, but where the hell is Vanuatu? :embarass: :stupid: :D


:D :D :D

Vanuatu is the place that they are going to hold the next Survivor.


hogan, great story..and it just goes to show how people still know about their backgrounds even though they are so far removed from it. Nice stuff...

[Zvonimir]

:D :D :D

Vanuatu is the place that they are going to hold the next Survivor.


Oh yeah, I remember hearing about it on the commercials...apparently the place had/has? canibals.... :jaw: :bright:

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

hate to nitpick jure :tong: BUT...

we beat uruguay in the FIRST leg and lost to them in the final away leg

and those losses and narrow wins against new zealand, tahiti and vanuatu occured with our D team....the likes of kewell, viduka, bresciano etc. did not play

stats do lie....stats are meaningless and belong in sports like gridiron and hockey :tooth:

viduka might not have scored a remarkable amount of goals at international level (and ill admit that he has a very bad goal scoring record) but he is always in the middle of attacking moves and makes a lot of assists...find the stats for that one! :tong:

and at club level both kewell and viduka would wipe the floor with donovan and mcbride

[Zvonimir]

hate to nitpick jure :tong: BUT...

we beat uruguay in the FIRST leg and lost to them in the final away leg

and those losses and narrow wins against new zealand, tahiti and vanuatu occured with our D team....the likes of kewell, viduka, bresciano etc. did not play



BBB, I hate to nitpick :lala: but...shouldn't your "D" team absolutely slaughter at least Tahiti and Vanutu's "A" team? :drevil: And New Zealand, I think they are good at Rugby and Sheep Shearing but soccer? :confused2

[dinamovac11]

USA have an easy path to the WC and Australia fail when it counts the most. USA wouldn't beat the 5th best Sth American team over two legs either. Didn't USA and Australia play a few years ago?

Based on talent Australia is better but what is the point when they don't play many games together and the coaches are rubbish.

[JureM]

USA have an easy path to the WC and Australia fail when it counts the most. USA wouldn't beat the 5th best Sth American team over two legs either. Didn't USA and Australia play a few years ago?

Based on talent Australia is better but what is the point when they don't play many games together and the coaches are rubbish.


1999...0-0

The US would have no probem with the 5th place South American teams.

[JureM]

Oh yeah, I remember hearing about it on the commercials...apparently the place had/has? canibals.... :jaw: :bright:


They like human flesh....YUCK...no wonder Australia can't get their players to play against them. :respect:

[Tommy]

Jure

You missed my point, i was just answering someone who said Australia hasnt achieved anything in football. I wasnt downplaying the US win all i said was it was more Portugal losing the game(slack defending and poor finishing) then the US winning the game.

The game Australia lost to Korea was the last game in the group stage where Australia had already qualified :Grint: Korea was a joke, how can u justify them as a worthy Semi Finalist after the absolute disgraceful decisions made by the refs vs Italy and Spain. Korea wouldnt have even made the 2nd round if Portugal didnt have 2 players off(again Portuguese imploding themselves :yawn: ) Against Italy it is arguable about the Totti red card, and the runaway chance in golden goal that from memory resulted in a goal that was called back for offside i think when it wasnt, anyway Vieri should have scored the tap in but didnt and they escaped. Against Spain is where I have my beef, 2 CLEAR LEGIT GOALS scored by Spain and disallowed if that isnt fishy i dont know what is!

Germany were lucky, they must have done something right? Well playing Paraguay, USA and Korea would be a poor group let alone a path to the WC Final!

If stats dont lie then Archie Thompson has to be the greatest striker for Australia after scoring 13 goals in an international game :Grint:

USA managed to finish 32nd but at least Australia didnt lose to Iran :winkg:
As for the US beating 5th placed SA side? Brazil up to the last matchday of the last campaign were a real chance of finishing 5th and ended up 4th i think, so u cant say South America is easy as they have at least 6-7 good teams that are good enough to play in the WC and of much better quality than El Salvador and Canada :winkg:

[Licki Macak]

Chicago won the tournament!!! And the dance was great, Bulic and Tiho sang up a storm, Bulic sang a lot of Ustase songs!!!!

[CroatTommy7]

Love the arguements but at least Canada made the W/C in 86 unlike Australia so who's better now? LOL just joking, but hey if you wanna go by pure stats then I have a point. Who cares I would take another great showing by Croatian in a World Cup or a Euro over Canada anytime hands down. :cool1: :laugh2:

[Licki Macak]

Same here, Jebe mi se za Kanadu,Ameriku i Australiju. When it comes to soccer there is only 1 team I cheer for.....and that is HRVATSKA...............and NK Zagreb sometimes lol :bouncing:

[CroatTommy7]

"Same here, Jebe mi se za Kanadu"

Tako je, jer se Kanada ne jebe za mene ;) I can respect it but never LOVE IT the way I do Croatia and our(Croatian) National Soccer team.

[Cro Power]

Regards to ya all...

majstor's still in Croatia 'n kickin'...


LONG LIVE OUR HOMELAND, :wave:

[croguy]

MAJSTOR!!!!

hes back, he will atttack, and you dont want that!!!

[Ljubuski]

LOL...

Cheers Majstoooooooooooooreeeeeee!!!!

[Licki Macak]

Where in Cro are you? Im presently in Makarska myself, having a fantastic time!!!

[Zvonimir]

Croatia up to old tricks
9 September 2004
by FIFAworldcup.com


Those who remember Croatia’s stunning run to the semi-finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup France™ are understandibly wary of taking the cagey Eastern European side lightly. But, after falling at the group hurdle in 2002, despite a victory over Italy, and at the European Championship earlier this year, the assumption was that the former Yugoslav Republic was on the wane.
After all, the country is made up of just four-and-a-half million people and new coach Zlatko Kranjcar was a long-serving player but has little by way of top-level coaching experience. However, 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying has gotten off to a perfect start for the Croats -- a 3-0 home victory over Hungary over the weekend gave way to a scrappy, impressive 1-0 away win over consistent Sweden in Gothenburg.

And while the hosts realistically felt aggrieved not to have taken at least a point from the contest, Croatia’s performance Wednesday night was just the kind gutsy, tactically adroit performance that could make the side a dark horse for Germany 2006 glory.

Guile and strength
While Kranjcar was a somewhat unlikely successor to former boss Otto Baric - many tipped former Slovenian manager Srecko Katanec for the position - the 47-year-old had an ace up his sleeve given that his son, 20-year-old playmaker Niko, is considered the future of Croatian football. And, while Baric was hesitant to give the wunderkind a run-out, father knows best and Niko has not only won his first international cap but proven to be a missing link in attacking midfield.

The hero of the testy encounter against Sweden though was Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Darijo Srna who curled an unstoppable free-kick into the bottom left of Andreas Isaksson’s net from 25 metres out. It was just the sort of flash of brilliance that made the Croats such a danger at France 98 and makes them such a frustrating opponent to compete against.
Maddening in terms of gamesmanship sometimes as well, the visitors racked up four cautions in the last 20 minutes of the Sweden match as they stood their ground in the hostile environs. The conflict erupted in full force in the 85th minute when Croatia’s Josip Simunic, Sweden’s Mattias Jonson and a host of others on both teams got into a shoving match. The players were fortunate that red was not shown.

The victory in Sweden is a notice to Europe that the always skilled Croats have not lost their hard touch or their will to win at any cost. In what looks a remarkably balanced Group 8 in European Zone qualifying, Croatia will need all of that guile and strength to prevail. They currently sit top of the table with six points from two matches, four goals scored and none against. Former FIFA World Cup semi-finalists all, Sweden, Bulgaria, and Hungary are on three points. A so far disappointing Iceland are stuck on zero points with group minnows Malta.

Croatia get their Germany 2006 qualifying back underway on 9 October with a stern home test against Hristo Stoichkov’s suddenly confident Bulgaria in Zagreb.



:clap:

[croguy]

great article Zvonimir!!!!

[Tvrtko]

very good article, except one thing bothers me. "Croatia is a dark horse" yet again. In every tournament we've been in. We are referred to as a dark horse! Wake up world Croatia will allways have a solid team, we deserve respect.

[JureM]

The only thing that bothers me is:

"the assumption was that the former Yugoslav Republic was on the wane."

I would think by now we've been independent long enough from that jail that they can call us Croatia without using those 3 words.

[CroatTommy7]

Exactly Jure its been 13 years and counting since our decleration of INDEPENDANCE! and 9 years since we totaly rid ourselves of the jna and other occupiers of our country. No need for them to call us a former yugoslav republic. No disrespect but we are not Macedonia :winkg:

[JureM]

Yep, you never hear Canada, the USA, or Australia being called "the former British Colonies" nor to you ever hear the Czech Republic or SLovakia being called the former Czechoslovakia or Ukraine, Latvia, Lituania, Estonia, etc being called the former Soviet republic. They are just called by their given names, its about time they do that to us too.

[coreuptrec]

Yep, you never hear Canada, the USA, or Australia being called "the former British Colonies" nor to you ever hear the Czech Republic or SLovakia being called the former Czechoslovakia or Ukraine, Latvia, Lituania, Estonia, etc being called the former Soviet republic. They are just called by their given names, its about time they do that to us too.

not trying to start an argument because I agree with you but I do hear former soviet republic a lot in regards to Lativa, the Ukraine, Belarus when it comes to hockey...maybe its just are crazy Canada hockey media

[Zvonimir]

Croatia hit the ground running
Friday, 10 September 2004
By Elvir Islamovic


The road to the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals is a long one, but after fine wins in their opening two Group 8 games, new Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar's side are a step closer than most to booking their hotels in Germany.

Successive wins
A 3-0 win at home against ten-man Hungary at the weekend represented a promising, if hardly remarkable, start to Kranjcar's tenure after taking over from Otto Baric after UEFA EURO 2004™, but it was a 1-0 away win against Sweden in Gothenburg that really set pulses racing.


'Superb victory'
A magnificent free-kick from Darijo Srna capped a determined performance from a new-look Croatia side in Gothenburg. "We respected Sweden, but we succesfully stopped them dominating on the pitch and got our goal," said Kranjcar. "This is a superb victory."

Midfield mastery
It was Kranjcar's team selection and tactics over the course of the two games that really gave Croatia hope. The new coach has finally found the men to fill the big gaps in midfield left by the retirement of Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki and Aljoša Asanovic.


Boban approval
Hungary may have been reduced to ten men within 13 minutes of kick-off in Croatia's first game, but it was still clear that wingers Marko Babic and Srna had given the team an extra dimension. "Croatia played much faster than before, with more battling and creativity," said Boban.

Kranjcar pleased
"We showed how we have to play," added Kranjcar, whose son - midfield player Niko - was another significant addition to the first team. "Fast, effective, with good passes and goal-scoring. A start like this has created a good atmosphere and given us a lot of confidence."

Son shines
"The whole team is excellent and I enjoy playing with them," added Niko Kranjcar, the NK Dinamo Zagreb captain. "I felt a lot of pressure before the match against Hungary, but after I went out on the pitch the pressure was gone. I wanted to prove that I belonged in the national team."

Solid defending
The midfield showed another kind of effectiveness in Gothenburg as they helped smother a Sweden side who had scored seven goals in their opening qualifier in Malta, but it was the Croatian defence - marshalled imperiously by Igor Tudor - that truly impressed.

Collective effort
"We didn't concede a goal," said defender Josip Šimunic. "That was proof that the team is working well. We defenders couldn't have done the job without help from midfield and attack, so the whole team did an excellent job. We've made a great start but must keep our feet on the ground."

In reserve
Aside from Niko Kranjcar, Croatia have plenty of other midfield players eager for action, and in Jurica Vranješ, Ivan Leko, Ivica Banovic, Danijel Pranjic and Hrvoje Šafaric, the coach has unearthed a fine group to complement Croatia's strengths in defence and attack.

Winning start
The last time Croatia started a campaign with two wins was ten years ago in the qualifiers for EURO '96™. On that occasion they went on to win their first four games, qualifying for the finals in England. With games against Bulgaria, Iceland and Malta still to come, Croatia will not be counting their chickens just yet, but Croatian Football Federation (HNS) president Vlatko Markovic has plenty to smile about.

Presidential approval
"We have had great success thanks to brave and intelligent play and brilliant moves by our great tactician, Zlatko Kranjcar," beamed Markovic. The HNS will not be booking hotels in Germany yet, but it may have found a coach to take Croatia there.



Sweet. When Boban approves, you know we are legit! :beer:

[Tvrtko]

who will win our group?

of course Croatia! We have the right players to do it! Just wait, when our guys in mid get going, like we all know they can. Croatia will be a force. New coach, back to attcking style........playing the game the way its supposed to be played. This team has me excited!

ps- cant wait for the next test vs Bulgaria! if we win vs them, its the real deal!

cheers! :clap:

[Cevapcici Kid]

Howdy im new here, although i have been reading your posts.

I have a question. Were can i see the games we play ? As in the WC qualifiers. I live in melbourne.

Sunshine??

Is it on any TV ??

[BOban_2]

welcome cevapcici...cool name :D :happier:

[JureM]

welcome cevapcici...cool name :D :happier:


It's much better than Dinamovac11 isn't it??? :rotfl2:

[Cevapcici Kid]

Its is good to finally see Balaban in the team.

I believe he should have been put in the last WC team. He could have shown some potential to the world and maybe been picked up by a good club and grown from there...... but good to see him in and looking like he will have some time on the pitch

[Licki Macak]

Hey Cevapcici welcome to the forum, well I imagine you can see the games at the Bat Cave or Dom. Thats where I saw some games when I was visiting Mel a few years ago.

P.S. I have a friends in Sunshine Rob J and Rob K. ever heard of them?

[Cevapcici Kid]

Thats what i thought, i was hoping it would be somewhere on normal t.v. somehow. The names do not ring a bell. I used to live in Keilor(next to sunshine) when i was a young kid but moved to the other side of melbourne about ten years ago.

I need to get a satellite dish to pick up HTV.

[dinamovac11]

South Eastern suburbs?

The game will probably be on CROSAT but I am not so sure it will be at the bat cave? You might want to check because I don't think the last few games have been shown there.

[JureM]

I though only 5 people lived in Melbourne? :fingergr:

[Cevapcici Kid]

Templestowe. i think thats eastern.

I will check with the shish-mish cave.

Even if five people only live in melbourne JureM I believe those five should be able to watch the game!! :happier: :happier: :happier:

[Cevapcici Kid]

I live in templestowe, so i think thats eastern??

I will check with the bat cave.

And am i taking this the wrong way or are you giving me shit Mr JureM?

Or are you giving someone else shit?

Even if there was two and a half people living in melbourne they should be able to view the matches. :scream:

Ignore this if im totally off track. :thumbup2:

[JureM]

And am i taking this the wrong way or are you giving me shit Mr JureM?

Or are you giving someone else shit?

Even if there was two and a half people living in melbourne they should be able to view the matches. :scream:

Ignore this if im totally off track. :thumbup2:

I'm just busting your chops...though I never thought that TV has made it as far as Melbourne. I thought you guys still get all your info via morse code. :tongue:

[Cevapcici Kid]

Ahh now i understand.

Yeah its like that im still scraping my knuckles along the ground while walking

We are technologically not all there.

Well not compared to the buzz and hype of new york..

But sometimes that could be a good thing

[xerx]

Berbatov and Bojinov - we expect goals from you!! :rotfl2:

[Blue_Hell]

Berbatov and Bojinov - we expect goals from you!! :rotfl2:
u know we will win :rocker2:

[Zvonimir]

I read that Larsson of Sweden tore his ACL verse Real on Saturday and could be out the rest of the year...

Could have some big implications for our qualifying group...

[xerx]

I read that Larsson of Sweden tore his ACL verse Real on Saturday and could be out the rest of the year...

Could have some big implications for our qualifying group...

i wish the same to Ibrahimovic :angel:

[BOban_2]

after they are done with you :D

[Zvonimir]

:D :grin2:

[xerx]

Ukraine won again 2-0 in Tirana. well....... the concept that two teams out of EU champions Greece, 3rd-in-the-world Turkey and regular contestants Denmark will be screwed AMUSES ME :devil3:

[CroatTommy7]

I wish for Ukraine to make it to Germany 2006 as well. We have never had the chance to see Shevchenko play in a major international tournament(thanks to us in W/C 98 qualifiers haha...BOKSIC). His style of play really reminds me of Suker(perhaps even better for club team) and I think given 1 chance at a major tournament with a decent squad behind him he would win the golden boot. Go Ukrajina :grin:

[Ljubuski]

I wish for Ukraine to make it to Germany 2006 as well. We have never had the chance to see Shevchenko play in a major international tournament(thanks to us in W/C 98 qualifiers haha...BOKSIC). His style of play really reminds me of Suker(perhaps even better for club team) and I think given 1 chance at a major tournament with a decent squad behind him he would win the golden boot. Go Ukrajina :grin:

I think it would be better to wait until Andriy finishes his career first before we start comparing him to Suker.

Both are great, but the golden boot depends as much on the midfielders who are providing as the strikers who are finishing. And though the Suker-Shevchenko comparison can be made, making one between the two mids that would provide either Suker and Shevchenko would be an utter waste of time.

Cheers

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

thats true ljubo...but look at shevas international scoring record...even with a weaker midfield its not much worse than suker's

sheva has the ability to tear defences apart on his own...i dont think a golden boot at a WC would be out of his reach

ukraine have a solid team

[Zvonimir]

A little excerpt from our obviously still peeved little Swedish friends.(remember what poor losers they were when we went there for the 1-0 win..damn Swedes :explode: )

uefa.com: How do you rate Sweden's chances for the 2006 FIFA World Cup?

Larsson: First of all we have to get there! We have a very tough group and we had a bad start with a blip against Croatia. They only had one shot and that went in. Now we have to do it the hard way. But I have noticed teams respect us more after UEFA EURO 2004™, and have analysed our game and worked out how to play against us.

Exactly how many shots did they have? I remember one shot by him...the rest nothing...oh well, heres hoping the swedes get third in the group and that they suffer another "blip" when they come to Zagreb... :clap:

hey Larrson, break a leg! :winkg:

[CroatTommy7]

Only 3 more weeks roughly till the important games against Iceland and Malta take place. I can't wait. When is Kranjcar naming the squad he plans to use for those 2 games? usualy its done like 2 weeks in advance right?

[Zvonimir]

Only 3 more weeks roughly till the important games against Iceland and Malta take place. I can't wait. When is Kranjcar naming the squad he plans to use for those 2 games? usualy its done like 2 weeks in advance right?

should be soon...

I am getting nervous already about the Icelanders...on paper we should get the 3 points..but until we have the game is over, I will be a nervous wreck... :coffee:

[CroatTommy7]

Ya Iceland will be tough but I think on the road they aren't maybe as good as they are at home. Which makes me even more nervous for our return game with them on thier turf(thats going to be the tricky one I think for all 3, Sweden, Bulgaria and us). I wanna see what Klasnic and Prso can do if Ivan Leko is starting in place of Vranjes in midfield. :frog2:

[bibi]

You should be getting the squad for the Iceland and Malta games
today (we play the same dates and Stoichkov is naming the BG squad
today).

As for Iceland, you alone will have the "pleasure" to play there
this year (BG and SWE have played there already!)

Be happy! :blues: :blues: :blues:

BBB

[CroatTommy7]

Well it looks like you were right BiBi, Kranjcar named the team that will play against Iceland and Malta, today. www.sportnet.hr is where I found out, it's all the usual characters but I'm really dissappointed in the fact that Rapajic isn't in the squad :nono: and neither is Goran Sablic, but we'll see what happens and if Kranjcar's tactics are correct....they better be lol

[ganja]

Don’t mean to complain or tell you what you should and shouldn’t do, but am I the only one who gets seasick from all the animated gifs in the forum, and am I the only one who feels like somebody’s following me when I see the same image (Prso or other) over, and over, and over again?

I must be getting old and paranoid.

[CroatTommy7]

Sorry dude but I'm not taking down my Prso sig, I think it's great and has every right being up here in this cro football related forum :rock3: If it's too large or whatever and other people agree with it then I will surely make it smaller, but otherwise Starcevic and Prso stay up :cool:

[kezele]

i like how seric is on the roster. can't friggin wait!!!!!!

ps> tommy, don't remove the sig pic. prso is the man, and the more i see him on one page the happier i am. :rocker:

[CroatTommy7]

tommy, don't remove the sig pic. prso is the man, and the more i see him on one page the happier i am

Damn Right! I agree ;)

I don't mind the fact that Seric was called up since we will be missing Babic for the Iceland game but I am wondering why were both him and Pranjic called up and not Rapajic for at least one of them? From what I know Seric is a left back(more defensive minded but can push up if really needed) and the same sort of goes for Pranjic(maybe a little more offensive minded) but if Iceland is playing the bunker against us we will need a more offensive minded left midfielder and thats where Rapajic would fit in perfectly I think. Ah well can't wait for the games.

[ganja]

No, no, don't go changing because of what I said.
I only wanted someone to say

"Yeah, I get seasick to, and I feel followed to, it's not just you"

I guess I am indeed old and paranoid then.

[xerx]

how old is Rapajic, isn't it time he thought about retirement soon? :confused2

Guys, come to the BG thread tell us wat u think about Bulgaria's matches vs SWE and HUN this month
http://www.finalfootball.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

[Hrv]

I think the wide players look good. There is the choice of Babic, Seric and Pranjic on the left as well as Srna and Bosnjak on the right. I`m beginning to wonder if I am a secret Dinamo fan as I wouldn`t mind seeing both Pranjic (Babic is good but hasn`t got the pace to beat a player like Pranjic) and Bosnjak on the wings.

Why is Tomas in the squad and not Sablic?

[Ljubuski]

I think the wide players look good. There is the choice of Babic, Seric and Pranjic on the left as well as Srna and Bosnjak on the right. I`m beginning to wonder if I am a secret Dinamo fan as I wouldn`t mind seeing both Pranjic (Babic is good but hasn`t got the pace to beat a player like Pranjic) and Bosnjak on the wings.

Why is Tomas in the squad and not Sablic?

I still prefer Babic and Srna for now. I love how Babic can deliver the ball and Srna is perhaps our best player.

About Tomas, why he's still playing professinal football is one of life's great questions.

I can see us picking up maximum points but it will not be easy. These types of games really test the character of the squad and the preparation capabilities of the management team.

Guys, isn't nice to see a nearly perfect call-up sheet? Gone are the days of madness.

Cheers

[CroatTommy7]

Guys, isn't nice to see a nearly perfect call-up sheet? Gone are the days of madness

Very true, we can nit pick about certain decisions but for the most part things look organized and normal at least, but anyone coming in after Baric would look good, Kranjcar has to qualify us first and then we can sing his praises...but it's still a positive thing which he has going here, for now.

As for Tomas I believe in a back 3 line he would be a fine substitute but never a starter if we have guys such as R.Kovac-Simunic-Tudor(when ready) available. I would ask myself why Vranjes is always starting as well as N.Kranjcar.

[Ljubuski]

Very true, we can nit pick about certain decisions but for the most part things look organized and normal at least, but anyone coming in after Baric would look good, Kranjcar has to qualify us first and then we can sing his praises...but it's still a positive thing which he has going here, for now.

As for Tomas I believe in a back 3 line he would be a fine substitute but never a starter if we have guys such as R.Kovac-Simunic-Tudor(when ready) available. I would ask myself why Vranjes is always starting as well as N.Kranjcar.

Oh, I hear ya, we shouldn't sing his praises until we qualify and the blunder against Bulgaria was royal.

But at least he admitted to the mistake and said he'd learn from it. Furthermore he actually picked a sane lineup which is laden with youthful players.

This is about all anyone could ask from a coach, at any level. It's nice to see, that's all I'm saying.

We shouldn't have to suffer through so much stress, and post infuriating messages over the coach's assinine coaching decisions and idiotic quotes. The best coach is the one you don't see.

I still stand by what I said. Most of us here would do a better job than some of the 'professional coaches' we've had.

Cheers

[CroatTommy7]

But at least he admitted to the mistake and said he'd learn from it. Furthermore he actually picked a sane lineup which is laden with youthful players.

I agree, well said.

[Zvonimir]

Maximum points expected from Croatia


ZAGREB, March 14 (Reuters) - Confident Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar expects his team to take a maximum six points from their World Cup qualifiers against Iceland and Malta in Zagreb on March 26 and 30.
'I expect my team to win both games,' Kranjcar told a news conference called to announce his squad for the European zone Group Eight games.


However, he warned that the task would not be easy, particularly against Iceland.

'Iceland's results so far have not been good, but they were really outplayed only once, against Sweden at home,' Kranjcar said.

He picked out Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen and Bochum midfielder Thordur Gudjonsson as Iceland's most dangerous players.

Croatia are third in the group with seven points from three games, the same tally as Bulgaria. Sweden top the group on nine points from four games.

Hungary lie fourth on six points from four games while Iceland and Malta have only one point each at the bottom.

Goalkeepers: Tomislav Butina (Club Bruges), Joseph Didulica (Austria Vienna)

Defenders: Igor Tudor (Siena), Mario Tokic (Graz AK), Stjepan Tomas (Galatasaray), Robert Kovac (Bayern Munich), Josip Simunic (Hertha)

Midfielders: Ivan Leko (Hajduk Split), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ivan Bosnjak (Dinamo Zagreb), Anthony Seric (Lazio), Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen), Danijel Pranjic (Dinamo Zagreb), Niko Kovac (Hertha), Jurica Vranjes (Stuttgart), Jerko Leko (Dynamo Kiev), Niko Kranjcar (Hajduk Split)

Forwards: Dado Prso (Rangers), Ivan Klasnic (Werder), Ivica Olic (CSKA Moscow), Eduardo Da Silva (Dinamo Zagreb)

[Ljubuski]

2006: Hrvatska - Island 18h
Dodao: NH - Subota, Ožuljak 26, 2005 - 10:41:02 ::71
U kvalifikacijskom susretu za SP2006 danas u Maksimiru naši dočekuju Islanđane. Iako nam nedostaju neki igrači (R.Kovač, Babi&#263 očekujemo nova tri boda.
Izbornik Zlatko Kranjčar odlučio se za ovih 11 igrača:

Butina - Tomas, Tudor, Šimunić - Darijo Srna, Kranjčar, Ivan Leko, Niko Kovač, Šerić - Pršo, Klasnić

--------------------

Looks like a strong lineup even with Tomas on board, whom I grudgingly admit was always strong in the air, which is what we'll need today.

Having Seric on the flank is a bonus as well as Srna with him. Prso, Klasnic up front-there's simply no excuses if we don't win today.

I'm not calling for a major 5-goal destruction but 3 points and nothing less.

Posted this on another thread but oh well...

Cheers

ps. Why don't we call 'Island' Ledska?

[kezele]

i'm very happy about that starting lineup...

just to jog my memory, kovac and babic are out because of yellow cards right???????

[coreuptrec]

babic and kovac are out on the cards

[CroatTommy7]

Tough break to the Bulgarians today, but they were missing 5 starters so this game shouldn't be seen as the barometer for their abilties(as we saw what they can do in Zagreb). I still think the deciding game will be between us and Bulgaria in Sofia, which I can't wait for(in June I believe)

[Ljubuski]

Tough break to the Bulgarians today, but they were missing 5 starters so this game shouldn't be seen as the barometer for their abilties(as we saw what they can do in Zagreb). I still think the deciding game will be between us and Bulgaria in Sofia, which I can't wait for(in June I believe)

Today's disaster in Sofia made their comeback in Zagreb all the more important. Had they dropped the 3 in Zagreb then we'd be talking group over for them. But you're right they're dangerous and they spanked us big time in Sofia before and can do it again.

Cheers

[JureM]

Ljubo hit it spot on..had we taken that 3 points from them in Zagreb, they'd pretty much be dead in the water right now with us and Sweden playing for the top spot. Now, you have to worry a bit because the game in Sofia is in June and they will probably be healthy. Shows how important those lost points could be.

But, no matter how you look at it, we control our own destiny and as a team, that is all you can ask for.

[croat hogan]

I thought the 3-0 sweden win was a positive result for us.

If Bulgaria defeats us, and the Swedes beat bulgaria.
That would still mean the Croatia Sweden winner in Croatia would move on to Germany. (barring any upsets)



Hopefully the Bulgarians will drop points against Hungary on Wednesday, if that happens i think the bulgarians won't get the top spot.

[CroatTommy7]

I want revenge against the Bulgarians thats why I see the game between us as the deciding one, it might not be points wise, but its for personal pride. I want to see their best vs. our best and may the better team win. None of this calculation dodging the opponent stuff, we beat Sweden(away) we can also beat Bulgaria and take top spot in the group prouldy then :rock3:

[Ljubuski]

I want revenge against the Bulgarians thats why I see the game between us as the deciding one, it might not be points wise, but its for personal pride. I want to see their best vs. our best and may the better team win. None of this calculation dodging the opponent stuff, we beat Sweden(away) we can also beat Bulgaria and take top spot in the group prouldy then :rock3:

Thing is they seem to have the same sort of number on us as the Swedes have on them.

Actually a footballing love triangle. Bugari-Hrvati-Swedes.

I just hope we come out 'on top'.

Cheers

[croat hogan]

Anyone watch the Israel France game?

Great watching the French screw up.

[Ljubuski]

Anyone watch the Israel France game?

Great watching the French screw up.

Overrated side, even back in '98, they just happened to have the best player in the world on their side.

Not surprised, they didn't even score a goal in '02.

This team couldn't shine Platini's shoes, or tie their laces.

In fact, all the footballers back then were superior.

Cheers

[xerx]

Dane Kim Milton Nielsen will be the referee of Bulgaria - Hrvatska. my impression from this guy is that he seldom makes mistakes, but when he does they are disastrous (e.g. the 1/8 final in 1998 England - Argentina).

Ico Stoitchkov invited Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Begiristein, as well. in front of them, he will make the boys give the best of themselves. can't wait till June. :frog1:

[Jesper]

uh oh... same guy who let Trezeguet scored the 2-2 goal in Croatia-France after he stopped the ball with his hand. same guy who missed to see two clear FCKpenalties in the danish championshiprace-game againts Brondby in 2002...though everybody else could see it...the game ended 1-1 and Brondby become champions instead :pchate:

guys.. you have your hands full allready.

[Cevapcici Kid]

Dont worry Jesper! I have confidence in our boys. Especially since Biscan will be back for that game!!! :Grint:

[xerx]

40,000 tickets for the Bulgaria - Hrvatska game are being printed and prepared to be available to the open public in Bulgaria on May 25. Prices are 10 levs (5 Euro) for Sector A, 8 levs for Sector V, 4 levs for Sectors B & G. organizers are concerned that tickets won't be enough to meet the expected huge demand. :beer:

[Cevapcici Kid]

Hey guys a question; In the qualifying groups, the first three have seven nations, and the other five have six. Now is that fair? would it not be harder for them to qualify. I mean those groups dont have the best teams in them but still, for the sake of a fair chance to all you'd think it would be the same amount in each group...

What is FIFA's motto ?... Something about Fair play or something :nono: :laugh2:

[Ero]

It's a matter of number of countries trying to qualify...it's gotta be uneven.

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

Hey guys a question; In the qualifying groups, the first three have seven nations, and the other five have six. Now is that fair? would it not be harder for them to qualify. I mean those groups dont have the best teams in them but still, for the sake of a fair chance to all you'd think it would be the same amount in each group...

What is FIFA's motto ?... Something about Fair play or something :nono: :laugh2:

what do u suggest they do?

create new nations?

[Cevapcici Kid]

Yeah i reckon we should create new nations :confused2 .... One should be called "Baric-ia" it will be the nation that wont be successful at any tournaments.

I would suggest that when it comes to the final groups to qualify for the WC, that they make the groups even. Hold some sort of thing to qualify for this stage, so that every group from this stage forward would be even.
Im not sure how it is that the teams get to this stage but i find it odd that three groups are seven deep and five are six deep. That means the people in the groups of seven are having it harder to get there, ie; more games, less chance because of more teams.


Thats what i suggest. Does it sound reasonable or stupid?

[BaD^bLu^BoY]

i dont think it disadvantages them at all...

because the extra teams are more often than not just "also rans" like san marino and azerbaijan (unless you are a certain team, then theyre world class :winkg: )

[JureM]

Baric-ia would be a small country who's national team will ironically be coached by a man named Otto. This small nation will have a NT that has players as talented as Maradona up front, Zidane in the midfield, Beckenbaur in the back, and Peter Schmieckel in goal....all of the starting 11 will have that type of talent. Yet, this coach, named Otto, won't play them, rather, he will have players that would have the talent equivellent of 2nd division players from the Isles of Fiji. This team, will play a pure bunker defense and their goalie will be nothing more than cannon fodder. Yet, somehow they move on and qualify...even though their coach "Otto" will say talent wise they are the worst team in the world and that this is the best team that he can field, regardless of the fact they literally have the best talent in the world.

[Zvonimir]

i dont think it disadvantages them at all...

because the extra teams are more often than not just "also rans" like san marino and azerbaijan (unless you are a certain team, then theyre world class :winkg: )

:howler2: :grin2:

[Ero]

what do u suggest they do?

create new nations?

NDD? Nezavisna Drzava Dalmacija has been mentioned by a few "Croatian" people I know...

[Cevapcici Kid]

Baric-ia would be a small country who's national team will ironically be coached by a man named Otto. This small nation will have a NT that has players as talented as Maradona up front, Zidane in the midfield, Beckenbaur in the back, and Peter Schmieckel in goal....all of the starting 11 will have that type of talent. Yet, this coach, named Otto, won't play them, rather, he will have players that would have the talent equivellent of 2nd division players from the Isles of Fiji. This team, will play a pure bunker defense and their goalie will be nothing more than cannon fodder. Yet, somehow they move on and qualify...even though their coach "Otto" will say talent wise they are the worst team in the world and that this is the best team that he can field, regardless of the fact they literally have the best talent in the world.

LOL

Yes that is the Baric-ia that i speak of!

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Hey guys a question; In the qualifying groups, the first three have seven nations, and the other five have six. Now is that fair? would it not be harder for them to qualify. I mean those groups dont have the best teams in them but still, for the sake of a fair chance to all you'd think it would be the same amount in each group...

What is FIFA's motto ?... Something about Fair play or something :nono: :laugh2:
It dosen't make a big difference most of the time but a team can come in 3rd because of the extra team so in that way it is unfair,if you can find a different way to fix this problem then tell me I would be interested at knowing (not taking a shot at you)

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Oh disregard the last part of my last post.

Baric-ia HAHAHAHHAH! :blues: (you don't get this smilie in XT!)

[Cevapcici Kid]

It dosen't make a big difference most of the time but a team can come in 3rd because of the extra team so in that way it is unfair,if you can find a different way to fix this problem then tell me I would be interested at knowing (not taking a shot at you)

Yeah i dont know the process of how the teams get here and all that but i think they(FIFA)could, if they wanted too, figure something out so its even

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Hey guys a question; In the qualifying groups, the first three have seven nations, and the other five have six. Now is that fair? would it not be harder for them to qualify. I mean those groups dont have the best teams in them but still, for the sake of a fair chance to all you'd think it would be the same amount in each group...

What is FIFA's motto ?... Something about Fair play or something :nono: :laugh2:
Now that I think about it the second place team has an advantage over the other second place teams in regards of the rule that the two second-place teams with the best records qualify automatically the advantage comes with the extra two games the team gets which is usually an easy 6 points and 2 victories. Eventhough we are in a 6 team group we might qualify automatically even if we lose to Sweden in October. This win was huge today.

[Ljubuski]

Now that I think about it the second place team has an advantage over the other second place teams in regards of the rule that the two second-place teams with the best records qualify automatically the advantage comes with the extra two games the team gets which is usually an easy 6 points and 2 victories. Eventhough we are in a 6 team group we might qualify automatically even if we lose to Sweden in October. This win was huge today.

Once more, couldn't agree more.

I was pointing this out to some friends that this win more or less vaults us to the point that the game against Sweden might just prove to be worthless anyhow.

HH, is on fire today!!

Cheers

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Once more, couldn't agree more.

I was pointing this out to some friends that this win more or less vaults us to the point that the game against Sweden might just prove to be worthless anyhow.

HH, is on fire today!!

Cheers
Thank you, Thank you.

But man I must say you're on fire every time you post :respect:

BTW the most important match might just be our last match with Hungary can't slip up the points there, I'm not worried about Iceland and Malta, though.

[Ljubuski]

Thank you, Thank you.

But man I must say you're on fire every time you post :respect:

BTW the most important match might just be our last match with Hungary can't slip up the points there, I'm not worried about Iceland and Malta, though.

Thanks buddy, that meant alot.

Cheers and God Bless and let's hope for some good times in the rest of the campaign.

[croat hogan]

Anybody heard about what happened to the Bosnians today.

They were up 1-0 in the 88th and then got 2 red cards in the 88th and 90th minute. Then the ref added 9 minutes of extra time. Spain ties it up. Gulpi Uefa, real govno as some would say.

I'm not much into conspiracies at all but come on. I' haven't seen a game all year with this much stoppage time and i haven't seen two players get thrown out in the final 2 minutes (Other than Zadar). Bullsh"t i'm so pissed i'm going to write a letter to Uefa.

[Zvonimir]

too bad for the bosnians...but a double whammy, it helps the montenegrins as spain blows 2 points...

Great to see the greeks lose though! :tooth:

[croat hogan]

too bad for the bosnians...but a double whammy, it helps the montenegrins as spain blows 2 points...

Great to see the greeks lose though! :tooth:


Always good to see them lose thats for sure. And congrats to Ukraine nice to see them finally make a major tournament.


Keep an eye on the group with the Czechs and Dutch Group 1 i believe.
And the group with England and Poland. Along with us those will be the teams fighting it out for that second spot automatic qualifiaction. So root for some of those guys to lose!

[Jesper]

Great to see the greeks lose though! :tooth:

Certainly agree. If they have to create a match they always fail. They can only defend with 10 players and hope for a lucky goal in the other end. But they seem to lose this luck ( mixed with some good organisation - I admit that), wich made them european champs last year. Hopefully we can beat them in Copenhagen next time and throw them away from a place - the world cup - where they dont belong to.....and this time it will be our turn to have some lucky penalties ...

[JureM]

. Along with us those will be the teams fighting it out for that second spot automatic qualifiaction.

Who says we're going to finish in second place? :nono: :tooth:

[robin]

Now that's positive confidence Jure!! :thumbup2:

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

So that's what it was I was following the game and after I found out about the first card I was wondering why the game wouldn't end then finally it ended and Spain scored. 9 minutes? LUDICROUS.

[croat hogan]

Who says we're going to finish in second place? :nono: :tooth:


Listen we still are Croatian! And that laziness and over confidence gene could kick in any minute with the NT. Just covering all bases.


About our group. Is anyone else suprised that our group has basically a two team race now. I thought Bulgaria, Hungary and Icleand would be better than they are. I mean they've all except for Bulgaria have been poor throught the group i expected a tighter race than what we have now.


What's our firendly schedule for the summer? Is Australia set and i heard the Brazil friendly was canceled? Any truth?

[JureM]

Listen we still are Croatian! And that laziness and over confidence gene could kick in any minute with the NT. Just covering all bases.


Bwahahaha...the NT doesn't have that many Croatian from Dalmacija. :shake:


I'm surprised that it looks to be a 2 team race for first..but, I thought it was going to be a 3 team race between us, Sweden, and Bulgaria...I didn't think much of the other 3 teams though, if there was any team that could have pulled off and upset I thought it would be Iceland.

[Ljubuski]

Bwahahaha...the NT doesn't have that many Croatian from Dalmacija. :shake:


I'm surprised that it looks to be a 2 team race for first..but, I thought it was going to be a 3 team race between us, Sweden, and Bulgaria...I didn't think much of the other 3 teams though, if there was any team that could have pulled off and upset I thought it would be Iceland.

I thought that Iceland would do much better also. This group is still dangerous so we shouldn't take any games for granted. We've dropped stupid points before to 'lesser' teams.

Cheersch

[HRV1980]

I know what you mean. There are too many examples to name, like one being the 3-3 tie at home with Slovenia in qualifying for the 98 WC....you all remember that famous pass back to Ladic that somehow went under his foot and into the net...

[gasparov]

Looking back now, at the 2-2 Draw in Zagreb against the Bugari, I think the team and Cico, each took something from that Mistep, and have learned from it, I think in a strange way it was a good thing, because I don't think that will happen again. Look at the game on Saturday, when the Bugari, made it 2-1, I said to myself Oshit, here we go again, but we kept playing our game and attacking, we scored and put the game away, I think that game said a lot about the team and the coach, I don,t think they are going to take any of the upcomming games lightly, beacuse one they all know they have not won anything yet, and two I think they all remember what can happen if you let your guard down.

[Hajduk_Hrvatska]

Listen we still are Croatian! And that laziness and over confidence gene could kick in any minute with the NT. Just covering all bases.


About our group. Is anyone else suprised that our group has basically a two team race now. I thought Bulgaria, Hungary and Icleand would be better than they are. I mean they've all except for Bulgaria have been poor throught the group i expected a tighter race than what we have now.


What's our firendly schedule for the summer? Is Australia set and i heard the Brazil friendly was canceled? Any truth?
I think Hungary is doing well.

[robin]

Hungary is still not out of it, they have 10 points. As far as Iceland is concerned, they are out of it, but unfortunately that doesn't mean they are going to lay out on the field and watch us score goals in September. The game against Iceland will be huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's hope Mourinho thinks up some lame excuse for Gudjohnsson to stay in London like last time.

[CroatTommy7]

Look at the game on Saturday, when the Bugari, made it 2-1, I said to myself Oshit, here we go again, but we kept playing our game and attacking, we scored and put the game away

I knew we weren't going to let them tie it again like they did in Maksimir, even though we did have a bit of luck on our side at that point, it was all about the players having confidence in themselves and stamina, and they just kept going for it.

Plus I said a few Oce Nase and Zdravo Marije right at that time which really ended all hope for the Bulgarians :Grint:

[Zvonimir]

Plus I said a few Oce Nase and Zdravo Marije right at that time which really ended all hope for the Bulgarians :Grint:

Thankfully you did CT. :rollang:

I said a few "butina you f'in piece of $hit" after their goal... :noevil:

[Palacinka]

well........now we have to wait untill Sept. 3 :hide:

[Licki Macak]

Easy with the Butina bashing. :cheers: He hasnt failed us yet, who would you rather have in goal.....Pleti who hasnt played a real game sine before the Euro.

[Zvonimir]

Easy with the Butina bashing. :cheers: He hasnt failed us yet, who would you rather have in goal.....Pleti who hasnt played a real game sine before the Euro.

No bashing on an overall basis...Butina has done the job...it's just that goal was $hit...and then seconds later he misplayed a freekick that just missed the post...

[Licki Macak]

Have no fear Zvono.....Butina will do just fine, but Cico should let Didulica play a game or 2 just to get some games under his belt.

[JureM]

Have no fear Zvono.....Butina will do just fine, but Cico should let Didulica play a game or 2 just to get some games under his belt.


Maybe give Joey a shot in the Brazil game. You want to play him in a game where he will be tested and Brazil is that team that could give him a good test. Plus, the game is a friendly and it won't hurt.

[xerx]

Thankfully you did CT. :rollang:

I said a few "butina you f'in piece of $hit" after their goal... :noevil:
Zvone, do you know what i noticed after watching the replay of Martin Petrov's goal for the 47th time? our players played dirty on Butina. watch it and you'll see that Zdravko Lazarov is standing to the left of the wall just a little bit behind them, not letting Butina see anything. in the tenth of the second of the shot, Lazarov moves to the right, Butina therefore also makes a step to the right but Petrov's strong shot hits the left corner. Butina was fooled but it wasn't only his fault.. ;)

[CroatTommy7]

Ya Zvone, I said a few of those too lol, as did everyone else at the bar haha.

Good idea Jure, the Brasil game will be a high level game I believe, but in the end it's still only a friendly so why not give Didulica a shot then?

Licki I think you give Butina the benefit of the doubt because he is our Licki homeboy ;) haha

Good observation Xerx, I want to see that goal again and catch that intelligent move by Lazarov that you mentioned.