CROATIA thread

I think we have the most famous group of fans :D
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well we had two great chances which we missed and that's it. It is really hard when you get knocked out after playing great in all 3 matches but we should be proud of our guys there
 
You should be proud of your team. Very good display out there but in the end of the day you were unlucky.

Btw Bilic is a fantastic coach. I'm sure he will be coaching in western european leagues rather sooner than later.
 
Sorry to see Croatia go. They've played well and given a good account of themselves. Italy and Spain have been strong as expected so it was always going to be difficult. I think Croatia could have walked through Group A and possibly qualified out of the other two groups as well. I'm always impressed with how such a small country of 4.3 million people can produce a steady stream of quality, technical players. It puts countries like England to shame really.

Croatia get fantastic support, too. For a small country their fans travel in big numbers and make a great atmosphere, if a little over enthusiastic at times!
 
Best team to have been eliminated.

Really solid team. I don't understand why Croatia would've been eliminated if they had drawn 0-0 and Italy had won 1-0. They shouldn't have been. But the unnecessary pressure the stupid rule puts on them, meant after keeping Spain at bay for long, they finally had to go with 3 forwards and take more risks, then a Spanish goal finally came.

Played well in almost all 3 games though, created chances, mostly defended well, Pletikosa made some good saves, VERY good team overall. I too, think they could've qualified from almost any other group and almost did from this one too.
 
because the first criteria to pass is results between the concerned teams , then the goal differences ..
and if it ended 0-0 and 1-0 to Italy

then

Italy - Spain 1-1
Italy - Croatia 1-1
Croatia - Spain 0-0

all 5 points , so we see their results excluding Ireland

we get 2 points each others and all draws, and of course 0 goal difference , so, we check who scored most in these Trio

Italy 2
Spain 1
Croatia 1

so Italy grants the 1st place

and between the rest we re-check again , and in their case Spain have 4+ and Croatia 2+ in goal difference
so Croatia out and Spain is 2nd


but all that was screwed up by Navas
 
@jihado86
Does this rule exist only in UEFA EURO, or also in FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League?
I was pretty sure in most of major tournaments in case of teams with same points what it count is global goal difference, or am I wrong?
 
A truly stupid rule.
I loved Croatia, gutted to see them eliminated because of two great Casillas saves.
What a joy to watch Modric is. Could well have played for Spain.

Belgium faces Croatia in the WC qualifiers, this team is better than ours (we were previously battered by Croatia in qualifiers and i fear the same now).

I wish Bilic much succes with Locomotiv Moskwa.
 
Thanks for the explanation jihado.

A truly stupid rule indeed.

The fact is if the game had finished like that, Croatia has beaten Ireland by 2 goals while Italy had beaten them by 1 and so it'd make sense for Croats to go through. This is how it is in every other meaningful competition including Champions League and World Cup.

I'm actually okay with the Head to Head record when TWO teams finish with same points as that gives EACH match an extra spice and means you have to perform no matter who your against. German League along with some others use the same rule and so a team with superior Goal difference can end up below a team with worse GD but one who beat them earlier in the season! That's okay and I have no problem with, but to be eliminated because of Coefficients or another team scoring 'more' goals when they have lesser Goal Difference, is dumb in my opinion.

And it was only when Croatia introduced 2 new forwards (Jelavic and Eduardo) that the team kind of lost its balance and Spain started creating more meaningful chances and scored the goal which had a hint of offside about it anyway. Before that, they were limited to shots from very acute angles which Pletikosa did well to save.

I do think Bilic should've gone with Jelavic and Mandzukic as he'd done in previous 2 games though. The change of system worked but meant they had less going for them attacking wise. Nonetheless if Rakitic had done better with that header which he really should have, we'd all be talking about a massive upset right now and Spain possibly being out in group stages...

I think Croatia can be very proud of themselves though they'll be sad about the early exit. They had little luck and I also have to say I wasn't at all impressed with the German ref today. Almost every 50-50 decision went Spain's way. It seemed whenever, he wasn't sure, he'd blow the whistle in favour of European and World Champs, the bigger, more popular team.
 
It's not the first time that this ref isn't spot on. He is very authoritarian and loves to be in the picture with over dramatic gestures. Good refs are more or less invisible.
 
I also thought the ref in the Italy-Ireland game blow every 50-50 whistle for Italy. It's a very common thing and I see it in every league which is unfair but you can't do anything about it. It's just the way things go.

About the rule, I am all for it. If you tie for points, then the direct games between the teams should decide, not the goals scored against the weaker team in the group. If they all tied for points, then Italy scored against Spain but Croatia didn't while everything else is identical so they go out. It's not unfair.
 
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I don't think it's unfair. But there are other ways to divide teams (goals scored, goals difference). Scoring lots of goals against weaker sides provides spectacle.

In this case Croatia had even more merit, because they played the weaker side in the first match when they still had everything to win. When Italy played Ireland, they knew they were eliminated.

I'm not saying that Italy didn't deserve to go through, i only say that Croatia deserved to go through. In any other group they would have qualified (even in the group with Germany and Portugal, they gave a much stronger impression than Portugal).
 
Those guys made us proud last night
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And not to mention that there was lots of doubt after our last two friendlies against Sweden and Norway. Also, there was doubt that some guys can do what is needed, like Vida, Schildenfeld, Strinić, Pranjić, Mandžukić, Modrić, Rakitić...but at the end all of them were fantastic.


And than we come to this one
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That was the save only Casillas and maybe few others could do. I am sure that if that went in we would have scored at least one more, as Spain would go down mentally. But I guess we'll never know
 
I'm sad to see Croatia leave. I enjoyed watching Russia and was upset with their elimination, but now even more with Croatia. So far they are the best team not to have qualified.

Modric was excellent and that tall striker who scored against Italy (forgot his name) is a beast!

Bilic has a solid unit there! With better luck they will qualify for Brazil 2014 and go very far in the World Cup.
 
Rentboy said:
I'm sad to see Croatia leave. I enjoyed watching Russia and was upset with their elimination, but now even more with Croatia. So far they are the best team not to have qualified.

Modric was excellent and that tall striker who scored against Italy (forgot his name) is a beast!
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Mario Mandžukić


Croatia, Russia, Sweden, in that order :)
 
PLF said:
Best team to have been eliminated.

Really solid team. I don't understand why Croatia would've been eliminated if they had drawn 0-0 and Italy had won 1-0. They shouldn't have been. But the unnecessary pressure the stupid rule puts on them, meant after keeping Spain at bay for long, they finally had to go with 3 forwards and take more risks, then a Spanish goal finally came.

Played well in almost all 3 games though, created chances, mostly defended well, Pletikosa made some good saves, VERY good team overall. I too, think they could've qualified from almost any other group and almost did from this one too.
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They played really well. Bilic impressed again with his coaching abilities.

The fans certainly some of them were over zealous in their flare throwing.

Cannot understand this idiotic placement either. All three teams have five points but had it gone to goal difference both Croatia and Italy would be +2 (if Croatia had held Spain that is).

The head to head would be out of the reckoning too so a coin toss...

I suppose UEFA see it as some sort of incentive for scoring goals but the facts are (again assuming Croatia and Spain had drawn) Croatia were not beaten by Spain or Italy and therefore all should deserve equal credit.

Barmy system if you ask me the one UEFA have chosen which did force Croatia to come out more and led to them conceding.
 
It's a stupid system.

Yes they didn't score against Spain but they also didn't concede which is somethign Italy did in their 1-1 draw.

I think ultimately Italy deserved to go through so this is taking nothing away from them. I just want to echo what Gerd said that Croatia also went through.

If they hadn't been forced to come out and attack with 3 strikers in the last 10 mins, the team would've finished with 5 points, UNdefeated, +2 goal difference and held the World and European champs off the score line. I'd say that is a big achievement and you shouldn't go out because another team got a 1-1 draw instead.

I'm all for head-to-head stuff but when a result between those two teams was decisive such as team A beating Team B. But to then look at Goal scored BETWEEN those teams as opposed to Global Goal Difference, is really pushing it.

Anyway, I'm just glad this rule doesn't exist in World Cup or Champions League. It's quite stupid.

I have to say this German ref whom I've seen a lot in Bundesliga as well is my 2nd least favorite ref behind the young Slovenian guy who loves being on camera even more in Euro 2012
 
PLF said:
It's a stupid system.

Yes they didn't score against Spain but they also didn't concede which is somethign Italy did in their 1-1 draw.

I think ultimately Italy deserved to go through so this is taking nothing away from them. I just want to echo what Gerd said that Croatia also went through.

If they hadn't been forced to come out and attack with 3 strikers in the last 10 mins, the team would've finished with 5 points, UNdefeated, +2 goal difference and held the World and European champs off the score line. I'd say that is a big achievement and you shouldn't go out because another team got a 1-1 draw instead.

I'm all for head-to-head stuff but when a result between those two teams was decisive such as team A beating Team B. But to then look at Goal scored BETWEEN those teams as opposed to Global Goal Difference, is really pushing it.

Anyway, I'm just glad this rule doesn't exist in World Cup or Champions League. It's quite stupid.

I have to say this German ref whom I've seen a lot in Bundesliga as well is my 2nd least favorite ref behind the young Slovenian guy who loves being on camera even more in Euro 2012
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Don't count on it PLF. If Platini is going to be the next FIFA president who knows what nonsense he will dream up.

The two officials behind the goals have been staggeringly useless barring one incident so far..... :FAIL:
 
Shame Croatia is out. :(
It would've loved to see Italy and Croatia advance.
I was very impressed by Schildenfeld this tournament, played very well.
 
this rule is totally fair, because when you end up with same points as your rival, what decides your destiny is your clash with him ..
 
Their clashes were draws so no it doesn't make sense.

If one team had beaten another, it'd make sense but if the teams had a tie, then goal difference should matter not goals scored.
 
I guess you're wrong about something on that rule PLF. In the case of Italy-Eire: 1-0 and Croatia-Spain: 0-0; Italy, Spain, Croatia all tied with 5 points, none of them could've beaten each other, Italy scored against both others so they should be #1. Croatia and Spain each scored 1 goal so tie still is not broken. Then it's the matter of goal difference recorded against Eire between those two teams. I think you know all of these situations. But what you say can lead to some match-fixing like Italy could record over 4 goals difference against an already eliminated Eire side. That's still not my point though (I know it's also a bit ridiculous but things happen). Goals scored against your tied rivals although having drawn with them are more important than what you've done against the weakest side of the group. If you're good, show it with what you've done against your rivals, not with the performance you put against another party. This makes much sense to me. It's also kind of deterrent to boring goalless draws between big sides. Goal is an important thing. :P

All aside I'd love to see Italy and Croatia having advanced to quarter finals from the group. Boy, Spain is such a boring team to watch. I spent the whole second half sleeping and got woken up by the goal shout of the commentator. Damn, man why do you even shout for a typical Spain goal?!
 
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