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MODRIC APPOINTED NEW CROATIA CAPTAIN

September 22, 2016 index Uncategorized

Real Madrid play maker Luka Modric has been named the captain of Croatia, following the retirement of veteran Darijo Srna.

Modric was picked out by coach Ante Cacic to lead the team as preparation for the World Cup gets underway this week.

Modric would lead the team when they take on Turkey on September 5. The 30-year old was in action when Croatia played at the Euro 2016. He does not lack admirers, but he said he would prefer to end his career with his current club. The former Tottenham Hotspur player moved to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2012. He has won two Champions League titles, but was yet to win the domestic trophy.

“I am not interested in anyone but real. I am too happy at Real. Probably there are some others asking about me, but I don’t want to know, I don’t care. My mission is at Real as long as Real want me,” Modric told Sportske Novosti.

Barcelona has exerted their dominance in Spain, winning the La Liga regularly, though Atletico Madrid lifted the title in the 2013/14 season. Last term, Real Madrid finished second, a point below Barcelona. Modric said it was time they changed that, hinting at the possible priority of the team this season. Read more “MODRIC APPOINTED NEW CROATIA CAPTAIN”

NAPOLI IN RACE TO SIGN CROATIAN STAR

August 19, 2016 index blog

Serie A outfit, Napoli are in the race to sign young Croatian star player Marko Pjaca, according to reports in Italy.

The talented 21-year old was in impressive form during the Euro 2016 tournament in France before they were knocked out by Portugal. A host of clubs are in the race to sign the player but the Italian giant are reportedly ahead of Liverpool and other clubs that are desperate for the signature of the player.

Pjaca was easily of the identifiable stars of the future in the Croatian make up lead by Ante Cacic. Aside Liverpool, The Red Devils have been linked with a move to England. Inter Milan and Juventus are believed to have made contact with Dynamo Zagbreb for the player. Inter made a bid of £12.6 million but Juventus improved on the offer with a £14.2 million. Reports from Express claim Napoli have embarrassed the young player by doubling offers for him with a bid of £29.3 million alongside his team mate Marko Rog. Read more “NAPOLI IN RACE TO SIGN CROATIAN STAR”

Croatia Puts Up Valiant Efforts Against Portugal

July 28, 2016 index Uncategorized

Croatia, along with other teams is in the focus due to the euro 2016 tournament that is ongoing right now.

If you have seen the recent match that was played between Croatia and Portugal you will realize that the match had been a difficult one for both teams. Indeed, Croatia definitely puts up a formidable performance in the match. It was only at the end that they could not save themselves from the goal that Ricardo scored for Portugal and secured victory for his team.

You might have seen the game, the way the teams played and how the last minute victory exhausted all the efforts that Croatia put in to keep up their team at the winning edge. The tie position that Croatia was with Portugal was thus changed in favor of Portugal. However, for those who witnessed the game, they will realize that Croatia played brilliantly, against their formidable opponent and made it difficult for the team to score goals. That is after all what determines the level of playing on a team and not how many goals are scored or given away by a team.
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DINAMO ZAGREB CHARGED WITH TAX EVASION BY ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICE IN CROATIA

May 10, 2016 index Croatia Videos

Anti-corruption police team in Croatia has charged the club officials with tax evasion according to latest reports.

Croatia’s anti-corruption police claimed they had charged three current and former senior officials from football team Dinamo Zagreb with tax evasion and siphoning off profits from player transfers.

The USKOK police force said the actions had cost the State 12.2 million Kuna ($1.84 million) in unpaid taxes and taken 116 million Kuna from the club. The three – as well as a tax official charged with helping tax evasion – were identified only by their initials in the online statement, in line with usual police practice. But state television said they were former Dinamo chief executive Zdravko Mamic; his brother Zoran Mamic who is current Dinamo coach; and Damir Vrbanovic, a former Dinamo executive and the current top official of the Croatian football federation HNS.

The accused were all briefly arrested last year during investigations into the same charges and all denied any wrong-doing at the time. None were immediately available for comments. Zdravko Mamic resigned his position in Dinamo in February this year saying he wanted to secure a stable future for the club. He again insisted he was not guilty of the charges before him. Read more “DINAMO ZAGREB CHARGED WITH TAX EVASION BY ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICE IN CROATIA”

Croatia denied by a late BalazsDzsudzsak goal

April 28, 2016 index Croatia Videos

Croatia was denied by a late goal from Hungary’s player BalazsDzsudzsak in their game held at Groupama Arena in Budapest.

Both teams who are qualified for the Euros Finals wanted to test their preparation in this friendly match, and it was an evenly matched contest.

It was Croatia who scored first thanks to a goal from Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic. He benefited from great build-up play inspired by Ivan Perisic in the 29th minute. It was a well-deserved lead with Croatia having a created several occasions since the beginning of the match.

However, the goal seems to spark Hungary to life with Dzsudzsak missing the target with a fierce shot seven minutes later. It should have been an equalizer if the Hungarian player has taken more time to aim his shot.

After the break, Hungary was more offensively minded and began to put Croatia under pressure. However, the Croatian defense held on with their goalkeeper making some interesting saves.

But the Hungarians will be rewarded in the 79th minute after earning a free-kick. It was BalazsDzsudzsak who will make amends for his early miss. He will curl a fantastic free-kick in the top corner to give his side a well-deserved equalizer. There will be no further goals in the match with both teams pleased with the score line. Read more “Croatia denied by a late BalazsDzsudzsak goal”

Croatia’s Ante Čačić wants to secure qualification from group D

January 28, 2016 index Croatia Videos

Ante Čačić was the coach that was selected to replace NikoKovac back in September of 2015 and so far things have been going well for the 62 year old manager as the Croatian national team is now aiming to reach the knockout phases of the 2016 Euro’s but in order to reach these rounds, they will first have to make it past of group D.

Making it past group D will be fairly difficult for the Croatian team as their opponents are: Czech Republic, Turkey and the current champions Spain.

The Croatian national football team reached the quarter-finals of the European competition back in 2008 and Ante Čačić is hoping that his team can make it as far as they did a few years ago.

One of the strengths that the team of Ante Čačić will have to rely on is with his midfield department which has a few renowned players such as: Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic are the main driving forces of the Croatian team and key figures of the Croatian national side.

The main reason of why the former coach of Croatia, NikoKovac was removed from his coaching position was due to a number of underwhelming results which threathened the chances of the Croatian team on qualifying for France and this is what Ante Čačić has managed to do after securing 2 victories in their last 2 qualifying matches. Read more “Croatia’s Ante Čačić wants to secure qualification from group D”

Alessio Romagnoli is the latest and final arrival of Ac.Milan

October 2, 2015 index Croatia Videos

The 20 year old Italian defender Alessio Romagnoli has already completed his transfer from As.Roma over to Ac.Milan for a transfer fee of €25 million and the vice-president of Ac.Milan Adriano Galliani has announced that the summer transfer activities of the club is over.

Ac.Milan’s Adriano Galliani said: “I think that our transfer market ends here, even though interesting options can always occur. We don’t need a midfielder or more options in any other position; we’re well covered in all areas. I don’t think PSG will let Ibra leave, but if they do then we will try to sign him.”

This summer transfer window of Ac.Milan has seen the Italian club signing a few high profile players including: Carlos Bacca, Luis Adriano, Andrea Bertolacci and more recently Alessio Romagnoli.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a player who was rumored of being signed by Ac.Milan but from the looks of it, the transfer will not happen as Ibrahimovic recently said that he is happy in Paris Saint-German and wants to continue performing with the French club for at least another season. Read more “Alessio Romagnoli is the latest and final arrival of Ac.Milan”

Croatia will play their important Euro 2016 qualifying match against Italy

July 20, 2015 index Croatia Videos

Croatia will play their important Euro 2016 qualifying match against Italy behind closed doors after being given a ban by UEFA for the recent crowd trouble.

This is likely to place the 2006 world champions as the favourites to get three points. Croatia would have had a great chance of maintaining their advantage in the group had it not been for the lack of home support. They have been surprise leaders in the group H after poor form shown by Italy during the first few qualifying matches. Even after the arrival of former Juventus boss Antonio Conte, the team struggled to get results.

Croatia have taken advantage of this and have shot into the top of the table. Even a second place finish will be enough to qualify for the finals, but finishing top of the group will have its own advantage. Ahead of the match, Croatia manager Niko Kovac has claimed that there are no favourites between his team and the Italians. The table leaders have prepared well for this match after getting a convincing 4-0 win over Gibraltar in a recent friendly. However, there are doubts surrounding the fitness of some key players like Luka Modric. Even a draw will be seen as a good result by the Croatians. Read more “Croatia will play their important Euro 2016 qualifying match against Italy”

Hajduk Split hooligans caused damage after attacking a delegation

April 18, 2015 index Croatia Videos

A small group of Hajduk Split hooligans caused damage after attacking a delegation of the Croatian football Federation.

This attack has raised questions about the safety of footballers visiting the country. National team manager Niko Kovac has condemned the attacks saying that this places a lot of negativity upon Croatian football as a whole. Since qualifying for the Euro 2008 by beating England, Croatia have been on a high. This has gone down of late due to infighting and poor form shown by the national team itself. Even though none were injured in the attack, it has raised the possibility of future delegations being cancelled.

Kovac says the attackers should have a moral responsibility to help the country as a whole. He has refused to take the limelight for criticising the incident in a public manner. Croatia have been enjoying a good run of form of late on the pitch. Apart from the friendly defeat against Argentina, they have had excellent results particularly in the 1-1 draw with Italy back in November. Their team continued to build on the strong performance in the qualifying by getting a thumping 5-1 success over Norway to go top of their group. Croatia now have 13 points and a two-point advantage over second placed Italy. Read more “Hajduk Split hooligans caused damage after attacking a delegation”