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Euro 2008 Qualifier: England vs. CROATIA (21.11.07)

34K views 987 replies 126 participants last post by  Ante 
#1 ·
well the long journey ends at Wembley on Wednesday. Here is the official match thread
 
#52 ·
Ambis said:
EURO 2008 Qualifier: England vs. Croatia
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Time: 3:00 PM (ET)
Rating: TV-PG
Price: $24.99

Held every four years, the UEFA European Football Championships will next take place in Austria and Switzerland in June, 2008. The battle for one of 14 qualifying spots heats up on Wednesday, November 21 when England hosts Croatia. In a match that may very well determine who finishes atop the Group E standings, England will be seeking revenge for a shocking 2-0 loss in Croatia last year. The top two nations in each of the seven qualifying groups qualify for Euro 2008, considered the second-most prestigious international soccer tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup.

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Programming/Comingevents.ashx?lid=PPVEvents&lpos=FeatureModules


I never understand why they charge over $20 for a single match when later on in the week they will show it on FSC plus there are online options for like $7. Thank god ESPN got the rights to Euro 2008 otherwise these cable/atellite companies would have made us pay $179 for the whole package.
i like how the 2:0 loss in Zagreb was "shocking" :rolleyes:

is it true on FSC when Israel scored the second goal the commentator went nuts? and he is probably American. That's the one negative about FSC, they are mostly Americans working on that channel and yet they act English
 
#54 ·
HajdukSplit said:
is it true on FSC when Israel scored the second goal the commentator went nuts? and he is probably American. That's the one negative about FSC, they are mostly Americans working on that channel and yet they act English
Yep it's true. Have to say they were very biased. The commentator kept refering to England throughout the match a little bit too much if the truth be told. He mentioned the fact that it was not so good for Russia once I think :pp
 
#56 ·
HajdukSplit said:
is it true on FSC when Israel scored the second goal the commentator went nuts? and he is probably American. That's the one negative about FSC, they are mostly Americans working on that channel and yet they act English
Yeah i saw some of the replay last night and Max Bratos went over the line even though he almost always goes nuts when someone scores. Then during the Fox Soccer report you could clearly tell they were so damn happy that England is still alive... i thought i was watching Sky Sports.
 
#60 ·
Eduardo is playing for Arsenal. Bilic used to play at England and said himself that he likes England, has sympathy for McClaren. So I don't think Croatia wants to beat England, so that Russia can go through. History shows that Croatia, unlike Serbia, doesn't find it charming to help Russia in any way.
 
#61 ·
i tell you it would be the sweetest thing on earth for us to eliminate england in the last game in the middle of wembley.
that't would be a historic win and everybody in the world would talk about how croatia kicked england out of euro2008.
we are not friends with russia but with enland we ain't either,
and btw. eduardo is not our only player in the epl.
 
#63 ·
Do you REALISE how many supports you in this game? :shades:
 
#64 ·
fantasyvn said:
Eduardo is playing for Arsenal. Bilic used to play at England and said himself that he likes England, has sympathy for McClaren. So I don't think Croatia wants to beat England, so that Russia can go through. History shows that Croatia, unlike Serbia, doesn't find it charming to help Russia in any way.
I don't believe that one bit. Many russian jews now live in Israel. Many influental jews in Russia itself. Look how far that took them in the game vs Israel. The Israelis didn't even have anything else than pride to play for. No friendship on the pitch there.

Sure England might win the game but it wont be because of the reasons you bring up. We and our players have pride too.

I believe our boys will play it HARD without any prisoners and going for the win, as they should.
 
#65 ·
Another nice article in a big national English paper today:

No-frills Corluka says defence is best form of attack for Croats
By Jonathan Wilson
Published: 18 November 2007
It has been the goalscoring ability of Eduardo da Silva and the midfield vision of the likes of Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar that have captured most of the headlines as Croatia have advanced through the Euro 2008 qualifiers, but it should not be forgotten how reliable they have been at the back.

Perhaps Slaven Bilic's greatest achievement since becoming Croatia's coach after the World Cup has been to put an end to the seemingly eternal debate over whether they could abandon the 3-4-1-2 formation that has been the staple of Balkan football for the best part of three decades, and with which they reached the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup.

Bilic approached the matter with all the decisiveness of Alexander slicing through the Gordian knot. The days of three at the back were over, he said, and the result has been a side who not merely score goals and win games, but who – the crazy 4-3 victory in Israel excepted – have had a pleasing sense of stability about them.

"That makes me proud as a former defender," Bilic said. "And it is only with a secure defence that you can really attack with confidence."

Key to that has been unfussy defending and the intelligent forward probings of the right-back Vedran Corluka, one of a number of players Bilic coached with the Under-21s whom he has since promoted into the senior team. So rapidly has he adapted, both to that and to life at Manchester City, whom he joined from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer, that it is easy to forget he is only 21.

"I believed in myself, of course," Corluka said, "but, to be honest, I didn't think I would settle in as well as I have. When we played against England last year I realised that I could compete with English players, but I expected to be more in and out after my move to City, so of course I am very happy."

Corluka has arguably been the most impressive of the latest wave of Croatian imports – all of them once members of Bilic's Under-21 set-up – to the Premier League. Corluka, Kranjcar and Eduardo are carrying on the tradition established by the likes of Bilic, Igor Stimac and Aljosa Asanovic. After a difficult first season, Kranjcar is thriving at Portsmouth, while Eduardo (or "Dudu", as he is known in Croatia), perhaps more because of the form of others than through any deficiency on his part, is yet to make a real impact at Arsenal.

"Niko is one of the best players at Portsmouth and he's getting the praise he deserves because he's improved in a tough league," Corluka said. "We were lucky to get a 0-0 draw against them last week. And I have no doubt Dudu will become a regular, but it will not be easy for him. At Arsenal they have 25 players of a very high level, so it was easier for us at Portsmouth or City to begin with. I have played against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, and Arsenal play the most beautiful football. I think they will be champions."

Eduardo may feel he has a point to prove when Croatia face England on Wednesday. Corluka, though, will simply be adding to an alreadyglowing reputation.
 
#68 ·
PanaSlaveBelupo said:
Your whole well written argument seems to fall on its face with this muck.
So then the question that arises is hmm., what if by some odd circumstance it was Germany that was in a vulnerable position and not Russia?

Then I'd hope that we could help out the German brother with a loss against England. :thumbsup:

Outside of that, I could care less for the Russians or the English and would rather see both somehow eliminated from getting into Euro which obviously can't happen.
 
#71 ·
I'm loving the hype ahead of this game. Everything else is unimportant at the moment.

As for the game, I’ll be surprised if England come out with 5 across the middle with Crouch up front on his own. While it’s probably a better option for England, I don’t think McClaren has the balls to change formation at such a critical point. I’m expecting Crouch and Defoe up front with Beckham-Gerrard-Lampard-Cole across the centre. And I’m confident we can deal with that.

With 5 across the centre it’s likely that Wright-Phillips would line up against Simunic. That could be a problem. Speaking of Simunic, there’s also the question whether he might be the best defender to deal with Crouch. Surely Simic and Kovac would give up a lot aerially against Crouch?
 
#74 ·
Brancin said:
Bets are made.

$100 on Croatia. Odds 10:1
$37.5 on a draw. Odds 3.75:1

England win-> -$137.5
Croatia win. ->+$862
Draw........... -> EVEN

Actually a draw gets a $3 win hehe

AJMO VATRENI.
Decided to put some more on the game.

England Win
$200 down the drain

Draw
+$5 and I’ll get 2-3 bottles of Ozujsko

Croatia Win
+$1267 and I’ll take my friends out on Friday to celebrate :drunk:


"Ajmo na janje i pivo" as my cousin would say.
 
#75 ·
HajdukSplit said:
well as I mentioned in another thread, when AC Milan played Crvena Zvezda in the CL last season, Simic handled that monkey Zigic pretty easily, in fact the Serb forum expected him to manhandle Simic. Not sure the height difference between those two
Did you watch that game, HS? Curious to hear how Simic played him and whether Zvezda preferred to use Zigic as an aerial target or whether they kept the ball low.
 
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