Let's take a look at these two players. Simunic has bumped Simic out of a starting spot which is nothing short of amazing, so let's take a quick look at them.
Dario Simic
Simic is 26 years old and plays for Inter Milan of Serie A. He made his international debut for HRV against Israel in March of 96. He became a regular in the squad during the qualifying campaign for WC98 and played in all games in the tournament, with the exception of the third place game against the Dutch, which he missed through suspension. He had a great tournament and really seemed like a lifer for Vatreni.
He's been a regular since then and one of most important and consistent players. Although his form hasn't been exceptional at times for Inter, he always played well when he put on the Cro jersey. He's an excellent man marker, one of the best in the world and has proven it in his years in Serie A, which is undoubtedly the best defensive league in the world. No other league can boast the quality of defenders that Serie A has and Dario is one of them.
Josip Simunic
Simunic is 24 and plays for Hertha Berlin of the German Bundesliga. He made his international debut in November 2001 against Korea and imperssed coach Jozic. I can't think of anything else to add.
The loss against Mexico was Simunic's first competitive game for HRV and he had a good game, although he could be faulted on the goal and did appear to be nervous quite often during the game. Simic missed the game with an injury but according to Jozic, would not have started anyway. The next game is against Italy and all indications are that Simunic will start whilst Simic finds himself on the bench.
Simic is experienced and proven on the international level. He also plays in Serie A and is familiar with all the players that Italy have. He plays with Vieri at Inter and is a good friend of his. He's faced Totti on a number of occassions and also knows this man quite well, well enough to effectively mark him out of games, which is not an easy task to accomplish.
I'm unfamiliar with the Australian NT so I'm just making assumptions here and could be completely wrong but let me give it a shot.
Simunic had not been called up by Australia, not even as a substitute by the age of 23. We call him up and 8 months later he's a starter ahead of Dario Simic.
The Australians would cream their pants to have a player like Simic in their defence, but we prefer Simunic.
If a poll were to be taken of all national team coaches, how many of them would have even heard of Simunic, let alone pick him over Simic?
So my question is to everybody, how does a "johnny come lately" who's coming off a good season(not great) and has only played for the NT in friendlies manage to win a spot over a proven international who is widely regarded as one of the best man markers in Italy, which makes him one of the best man markers in the world?
Anybody wanna try and answer this one?
Dario Simic
Simic is 26 years old and plays for Inter Milan of Serie A. He made his international debut for HRV against Israel in March of 96. He became a regular in the squad during the qualifying campaign for WC98 and played in all games in the tournament, with the exception of the third place game against the Dutch, which he missed through suspension. He had a great tournament and really seemed like a lifer for Vatreni.
He's been a regular since then and one of most important and consistent players. Although his form hasn't been exceptional at times for Inter, he always played well when he put on the Cro jersey. He's an excellent man marker, one of the best in the world and has proven it in his years in Serie A, which is undoubtedly the best defensive league in the world. No other league can boast the quality of defenders that Serie A has and Dario is one of them.
Josip Simunic
Simunic is 24 and plays for Hertha Berlin of the German Bundesliga. He made his international debut in November 2001 against Korea and imperssed coach Jozic. I can't think of anything else to add.
The loss against Mexico was Simunic's first competitive game for HRV and he had a good game, although he could be faulted on the goal and did appear to be nervous quite often during the game. Simic missed the game with an injury but according to Jozic, would not have started anyway. The next game is against Italy and all indications are that Simunic will start whilst Simic finds himself on the bench.
Simic is experienced and proven on the international level. He also plays in Serie A and is familiar with all the players that Italy have. He plays with Vieri at Inter and is a good friend of his. He's faced Totti on a number of occassions and also knows this man quite well, well enough to effectively mark him out of games, which is not an easy task to accomplish.
I'm unfamiliar with the Australian NT so I'm just making assumptions here and could be completely wrong but let me give it a shot.
Simunic had not been called up by Australia, not even as a substitute by the age of 23. We call him up and 8 months later he's a starter ahead of Dario Simic.
The Australians would cream their pants to have a player like Simic in their defence, but we prefer Simunic.
If a poll were to be taken of all national team coaches, how many of them would have even heard of Simunic, let alone pick him over Simic?
So my question is to everybody, how does a "johnny come lately" who's coming off a good season(not great) and has only played for the NT in friendlies manage to win a spot over a proven international who is widely regarded as one of the best man markers in Italy, which makes him one of the best man markers in the world?
Anybody wanna try and answer this one?
