DINAMO DONE IN BY AJAX

Photo: Ajax; Dinamo could not find an answer for Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez was definitely the Man of the Match as the current 3rd place team of the Dutch Eredivisie defeated the Croatian Champions 2-1 at the Amsterdam Arena. 30,700 spectators saw Robert Kovač's controvercial tackle in the penalty box lead to Suarez's converted penalty in the 3rd minute of play to see Ajax Amsterdam take an early 1-0 lead. Shaky Dinamo midfield play contributed to Ajax dominating ball possession. Suarez added to the tally as he delivered a sweet cross to Dennis Rommedahl in the 81' to give the Dutch squad a 2-0 lead. Ivan Tomecak relieved Dimitrios Papadopoulos in the 68th minute and made Krunoslav Jurčić look like a genious when he scored in the 93rd to halve the result at 2-1. However, it was little to late as Ajax defeated them by that same score.

Dinamo-Ajax highlights

Overall, Dinamo's effort in the match was very good. However, the tactics implemented by manager Kruno Jurčić were flawed. Mario Mandžukić played the entire game at left wing. He simply does not have the pace or dribbling ability to compete at that position on a European Night. If he were to be paired with Papadopolous up front, maybe he would have had more success.

Photo: Ajax; Robert Kovač(right) in action for Dinamo at Ajax

Dejan Lovren was a bright spot in Dinamo's defeat to Ajax. His aggressiveness and strength on the pitch leads me to believe he would be a good option at centerback sometime in the future for the Croatian National Team. Furthermore, recent new signing Leandro Cufre was solid at left back and delievered good crosses to the opposite side of the field. Ivan Tomecak made an immediate impact as he had a couple chances on goal. His goal in the 93rd minute just outside the box had perfect placement as he beat keeper Maarten Stekelenburg in the near corner.

Ajax fans enjoying themselves against Dinamo

Dinamo sit two points behind both Ajax and Anderlecht who lead the group with five points. Three matches remain in Group A as Dinamo will again play Ajax on the 5th of November.

~Dennis M. Fistonić a.k.a. HvarSplićan reporting LIVE from
Los Angeles

MATE BILIĆ STILL WAITING FOR CROATIA CALL

What does it take for former Hajduk Split striker Mate Bilić to get a call to represent Croatia? The 28 year old, Sporting Gijon star has been asking himself this question the last year after continuing to get overlooked by Croatian manager, Slaven Bilić(no relation) the last two seasons. Slobodna Damacija finally sat down with the former Rapid Vienna star today and this is what last seasons 12 goal scorer had to say:

"When I was playing for Rapid Vienna, I was the second best striker in the Austrian Bundesliga and I wasn't noticed by Croatia. I feel that I have done enough to deserve a Croatian call, scoring goals in La Liga is not small potatoes. There hasn't been a Croatian striker since Davor Šuker who has smelt success in Spain."

~Mate Bilić

Mate Bilić highlights

Last season, Slaven Bilić sent Robert Prosinečki to visit Mate Bilić in Spain and report on his progress:

"It seems to me that the Prosinečki visit was just a bluff to shut up the people that kept asking for my call up. After Robert's visit, no one has contacted me from Croatia. However, I still have faith in a call up. I am a Croat and know what it means to put on that uniform. If they decide to call me great, if not then I won't worry about it because I feel that I did enough to deserve a call up last year. I don't know what else I would need to do to deserve a call up."

~Mate Bilić

Altogether now..

Bilić has scored 22 goals in 59 appearances for Sporting Gijon in arguably one of the top two league in the world(La Liga, Spain), however, has yet to appear in a Croatian senior shirt. Now with Eduardo and Petrić ruled out in a friendly against Qatar and a final World Cup qualifier at Kazakhstan next Wednesday, does Mate finally deserve a chance?

~Denis Svirčić, reporting from Lakerville(It's back)

MLADEN PETRIC OUT UNTIL 2010

Photo: AP, Mladen has nowhere to hide



Hamburg striker Mladen Petrić has been ruled out until after the Bundesliga's winter break due to an ankle injury. The Croatia international injured his ankle in Saturday's 3-1 win against Hertha Berlin and will undergo surgery in Basel tomorrow, returning to Hamburg at the end of the week.

"I felt right away that something wasn't right. This was clear to me on the pitch when I tried to continue after the hit. Above all, I am disappointed for Hamburg and Croatia. If everything goes according to plan, I should be able to start playing in January."

~Hamburg and Croatian international, Mladen Petrić

Photo: HSV.de, Mladen limping off against Hertha Berlin

"Naturally it is a bitter blow for us. I hope that Mladen will return as soon as possible. We will have to come up with a solution to this problem over the coming weeks."

~Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia

"Petrić will be absent from the HSV team until the end of the first half of the championship."

~Hamburg doctor Oliver Dierk

What a tremendous loss for now first place Hamburg after Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero went out to injury earlier in the year. Also, this leaves Slaven Bilić to think about a possible replacement at striker for Croatia before they face Qatar and Khazakstan for a shot at a world cup playoff.

Should Slaven call up another striker? possibly Mate Bilić?

~Denis Svirčić, reporting from Lakerville(It's back)

HAJDUK 4 DINAMO 0 ??????

Legendary Croatian singer, and well known Hajduk Split supporter, Mate Mišo Kovač, had a few interesting words to tell Slobodna Dalmacija today about Hajduk Split, their disappointing season, and tomorrow's second leg of the Croatian Cup final between Hajduk and Dinamo.

"Dinamo isn't the reason why Hajduk isn't champion, Hajduk is guilty of this. The last two matches were key: in Vinkovac against Cibalija and in Split against Varteks. Hajduk needed to win both those matches because they are much better than Vinkovac and Varaždin. However, instead of six points, we ended up with only one point! After this the champion stayed in Maksimir..."

~Mate Mišo Kovač, summarizes Hajduk's collapse

"The cup is ours! How? In the 90th minute it will be 3:0 for Hajduk, then "the whites" will score one more goal during injury time. In the end: 4:0 for Hajduk! If not this way, then Hajduk will come out on top in penalty kicks, either way Hajduk will take the cup! Feel free to make a record of this..."

~Mate Mišo Kovač

"ako je Mišo reka, onda če tako i bit!!"

~From the mouth of Hajduk suporter Marta Radoznala

Check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX69GxC88_Y

For those of you unfamiliar with Mišo

Mišo for Slobodna

Is there anyone out there interested in the game, and does Hajduk have any chance of overturning a 3-0 deficit?

Thanks to Marta Radoznala for the article

~Denis Svirčić, reporting from Disneyland(ran into Dario Srna a few minutes ago)

SRNA BRINGS UKRAINE UEFA CUP

Darijo Srna and Shakhtar beat Werder Bremen in extra time 2-1 to take the UEFA Cup

The last-ever UEFA Cup final gave us the first Ukrainian side to win a Euro trophy and the first Croatian to captain his team to victory. The 38th and last final was held at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul, where Croatian captain Darijo Srna was quite possibly throwing on the Shakhtar shirt for the final time. Srna's name has been rumored all over Europe over a possible move to Real Madrid, Sevilla, AC Milan, and a half dozen other teams interested in the services of the 28 year old right wing-back.

Srna and Shakhtar didn't fail to impress in front of an announced crowd of 53,100, registering a 2-1 victory. Darijo played the full 120 minutes, and assisted on the game winning goal in the 97th minute, setting up Jadson with a brilliant cross from the right side.

More than 12,000 supporters made the trip to Turkey from Germany and Ukraine and there were also several Manchester City supporters in the stadium. An Englishman in Turkey? Football does wonders sometimes. Shakhtar have sold 7,000 tickets for the showpiece match while Werder fans have purchased only 4,500 from their club and supporters said very few people had travelled without tickets.

Next season the UEFA Cup is being rebranded and renamed to become the Europa League.

Minute by Minute

UEFA.com Summary


Darijo Srna became the first Croatian captain and fifth Croatian ever to lift the UEFA Cup after Luka Perazović, Mario Stanić, Ivica Olić and Ivica Križanac. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his political enemy, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich, attended the match cheering the Ukrainian team on.

Darijo lifts Cup

"The Croatian captain enjoyed an energetic game down the right and was more often than not seen inside the opposition half. Went down too theatrically at times, but a good overall performance."

~ Darijo received a grade of 7.5, the best on the pitch from Goal.com


Game Highlights

UEFA Cup Final in pictures

Thanks to Shakhtar.com for pictures.

~Denis Svirčić, reporting from Staples Center, California

BAD BLUE BOYS OVERSHADOW VICTORY

Dinamo Zagreb's qualification for the UEFA Cup group stage was bittersweet, as members of the notorious Bad Blue Boys attacked fans and police in central Prague before and after the match. Hours before the match between Sparta Prague and Dinamo Zagreb, around 300 Dinamo fans, mostly Bad Blue Boys, started provoking Sparta fans which turned into thrown bottles and escalated into a scrap with Sparta fans and Czech police. As a result over 100 fans were arrested.

“Before heading towards the stadium, the fans attacked the police and one police officer was seriously injured with shards of glass” said the spokesperson of the Prague police, Iva Knolova to the Czech portal Novinsky.

Czech TV reported that fire-fighters and police were on strike today and yesterday and for the most part, the security was thin and unprepared.

This is nothing new for the Bad Blue Boys, as they have caused trouble all over Europe the past decade or so. Some of these Bad Blue Boys most likely were in the mix shouting monkey noises at England's Heskey during the England match in Zagreb.

Luckily, Europe continues to give the Croats just a slap on the wrist. However, something needs to be done so history doesn't repeat itself. These hooligans have to be registered and not allowed to cross international borders.

~Denis Svirčić, reporting from Lakerville