Archive: Croatia
Morning Kick-About
There are four days till the first game, and it's time to kick it into a higher gear ... we'll start the day with the kick-about: - Friendlies that made news: Brazil 4, New Zealand 0: Saw some highlights on Sky (thanks to Fox Soccer Channel); Adriano's goal was quite nice. Kaka scored late on a long run that made you wonder how hard New Zealand was trying at that point. Australia 1, Netherlands 1: Again, saw some highlights. Good for Australia: GK Mark Schwarzer made some gigantic saves, and hey, it's a very respectable result. Bad for Holland: three Dutch players were hurt in the game; MF Wesley Sneijder seems to be worst off. "It's like an episode of M.A.S.H.," said Holland Coach Marco van Basten said. "It was some sight in the dressing room. But I don't regret the match because it is good to play physical football."...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 5, 2006; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Who Do You Like in Group F?
Friday. Predictions. It feels like a tradition now. First, the reading material. - Steve Goff's group analysis, written the day of the draw. - Team profiles, also writen in December. BBC.com's team guides: - Australia - Brazil - Croatia - Japan Did you know: During France 1998, the stadium authorities were astonished to find the Japan fans' seating area cleaner after a game than before. On the final whistle, the fans had picked up all the rubbish they could find before depositing it in the bins by the exit. My thoughts ... I hate to be boring again, but how does Brazil not win this group? And how does Croatia not finish second? The biggest question seems to be who takes third -- and the June 12 Japan-Australia game may determine that. I assume most everyone agrees Brazil is the pick for No. 1 here. Anyone think Croatia might stumble,...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 19, 2006; 09:05 AM ET | Comments (50) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
Kind of a slow news day so far ... - South Korea's Lee Dong-Gook is definitely out. Did you know his club team is the Pohang Steelers? - FIFAWorldCup.com does the Q&A thing with Croatia Coach Zlatko Kranjcar. The 1998 semifinalists (ask me about the game in Germany vs. Lyon) were pretty solid in qualifying: Unfancied prior to the start of the preliminaries, the Croats marched unbeaten through their section with a record of 21 goals scored and just five conceded, leaving opponents such as Sweden, Hungary and Bulgaria trailing in their wake. - Speaking of Croatia, Iran has a Croatian coach. He has annouced a couple of friendlies ... Arranging FIFA World Cup warm-ups has been a problem for Iran, particularly on home soil, with many international sides apparently reluctant to travel to Iran amid mounting tensions over the country's disputed nuclear programme....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 14, 2006; 09:36 AM ET | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
