Croatia v England (2010 FIFA World Cup™) countdown
The Croatia v England rematch is only hours away! Tonight Capello faces his first major test as England Manager, on the very same ground Steve Mclaren, and in particular Paul Robinson, experienced one of the worst nights of their international career. Images of Borat smiling from an advertising board are also conjured up with the inclusion of Kazakhstan in the same qualifying group. Could they provide a shock of their own?
UEFA Euro 2008
Euro 2008 is now over, and what an incredible tournament it's been! Spain are the champions, their brand of sexy football sweeping aside all that dared stand in their way. 44 years of underachievement and hurt were forgotten as Luis Aragones's side swatted a Germany team that had performed miracles to reach the final. We were told to 'Expect Emotions' and how right they were! Turkey served up some of the most memorable highlights with two incredible late finishes. Croatia, Holland, Portugal, Russia and of course Spain wowed us with their beautiful and inventive play. Italy and Romania were the spoilers of the tournament, with Sweden, Portugal, France, Czech Republic and Poland all left hoping for an improvement at South Africa 2010. And lest we forget our perfect hosts Switzerland and Austria, who both failed to qualify from their respective groups, it's a case of better luck next time and thank you for the memories! Check out our Euro 2008 blog, review of the tournament, review of the Croatian players' performances, official BACF Team of the Tournament and featured articles "Euro 2008 - An Englishman's perspective" (following intrepid reporter Adrian Atterby on his quest as an Englishman supporting Croatia).
Presenting Tony Henry
Meet the Croatian team's unofficial mascot for Euro 2008 - acclaimed opera singer Tony Henry! Why is Tony the new mascot? Rewind to Wembley, 21st November 2007, England v Croatia. Tony was billed to sing the national anthems for the teams in what was the new ground’s biggest fixture to date. Tony was the ideal candidate for the job as he’d already sung at the 2007 FA Cup Final, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Albert Hall.
Congratulations England! The clash of the Group 6 titans became a mere stroll in the park for an England team in scintillating form. Croatia were outplayed and outclassed and now have a difficult task in trying to qualify first from the group. Despite the defeat, Croatia's support was still immense, so whatever you're excuse to support Croatia, you'll find everything you need to 'go Croat' right here. You can also follow the team and every other member of Slaven Bilic's squad with up to date match and player info, transfer news, features, video highlights, games, forum and the fabled Hall of Fame. Try our Croatian Name Generator, Be the Goalie football game where you can rewrite history or meet Tony Henry, the team mascot and learn a few helpful Croatian phrases. There are also special features on Euro 2008 AND World Cup 2010 where Croatia and England will battle it out once again!
England annihilate Croatia
On an unforgettable night in Zagreb, England dominated a match that most pundits, fans and anyone who knew anything about football gave them no chance of winning with Theo Walcott scoring an unforgettable hatrick to announce his arrival on the international scene. The away side dominated from start to finish with the final score of 1-4 the least they deserved. In truth it should have been 5-0 as Frank Lampard had a goal incredulously ruled out for a foul whilst Croatia's solitary goal came from a high foot that was bizarrely missed by the referee.
Defoe - "Man for man, we are better."
Taking a leaf out of his club manager, Harry Redknapp’s book, Jermaine Defoe is the latest Premier League player to announce how much better individually England are than Croatia. Slaven Bilic must wonder when England will stop shooting themselves in the foot? Surely a side that had already lost twice in a row to his talented team would have learnt their lesson? Perhaps they'd manage to avoid the sort of misplaced soundbites that serve only to motivate his already hungry squad? Apparently not.
Premiership clubs not helping England's malaise
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Slaven Bilic last jolted the nation when he told us via a surprised Sky Sports commentator to "Wake Up". He was speaking after his side had skilfully taken apart a lacklustre England at Wembley yet was still being asked whether tactics and formation had been the key. Croatia were “simply the better team”, nothing more, nothing less. Now, with our press asking more of the same questions, Bilic has not been afraid to rattle a few other cages, namely those of Rafa Benitez and Alex Ferguson. England face their biggest game of Capello's reign so far without their best and most reliable player, Steven Gerrard. Why? So that his club can use the international break to operate on a troublesome groin injury he'd been carrying for over a month.
Bilic back in the groove
God how we miss Euro 2008. Apparently, England's absence would diminish the second greatest football tournament on the planet. Not a bit of it. Euro 2008 was one of the greatest ever, and Slaven Bilic was a key part of it. The enigmatic coach could always be relied upon for a refreshingly frank and honest opinion and now that the eyes of the world are on him once more, Croatia's manager has reminded us all what made him the most watchable boss of the Euros.
- Croatia v England - What the world is saying (08 September 2008)
- Bilic not fussed about the money (07 September 2008)
- England stutter whilst Croatia cruise (06 September 2008)
- Croatia favourites to topple England (05 September 2008)
- Slaven Bilic uninterested in West Ham. (02 September 2008)
- Transfer Deadline Day round-up (02 September 2008)
- Transfer Deadline Day – Who will move? (01 September 2008)
- Vedran Corluka switches to Spurs (01 September 2008)
- Corluka smashes City into Uefa Cup first round (28 August 2008)
- Dinamo face mission impossible (27 August 2008)
- Croatian midfield star ruled out for 3 months (27 August 2008)
- England show little to worry Croatia (21 August 2008)
- Croatia gear up for Slovenia friendly (20 August 2008)
- Corluka and Kranjcar suffer (18 August 2008)
- Mladen Petric switches to Hamburg (17 August 2008)
- Spurs suffer whilst Hamburg hold Bayern - Croatian Player round-up (16 August 2008)
- Champions League round-up (14 August 2008)
- Champions League preview (13 August 2008)
- Simic settles on Monaco (11 August 2008)
- Corluka chooses City (11 August 2008)
- Slaven Bilic names squad for Slovenia friendly (06 August 2008)
- Spurs join the fast lane (06 August 2008)
- Modric suffers injury setback (04 August 2008)
- Eduardo returns to Arsenal (04 August 2008)
- Hajduk risk elimination from Uefa Cup (04 August 2008)
- Croatia stars in action as pre-season warms up (02 August 2008)
2010 FIFA World Cup™ qualification
The Croatia v England rematch is only hours away! Tonight Capello faces his first major test as England Manager, on the very same ground Steve Mclaren, and in particular Paul Robinson, experienced one of the worst nights of their international career. Images of Borat smiling from an advertising board are also conjured up with the inclusion of Kazakhstan in the same qualifying group. Could they provide a shock of their own?
History of Croatian national football
Croatian national football has experienced it's ups and downs in the 18 years it has been in existence. 8 coaches, 6 out of 7 major tournaments, 215 players, 40 scorers, 324 goals scored. As high as 3rd in the FIFA world rankings, as low as 125th. 35 mins away from a World Cup Final in 98,failure to qualify for the European Champs only two years later.
Croatian Football Anthems
Admittedly, Croatia haven't had as many opportunities as England to 'do the competition song thing', yet with qualification in all but one major tournament so far, they're catching up! Want to know what Croatia's version of 'Three Lions', 'Vindaloo' or 'World in Motion' is? Perhaps you fancy singing some of the songs now that you've got your Honorary Croatian Birth Certificate and learnt your basic phrases. Either way, enjoy. Here are the best, and the worst of the Croatian Football Anthems.
Become A Croatia Fan TV
Become A Croatia Fan TV is pleased to announce some new features and content.
First of all we launch "Prosi Watch" - a trip down the mind of one of the BACF team that has a bit of a thing for the midfield maestro turned Croatian National Team Assistant Manager. I've got to admit, the charismatic wizard certainly makes good TV!
Secondly we bring you our Zagreb report. It took a while to sort out,but we're pleased to say it's finally finished. Hope you like it, and once again, thanks to everyone we met for making us feel so welcome. From the people we already knew, to the people that knew about us, including that sandwich shop owner who served up one of the best late night kebabs I've had in a long time, you all made it an unforgettable trip.
Last but not least, we continue our keepy-uppy series with the latest installment of the class of '98 showing the young'uns how it's done. We've also just thrown in a news article by Nova TV on there featuring us "hard at work" at the Croatian Media Centre at Bad Tatzmannsdorf.
- GK Stipe Pletikosa
- GK Mario Galinovic
- GK Vedran Runje
- DEF Dario Knežević
- DEF Vedran Corluka
- DEF Dario Simic
- DEF Robert Kovac
- DEF Josip Simunic
- DEF Stjepan Tomas
- DEF Marko Babic
- MID Nikola Pokrivac
- MID Anas Sharbini
- MID Danijel Pranjic
- MID Ognjen Vukojevic
- MID Ivan Rakitic
- MID Darijo Srna
- MID Jurica Vranjes
- MID Jerko Leko
- MID Niko Kovac
- MID Ivan Leko
- MID Dario Jertec
- MID Luka Modric
- MID Davor Vugrinec
- MID Niko Kranjcar
- FOR Nikola Kalinic
- FOR Mario Mandžukić
- FOR Darío Cvitanich
- FOR Igor Budan
- FOR Mladen Petric
- FOR Eduardo
- FOR Ivan Bosnjak
- FOR Ivan Klasnic
- FOR Bosko Balaban
- FOR Ivica Olic
- COA Alijosa Asanovic
- MGR Robert Prosinecki
- MGR Slaven Bilic
