Here is Joe’s explanation: “At first it didn’t even faze me that I received a second yellow, all I could think about was that we need a goal. After a minute or so, I realized what happened and that I should have been shown the red..someone on the field even commented on that..but at this point I did not care. All I could think about was to score.” He adds, “Anyway, it’s the ref’s own fault for not realizing what he did.” “After the game, I went up to him and told him what happened, and that is when he showed me the yellow again and the red. I congratulated him and that was that.”

The ref, Graham Poll added “In the 89th minute when I produced the yellow, I wrote down the right jersey number but the wrong name..I had inadvertantly given the yellow to the Australian number 3, Craig Moore.” “This is the first time something like this has happened to me in my 26 year long career.”

Overall, it was disappointing watching 11 guys playing against one team. No wonder we couldn’t break them down.

Well said CS, well said. Incidentaly, a little over a month ago, I said that I was going to meet someone whose opinion would probably be the one that should be listened to. That person was Davor Suker. A very knowlegeable man when it comes to WC performance, and he had the same opinion as CS.

Here is what some homegrown “experts” have to say on our situation:
Ivan Katalinić (ex-coach of Hajduk, previous assistant coact of NT in 1996 – 2002 and candidate for NT coaching position before Cico was chosen): A very phisical game that will require strong mental focus. This game will be tougher on us since Australia only needs a draw, and they have shown ability and a willingness to win. There is also Guus Hiddink, a brilliant strategist who will be ready for us. Croatia can win, but realistically, it will be very tough.

Elvis Scoria (ex-coach HNK Rijeka): Australia is a team with quality mixed with agressiveness, but actually, Hiddink will be our biggers obsticle. We have always expected that the games against Australia will be the deciding match and we have trained to that effect, but still, I think the team that scores first will be the winner.

Otto Barić (ex-NT coach 2002-2004): It is no longer time for analyzing and criticizing, now is the time for a little bit of luck! (And people wonder why he was fired)

Eddy Bosnar (An Aussie Croat player): Croatia would be favoured if Niko Kranjčar would step up his game or if Cico would replace him with Luka Modrić. This would surprise the Aussies, who untill now have shown better. Croatia also lacks their fighting spirit.

It does not seem like the population is very confident in a favourable outcome for this game. Whatever happens, I know that Dado gave it his all.

Yep, Olić has fully recovered and is starting on Thursday. So much for the 3 man attack strategy…maybe he’ll sub Klasnić for Kranjčar in the second half. One can hope, but you never know with this guy.

When asked if he chose this formation because he thinks the Aussie defence is slow he responded “No, I don’t think they are slow, but Olić is fast and he could cause trouble in their back line.” Could…this guy doesen’t even know what his team is capable of. You want to cause trouble in front of the net, I say put in a third striker. He was also asked if he is exploiting any weaknesses in the Australian team with this new formation, and he stated…”No coach likes to talk about the oppositions weakness, but I will say what our strength is….We have better players than Australia.” I guess we’ll see on Thursday.

1. What the hell is Niko Kranjcar doing on the field?????
He is so far off being match fit that it’s laughable. He is slow, unwilling to run after the ball, incapable of precise passes and overrated. Modric would be a much better choice. He is fast, willing and more than capable of creating a play. The whole nation can see it, why can’t Cico?

2. What the hell is Dado doing covering the fat boy’s position.
A striker is running up and down that field, and doing a mighty fine job of it I must admit, so that Cico can let his son stand in the midfield giving up unchallenged passes to the opposition. Let’s face it, Cico is creating a mockery of his son’s abilities, not raising his transfer price. After these games he will universally be seen as useless, just as Dinamo saw him 2 years ago.

3. Where the $#%@ is the third striker?
We desperately need him. I don’t care who it is…even Olic will do, but for God’s sake put someone in. Prso, Klasnic, Olic, that sound sooooo good right about now. How can 4 million people see that we need a goal, and Cico does not?

Those are my three main points, I got about a dozen more…but lets stick to those. Another thing I am getting so sick of is the “I am very satisfied with our play today” quotes. Is this guy retarded??. “We played just as I expected, but we were unlucky to not produce a goal“. With a quote like that, you gotta believe he is. I met the man about a year ago and he seemed well put together. I didn’t notice any ticks or lapses in conversation, but the way he has been acting over that past month makes me think that I missed something.

The next game is do or die. I love those kind of games because our NT are masters of producing a just in time result, but I know I’m gonna suffer a heart attack….at 35, and I”m not even a lawyer. The clash of the Croats, should be good.

I do wish to retract something I said a few posts ago. I said that Simunic is lacking pace and is on his way to getting a red card in the first two games for his strong arm tactics. Man was I wrong. He has been fantastic on our back line and deserves more credit than I gave him. One more thing, Who is the man in the net and what has he done with Pletikosa? I count 1 mistake in two games..impressive.

Milane, et all…sorry I had not posted right away. Game day I had 14 people at my house. Long day, long night and out like a light!

Euler, thanx for the wishes. No need for me to wish you luck, you’re in and you wrote everything I was thinking about the game in your post. I wish I had pictures like yours….man I miss Brazil!

The game against Japan is a do-or-die. The winer will continue on to battle it out in their third game for placement into the second round…..the looser gets a set of steak knives.

Croatia is confident they can win even with the game changing tactics Zico is planning.

All he really wanted to do is kiss the boots of Dado Prso, who in the end escorted him off the field with no incident. The game was stopped for a few minutes. It was remeniscant of Euro ‘04 when Jimmy Jump ran up to Figo and threw a Barcelona flag at him….no real incident, just funny.

The Greman police promptly arrested the young lad and banned him from all future games of this WC. In my opinion, I think they should give him VIP tickets and limousine transportation to any games he wishes to attend for pointing out a flaw in their security net surrounding the games. The organisers of this WC were adament that the safety of the players and security of the games were of upmost concern and that nothing like Munich 1972 could be repeated…..

UPDATE: This guy is now so famous in Croatia, there is even a drawing of his accomplishments.