Cup Finals Galore

May 14th, 2008 | By: Mario | 4 Comments »

Besides the Russian flavored UEFA cup final, the second leg of Croatian Cup final was also played today, albeit with much more discretion and a lot less overall quality involved.

cup1As Dinamo went into the match with a 3:0 advantage, it was pretty much a routine 90 minutes of football. “Enriched” of course by three red cards and ugly scenes aplenty, but one comes to expect this kind of “entertainment” when these 2 sides meet. Of course, with all these fights and cards sprawling around, no one actually had time to go and score a single goal. Also, with a farewell to Maksimir last week, Luka Modric has officially played his last game in a Dinamo shirt. His farewell scenario? Winning a domestic double and celebrating it in your arch rivals back yard. He should’ve played the lottery today to cap it all off.

Our rebel with a cause, Ivica Krizanac, played a solid match in his club’s historic victory over Rangers in this night’s UEFA Cup final.

Krizanac1His performance aside, there was perhaps something symbolic in the way Krizanac wielded the Croatian flag after the final whistle had been blown. A gesture to Bilic or simply a display of one man’s passion for his country? I’ll go for the latter, there’s plenty of mind games tossed around on this side of the Balkans anyway. A big congratulations to Ivica, and hopefully we’ll see him in our NT jersey soon enough. Credit of course to team Zenit as well, a victory well deserved.

Russia on the other hand, owes Croatia another one. Besides beating that one special country and booking them the trip to EURO’s, we’ve also provided them with a solid and reliable centre-back in the shape of Ivica Krizanac. I expect an oil rig named “Ivica” or “Slaven” making the headlines sooner or later.



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Comments
Username By Wettstern | May 15th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
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I think it’s also worth mentioning that Dinamo Zagreb’s coach Zvonimir Soldo resigned after the final whistle. In general Dinamo’s coaches have a rather short “life expectancy” because Zdravko Mamic who pretty much rules the club in an autocratic way has rather extreme mood swings. During the last weeks there were a lot of rumours about Soldo being replaced after the season, so I guess he didn’t want to accept his fate and opted for resigning instead of being fired…. ; and Luka Modric … I believe he will quickly become one of Tottenham’s most important players.

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Username By Mario | May 15th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
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You’re right, it’s definitely worth mentioning, thanks for bringing it up. I’ll probably write a separate post on this subject though, focusing primarily on Mamic and the way he handles things in Dinamo. As to Soldo, I guess he just didn’t have the “stomach” to work along Mamic, but I imagine that’s something only a few coaches have nowadays. I also absolutely agree that Modric will make a massive impact in Tottenham.

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Username By Wettstern | May 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am
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Thanks for your reply Mario! I would definitely be interested in reading a separate post on Mamic.

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Username By Mario | May 22nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
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You’re welcome mate :) I’ll make sure I post the stuff by the end of the week.

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