gooner said:
I rate Jelavic but his goalscoring record with Croatia is not great. Interestingly Liam Brady over here in Ireland thinks they will win the tournament but I have my doubts they will even get out of the group. For instance I don't think they will even beat us on Sunday. They will have lots of possesion with the likes of Modric, Kranjcar and Rakitic but Trapattoni will get his 2 banks of 4 set up and leave no space for Croatia to play in between the lines which is what they love to do. Also Olic is out for them which is a big blow.
I watched the highlights of their game at the weekend against Norway and they were poor. Norway were the better team and this is the same Norway team that was so woeful against England less than a couple of weeks ago. I think they are weak at the back as well. Simunic has been a great player for them down the years but he is shoving on in years now and he lacks serious pace and as good as Pranjic is going forward he is equally poor defensively.
Seen dat as well. Pepe got a terrible own goal. Turkey are one of the better teams who have'nt qualified for the Euros.
BTW I see there has been a lot response to the Panorama documentary. I am not going to comment on another country as I have'nt been there as well and like you say the documentary could be sensationalised. There is one thing I would like to ask you though. We had the Panorama one which talked a lot about the intense rivalry between Wisla Krakow and Cracovia fans. Danny Dyer's documentary, the Ross Kemp one and Ardal O' Hanlon on Irish TV also showed this intense rivalry between both sets of fans. Just to let you know the Ross Kemp and the Ardal O' Hanlon's ones were done before Poland was announced as host to the Euros. I also know a friend who went over there and he bought a Cracovia jersey in the shop and he put it on and he got told by people there that he would be stabbed to death around the streets of Krakow if he wore it.
Is this rivalry that bad or has this one been blown out of proportion as well? Just like to know because I heard a lot about it.
Its guys who want to fight, and want a reason to fight.
its like when people get attacked in some bad american neighbourhoods for wearing red in a crips neighbourhood.
Anyway, the point about it being sensationalised, wasn't that it doesn't happen, its that its small time.
Documentaries dont really differentiate between things that occur en masse every day, and things that occur occasionally in some areas. In both cases its not the frequency that matters, but being able to get hold of some footage that can shock people and maybe some interviews.
Sure it can get pretty violent, amongst the hardcore supporters, and it will continue to be like that, so anyone who wants to go in there and make a documentary will be able to.
But at the same time it will have absolutely no impact on a international sporting event during the off season. Or tourists who visit at any other point, unless part of your to do list is to visit high rise housing projects wearing the rival teams shirt.
Turkey also has football violence, from wht i hear on a far larger scale, but it doesnt stop them from hosting uefa ciup and champs league finals.
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