Croatian football team played two friendlies and had occupied most of our time, but there were other interesting stories as well
Sport week started with Cedevita’s second leg semifinal match of ABA League against Crvena Zvezda, the game they lost in the packed Dom Sportova hall. In other basketball news, Aleksandar Petrović was named the new National team coach. A bit of a surprise, as his name emerged in public after other names were mentioned, including some foreign coaches, as candidates for the position. He will be the one trying to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Croatian basketball is in the state of renewal, with new board introduced and it seems like they are yet to get the grasp of all the mistakes which were done in the past.
On Wednesday, Croatian football team was playing Israel in Osijek, an expected match, and there were many controversies surrounding that game. Coach Čačić made some decisions that were not accepted well by the public, inviting some Dinamo players instead of those that are currently in a much better form. Croatia won the match against the Israeli team, which was simply not a match to Croatian quality, but questions were left unanswered, as it is unclear what is the formation which will be played in EURO, or which players are the first choice of the coach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEB50FguMWU
Of course, the question always remains if is it even his choice, or does it come from some other officials and advisers of the Croatian Football Federation. While the CFF officials praised the atmosphere in Osijek, the Croatian government has condemned the chants heard from one part of the bleachers during the match. We had one great story from lower level football, about remains of fair play and respect in modern football.
Croatian Radio Television and Hajduk have commemorated the anniversary of the first radio broadcast of a football match in Split, and we introduced the comeback of WTA Tour in Bol, Brač, which will happen in June. It will be the event we will watch carefully as we see it as a significant promotion of both sport and tourism on Dalmatian islands.
Croatian U21 team has staged a surprise in Spain, winning 3-0 against the hosts, and their senior colleagues have traveled to Budapest to an another friendly match. Coach Čačić surprised us again, getting to Budapest with only 16 players available, and three of those were goalkeepers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttCWS39-kU0
During the match itself, he made just one substitution, a rare event even in competitive games, let alone friendly ones. Even more, the substitute he introduced was captain Darijo Srna, who was injured few days ago, and on the position he stopped occupying years ago. When reporting about the match, as there was not too much to be written about, it seemed appropriate to remember Johan Cruyff, the football legend who died last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Plese2FhlU
The week ended with a miracle comeback by PPD Zagreb handball team in Champions League 1/8 finals in Mannheim on Sunday. They lost the first game at home the week before, and were sent off to Germany with low hopes, but they did the impossible and came back to win the match. They will face PSG in the quarter-finals deservedly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS0RN7-u74
