I was right during the period of general depression after the loss to Mexico when I said that Croatia would make it into the third round of the World Cup. I think that there is not a single fan in our country who did not experience the win against Italy very emotionally. Further reason was that the Italians were leading, and with fantastic play by our team, we turned that result around in only three minutes, which is a rare occurrence in world-class football. To be realistic, maybe one judge’s call was in our favor, but the Croatian team played better, we held a fast tempo and the victory was well deserved. I am very happy that my task among the Croatian officials was to follow Italy, and thus, I believe that some of my observations contributed to this great triumph.

Problems in Italy’s game

Blažević heavily charged Jutarnji List for criticisms Miroslav Blažević heavily charged Ninoslav Pavić, co-owner of Jutarnji List for emotional pain caused by that paper’s journalists who criticized him for his attacks against the national team coach, Mirko Jozić. Blažević announced that he would leave the World Cup after being so shaken by reporter’s comments that he no longer knows how to write. After Pavić asked him how many Euros it would take to calm him down, Blažević instantly responded: 15,000. Considering that Blažević has already packed his bags, Pavić was left with no choice but to pay the former head coach the requested amount directly into his account. This means that Blažević has received a total of 65,000 Euros, making him by far the best paid football commentator in the country.This win confirmed my claims that Italy is not as unbeatable as everyone thinks. I’ve watched them four times over the past few months and I’ve observed certain problems in their game, and I knew that if we play a smart game we could win. Firstly, their wing players Panucci and Maldini are out of prime condition. That was very clear in the game against Ecuador where they had holes on both wings, with Panucci and Zambrotta on the right and Maldini and Doni on the left, and no one able to halt the attacks of the opposing team. It was clear that we needed to put faster players on the wings, so that they could create problems for the Italian defense. I made those suggestions to Mirko Jozić and I think he put together a good starting line.

That was already clear in the first half when Vugrinec had two solid chances, which goalman Buffon saved. Bokšić and Rapaić had excellent openings and they were making a lot of problems for the Italian defense. However, when we were playing better, Italy was leading, which depressed us on the sidelines. With Olić’s goal, our moral skyrocketed, both among the players and the fans.

Jurica Vranješ

It was Ivica Olić that led Croatia to victory after he attacked on the right wing, breaking the Italian defense and allowing Milan Rapaić to do the same on the left wing. I will also give Jurica Vranješ credit, for bringing calm to the defense after entering the game, while at the same time making some excellent passes. Olić and Vranješ should remain within the starting line in the game against Ecuador, especially if we take into account the professional reactions by Šuker and Prosinečki who accepted Jozić’s decision to move them to the reserve ranks. No player, especially the older ones, likes to sit on the bench, but they quietly accepted the coach’s decision. I assume that Jozić will stick to the current game plan, especially with the libero in the defense line. That was missing in our game against Mexico, we added it in the Italian game and beat a big team. Thanks to this victory over Italy, we are now very close to entering the second round because our future in this group is now up to us, which is the best thing that could have happened to us.

Offensive Threesome

We now have to beat Ecuador, which has a slow defense, which Ivica Olić can easily beat. Looking objectively, Croatia is better than Ecuador, and we will beat them based on our speed and tempo, which are our best features. Croatia is a better team than Ecuador, and if we play aggressively from the start, I believe that Olić, Rapaić and Bokšić can give us the two goal advantage that we need to move into the second round. Even though the starting line will likely not change much, I think it would be an excellent idea to add Vranješ as a mid-fielder who can make excellent passes to our offensive threesome.

One more thing about Olić. It is almost certain that he will be leaving Zagreb, and heading to Italy. He was very lucky that Fabio Capello was watching him, and thus the stories that Roma is interested in him are not unfounded. To play in the A league is a great challenge, but I’m not sure if it’s the best decision for a player of his status. In Italy, a lot is invested in defense, and if he ends up in that league, Olić will have to particularly work on defensive tasks, which will limit his attack activities to an extent. That’s why I would rather see him go to the Spanish league, where they are a lot more flexible and a player like him can have more of an opportunity to show his stuff. In football today, however, these things are secondary, the decision about future clubs is made by the manager, which means that Olić will end up in the club that offers him the most money, and not where he could best develop his capabilities.

Unity among teammates

I hope that this will finally end all the talk about conflicts in the national team. There was a certain apathy among the players after the Mexico game, but after living among the players for several days, I saw no signs of any conflicts. You have to take into consideration that they lost their first game after over thirty days together, and under such circumstances there is bound to be arguments among the players. But there are no conflicts or opposing player clans, on the contrary, the win against Italy has brought them together. The older players such as Soldo, Šuker and Prosinečki are behaving very correctly, and not causing any problems at all.

The situation is the same with the theories of a rift among the officials. Were there some kind of a conflict, we certainly would not have been able to plan such a good tactical game against Italy. Football coaches often have a different vision of the game, as did Ivan Katalinić when he gave his idea of how the team should play, but it is not true that he fought with head coach Jozić about it. It is understandable that there is a great deal of tension that builds in the slow rhythm we have in the camp. Training sessions are in the afternoon or in the evening, and the days pass by slowly. The players either walk around or stay in the hotel, and they are very well protected by the Japanese police. In spite of the care our hosts have given us, time is passing very slowly and everyone can hardly wait for the games to begin.

This World Cup is really world class, and the competition in the groups is more uncertain and unpredictable than ever. Before the competition started, I had five favorites in mind: France, England, Italy, Argentina and Brazil. After one week of play, three of those teams, France, Argentina and Italy will be forced to win their final games and thus go on. All this proves that there are no longer big and small teams, here in Japan and Korea we see that its anyone’s game. Only Brazil has confirmed their status as favorites. Also working in their favor is the tradition that no European team has ever won the title when the World Cup has been hosted outside of Europe. Japan and Korea could confirm this tradition.

Uncertainty at the end of group play

Viewers were likely pleasantly surprised by Senegal, but those of us who follow football closely know that 20 of the Senegal players play in the French league, and gained a lot of experience there. After many years, Denmark is playing well again, and both Korea and Japan have become dangerous. I believe that the next round in the groups will bring a lot of surprises. When we talk about players, it has rarely been new names at the forefront. Even though our Tomas guarded him well, Totti proved in the games against both Ecuador and Croatia that is a world-class player. He has an excellent perspective of the game, he passes well, and is really one of the worlds best. I really liked the way Beckham and Owen from England played, as well as the three top Brazilians – Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. It would be good for some less famous players to quickly fight their way to the limelight, of those, I’ve really liked only Japanese players Inamoto and Nakata.