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El Flaco

El Flaco

Active member
Does anyone here watching Hajduk Split vs Dinamo Zagreb game now?

The kick-off just started for some minutes ago..
 
El Flaco

El Flaco

Active member
The Croatian club HNK Rijeka just won their first ever league title, breaking Dinamo Zagreb's 11-year domination.

Just saw an interesting post on this regard elsewhere

In its 25 year history, Croatian First League title was won only by three teams: Dinamo (18 times), Hajduk (6 times) and Zagreb (once). Considering Zagreb is on the verge of being relegated to third tier, the league itself can be compared to Scottish (Celtic, Rangers) or Ukrainian (Dynamo, Shakhtar) leagues.

Interestingly enough, Rijeka should have won the 1999 championship but was robbed of it by a corrupt system which involve the country's president himself. A short quote from Wikipedia says it all (note: Croatia Zagreb afterwards changed its name to Dinamo Zagreb):

In the final round of the 1998–99 season, a refereeing error denied Rijeka their first championship title. With one match to go, Rijeka were one point ahead of Croatia Zagreb, needing a home win against Osijek to secure the title. With the match tied at 1–1, in the 89th minute, Rijeka forward Admir Hasančić converted a cross by Barnabás Sztipánovics. The packed Kantrida erupted in celebration. However, to their dismay, moments later, assistant referee Krečak raised his flag and referee Šupraha disallowed Rijeka's winning goal for alleged offside. Following an investigation, 3D analysis revealed that Hasančić was not in an offside position (clear by 12 centimeters) and that Rijeka were wrongfully denied their first championship title. An investigation by Nacional revealed that Franjo Tuđman, the President of the Republic of Croatia and an ardent Croatia Zagreb supporter, earlier in 1999 ordered the country's intelligence agencies to spy on football referees, officials and journalists, with the aim of ensuring that the Zagreb club wins the league title.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNK_Rijeka
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Rijeka went on and fought with Osijek for that 3rd place in the following years, had some success in winning the Cup two times in a row (2005, 2006) but was face to face with bankruptcy around 2011 and 2012, just like some other domestic clubs; most notable was Varteks - they were relegated to the lowest Croatian football level due to financial problems in 2012.

The arrival of Italian businessman Gabrielle Volpi and his Social Sport foundation came at the last minute. Bringing in his longtime oil business partner and an avid Rijeka fan Damir Mišković in the club, began the process of restoring Rijeka to their former glory, with Slovenian manager Matjaž Kek. The financial backing is much more alike Monaco's instead of Man City or PSG in terms of bigger budgets but still realistic transfer targets, focusing on player personality first, buying mostly Croatians or players from neighboring countries. Most notable player sold was Andrej Kramarić - bought for €400k from Dinamo and sold to Leicester City for €11.5m.

In just five years, a modern football camp worth €30m that included a 6000 capacity Rujevica Stadium was built - to serve both as a backup stadium while the club's old Kantrida Stadium is rebuilt, the club won Croatian Cup and Supercup trophies, qualified for Europa League group stage twice - with some notable results: * eliminating Stuttgart in 2013-14 EL playoffs on away goals by scoring the equalizing goal in 93rd minute in Mercedes-Benz Arena * 3-1 and 2-0 wins against Feyenoord and Standard Liege in 2014-15 campaign, along with a 2-2 draw vs champions Sevilla with the Spaniards equalizing in 91st minute (all home games)

After four years of finishing 2nd and being shadowed by a much stronger Dinamo side - player-wise, financially and logistically in terms of referee bias and media support - Rijeka secured this year's title in front of their own fans, with one game to go. The celebrations will continue through the night in the city and thousands of supporters won't be getting much sleep tonight! The final round, when the trophy will be given, is scheduled for next weekend and will be played vs Dinamo on their pitch. Talk about irony. The funny thing is - Dinamo has no major support anymore. Their ultras group The Bad Blue Boys boycotted the matches for quite a while until only recently, and they spend some time during each match chanting against Dinamo's controversal boss Zdravko Mamić, who faces trial for tax evasion in many of the club's major transfers including Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic sales.

On the other hand, the atmosphere around Rijeka is at its very top. The fans follow the team in huge numbers in away games and they are one with the players and the staff.
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Barcaman

Barcaman

Administrator
Staff member
Screw Rijeka and their local small minded mentality. I watched the political news on elections we just had and studio from Rijeka decided to talk about their "glorious" title. As if anyone cared for it except them. And it's fake for them anyway as 90% of people down there don't care about football anyway. Unless for a week when they are winning :lol:
 
El Flaco

El Flaco

Active member
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
El Flaco said:
Steaua owner: "I'll only transfer black players from Europe. Those coming from Africa directly aren't civilized"

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And apparently, it's not the first time George Becali has been controverstial regarding black players...

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[MENTION=15262]serghei[/MENTION] Has your owner actually been punished for any of his previous remarks?
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He's a nutcase, with no education. He's anti gay, anti black men, hates the people who are not very religious. Was even quoted once for not liking players with too many tattoos. :lol: Did time after he was caught trying to stimulate a team to win a match, with a suitcase containing 1.3 million euros in his possession. Was also convicted for sequestrating (he and his bodyguards) 3 men who previously stole his car. Spent around 3 years in jail in total.
 
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Windhook

Windhook

Well-known member
serghei said:
He's a nutcase, with no education. He's anti gay, anti black men, hates the people who are not very religious. Was even quoted once for not liking players with too many tattoos. :lol: Did time after he was caught trying to stimulate a team to win a match, with a suitcase containing 1.3 million euros in his possession. Was also convicted for sequestrating (he and his bodyguards) 3 men who previously stole his car. Spent around 3 years in jail in total.
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Gigi Becali is legendary!:lol: The Donald Trump of Eastern Europe.
 
Messi983

Messi983

Senior Member
Wow, this is crazy. :rolleyes: :facepalm:

Mansur Çalar, a player from Amed SK uses a razor blade he hides in his hand from the start of the game to attack the opposition players. The absurd situation occurred in the third Turkish league. Footballer Mansur Calar of Amed SK wound several of his rivals with a razor while meeting with Sakaryas (1: 1). The Turkish football federation (TFF) will deal with the matter. He did it so discreetly that the referee did not notice the bad behavior of the player and let him play the game to the end. After the meeting social media circulated pictures of punished rivals.
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