LUKA MODRIC | FRANCE FOOTBALL GOLDEN BALL AWARD 2018 WINNER

Croatian International & Real Madrid midfielder LUKA MODRIC has been proclaimed "FRANCE FOOTBALL GOLDEN BALL WINNER 2018" in tonight's ceremony held in Paris, France. The Croatian breaks the Messi - Cristiano Ronaldo 10 year straight hegemony to win at the age of 33 years & after an extraordinary Football year for the Croatian Captain.

Luka Modric was prized ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (2º), Antoine Griezmann (3º), Kylian Mbappe (4º) & Lionel Messi (5º).

The other winners tonight were:

ADA HEGERBERG player of Olympique de Lyon & Norway International won the first ever "FRANCE FOOTBALL FEMALE GOLDEN BALL AWARD 2018", &

KYLIAN MBAPPE player of Paris St Germain & French International won the "KOPA TROPHY" for the Best U21 Player in World Football.

France Football also dedicated part of the ceremony to praise the FRANCE WORLD CUP TEAM for winning the FIFA World Cup, something to expect under the circumstances & who the organizers are, France Football.

To finish, just two notes:

1. Hours before the ceremony & the official announcement of the Golden Ball winner, the list of players, placing & points was filtered out to media. Perhaps its a custom to "prepare" everyone for the occasion. Who knows.

2. Once again CRISTIANO RONALDO pulled his party trick. Knowing beforehand that he would not win, the Juventus FC player decided not to attend tonight's ceremony. This went contrary to 3º placed Griezmann who also knew beforehand he would not win a prize he has desired & called for himself, but attended keeping a smile & commenting he was there due to respect to the other players.

Cristiano Ronaldo once again shows his egoistic personality, & disrespect for other players & in this case, Luka Modric ex-teammate who helped him win his Champions League titles which contributed to his own passed Golden Ball Award title.

Cristiano Ronaldo has lost respect & if it would be possible, I would remove his passed Golden Ball Awards as his behaviour & actions go against the values of the Sport: team spirit, competitive but respectful & acknowledgement to those who are better.

To conclude, absolutely shameful & disgusting the attitude shown by Cristiano Ronaldo for not attending. 

From here congratulations to Luka Modric, his family, friends & Croatia will be proud & happy for this well earned Football Award. 

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CROATIA 3 SPAIN 2 | UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

SPAIN had to win tonight to access automatically into the final 4 stage of the UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE Top 4 Finals but complicated their chances, & negatively, after being defeated 3 - 2 by CROATIA in Zagreb.

Spain now has to sit & wait for the outcome of the England - Croatia clash to see if they continue on, a victory by England or Croatia with give them respectively the ticket through to the Top 4 Finals

Spain started with the following starting 11 team as the above & below photo highlights.

The Croatians in front of their home crowd were nothing like the team which Spain defeat by 6 goals in the 1ºst game. While Spain attempted to play its traditional touch ball & dominating Football, Croatia was lead by a midfield Master in the name of Modric, was rapid & very vertical. Spain was on the back foot from the kick-off & Croatia did not mind later to wait & defend. Spanish goalkeeper DE GEA made a save on the right post from a Persic shot worth a mention.

Spain slowly crawled back into action towards the last 15 mins of the 1ºst half & created some goal chances but kept smashing into the Croatian wall.

The 2º half was spectacular & hats must be taken off to both sides. Spain lifted in their play & Croatia waited for errors to occur to then counter-attack. Plus Spain in their need to score & find a victory tonight left spaces in their defence that were exploited by Croatia to score their goals.  All the goals occurred in the 2º half :

1 - 0 (54') Andrej Kramaric
1 - 1 (56') Dani Ceballos
2 - 1 (69') Tin Jedvaj
2 - 2 (78'pen.) Sergio Ramos

3 - 2 (93') Tin Jedvaj

...including a penalty to Spain that evened things. But in the last moment Croatia got the winner. 

It was end to end & see-saw as Spain attacked, hit the post (Aspas) & missed some clear goal opportunities. But Croatia with speed & very direct attack which found spaces & depth managing to comeback & score in the crucial moments. 

Lastly both goalkeepers deserve a mention, Kalinic for Croatia for his important interventions & De Gea who deviated an almost certain goal from Rebic in latter part of the 2º half.

Looked at the match globally Croatia deserved their victory & managed to win back some lost pride. Spain will be disappointed as they again fell into their own "control Football trap" (need to be more direct) & again missed some very clear opportunities. Some Spanish names could have given something more; Saul, Rodrigo, Morata (when on)... but you can't have it all every time.

FINAL RESULT : CROATIA 3 - SPAIN 2

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SPAIN 6 CROATIA 0 | UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE RESULT

SPAIN has defeated FIFA World Sub-Champions CROATIA 6 - 0 at home in the city of Elche. Surprising result as one would have expected a "better" performance from Croatia before the kick off their UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE Group A clash.

Spanish Selector & Coach Luis Enrique made some changes from the last game against England with the inclusion of defender GAYA, midfielder CEBALLOS & forward ASENSIO in the starting line-up. All three players proved their worth with excellent performances & Asensio getting into the goals.

Croatia started well pressuring the Spanish defenders & forcing errors. It seemed at this early stage that Croatia would give Spain a hard night & be more competitive than they actually turned out to be. The Spanish goal came in the 24th min with a SAUL header & Croatia disappeared from this point onwards in the game.

Spain took full control of the match adding 5 more goals to the scoreline, while Spanish goalkeeper DE GEA was hardly put under pressure most of the match. Spain has been criticised for their lack of goal effectivity & scoring power, but tonight they were 100% spot on. Hard to determine if Spain has improved their goal scoring capacity or that Croatia played so bad that they "allowed" Spain to score so many.  Croatia was a shadow of their World Cup performance tonight.

Here are all the goalscorers tonight:

1 - 0 (24m) Saul Ñiguez
2 - 0 (33m) Marco Asensio
3 - 0 (35m) (O.G.) Lovre Kalinic
4 - 0 (49m) Rodrigo Moreno
5 - 0 (57m) Sergio Ramos
6 - 0 (70m) Isco

As you can see another great night for Atletico de Madrid midfielder Saul who scored again. While Asensio was in the goals scoring in the 33rd min & the 35th min was virtually his as well after his long range shot hit the bar & rebounded of the Croatian goalie into the net. Even Spanish Captain & defender Sergio Ramos got his goal after heading home in the 57th min.

The only negative note is the Spanish defense that still needs work to solve concentration lapses & silly errors. Although the results may indicate elsewise when Croatia did pressure upfront (especially early on) Spain suffered defensively & with a more competitive team tonight things may have been different. 

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SPAIN 0 CROATIA 3 | EURO U-21 QUALIFIER

The Spanish U-21 National Team lost a golden opportunity to practically qualify themselves for the upcoming European U-21 Championships after losing 0 - 3 to Croatia. The loss has taken away the top spot of the Group & complicates the automatic qualification. Spain now has to win Sweden & see what happens with the Croatia game.

Spain seemed to underestimate their opponents today, who were better off-the-ball, defensively & of course, scoring goals. Spain played well for the first 30 mins but then fell apart with the Croatian goals, including a tremendous goalkeeping mistake by Kepa who failed to clear a back pass. 

Spain was simply outplayed on all fronts.

Match details

SPAIN - 0: Kepa; Bellerín, Jonny, Duarte (Castro, min.67), Marín; Deulofeu, Saul, Oliver Torres, Ceballos (Pedraza, min.54); Asensio & Munir.

CROATIA - 3: Livakovic; Peric, Caleta-Car, Jedvaj, Milic; Krovinovic, Rog, Pavicic (Capan, min.86), Coric (Fiolic, min.94); Tudor & Perica (Kolar, min.76).

GOALS: 0-1, min.36, Caleta-Car; 0-2, min.42, Perica; 0-3, min.48, Perica.

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EURO 2012 | CROATIA 0 - SPAIN 1 | SPAIN TOP SPOT OF GROUP C

SPAIN has finished on top of  Group C after narrowly defeating CROATIA 0 - 1 in a result that in itself eliminates Croatia & allows Italy through on second spot after the Italians won 2 - 0 Ireland.

The SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM will now play with the second placed of Group D that will be settled tomorrow & that could be either France or England.

Spain Football Team photo

The above photo is the starting line-up 11 Spanish Team which was a repeat of the Ireland match. 

Pique

The Croatian team started very  defensive ( 5 midfielders ) , marking key men like Iniesta & Xavi & physical during the first half of the match. Spain touched a lot & had chances but failed to convert the possesion into any real danger. The match turned "sticky" for Spain, frustrating as time went on & even dangerous during certain periods.

Spain resorted to some long range shots Xabi, Ramos & Pique in an attempt to override the Croatian defensive wall that was solid & uncomfortable.

Casillas

Things complicated itself for both sides. In the other Group game Italy was ahead & with a draw between Croatia & Spain the latter was through, but a goal by Croatia would eliminate the current World & European Champions.

There was also some risky actions by Spanish players that could have been costly. Sergio Ramos may have committed a penalty on Mandzokic late first half that was not called. In the second half IKER CASILLAS made two vital saves that reaffirms why his nick-name in Spanish is "El Santo" - The Saint. The Spanish goalie stopped a certain Rakitic header & another shot that if not halted would have put Croatia ahead & sent Spain home.

This time Spain can claim to have had the luck of the Champions. It was that close!

Iniesta & Navas celebrate

Croatia moved their pieces & put on more forwards sacrificing defensive players. Spain put on Jesus Navas for Torres to break the Croatian defence & later Cesc for Silva to put on the field some fresh ideas.

It was an even affair & dangerous - for both sides - as time was running out. A goal by Croatia would knock out Spain as they would not have the time to react. Then in the 87th min a Cesc pass found Iniesta who controlled & passed to Navas who was alone to score the winner & secure the Q/Final birth for Spain & Group C top spot.

Spain won, but it was truly suffered & on-edge Football. One can say it was the type of "dirty" match that all aspiring Champions must go through. Perhaps this was Spain´s dirty match in this 2012 Euro Championships. The other lesson is that from here onwards its the "business end" & rivals will only get stronger & better. In fact every game from now on is a final.

Unlucky for Croatia which may have deserved more, more than Italy perhaps, but Football is an uncaring & heartless game at times.

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SPANISH U-21 FOOTBALL TEAM QUALIFY FOR EURO 2011 | 2ºLEG RESULT | CROATIA 0 SPAIN 3

Excellent performance by the SPANISH U- 21 FOOTBALL TEAM to defeat CROATIA 0 - 3 away in the 2º leg & take the qualifying tie on 2-5 agg. This gives Spain a direct ticket to the 2011 EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS where they need to finish within the first 5 teams to go directly into the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The "damage" was done in the 2ºhalf when Spain took control & scored their three goals.

Dominguez scores for Spain

Below is a brief summary of the line-ups & the scorers:

Croatia 0 : Kelava; Vida, Jozinovic (Tomecak, min.69), Perisic, Lovren; Maloca, Ademi, Badelj (Simic, min.71), Jajalo, Rakitic (Oremus, min. 14) & Vukusic.


Spain 3: De Gea; Azpilicueta, San José, Víctor Ruiz, Domínguez (Botía, min. 90); Ruben Pérez (Fontás, min.75), Parejo; Thiago, Mata, Adrián; & Bojan (Jeffrén, min.62).

Goals: 0-1. Min. 67. Domínguez. 0-2. Min. 89. Adrián . 0-3. Min. 91. Jeffrén. Tweet

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