Turkey-Croatia Discussion-

Sammy Meatballs

Sammy Meatballs? Never Heard of Her
I know Turkey is missing a lot of players tomorrow.

THey are missing their goalie VOLKAN DEMOROV-- The backup apparently is also very good though--

It seems like Turkey has 12 players with the name MEHMET--

I wonder if Mehmet OKUR from Utah jAzz is on their roster???

CERVET their centre defender is out and he is physical and great in the air. Also Mehmet OREILLY is also out--

Does anyone know any other significant players who are out.

TUrkey appears to have many players that are good, especially the right winger who was very fast and had good moves. IS NEAZ playing the guy who scored vs CHECKS?

Croatia scares me a bit, they relish in underdog roles and generally dont do well in favorites role--


I am not sure what to expect here- I know that the Turks were beaten in the air by the taller CHECKS--

I lean Croatia becaue I dont think the Turks are that solid in DEFENSE--

Turks however play good offenisve football, they can score goals but maybe with the injuries it will affect them? I know CERVET OUt is basically like having a CANNAVARRO OUT, he is very good for them. NOt to mention no goalie either although the backup is very experienced.

How good is CROATIA? I have a feeling that they are good defensively and should be able to get the result from Turkey-- What impresses me with TUrkey is they dont quit and I like their attacking football they keep coming and do well with the ball converting chances and passing nice passes in close.
 
Croatia was not tested vs POLAND and Austria and beat Germany easily--

The question remains were they much better than Germany or did they catch Germany on an off day???

Turks lost to Portugal which does not say much because Portugal is very beatable as we saw---

They beat Swiss in nice fashion as they refused to quit and came back--

THey did the exact same thing to the CHECKS--- Came back and marked 3 in a row to baet them--

However if we look closer into the numbers- they marked 0 vs Portugal--

This may be because POrtugal had the ball a lot attakcing vs TURKEY so they did not possess the football enough to score?

Vs SWISS it was pouring rain, tough to gage that but they were the better atttacking team, and came on hard as SWISS was trying to defend the lead and sit back in this game--

vs CHECKS-- Turkey was dead in the water but did not panic, their calmess and poise was unreal- They attack on the wings and were winning the one on one battles easily-- CHECKS tried to just win 2-0 and sit on the lead--

2nd goal was a routine PETER CHECK SAVE--

Third goal was off the momentum and was a blistering shot--

First goal was a good shot but CHECK could ahve stopped it he was a bit slow to dive---


Perhaps one observation was that the TURKS players are good one on one especially on the WINGS, they can win that battle and they also seem to get good shots off on net and dont just kick the ball 20 feet over the net, they ahve scored some nice goals from 18 that were perfectly placed wher the goalie had no chance at all
 
I think I'm going to stay off. This is a match that Croatia 'should' win. But man does Turkey ever have the momentum here.

I do think Croatia gets it done, whether or not this backup goalie is good or not, he's markedly smaller than their starter which I think might come into play.

One thing I think we definitely learned today is that you can't underestimate a size differential. It really came into play today.
 
How tall is this goalie???

Turkey only has 17 players to choose a team and 2 of the players are goalies from the 17

They appear to have a good team where everyone is good--
 
I dont think the Croats are that tall up front? CERVET is an animal he will be missed he is the best defender, he was covering KOLLER but he was hurt he is a beast, he is very very good
 
Turkey is so dEEP JOE P---

Even other teams like SWISS and Austria all thier good players are from TURKEY born players
 
Damn i forgot about CHILE GURV I was in dissarray after POrtugal, I had to take a long drive and rethink my strategy of betting on Constant Losing teams with a Coach Leaving and a FLAMER Superstar
 
Congrats GURV Germany was a great pick, I am pissed I was not on that one-

It was a consistent theme and a pick that winning cappers hit over and over in all sports--

A BLUE COLLAR TEAM vs A weak DEFENSIVE team with a NAMED PLAYER--

Does this remind you of a series that just ended 2 days AGO???

It never fails at least we can learn from it now
 
I dont think you can possibly compare Boston to Turkey. Boston was expected to be there, Turkey certainly is not. I think the fact that Turkey gets down 2-0 or 1-0 is troublesome, you think about the teams they beat. The Czech was 50% lucky and Switzerland was garbage was injury riddled
 
GURV i was comparing BOSTON to GERMANY

Boston was Germany and the Lakers vs Protugal-- Renaldo-KOBE-- SCOLARI was PHIL ovverrated

Boston had the toughness as did Germany, when that match started i was kicking myself for not betting Germany, you could see they were way more phyisical than PORTUGAL- Also teams like portugal try to walk the ball in the net with so many passes-- Germans just pound it and score nothing fancy simple soccer exectiun
 
I am wondering if the HEIGHT could screw SPAIN also ITALY is tall and could score on headers vs the smallish spains
 
you would have to think Turkey would be content to keep it 0-0 for as long as possible and then either try to snatch it late or take their chances in extras. Having conceded goals every game they've played - including not having scored 1st once - means surely their focus has been on defense in practice.
 
oh you totally lost me there, anyway I think Croatia wins but if they dont ill kick myself in the nuts because thats bullshit.

You guys should check out my Thursday in game at the end. It was the most emotional, by myself, only one who bet this game moment
 
GOAL HOLY sjdp'gj k[
WI KG[
\=
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________
2007 Overall 380-340-13+3.12 units (52.77%)

MLB 2008 233-203 +15.57 units (53.48%)
International Soccer 2008
 
well what would you have said had your team scored in the 91st minute to win? I was pumped
 
It seems like Turkey has 12 players with the name MEHMET--

You should expect so, Sammy, since, you know, them being Muslims and all!...

:36_11_6:

Anyway, it seems that Volkan Demirel, Servet Çetin, Emre Belözoglu, Tümer Metin, Emre Güngör and Mehmet Aurelio are out for Turkey.

But the absence of Servet and Aurelio is a big blow for the Turks. These two are their best defender and best midfielder respectively.

Their defense will be a complete patchwork tonight and Croatia´s coach, whom I respect much, will certainly look to exploit it. They certainly have the players to do it, so I see Croatia scoring at least once.

I´m looking at an Over 2.25 @ -102 right now and I think I will take it, as the price is not getting any better.
 
Yeah PANOs nice stuff

Out of all the players the OREILLY guy and CERVET are the main guys that I remember, but their names are so confusing, I know the guy NEAD is good, he has that blistering shot--


Sportscentre is a joke with that chick announcer, and the guy tommy smith i think

At thispoint you cannot win with a patchwork defense or a bad defense look at PORTO they lost cause of no air defense--

I cannot see Turks who were already not great on D, they conceeded 2 to PORTO, 2 to CHECK and 1 to SWEDES
 
will be tricky for sure. Turkey missing a lot tonight, Volkan is out, also Servet Cetin and Mehmet Aurelio, as well as Tümer Metin and Emre Güngör. Big time missings.

They're fanatical, but so are we. Trust me, these two teams give THEIR ALL when they play. Portugal lost last night on a half assed 74% like effort.

This will not happen here with EITHER of the teams. I like the over, since Turkey is so talented up front with Nihat and Tuncay, they also have creativeness even if Emre Belozoglu doesn't play (which I think he will, sadly :D) and Croatia has a monster midfield.

Boys here know me and know I'm NEVER biased when it comes to betting. EVER. I rarely touch teams I love, but this may be an exception, the odds are correctly set, considering the absences in Turkish squad.

I would definitely not expect Turkey to die easily even if they're down by 2 (which I'm not saying they surely will be), and Croatia is the same really.

Croatia is healthier at this point, our midfield is stacked (seemingly we're going with a 4-4-1-1 variation as in against Germany with Rakitic-Kranjcar-Modric in the middle creating the offense, that looked great against Germany, since both Corluka and Pranjic came from the back for those deep passes from the side...

I dearly hope Petric enters the game since I have a feeling he is a great choice against this Turkey backline. Olic will start seemingly, up front, as an only classic forward. Don't be fooled by that though, you saw how many of CRO players like to get into the box from the midfield, namely Srna, Kranjcar, Modric, Rakitic plays on the edge of the box mostly, but when they attack, they attack with 4-5 men CONSISTENTLY.

I wish oh how I wish Eduardo Da Silva was healthy now. This boy has the Midas touch in the box, he has that scoring we lack from our forwards.

Overall, if both teams were healthy, I would estimate this at -0,25 CRO, but now, considering the absences, the price is correct.

Plays: Croatia
over 2.5 goals.

GL
 
I like Croatia today. I think they are the better side even if both sides were at full health. Frankly I was shocked that Turkey beat Czech Republic, was an amazing come back for sure, but a mishandled ball by Cech, a blown offside call, and some poor defending really helped the cause. I don't expect to see that at all from a very talented Croatian team. If they can get a 1-0 or 2-0 lead, I think it's game over. However, I do tend to lean under 2.5 goals here too. Croatia only managed 4 goals in the 3 group games in going 3-0. Their strength is in the midfield and building the attack, however they lack the killer striker. I respect Satyr very highly and agree with his assessment with the Croatian's getting forward, but I don't think they will continue to do so if they get a lead. And I have to expect the Turks to play a bit more tentatively in their attack, as they will not want to be caught forward. I do not think they can expect to come back again and again and again. I think they will play it tight in the back and hope to get a late winner.
Just my humble opinion here.
I see a 1-0 or 2-0 Croatian win here.

Cheers and g'luck
 
Satyr - since Croatia have conceded only 1 goal in 3 games, what are the chances of them sitting on a 1-0 lead if they score first?
why wouldn't they rest on their defense if they grab the first goal, knowing the Turks must come at them and live on the counter attack vs a patchwork defense?

I see you like Over, but if I'm your team and we score first, I say to Turkey you take risks to beat our defense, and we'll kill your make-up defense on the counter attack
 
Back
Top