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Result of the Thursday September 7, 2006 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Serbian White Eagles played at Lamport Stadium in Toronto at 7:30pm.
Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)
...........................1 George Azcurra
5 Antonijo Zupan...4 Domagoj Sain...18 Halburto Harris...2 Robert Fran
22 Boris Tomac...17 Goran Grubesic...11 Velemir Crljen...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
..................9 Peter Curic...19 Boris Maric
Subs:...12 Mate Jurkin (gk)...6 Mario Kulis (def)...10 Leo Laurito (fwd)...13 Zvjezdan Kresic (mid)...20 Tommy Ples (fwd)...21 Rudy Spajic (fwd)...30 Tomislav Granic (def)
team officials:...head coach Velemir Crljen...assistant coach Milodrag Akmadzic...goalkeeping coach Kruno Culjak...manager Nedo Radman...sports trainer Nino Sonsini...PA announcer Michelle Paukovic
Serbian White Eagles (all white, blue names and numbers)
...........................23 Dusan Belic (cpt)
7 Mario Ostojic...2 Sinisa Ninkovic...6 Mirko Medic...20 Milan Janosevic
8 Nenad Stojcic...10 Bozo Milic...24 Mihajlo Bacanin...11 Gabrijel Pop
.................21 Alex Bralatic...9 Sasa Viciknez
Subs:...15 Milos Scepanovic (fwd)...17 Marko Janicek (mid)...22 Dragan Radovic (fwd)...16 Joshua Gordon (def)...4 Mark Jankovic (def)
team officials:...not listed for tonight's game.
Game officials:...referee Amato DeLuca...referee's assistants Emil Schultz and Andrew Kravets...fourth official Yusri Rudolf......(blue shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 7:39pm...SWE defend north end...all times are converted from my wristwatch.
0 min...TC Crljen cornerkick from right has goalie on near post palm ball over net.
1 min...TC Crljen cornerkick from left is partially cleared. TC Fran 35 yard rebound blast over net.
3 min...SWE Bacanin injured at SWE 35 yard line.
4 min...SWE Bralatic 15 yard shot from right that goalie palms over net.
5 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has SWE Medic pop 8 yard header over net.
6 min...TC Maric bounces 25 yard shot from right that's wide left.
7 min...TC Curic shot blocked by defender on edge of box.
8 min...TC Tomac 30 yard freekick is just high wide left of net.
13 min...TC Crljen 30 yard shot from right is just wide right.
15 min...TC Zupan 25 yard freekick from left to right of box but defender heads ball away.
17 min...TC Curic leaps to chest ball down on edge of box when TC Fitzwilliams long run on right and cross but ball bounces to goalie.
18 min...TC Curic one step too far and goalie grabs ball on edge of box and TC Curic falls over him.
19 min...TC Fran long throw-in from left has defender pop up header on edge of box and ball eventually cleared.
22 min...Toronto Croatia Boris Maric GOAL...TC Velemir Crljen dekes two defenders running up middle and pushes ball to TC Hayden Fitzwilliams charging up right. Fitzwilliams runs to near end line, crosses through box and Maric blasts 6 yarder from right into top left corner of net.
23 min...TC YELLOW card...Harris for tackle on SWE Milic on TC 25 yard line on right.
23 min...SWE Viciknez freekick from 25 yards has defender kick ball away.
24 min...SWE Viciknez freekick from 25 yards on left has SWE player head popper over net from 8 yards.
26 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has defender clear ball from box with header.
28 min...TC Sain hurt blocking SWE player's shot on edge of TC box.
30 min...TC Grubesic 20 yard shot from left is over net when given back pass.
32 min...SWE Viciknez 25 yard freekick up middle curls and hits top of crossbar near right post for goalkick.
35 min...TC Grubesic hurt at center line with ball to head.
36 min...TC Crljen 45 yard freekick down middle has TC Curic head 12 yarder from right that bounces to goalie.
37 min...TC Maric injured at center line down for three minutes before being helped off the field.
39 min...SWE Viciknez short freekick from right passed back to him and running towards center blasts 20 yard shot just over bar wide of top left corner of net.
45 min...TC Tomac 40 yard blast on run up right has ball just over net.
46 min...SWE Radovic cross from 20 yards on right is caught by goalie but SWE wins freekick because of defender's knock on shot attempt.
47 min...SWE Viciknez 20 yard freekick from right is bent over net wide left.
47 min...half ends 8:26pm.
2nd Half:...start 8:44pm.
SWE fans light 15 to 20 flares.
45 min...TC Crljen freekick from left 25 yard has TC shot blocked on right edge of box.
46 min...SWE Viciknez 25 yard freekick from right has ball tipped low by forward but defender clears.
48 min...TC Tomac 18 yard shot from left is stopped by goalie.
49 min...SWE Janosevic 55 yard shot is wide left over crowd.
51 min...TC Fitzwilliams injured in SWE box.
54 min...SWE Pop in clear when ball crossed from right and low 12 yard shot is blocked by diving goalie on left post.
56 min...TC Fitzwilliams 30 yard shot from left is over net.
57 min...SWE Viciknez 35 yard freekick from left has ball curled and defender clear from edge of box.
58 min...TC Maric injured at TC 35 yard line.
60 min...TC sub...Ples replaces Curic.
60 min...SWE Janosevic 35 yard shot is well wide right.
61 min...SWE sub...Jankovic replaces Ostojic.
62 min...TC Fitzwilliams cornerkick from left has TC Ples leap on near left side and bounce header over net from 6 yards.
65 min...TC Crljen 30 yard shot up middle when cross received is well over net.
66 min...TC players defend key block on SWE cross in box.
66 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush up right but 30 yard cross is well behind net.
67 min...SWE sub...Janicek replaces Bralatic.
68 min...TC Fitzwilliams 25 yard cross blocked by defender.
69 min...TC Ples 18 yard shot caught by goalie up middle.
70 min...TC Tomac injured at TC 35 yard line.
71 min...TC Tomac bounces 35 yarder up middle to goalie.
72 min...TC Tomac injured again at TC 40 yard line when knocked by SWE Milic.
72 min...TC sub...Laurito replaces Grubesic.
74 min...Toronto Croatia Boris Maric GOAL...TC Leo Laurito rushes up left on pass and he rolls cross to right where Maric shoots 6 yarder into open net from right with goalie Dusan Belic hugging left post to prevent direct shot. (hey that was effective as Laurito had only been on field for two minutes before this play).
76 min...SWE sub...Scepanovic replaces Radovic.
80 min...Toronto Croatia Boris Maric GOAL...TC Tommy Ples eludes SWE defender Mark Jankovic and he passes ball forward to Maric who has open net from 7 yards to tap in with goalie out to try to block Ples.
82 min...TC sub...Granic replaces Maric.
84 min...TC Ples gets pass in middle and 20 yard shot blocked point blank at 15 yards by sliding goalie.
84 min...TC sub...Kulis replaces Fitzwilliams.
87 min...SWE Viciknez 30 yard freekick pushed forward from left to SWE player whose 25 yard shot up middle is blocked by defender.
87 min...SWE Viciknez 35 yard freekick to right has SWE Ninkovic boot 40 yarder well wide right.
90 min...SWE Viciknez 20 yard freekick from left has TC Zupan head ball behind line.
91 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from left has defender pop up header and goalie picks up bouncer.
93 min...SWE Scepanovic cross from left has SWE Stojcic boot 20 yarder well over net.
93 min...game ends 9:32pm.
Final Score:.......Toronto Croatia........3..........Serbian White Eagles....0......
Attendance was about 2000 (CSL president Cary Kaplan's estimate). We agreed on 350 Toronto Croatian fans in the east stand but I'd say at least triple that for Serbian fans on the west stand although I didn't have a complete view of that side from the press box so 1650 is believable. Kaplan says the two other games coming up between the two teams in the next few weeks will be shared gates like this one between the two teams. They will also will be held in stadiums with separated stands. Their next meeting is Monday night in Hamilton at Brian Timmis Stadium [Friday night bulletin: announced venue is now Ivor Wynne Stadium, right beside Brian Timmis]. Third game will be back here at Lamport Stadium. Birchmount Stadium was taken out of the mix because the east stand has been pulled down when the stadium was renovated leaving only the west stand.
Do we need to keep these fans apart? Yes! Take no chances. Because I was in the west stands, I could really only hear the Serb fans. I didn't understand what they were saying so can't comment on that. I only saw the Croatian fans light one flare but for the Serbs there were dozens lit. I saw one moment at the beginning of the second half when about 15 fans at once lit a flare. Bright pink light and plenty of smoke. When I finally get access back to my web page, I'll post a link to photos I took at the game. I watched a guy I don't think watched the game at all but was leading the Serb chants. Broadcaster Dick Howard says he saw the burning of a Croatia flag but I couldn't see it. I did see one burnt out flare thrown out onto the field when the referee awarded a freekick to Croatia.
The game set up was well run but still had the CSL disorganization element to it. Yech the artificial turf of Lamport Stadium is as fast as a parking lot. The scoreboard is now permanently broken. The PA sound system didn't work which wouldn't have been a problem for the official home team Toronto Croatia who have their own sound system but should have been asked to bring it to set up! No national anthems or lineup announcements.
Hey how about that game? Electric atmosphere with referee Amato DeLuca keeping a lid on the rough stuff. Croatia players seemed to adapt faster to the turf with good timing of through balls. Boris Maric scored all three goals in the game! I'd criticized his play in earlier games this year but now it was opportunity/goal, opportunity/goal... Tommy Ples almost made it 4-0 at 85 minutes when he got a pass up the middle and his 20 yard shot was blocked point-blank at 15 yards by the sliding goalie Dusan Belic. Maric had been injured at 37 minutes and was down for three minutes before being helped from the field.
White Eagles had enough chances to win on their own but couldn't score. Sasa Viciknez took all the corners and freekicks which has become pretty predictable. Only late in the game were there some variations when he did some pass-offs instead of just shots on net from 25 yards or less or crosses into the box for anything longer than that. George Azcurra earned the shutout for Croatia. He had to be sharp early at 4 minutes when he palmed SWE Milos Scepanovic 15 yard shot over the net. Viciknez took a 25 yard freekick up the middle that curled and hit the top of the crossbar near the right post. At 54 minutes SWE Gabriel Pop (the CSL leading scorer) was in the clear after a ball was crossed from the right and his low 12 yard shot was blocked by the diving goalie on the left post. The Croatia defense of Robert Fran, Domagoj Sain, Antonijo Zupan, and Halburto Harris was strong and blocked a lot of shots and cleared a lot of crosses into the box. White Eagles shooting was often high and wide of the net.
This was the first loss in league play by the White Eagles this year. They are still comfortably in first place but show they can be beaten. Both teams are in action tomorrow night with White Eagles hosting Toronto Supra Portuguese and Croatia hosting Italia Shooters.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Croatia players warming up
White Eagles players warming up
Ultras fans light flares to support the White Eagles
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