It's not even Christmas
Dinamo Zagreb 1 - 0 Malmö FF
By The Outsider
Back from a few day's break (oh lucky me), The Outsider was at Maksimir for the titanic clash between league leaders and pretenders.
And oh what a match it was. Simply breathtaking. The strokes were cutting on the home side, with every through-pass seeming to find it's mark, every shot magnetically attracted to the opposition goal, players seeming to move into space almost at will. I tell all you unlucky sods who failed to get tickets, I was gasping for breath within the first ten minutes.
Ivo Rados seemed to be untouchable whenever he got the ball, with some kind of force field around him. The opposition tried their best mind you, Manuel Fernandes was literally hanging off him as he attempted to shackle the kid, such that the referee had to have some words with him before half-time. And kid he is, Rados is but 24, not even in the prime of his career yet. I shudder to think how much damage he can do in the future,
But I'm digressing. Back to the match. Malmö manager Jason Tan had promised to gamble on his lineup days before the match, but the team list was disappointingly conservative. With a cautious 4-4-2 formation, quite unlike in previous games, it looked like the visitors were already hunkering down in their trenches and saying their last prayers before the opening whistle.
Kickoff was at 12:00 Central European Time, and Zagreb were on the attack right at the start. A quick one-two between Juan Manuel Gutiérrez de Cos and Lee Song was followed by the latter's booming shot going between the grasp of superstar goalie Mark Bosnich and richocheting off the crossbar and into the stands.
From the resultant goalkick, Zagreb veteran Mihael Rajic rose highest above Malmö strikers David Nakani and Damien Watkins to head the ball. His determined grimace said it all. "I'm not going to let this title slip out of my grasp. It's been one time too many."
Indeed, it has been one heartbreak after another for the Croatian club in Division 3C over the last few seasons. Old hands have come and gone, have given their best for the club without seeing any visible rewards. The older players like Rajic, Lee and Damir Milinovic know it is their last chance to contribute and while they may not be there to enjoy the fruits of their success come the next season, they're determined to do it for the rest of the lads, for the club. The passion is so visible, the hunger is there too, etched on every one of their faces. 'We may not be the strongest, but we're certainly the best.' That belief, together with the contributions of the younger players like Rados and Arne Repvik, have been more or less the reason why they are fighting up there this season.
And so it was in the 18th minute that Gutiérrez de Cos' swirling ball was brought down by Rados at the right edge of the box. Fernandes dives in desperately from behind but the Zagreb youngster simply skips past his challenge. Pablo Giamarchi attempts to push him off the ball but Rados shrugs him off before curling a sweet shot into the far left corner of the net, despite Bosnich's best attempts to claw it away. All the time in the world, it seemed, Rados had all the time he needed. Such was his ability that it was as if time stopped before his foot hit the ball. I don't deny my heart was in my mouth as Rados executed the coup de grace. Perfection. Amazing,
And so it was all one way for the rest of the match, as the home side played their opponents off the pitch. Their captain's first goal of the season was enough to seperate the boys from the men.
Team Lineups
By The Outsider
Back from a few day's break (oh lucky me), The Outsider was at Maksimir for the titanic clash between league leaders and pretenders.
And oh what a match it was. Simply breathtaking. The strokes were cutting on the home side, with every through-pass seeming to find it's mark, every shot magnetically attracted to the opposition goal, players seeming to move into space almost at will. I tell all you unlucky sods who failed to get tickets, I was gasping for breath within the first ten minutes.
Ivo Rados seemed to be untouchable whenever he got the ball, with some kind of force field around him. The opposition tried their best mind you, Manuel Fernandes was literally hanging off him as he attempted to shackle the kid, such that the referee had to have some words with him before half-time. And kid he is, Rados is but 24, not even in the prime of his career yet. I shudder to think how much damage he can do in the future,
But I'm digressing. Back to the match. Malmö manager Jason Tan had promised to gamble on his lineup days before the match, but the team list was disappointingly conservative. With a cautious 4-4-2 formation, quite unlike in previous games, it looked like the visitors were already hunkering down in their trenches and saying their last prayers before the opening whistle.
Kickoff was at 12:00 Central European Time, and Zagreb were on the attack right at the start. A quick one-two between Juan Manuel Gutiérrez de Cos and Lee Song was followed by the latter's booming shot going between the grasp of superstar goalie Mark Bosnich and richocheting off the crossbar and into the stands.
From the resultant goalkick, Zagreb veteran Mihael Rajic rose highest above Malmö strikers David Nakani and Damien Watkins to head the ball. His determined grimace said it all. "I'm not going to let this title slip out of my grasp. It's been one time too many."
Indeed, it has been one heartbreak after another for the Croatian club in Division 3C over the last few seasons. Old hands have come and gone, have given their best for the club without seeing any visible rewards. The older players like Rajic, Lee and Damir Milinovic know it is their last chance to contribute and while they may not be there to enjoy the fruits of their success come the next season, they're determined to do it for the rest of the lads, for the club. The passion is so visible, the hunger is there too, etched on every one of their faces. 'We may not be the strongest, but we're certainly the best.' That belief, together with the contributions of the younger players like Rados and Arne Repvik, have been more or less the reason why they are fighting up there this season.
And so it was in the 18th minute that Gutiérrez de Cos' swirling ball was brought down by Rados at the right edge of the box. Fernandes dives in desperately from behind but the Zagreb youngster simply skips past his challenge. Pablo Giamarchi attempts to push him off the ball but Rados shrugs him off before curling a sweet shot into the far left corner of the net, despite Bosnich's best attempts to claw it away. All the time in the world, it seemed, Rados had all the time he needed. Such was his ability that it was as if time stopped before his foot hit the ball. I don't deny my heart was in my mouth as Rados executed the coup de grace. Perfection. Amazing,
And so it was all one way for the rest of the match, as the home side played their opponents off the pitch. Their captain's first goal of the season was enough to seperate the boys from the men.
Team Lineups
posted by Jatex at 10:18 PM
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