Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Big Game
Dramas all around. Today is the BIGGEST GAME ever, or so they say, for Equipa Hrvatska. The showdown with Australia (aka Croatia Two) will determine which country will represent the Land of Croats in the second round of the World Cup. Will it be Croatia, which has no Autralians on the team? Or Australia, which has 7 Croatians on the team. I'll wimp out here and state that I have no preference. I enjoy both teams' style of play and while my land of birth tugs me in their direction, the underdog in me tugs me toward Australia.
Fans, always an interesting byproduct of the WC, from Croatia have been getting more than the once-over from the border guards in Germany. From the Vecernji List, this article mentions the interrogations some of the fans have been put through, specifically those avid fans that are on the Hooligan List (the hooligans, in turn, have their own list). For those folks crazy enough to want to learn the language, this article is a great place to start. The writing of this online newspaper is very tight and almost officious. The comments to the article are, well, definitely not of the grammatically correct variety. Earthy is more like it. Just on the cusp of George Carlin's 7 Deadly Words. Getting to know some of these words (in the comments) and the way they're constructed into sentences will give you a colloquial version of Croatian, one that will most definitely get you involved in conversation. Bluster combined with a touch of grandiosity and a smidgen of feeling slighted are the main ingredients in speaking the tongue in Croatia. These comments reflect these attributes quite well.
As far as the score of today's game, Nil-Nil in the first half. Niko Kranjcar will provide a late Father's Day gift to his dad, coach Cico Krnajcar, by scoring 10 minutes into the second half. Josip Simunic, having just rolled out of bed, will take Tim Cahill, one of the non Croat-Australians, down with a vicious sliding tackle. Play will start to get a bit squirrely; in fact, the game may start to take on aspects of Australian Rules Rugby. Igor Tudor will make an appearance on a substitution, just to keep his name in the ring for the Player Most Likely to MAke You Turn Face Away award. Ivica Olic will turn Brazilian and dance through 3 Australian defenders and put the ball in the top left-hand corner. He'll immediately leave the field to get a haircut. At the end of the game, at mid-pitch, Team Croatia and the Croat-Australians will gather and barbecue a kangaroo, which will be washed down with Karlovacko pivo. All in all, an entertaining match.
Croatia 2-0 over Australia.
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