Milan

This is not a good characterization of the Croatian game in my opinion. They had more ball possession than the opponent in every single match except the one against Belgium. In fact their game relies on the domination in midfield, they don't have the players for counter-attacking football. Unfortunately we lack speed and quality upfront, we need to have better strikers and wingers.
 
I'm pleased with the performance at this tournament. Semifinals is really a good achievement with this team, quality-wise there are several weaknesses which we needed to make up for.

This is not a good characterization of the Croatian game in my opinion. They had more ball possession than the opponent in every single match except the one against Belgium. In fact their game relies on the domination in midfield, they don't have the players for counter-attacking football. Unfortunately we lack speed and quality upfront, we need to have better strikers and wingers.
 
I'm pleased with the performance at this tournament. Semifinals is really a good achievement with this team, quality-wise there are several weaknesses which we needed to make up for.

Damir Martin and the Sinkovic brothers have indeed won their third Olympic medal. The only other athlete who has achieved this at the Summer Olympics before was Handball goalkeeper Venio Losert. At the Winter Olympics Ivica and Janica Kostelić won six and four medals respectively.
 
Btw. it seems I had the wrong information about the birth year of our female boxer Nikolina Cačić. It looks like she was born in 2001 and was actually our youngest athlete in Tokyo and one of two athletes born in 2000 or later.

For Croatia 59 Athletes (Smallest delegation since 1992) in 16 sports (in Rio it was 18, in London 17).
 
39 males and 20 females.
 
34 athletes will be debutants, 25 are former Olympians.
 
Oldest athlete should be Snježana Pejčić (Shooting, 39 years), youngest is Ema Rajić (Swimming, 21). Rajić is the only one born in 2000.
 
Pejčić is also one of seven athletes, for whom this will be the fourth consecutive Olympics. The others are Petar Gorša (Shooting), Šime Fantela (Sailing), Marin Čilić (Tennis), Andrej Gaćina (Table Tennis), Maro Joković and Andro Bušlje (both Water Polo).
 
Oldest debutant is Darija Jurak (Tennis, 37), who is indeed our fourth oldest athlete in Tokyo.
 
Former Olympic gold medallists are Sara Kolak (Javelin Throw), Sandra Perković (Discus Throw), Martin and Valent Sinković (Rowing), Sime Fantela (Sailing), Josip Glasnović (Shooting), Maro Joković, Andro Bušlje and Paulo Obradović (Water Polo).
 
Damir Martin (Rowing), Tonci Stipanović (Sailing), Snjezana Pejčić (Shooting), Marko Bijać, Luka Bukić, Xavier Garcia, Luka Lončar and Marko Macan (all Water Polo) have also won Olympic medals in the past.
 
Perković, Joković, Buslje, Martin and the Sinković brothers are trying to win their third Olympic medal.
 
Ivan Dodig (Tennis) and Paulo Obradović are the only former Olympians who did not participate in Rio.
 
Siblings present at this Olympics are the Sinković brothers (Rowing) and the Fantela brothers (Sailing). Anton Glasnović, who is the brother of Josip Glasnović, has participated at the Olympics in the past.

For the first time since 1992 Croatia has qualified only one team in team sports, which is the main reason for the comparatively low number of athletes. It is also the first time since the 2000 Olympics that Croatia failed to qualify in Handball.
 

For Croatia 59 Athletes (Smallest delegation since 1992) in 16 sports (in Rio it was 18, in London 17).
 
39 males and 20 females.
 
34 athletes will be debutants, 25 are former Olympians.
 
Oldest athlete should be Snježana Pejčić (Shooting, 39 years), youngest is Ema Rajić (Swimming, 21). Rajić is the only one born in 2000.
 
Pejčić is also one of seven athletes, for whom this will be the fourth consecutive Olympics. The others are Petar Gorša (Shooting), Šime Fantela (Sailing), Marin Čilić (Tennis), Andrej Gaćina (Table Tennis), Maro Joković and Andro Bušlje (both Water Polo).
 
Oldest debutant is Darija Jurak (Tennis, 37), who is indeed our fourth oldest athlete in Tokyo.
 
Former Olympic gold medallists are Sara Kolak (Javelin Throw), Sandra Perković (Discus Throw), Martin and Valent Sinković (Rowing), Sime Fantela (Sailing), Josip Glasnović (Shooting), Maro Joković, Andro Bušlje and Paulo Obradović (Water Polo).
 
Damir Martin (Rowing), Tonci Stipanović (Sailing), Snjezana Pejčić (Shooting), Marko Bijać, Luka Bukić, Xavier Garcia, Luka Lončar and Marko Macan (all Water Polo) have also won Olympic medals in the past.
 
Perković, Joković, Buslje, Martin and the Sinković brothers are trying to win their third Olympic medal.
 
Ivan Dodig (Tennis) and Paulo Obradović are the only former Olympians who did not participate in Rio.
 
Siblings present at this Olympics are the Sinković brothers (Rowing) and the Fantela brothers (Sailing). Anton Glasnović, who is the brother of Josip Glasnović, has participated at the Olympics in the past.

For the first time since 1992 Croatia has qualified only one team in team sports, which is the main reason for the comparatively low number of athletes. It is also the first time since the 2000 Olympics that Croatia failed to qualify in Handball.
 

For Croatia 59 Athletes (Smallest delegation since 1992) in 16 sports (in Rio it was 18, in London 17).
 
39 males and 20 females.
 
34 athletes will be debutants, 25 are former Olympians.
 
Oldest athlete should be Snježana Pejčić (Shooting, 39 years), youngest is Ema Rajić (Swimming, 21). Rajić is the only one born in 2000.
 
Pejčić is also one of seven athletes, for whom this will be the fourth consecutive Olympics. The others are Petar Gorša (Shooting), Šime Fantela (Sailing), Marin Čilić (Tennis), Andrej Gaćina (Table Tennis), Maro Joković and Andro Bušlje (both Water Polo).
 
Oldest debutant is Darija Jurak (Tennis, 37), who is indeed our fourth oldest athlete in Tokyo.
 
Former Olympic gold medallists are Sara Kolak (Javelin Throw), Sandra Perković (Discus Throw), Martin and Valent Sinković (Rowing), Sime Fantela (Sailing), Josip Glasnović (Shooting), Maro Joković, Andro Bušlje and Paulo Obradović (Water Polo).
 
Damir Martin (Rowing), Tonci Stipanović (Sailing), Snjezana Pejčić (Shooting), Marko Bijać, Luka Bukić, Xavier Garcia, Luka Lončar and Marko Macan (all Water Polo) have also won Olympic medals in the past.
 
Perković, Joković, Buslje, Martin and the Sinković brothers are trying to win their third Olympic medal.
 
Ivan Dodig (Tennis) and Paulo Obradović are the only former Olympians who did not participate in Rio.
 
Siblings present at this Olympics are the Sinković brothers (Rowing) and the Fantela brothers (Sailing). Anton Glasnović, who is the brother of Josip Glasnović, has participated at the Olympics in the past.

For the first time since 1992 Croatia has qualified only one team in team sports, which is the main reason for the comparatively low number of athletes. It is also the first time since the 2000 Olympics that Croatia failed to qualify in Handball.
 

Taking a final look at our medal chances, my evaluation:
 
Athletics: Still a good chance for Sandra Perkovic, although she has declined and the competition got stronger. 
Small chance for Filip Mihaljevic, even smaller one for Sara Kolak given her recent results. 
 
Gymnastics: Chance for Tin Srbic in horizontal bar. 
 
Judo: Outside chance for Barbara Matic and Karla Prodan
 
Karate: Small chance for Ivan Kvesic, but his latest results don't give much reason to hope. 
 
Rowing: Medal in men's pair should be safe. Medal in single sculls is very unlikely. 
 
Sailing: Chance in 49er and men's laser, but I don't expect a medal here. 
 
Shooting: Several chances, but tough and unpredictable. I would be very happy with one medal here. 
 
Taekwondo: Good chance for Matea Jelic, but tough competition. Some chances for Kanaet, outside chance for Sapina. I'm afraid Kristina Tomic isn't in shape to win a medal. 
 
Tennis: I suppose Mektic/Pavic are the favorites, but I'm not too sure about that, as this isn't a common doubles tournament, there are many good singles players in the mix. They still should have a good chance. Cilic/Dodig maybe not impossible, but unlikely. 
We will probably also have a mixed doubles team, but I would consider a medal here unlikely. Darija Jurak has never been very successful in mixed doubles. 
 
Water Polo: Not entirely sure, but given the latest results it is more likely that there will be at least three better teams. 
 
Wrestling: Another outside chance. 
 
Considering everything, I think that 4-5 medals for Croatia is a reasonable guess. Could be 1 or 2 more if things go well. 

Female field ist still quite strong, with 15 of the top 20 players participating. And most of those who are missing have also been missing or haven't been doing well at the latest Grand Slam tournaments.
 
And which missing male player could likely have challenged Djokovic for the win? Probably Nadal, but that's about it.

I can understand that the Arabs were not willing to accept the division of the country. If members of a different people came to our land, basically telling us: 'We claim half of this land (which was to approximately 90 percent owned by Arabs in 1948), because we were persecuted elsewhere and because this is our holy land and we lived here 2000 years ago, so make way for us and seek your luck somewhere else.', we probably wouldn't accept it either. If the Europeans are responsible for the situation (and I do believe they are historically those mainly responsible for the existence of this conflict), then they should have been the ones making way instead of dividing the country without involving those people affected into the decision.

This sport doesn't get the same media attention as other sports, but it probably still would have been the most disastrous and embarrasing result in Croatian sports history (embarrassing it still is). In two games we didn't manage to beat Russia, a team that drew with Romania, barely won against France and lost quite clearly against Greece.

congratulations croatia! you won in this amazing game!

Pity. I would have liked Senegal to advance. I can't see Japan being a threat to Belgium or England.

Wow too many harsh discussions here!
 
lets try to fix all this World Cup stress with a bit of humor, by showing you guys how Portuguese team is training in this days for the match again Uruguay and Suarez! 
 
 

That Sweden-Switzerland match is gonna be so exciting... oh i can't wait for it.

Very good from Cakir not awarding a second penalty to Nigeria. That was a natural movement and no deliberate handball.
 
Argentina will be the underdog against France, as they have less quality overall. New situation for them, maybe they can surprise.

Poland has a similar problem as us, they have players that are reaching the down curve of their career or other players that didn't have great season + others that were injured a lot lately. Even Lewandowski didn't have such a great season for has standards. 
I think this World cup came one year too late for Poland.

Very surprised by Japan, thought they were the weakest team in this group. But they have stamina and they know how to fight.

Very surprised by Japan, thought they were the weakest team in this group. But they have stamina and they know how to fight.

If I were from Switzerland I wouldn't be proud of having Albanian nationalists like Xhaka and Shaqiri on my team. That goal celebration with the double headed eagle was unnecessary.
But well deserved win for Switzerland. Serbia didn't show enough considering that they needed the win more.

Really a pity that Salah had to be substituted. Liverpool's confidence seemed to be low after that while Real got encouraged. Hopefully Salah will be at the World Cup.
 
To me it seemed that Real was beatable this year, but nobody could get the job done for various reasons. Luck was also on their side.

Yes,Borna Čujić world champion in sport climbing

Well, what makes a team interesting for me is when they either have an exciting team/exciting players or when they weren't around for a long time (as is the case with Peru) and so can bring something new and exotic to the World Cup. To me neither is the case with Paraguay.

Fantastic final matchday in both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. Quite shocking that USA are out. Didn't they save Mexico's a*s four years ago with their win in Panama? Very ungrateful from Mexicans
 
And good outcome in South America. Argentina and Colombia qualified, Peru still with a good chance. Paraguay failed against Venezuela, but I didn't really want so see them at the World Cup anyway.

Good to see some fresh faces. Saudi Arabia, Poland, Egypt, Iceland and Serbia all weren't qualified four years ago. And there will be at least two more qualified teams who also weren't (most likely Tunisia and Senegal).
 
Congrats to Serbia. I hope to see Milinkovic-Savic at the World Cup. Serbian coach seems to not rate him very much.
Sorry for Slovakia, they were also a bit unlucky with late goals against them during this campaign.
And what a fairytale for Iceland. Has to be by far the smallest World Cup nation ever by population.

Cyprus normally could have a chance to draw or even win against Greece, but I'm not so sure if they even want that today, for obvious reasons.
But Bosnia would now probably be worst 2nd placed team anway.