Croatian Coach Disses Japan

Let the smack talk begin.

Croatian national football team manager Zlatko Kranjcar has fired the first salvo with his quotes in a Japanese magazine. Kranjcar’s words:

“I really don’t want to upset the people of Japan, who I have great affection for, but it is true that the Koreans’ skills are greater than the Japanese.”

Kranjcar, whose team was placed into Group H with Japan, Brazil and Australia, is also on record as saying he doesn’t expect much of a challenge from Japan or Australia. His captain, Niko Kovac, agrees:

“For us, the match against Japan will be just us scoring goals,” he said.

I won’t argue that Croatia is a talented team, but is it so supremely talented that it can afford to look down upon a Japanese team that has some dangerous weapons and an Australian side that continues to improve?

The funny thing about the teams that are really good is that they don’t feel the need to downplay their opponents because they are secure enough to know that their play on the field will show their superiority.

To me there is a fine line between being confident and being foolish. In this case, I think Croatia’s mouthpieces have crossed that line and in the end it might just come back to haunt them when they face a Japanese team that you can bet will be fired up to prove that it is superior.