Advertisement
Published: December 15th 2013
Edit Blog Post
After the excess of riot police overtime at the Derby the day before, it would have seemed reasonable that there would be a void on the streets of Zagreb come Monday morning. The leaders of the Bad Blue Boys had all been detained after altercations with the enforcers of law and order as they exited the Maksimir after the game and the Hajduk contingent should surely have gone home. It was with some surprise therefore, that we discovered a police presence on the approach to Zagrebello – the training complex of NK Zgareb down by the River Sava. The NK Zagreb team were in the middle of a practice match on the near pitch against their reserves, but surely that didn’t need the extra protection?
We had gone to Zagrebello in search of the elusive pin badges from Friday’s game. The NK Zagreb stadium does not feature a club shop to relieve the match day fans of their money, but one of the White Angels had alerted us to the fact that the training ground bizarrely did have the shop premises. Zagrebello seemed disproportionate, in relation the current status of NK Zagreb and their matchday stadium. The reception was branded
with the new NK Zagreb logo with hints of red added to the white. The Angels had passed much scorn on the change from their traditional fringe colours of blue and yellow, but the only evidence of a club emblem at the stadium remained with the original colouring. As advised the shop was there, but there was no sign of life. The reception with it’s grey leather couches was also devoid of life. The hub it seemed was the café bar on the corner of the building and the rest of which seemed to be some form of accommodation. The fans were probably dismayed to see this level of investment being directed away from a floundering team – training academies tend not cushion the blow of relegation. A clue to the funding source could possibly be seen on the advertising board opposite one of the training pitches, that suggested a co-operation agreement with Inter Milan.
We ventured into the café in search of access to the shop and that elusive badge. The café was doing brisk business. The shop was not! A few pieces of merchandise were held in display cabinets, but not what we were after. The walls
of the café and approach to the shop were lined with old photographs from greater days in NK Zagreb's past. An English speaker was located, who advised us the club were busy lining up new suppliers for all their merchandise and that a badge was definitely on the cards. There were apparently some difficulties persuading a supplier to do a run of badges etc that was not double the size of the average NK Zagreb home crowd. Don’t expect badges on sale, anytime soon then.
Meanwhile outside on the training pitch, NK Zagreb were drawing their session to a conclusion and the reason for the security was becoming apparent. Riot police had now surfaced, followed shortly by a coach containing the Hajduk Split team. The 1
st leg of their Cup game with Dinamo was scheduled for Wednesday, so it seemed they had decided not to retreat to Split with all the return travelling and stayed in Zagreb. The only training alternative was Zagrebello. The not so famous ambled off the coach. Igor Tudor, the coach, was a recognisable figure, but after that it was a struggle. The players got changed. The riot police assessed that those present did not
form a risk and retreated away in their van for a coffee or a smoke.
The players split into groups and did some light jogging and warm down exercises. The goalkeepers did a work out with their specialist coach. I now know the way forward for a Thursday night. It clearly isn’t such a successful routine, as Hajduk lost 5 – 0 in the Cup game. I was clearly paying more attention - I only conceded 4 in my first game back fromCroatia. The scorer of the 1
st goal on Sunday, played the joker at the back of the pack. Talented, but lazy. There was a question mark over the work rate. He was clearly taking it all very, very easy. The exaggerated checking whether the left ankle was still in place after a few sprints, suggested he didn’t quite fancy anymore of the session. What was clearly the 1
st team didn’t have to suffer too much more and retreated indoors. The ankle made a miraculous recovery in time for the Cup game. The reserves, those pushing for a place and the goalkeepers were then pitched against each other in a small pitch training game.
The Split press
pack had arrived during the session. They hung on the words of the club officials, scribbling the odd quote in their notebooks. A TV crew turned up and did some brief interviews to camera. Everybody looked well pleased, as they gloated in the glory of grabbing the 2 - 2 draw the day before. A few newspaper photos of the action from the 2 - 2 draw were perused, particularly of one which appeared to show the goalscorer above about to stamp on the head of a Dinamo player after jumping out the way of the incoming slide tackle.
We caught a tram back to town. A missed call from BA and a message to call them caused some discussion about whether the flight home had been cancelled. It turned out to be a false alarm, when the noise level reduced to allow the message to be fully heard. The rest of the day was spent sightseeing. The Old Town in particular had undergone a massive transformation and clean-up. The roof of St Mark's Church, in particular, makes a stunning vivid photograph with the bright blue sky as a background. Now where is the DSLR camera, when you need
it?
We spent the rest of the early evening in Zagreb’s answer to a real ale pub. No Ojuszko on sale in here! A choice of 5 micro-brewery ales, served in anything up to a litre glass. A few of the customers were clearly struggling with the quantities of liquid, judging by their increased noise levels. We retreated to the hostel, where by luck useful contacts could be forged with Brazilians – ideal for some for the World Cup football travels ahead.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0253s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb