Hajduk vs. Villarreal

As if hiking up & down Mt. Medvednica to Medvedgrad and around downtown wasn’t enough on Saturday, my dad & Idecided to check out the nogomet (soccer) match currently in progress not far from our stan.

A European young league nogomet tournament (Croatia, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine) was being held all weekend long on the practice field beside the massive Maksimir Stadium, where Zagreb’s nogomet team DINAMO plays & where bands like U2 have appeared in concert.

[The] Mladen Ramljak Memorial Tournament is held in memory of Dinamo ex-junior and Premier League player who won the greatest trophy in the history of the club – the Uefa Cup in 1967. Immediately after football career he tragically died in car accident in 1978, aged only 34. Only players born on January 1, 1992 or younger [were able to] participate in the tournament. (via NK Dinamo)

The utakmica (game) currently in progress was Hajduk (white, from Split, Croatia) vs. Villarreal (yellow, from Spain) and the score was still 0-0.

Poluvrjime (Half-Time) the score was 0-0:

A well-deserved red card for the guy raising his hand to his forehead in utter shame & disgust.

This is the beginning of an attack that would lead to a goal for Hajduk. #7’s shot on goal was blocked, but followed up by #9:

Villarreal, with one man down due to the red card, placed 3 fresh legs on the field helping earn them an equalizer goal.

Final score: 1-1

Hajduk outplayed Villarreal almost the entire time. Overall the utakmica plus the atmosphere of sitting among several hundred mostly middle-age to older soccer fans commenting & yelling at the players & sudac (referee) was phenomenal!

Check out ALL of my photos from the match on Flickr here.

On Sunday, Hajduk Split played Dinamo Zagreb in the finals. Dinamo Zagreb won the Mladen Ramljak 2010 tournament after penalty shootouts. (via NK Dinamo) See the highlights from the final on YouTube here.