Stipe Cop

Left Midfielder - Croatia Zmijavci
24 Mar 2033
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Marked for Stipe Cop

344 Edition

The Croatia Zmijavci Post

28 Feb 2033
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market28 Feb 2033

Marcelo Benko asks to leave Croatia Zmijavci

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom28 Feb 2033

Pressure builds in the Croatia Zmijavci boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Match28 Feb 2033

Croatia Zmijavci refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 55 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match26 Feb 2033

Croatia Zmijavci cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad28 Feb 2033

Tempers go at Croatia Zmijavci

Olayiwola Abdulmalik was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad28 Feb 2033

Words at Croatia Zmijavci training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Grgić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings28 Feb 2033

Stipe Cop runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match26 Feb 2033

Croatia Zmijavci see off Dugopolje

Three points for Croatia Zmijavci, 1‑0 the final word against Dugopolje in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout28 Feb 2033

No hiding place for Eskil Gjerde

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eskil Gjerde, and the manager let it.

In brief

Back issues
325 Edition

The Croatia Zmijavci Post

18 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match13 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci march on in the cup

Bjelovar are out and Croatia Zmijavci go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Market18 Oct 2032

Josip Cundeković is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Croatia Zmijavci is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad18 Oct 2032

Josip Cundeković keeps Croatia Zmijavci in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings18 Oct 2032

A defender's goal wins it for Croatia Zmijavci — 7.99

1 for Mihael Stipić, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Match16 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

The terraces18 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci supporters have found a favourite in Lars Odegaard

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Lars Odegaard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match16 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci get the job done against Jarun Zagreb

A 2‑0 win over Jarun Zagreb, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Boardroom18 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci cannot sign anybody

The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.

Match16 Oct 2032

Croatia Zmijavci settle it inside twenty minutes

2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Jarun Zagreb spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.

In brief