2008–09 in Croatian football

2008–09 in Croatian football
2008–09 in Croatian football
First Division champions
	Dinamo Zagreb (11th title)
Second Division champions
	Istra 1961
Third Division champions
	Grafičar Vodovod (East); RNK Split (South); Rudeš (West);
Croatian Cup winners
	Dinamo Zagreb (10th title)
Teams in Europe
	Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo
Croatia national team
	2010 World Cup qualification

The following article presents a summary of the 2008–09 football (soccer) season in Croatia, which was the 18th season of competitive football in the country.

National team

The home team is on the left column; the away team is on the right column.

Friendly matches

20 August 2008

Slovenia	2 – 3	Croatia
Šuler 4' Šišić 55' (pen)	Report (in Croatian)	Rakitić 37', 64' Srna 59' (pen)

Ljudski vrt Maribor

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland)

11 February 2009

Romania	1 – 2	Croatia
Marica 22'	Report (in Croatian)	Rakitić 28' Kranjčar 75'

Steaua Stadium, Bucharest

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Cristian Balaj (Romania)

World Cup qualifiers

Croatia is currently in Group 6 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process.^[1]

6 September 2008

Croatia	3 – 0	Kazakhstan
N. Kovač 13' Modrić 36' Petrić 81'	Report

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 17,424

Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)

10 September 2008

Croatia	1 – 4	England
Mandžukić 78'	Report	Walcott 26' 59' 82' Rooney 63'

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 35,218

Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)

11 October 2008

Ukraine	0 – 0	Croatia
	Report

Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

Attendance: 38,500

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

15 October 2008

Croatia	4 – 0	Andorra
Rakitić 16' 87' (pen.) Olić 32' Modrić 75'	Report

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 14,441

Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

1 April 2009

Andorra	0 – 2	Croatia
	Report	Klasnić 15' Eduardo 35'

Comunal, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 1,100

Referee: Leontios Trattou (Cyprus)

6 June 2009

Croatia	2 – 2	Ukraine
Petrić 2' Modrić 68'	Report	Shevchenko 13' Gai 54'

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 32,073

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

League tables

Prva HNL

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dinamo Zagreb (C)	33	23	5	5	71	26	+45	74	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Hajduk Split	33	21	5	7	59	25	+34	68	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
3	Rijeka	33	17	5	11	50	44	+6	56	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
4	Slaven Belupo	33	16	7	10	46	39	+7	55	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round^[a]
5	NK Zagreb	33	13	8	12	38	39	−1	47
6	Šibenik	33	13	7	13	44	35	+9	46
7	Osijek	33	10	11	12	40	41	−1	41
8	Cibalia	33	10	8	15	33	53	−20	38
9	Inter Zaprešić	33	9	9	15	41	50	−9	36
10	Varteks	33	10	5	18	41	55	−14	35
11	Zadar	33	7	8	18	28	49	−21	29
12	Croatia Sesvete^[b] (O)	33	6	8	19	31	66	−35	25	Qualification to relegation play-off

Source: Sportnet.hr
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:

^ Because both cup finalists, Dinamo and Hajduk, qualified for Europe through their league positions, all three UEFA Europa League spots were given to teams according to their league positions, what means that fourth-placed Slaven Belupo also earned a spot in Europa League.
^ Croatia Sesvete were docked 1 point due to unpaid debts to Imotski over player Darko Vučić.^[2]

Druga HNL

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Istra 1961 (C, P)	30	18	6	6	46	20	+26	60	Promotion to Croatian First Football League
2	Karlovac (P)	30	18	5	7	50	24	+26	59
3	Lokomotiva (P)	30	18	5	7	50	30	+20	59
4	Slavonac CO^[a] (R)	30	15	12	3	39	18	+21	57	Relegation to county leagues
5	Međimurje (P)	30	16	2	12	61	34	+27	50	Promotion to Croatian First Football League
6	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	30	13	10	7	38	36	+2	49	Qualification to promotion play-offs
7	Solin	30	14	5	11	37	31	+6	47
8	Vinogradar	30	11	7	12	40	50	−10	40
9	Imotski	30	10	4	16	31	45	−14	34
10	Suhopolje	30	8	9	13	33	37	−4	33
11	Segesta	30	8	9	13	33	47	−14	33
12	Junak	30	9	6	15	35	51	−16	33
13	Pomorac	30	9	5	16	29	45	−16	32
14	Mosor	30	8	6	16	25	44	−19	30
15	Moslavina	30	7	7	16	33	51	−18	28
16	Trogir (R)	30	3	12	15	32	49	−17	21	Relegation to Croatian Third Football League

Source: Sportnet.hr (in Croatian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Slavonac CO had to step back from promotion after they were not able to find a satisfiable ground, and were demoted to the 1st county league; therefore Međimurje were promoted directly and Hrvatski Dragovoljac entered the playoff, while Moslavina were not relegated.

Treća HNL

Division East

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Grafičar Vodovod (C)	33	19	9	5	66	28	+38	66
2	Graničar	33	20	6	7	69	47	+22	66
3	Križevci	33	18	7	8	54	32	+22	61
4	Vukovar '91 (P)	33	17	7	9	52	39	+13	58
5	NK Đakovo	33	17	6	10	46	33	+13	57
6	Slavija Pleternica	33	16	5	12	57	42	+15	53
7	Virovitica	33	15	8	10	51	39	+12	53
8	Bjelovar	33	15	7	11	54	49	+5	52
9	Nedelišće	33	13	5	15	48	61	−13	44
10	Višnjevac	33	14	1	18	47	57	−10	43
11	Mladost Cernik	33	12	5	16	41	45	−4	41
12	Mladost Prelog	33	11	8	14	54	61	−7	41
13	Olimpija Osijek	33	11	8	14	53	60	−7	41
14	NAŠK	33	10	7	16	47	52	−5	37
15	Croatia Đakovo (R)	33	10	3	20	37	61	−24	33
16	Koprivnica (R)	33	8	8	17	48	58	−10	32
17	Belišće (R)	33	10	2	21	48	66	−18	32
18	Marsonia (R)	17	1	2	14	12	54	−42	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Division South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	RNK Split (C)	34	23	8	3	79	20	+59	77
2	Raštane	34	20	8	6	70	35	+35	68
3	Zmaj	34	19	7	8	44	28	+16	64
4	Velebit	34	17	8	9	54	35	+19	59
5	Primorac (BnM)	34	17	5	12	59	42	+17	56
6	GOŠK (D)	34	15	7	12	38	42	−4	52
7	Zagora	34	14	8	12	47	44	+3	50
8	Konavljanin	34	15	3	16	47	55	−8	48
9	Hrvace	34	13	8	13	56	46	+10	47
10	Primorac 1929	34	15	2	17	52	62	−10	47
11	Jadran (KS)	34	10	10	14	50	54	−4	40
12	Jadran LP	34	12	4	18	31	49	−18	40
13	Dugopolje	34	12	3	19	44	45	−1	39
14	Neretva	34	9	11	14	39	54	−15	38
15	Neretvanac (R)	34	10	7	17	38	57	−19	37
16	Omiš (R)	34	9	8	17	28	41	−13	35
17	Val (R)	34	11	1	22	35	66	−31	34
18	GOŠK (KG) (R)	34	8	6	20	30	66	−36	30

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Division West

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Rudeš (C)	34	22	10	2	63	24	+39	76
2	Lučko (P)	34	19	7	8	75	45	+30	64
3	Vrapče	34	16	8	10	58	45	+13	56
4	Jadran Poreč	34	17	5	12	46	34	+12	56
5	Polet Buševec	34	14	6	14	59	51	+8	48
6	HAŠK	34	15	3	16	56	53	+3	48
7	Novalja	34	13	9	12	40	39	+1	48
8	Rovinj	34	10	14	10	59	48	+11	44
9	Rudar Labin	34	12	8	14	48	51	−3	44
10	Nehaj	34	12	8	14	37	41	−4	44
11	Vrbovec	34	12	8	14	39	45	−6	44
12	Grobničan	34	13	4	17	40	58	−18	43
13	Orijent	34	12	8	14	45	41	+4	42^[a]
14	Medulin 1921	34	11	9	14	43	49	−6	42
15	Radnik (R)	34	11	7	16	38	46	−8	40
16	Maksimir (R)	34	10	10	14	34	52	−18	40
17	Istra Pula (R)	34	10	7	17	36	67	−31	35^[b]
18	Samobor (R)	34	6	11	17	35	62	−27	29

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ 2 points deducted?
^ 2 points deducted?

Honours

Competition	Winner	Details
Croatian Cup	Dinamo Zagreb	2008–09 Croatian Cup Beat Hajduk Split 4–3 on penalties (3–3 on aggregate)
1.HNL	Dinamo Zagreb	2008–09 Prva HNL
2.HNL	Istra 1961	2008–09 Druga HNL
3.HNL East Division	Grafičar Vodovod
3.HNL South Division	RNK Split
3.HNL West Division	Rudeš

Croatian clubs in Europe

Summary

Club	Competition	Final round
Dinamo Zagreb	UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup	Third qualifying round Group stage
Slaven Belupo	UEFA Cup	First round
Hajduk Split	UEFA Cup	Second qualifying round
Rijeka	UEFA Intertoto Cup	First round

Dinamo Zagreb

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[3]	Dinamo scorer(s)	Report
Champions League - First qualifying round
16 July	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Linfield	2–0	Mario Mandžukić, Dino Drpić	uefa.com
23 July	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	Linfield	1–1	Mario Mandžukić	uefa.com
Champions League - Second qualifying round
30 July	Sports Park, Domžale (A)	Domžale	3–0	Ivica Vrdoljak, Sammir, Josip Tadić	uefa.com
6 August	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	Domžale	3–2	Igor Bišćan, Mirko Hrgović, Dino Drpić	uefa.com
Champions League - Third qualifying round
13 August	RSC Olimpiyskiy, Donetsk (A)	Shakhtar Donetsk	0–2		uefa.com
27 August	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	Shakhtar Donetsk	1–3	Boško Balaban	uefa.com
UEFA Cup - First round
18 September	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	Sparta Prague	0–0		uefa.com
2 October	AXA Arena, Prague (A)	Sparta Prague	3–3	Pedro Morales, Dejan Lovren, Milan Badelj	uefa.com
UEFA Cup - Group stage
23 October	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	NEC	3–2	Mario Mandžukić, Boško Balaban, Ivica Vrdoljak	uefa.com
6 November	White Hart Lane, London (A)	Tottenham Hotspur	0–4		uefa.com
27 November	Maksimir, Zagreb (H)	Spartak Moscow	0–1		uefa.com
3 December	Stadio Friuli, Udine (A)	Udinese	1–2	Igor Bišćan	uefa.com

Slaven Belupo

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[3]	Slaven scorer(s)	Report
UEFA Cup - First qualifying round
17 July	Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali (A)	Marsaxlokk	4–0	Matija Kristić, Dalibor Poldrugač, Franjo Tepurić, Bojan Vručina	uefa.com
31 July	Gradski stadion, Koprivnica (H)	Marsaxlokk	4–0	Mario Bilen, Kristijan Čaval, Bojan Vručina (2)	uefa.com
UEFA Cup - Second qualifying round
14 August	Kleanthis Vikelidis, (A)	Aris	0–1		uefa.com
28 August	Gradski stadion, Koprivnica (H)	Aris	2–0	Bojan Vručina (2)	uefa.com
UEFA Cup - First round
18 September	Gradski stadion, Koprivnica (H)	CSKA Moscow	1–2	Mario Jurić	uefa.com
30 September	Luzhniki, Moscow (A)	CSKA Moscow	0–1		uefa.com

Hajduk Split

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[3]	Hajduk scorer(s)	Report
UEFA Cup - First qualifying round
17 July	Poljud, Split (H)	Birkirkara	4–0	Senijad Ibričić, Nikola Kalinić, Tomislav Bušić, Mario Tičinović	uefa.com
31 July	Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali (A)	Birkirkara	3–0	Ivan Strinić, Mladen Bartolović, Senijad Ibričić	uefa.com
UEFA Cup - Second qualifying round
14 August	Riazor, La Coruña (A)	Deportivo La Coruña	0–0		uefa.com
28 August	Poljud, Split (H)	Deportivo La Coruña	0–2		uefa.com

Rijeka

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[3]
Intertoto Cup - First round
21 June	Kantrida, Rijeka (H)	Renova	0–0
28 June	Gradski stadion, Skopje (A)	Renova	0–2

References

^ Groups and standings Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine FIFA Retrieved 2008-05-31
^ Sesvećanima ipak oduzet bod Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Croatian)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The score of the Croatian team is shown first.

[table_note_res_EL10.36673862643854-2] Because both cup finalists, Dinamo and Hajduk, qualified for Europe through their league positions, all three UEFA Europa League spots were given to teams according to their league positions, what means that fourth-placed Slaven Belupo also earned a spot in Europa League.

[table_note_CRS0.36673862643854-4] Croatia Sesvete were docked 1 point due to unpaid debts to Imotski over player Darko Vučić.^[2]

[table_note_SLV0.66606712139494-5] Slavonac CO had to step back from promotion after they were not able to find a satisfiable ground, and were demoted to the 1st county league; therefore Međimurje were promoted directly and Hrvatski Dragovoljac entered the playoff, while Moslavina were not relegated.

[table_hth_ORI0.10470572118867-6] 2 points deducted?

[table_hth_IST0.10470572118867-7] 2 points deducted?

[wcqbrackets-1] Groups and standings Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine FIFA Retrieved 2008-05-31

[3] Sesvećanima ipak oduzet bod Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Croatian)

[Croatian_team_score-8] The score of the Croatian team is shown first.

[1]

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[b]

[2]

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