Croatia coach lavishes praise on returning Mandzukic

Croatia coach lavishes praise on returning Mandzukic - Croatia coach Niko Kovac lavished praise on striker Mario Mandzukic who returned from suspension to score two goals in the 4-0 win over Cameroon in the World Cup Group A match on Wednesday.

The powerfully-built Mandzukic, who missed the opening 3-1 defeat by Brazil after being sent off in Croatia's final qualifying match, dominated the Cameroonian defence and scored twice in the second half.

"Any coach would be happy to have such a player in his team. He is not just a goal-getter - his attitude picks the team up and affects the opposing side," Kovac told a news conference.

"The fact he scored twice shows how important he is for this team and what kind of service the team can expect from him," he said.

Indeed, Kovac suggested the Brazil result could have been different had the 28-year-old striker played.

"What is for sure is that with a player such as Mario this (result) would have looked different," he said.

Mandzukic said his suspension for the first game meant he had had time to do more training.

"There is still room for progress and I'm very satisfied with this victory," the striker said.

Croatia's thumping win meant they will qualify for the second round if they beat Mexico next Monday. That could be tough since the Mexicans looked impressive when holding hosts Brazil to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday.

"We know what awaits us from the Mexican match. This is the final for us," said Kovac. "(They) are a very good, even excellent team, very aggressive, full of energy ... they were capable of threatening Brazil."

Cameroon had Alex Song sent off and played poorly, a fact Kovac conceded.

"Well, certainly Cameroon was not on top but we have to ask ourselves why they played in that way. I think it was down partly to my team. They showed they wanted to win and they deserved it," he said.

"I don't want to belittle what our team did, they were excellent. Our team has the potential to be on par with the best." - REUTERS/ac

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Conte lets rip as Juve crash out to Bayern

Conte lets rip as Juve crash out to Bayern - Juventus coach Antonio Conte has called on Italian football to get its house in order or risk becoming a lost giant of European football, following their quarter-final exit from the Champions League to Bayern Munich on Wednesday. 

Juve were outclassed during a 2-0 first leg defeat to the newly-crowned German champions last week in Munich and despite a far better performance in Turin on Wednesday the hosts fell to another 2-0 reverse. 

Conte, a former midfielder with the two-time European champions before leading the club to their 28th Scudetto in his first season in charge last year, said Tuesday there was a huge gap between his side and big-spending Bayern. 

Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic (L) and Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus fight during their Champions League quarter-final second leg soccer match at the Juventus stadium in Turin April 10, 2013. 

After second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro sealed the Bundesliga side's place in the semis for the third time in four years, the 43-year-old Conte took aim at Italian football in general. 

He said it is time for Italy's clubs to start generating the finance needed to compete on a level playing field with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester United. 

If not, Juve could go the way of one of European football's strongest sides in the 1970s, Dutch giants Ajax, who have struggled to get back to Europe's top table in the past two decades. 

"Given that two years ago we weren't even in the Europa League I have to congratulate my players for getting this far," said Conte. 

"They've worked really hard to make a mark in this competition over the past two years. 

"They (Bayern) were simply stronger than us and we can only congratulate them. When you're playing against one of the strongest teams in Europe it becomes difficult for everyone. 

"But playing Bayern was a good opportunity to see where exactly we are compared to the big boys in Europe. Where are we, what's missing and how do we remedy it? 

"We have to look elsewhere, to Spain, to England and to Germany to see what lessons we can learn. 

"But if you have the money, you can buy (players) and win. Otherwise, it takes a lot of patience. 

"The way things are right now, I don't see any Italian teams winning the Champions League for the next several years." 

Inter Milan in 2010 were the last Italian team to win the Champions League but since then no Serie A side has made the final four of Europe's premier club competition. 

Although Juventus are considered one of the continent's bigger clubs, their comparative lack of spending power does little to draw the world's top players. 

Juve have repeatedly declared they cannot splash out 30 million euros on one player, but for the club's director general Beppe Marotta, Bayern's massive spending power has proved key. 

"We were dominated last week at Bayern and this week we lost again, but not just on the pitch -- in terms of finance as well," said Marotta, underlining the fact Bayern, champions four times, were beaten finalists in 2010 and 2012. 

"They have played two finals in the space of three years. Don't forget that Bayern have a turnover that is not only twice that of Juve, but also Milan and Inter Milan." 

Conte said he will now concentrate on "defending our league crown", but he called on Italian football -- which has been rocked by match-fixing, drugs and sports betting scandal over the years -- to take a look in the mirror, or fall further behind. 

"Look at Ajax. They were huge before, now they're nowhere in Europe," he added. 

Conte, who earlier this season served a four-month touchline ban for his alleged role in a match-fixing affair while at his former club, Siena, added: "In Italy, people are more interested in following futile stories than looking at how we can go about improving the state of our football. 

"They ask useless questions about the referee or this or that. The answer is, we have to work hard and try to take our football to a new level and to do that we have to increase the budget that's available to us." // AFP News

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