| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
Trivia
- McNamara carried a knee injury for this game – this was the same tendonitis which had afflicted him during the previous season. Regi Blinker had recovered from his smoker’s cough and chest infection. O’Donnell was out with a calf injury
- The pre-match press conference in Zagreb turned into a fiasco when Lambert and Boyd replied with a series of “no comments”. The bonus dispute really centred around winning a degree of respect from Fergus McCann. Jock Brown, uncharacteristically, also refused to discuss the bonus dispute but was more voluble on other matters.
- The game was notable for the racist abuse aimed at Regi Blinker every time he touched the ball.
- The post-match press conference also turned into a fiasco with no players prepared to talk to the Press and Brattbakk only prepared to talk to Celtic View. Dr Jo was pestered with questions about the bonus dispute doing his best to keep it together before losing the rag with the assembled journos.
- Zagreb were knocked out in the group stages. Olympiakos won the group.
Review
Described by ‘Scotland on Sunday’ as ‘the worst display in Europe by any Scottish team ever’ this was indeed a pretty poor game with only Gould playing to anything like his ability. A five-man midfield seriously underperformed and allowed a pack-a-day smoker to run the game. An embarrassing defeat. Out of the Champions League and a drop into the UEFA Cup.
Teams
Croatia Zagreb:
Ladic, Tokic, Silvio Maric (Saric ,84), Juric, Prosinecki, Viduka (Sokota ,73), Rukavina, Dario Simic, Mario Cvitanovic, Jelicic, Jurcic (Mujcin ,60)
Subs not used: Mladinic, Sabic, Butina, Mikic
Scorers: Silvio Maric (23), Prosinecki (44, pen), Prosinecki (68)
Bookings: Jurcic, Juric, Silvio Maric (Dyn. Zagreb)
Celtic:
Gould, Boyd , Mahe, McNamara, Rieper, Stubbs , Larsson, Burley , Lambert, Jackson (Donnelly ,76), Blinker (Brattbakk ,63)
Subs not used Hannah, Annoni, McKinlay, Burchill, Kerr,
Bookings: Jurcic, Juric, Silvio Maric (Dyn. Zagreb) Larsson (Celtic)
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
Attendance: 23,570
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Croatia Zagreb | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 3 | 1 |
| Fouls | 19 | 15 |
| Shots on Target | 9 | 2 |
| Corners | 10 | 3 |
| Offside | 1 | 5 |
Prosinecki supreme as Celtic take a pounding
The Scotsman 27/08/1998
Croatia Zagreb 3 Maric (23), Prosinecki (44 pen, 68)
Celtic 0
(aggregate 3-1)
EVERYTHING will be blue tonight, predicted the Croatian sports paper SN – and how accurate that forecast was to prove after Robert Prosinecki ensured that the colour engulfed Celtic for 90 minutes of a European Cup nightmare.
In a chilling action replay of 1990, when Rangers perished under the wizardry of Prosinecki, the Croatian playmaker scored twice and proved himself the master of the Maksimir Stadium last night.
While the Scottish champions had given up their bonus for winning the match, the Croatians were propelled to glory by a pledge of 16,000 per man to reach the Champions League.
However, money didn't come into it. Even if Celtic's players had approached the match in peak mental condition, they would still have been totally outclassed. The men who made the difference, not only in goalscoring terms, were Prosinecki and Slavio Maric. They treated Celtic to a tortuous evening which could – and should – have been much more embarrassing had Zagreb not met Jonathan Gould in some inspired form, as the visitors, now a UEFA Cup team, were ripped apart.
The Celtic coach, Jozef Venglos, resisted the temptation to include Mark Burchill, who turned 18 only last week, for his first competitive start, electing to field only Darren Jackson up front as his side attempted to protect the 1-0 advantage from the first leg of the second qualifying round tie.
With five players deployed in midfield by Celtic, the key battle in this area was between Craig Burley and Prosinecki. The Croatian was not afforded any special attention by Celtic, however, which came as a surprise considering he is usually at the centre of every Zagreb move.
As he was left to wander around at his will, Zagreb contented themselves with long-range efforts from Marko Rukavina and Josko Jelicic in the early minutes.
However, they proved to be mere warning shots, and the home side stepped up the pace with some clever passing and classic movement from the forward pairing of Marko Viduka and Maric.
In 13 minutes, Dario Simic had Celtic on the run. On the break and from inside his own half, he sliced open the Celtic defence with a ball to Maric, who sped past Burley and Marc Rieper.
Viduka, whose name was jeered by some home fans when read out before the tie, was prevented only by the base of the post from endearing himself to those cynical supporters, with a shot that beat Jonathan Gould to his right.
Celtic were given little time to catch their breath. Alan Stubbs was involved in two last-gasp clearances before Zagreb took the lead. Tom Boyd was shown the ball by Maric on the edge of the box, but the international striker spun clear of the Celtic captain. He was allowed too much time to assess a variety of options and chose one that had a devastating effect for Celtic. Shrugging aside poor marking by Rieper and Regi Blinker, Maric picked his spot to Gould's right and buried the ball in the back of the net from 20 yards.
An away goal for Celtic was now essential if they were going to avoid another 67 minutes of intolerable pressure, and Blinker and Jackson had Krunoslav Jurcic and Goran Jurcic rattled briefly as the Croatians were booked for fouls by the Italian referee, Pierluigi Collina.
Some Croatian fans in the main stand were celebrating as if a penalty had been awarded, eight minutes before the interval. We were about to discover why. Jackie McNamara gave away a free kick in Prosinecki's favourite territory. In an action replay of his last-minute effort at Parkhead, he sent a viciously spinning strike towards goal only for Gould to pull off a confidence-boosting save, pushing the ball on to the post.
However, Zagreb were to celebrate the real thing just 90 seconds before the end of the half. Maric was tripped by Boyd in the penalty area and Collina had no option but to award the spot-kick.
Prosinecki was laconic and brilliant, ambling up only two steps to the ball and dispatching the ball into Gould's right-hand corner as the Celtic goalkeeper slid in the opposite direction.
Immediately, the instructions from the coach, Zlatko Kranjcar, were frightening for Celtic as he signalled for shutdown at the back. To him, the game had been won. But his players were to enjoy the second half, peppering shots on target thanks to the artistry of Prosinecki and Maric.Rukavina tormented Stephane Mahe before bashing the near post from a tight angle on the right and Gould kept Celtic in the tie by getting the slightest touch when Viduka was sent clear by Prosinecki.
Henrik Larsson was pushed up front with Jackson and, in desperation, Harald Brattbakk introduced in place of Blinker.
Before his substitution, Blinker pulled out of a race for the ball with the goalkeeper, Drazen Ladic, when it appeared that he could get to the ball first.
Then, when Burley was felled on the outskirts of the penalty box, Stubbs lined up the ball with intent. He sent a shot skimming across the ground, under the jump of the wall and almost between the legs of Ladic.
Any hope of causing Zagreb a fright with an away goal evaporated in 68 minutes, when Celtic's shocking failure to detain Prosinecki cost them a third goal. He had all the time he desired to inch towards shooting range and take aim.
From 25 yards, his drive took a deflection off Rieper, and that gave Gould little hope.
Were it not for Gould's heroics as time expired, the result would have been one of Scotland's most humbling experiences on foreign soil.
Dr Jo Venglos, post match
"I am not ready to talk about the situation (with the players bonus dispute). I am concerned mainly with what happens on the field. I have to analyse what is going on there.
"I do not want to answer any questions about the problems which exist with the players.
"I am a coach and that is my responsibility.
"I am thinking now of trying to resolve the problems. I really must think about this."
“The penalty was the turning point. That was what changed the game as far as we were concerned.
"If we had been able to go into the dressing room at half-time with just one goal against us, things could have been different.
"We were against very strong opponents. It was always going to be difficult because Zagreb are a quality team and they demonstrated that.
"However, a penalty at that time is very important for any team.
"We did not play at our top form tonight and we had to do so if we were to reach the Champions' League.
"I think that Jonathan Gould played very well but, remember, we had chances to score, too. It was that penalty that made things impossible for us."
Zlatko Kranjcar, Croatia Zagreb coach
"We now have the success we wanted. We have achieved our big wish by making the Champions' League and it is a victory for everyone at the club.
"Celtic are a good team but we were successful in our game plan and rose to the occasion."
1998 > August > 29 > Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)
Alex Cameron; That takes the biscuit, Fergus.
The intense suffering inflicted on the legions of loyal Celtic fans is no longer tolerable.
Their view is important. They're putting money into Celtic while the rest, including the team, are taking it out.
Grasping players and the mulish Fergus McCann and his board have wrecked hopes for the future.
Indeed, the two sides share blame for the worst Celtic shambles in living memory.
On and off the field they are wielding the tools of self-destruction, knifing themselves at home in the league and away in Europe.
Some of Celtic's best friends say the club has lost its soul.
They certainly don't have a leader either feared or respected in the mould of Sir Robert Kelly or Desmond White.
Nobody's visible at the tiller. McCann, with his Andy Capp bunnet, is too remote and has a wee guy's fondness for a verbal scrap.
Along with Jock Brown, he should consider Oscar Wilde's waspish words: "Men can't be too careful when choosing their enemies.''
It's time for change at the top. McCann has worked financial wonders but is the wrong man from here on.
Thousands of season ticket holders think they've been conned into believing the flag-winning side would be bolstered by at least one important buy.
It's obvious the priority is a big, strong striker.
Once upon a time fans would have supported McCann and the champion team to take on the world. Now they wouldn't back them with a long start in an egg and spoon race .
McCann's failure to spend some of the record ticket money on a new player before the Euro deadline was a serious blunder.
Fans didn't expect Celts to match the millions laid out by Rangers, Manchester United or Chelsea – but they expected something.
Even parachuting into the UEFA Cup after the Champions League hammering in Croatia hasn't soothed anger.
Nobody can understand why Celts have gone back to the penny-pinching biscuit-tin days in an era of soaring finances.
Something must be done. There are splits in the dressing-room and among the fans as McCann lays down his cards like a poker player with an unbeatable hand.
A Kissinger-style go-between is what is needed but both sides think they're right and won't budge.
Even though the bonus row was made obsolete in Croatia it will be raised again after yesterday's UEFA Cup draw.
The only chance will be if three or four players eventually move to greener pastures. But how would they be replaced?
Celtic's reputation for parsimony has travelled ahead to the continent, so the best they could get would be second-raters and there's enough of them already.
McCann presses on with his plans to sell his shareholding and prevent a single or corporate owner.
This has been his pledge from the start and is approved by the rank and file. I believe one group recently offered McCann pounds 30 million in a buy-out but he turned it down flat.
Whatever happens, McCann surely can't allow another on-field Euro embarrassment or the club's value will sink like the rouble .