November 16, 2020 - Excitement for tomorrow's Croatia Portugal game is building as one of the world's greatest footballers is again pictured in Croatia - Cristiano Ronaldo in Split

Tomorrow night will see the last chance for the Croatian National Football Team to remain in League A in the UEFA Nations League when they take on Portugal at Poljud stadium. Excitement for the game is building as one of the world's greatest footballers has again been photographed in the host town. Cristiano Ronaldo in Split is not a sight you get to see every day.

Cristiano Ronaldo in Split, as seen on the sports pages of Jutarnji List © screenshot Jutarnji List

Croatian football fans were first notified of Cristiano Ronaldo in Split when the Portugal team were pictured arriving together in the city on Sunday. Ronaldo was the last man to leave the team bus. Today, a new photograph has emerged of Cristiano Ronaldo in Split. Published on the sports pages of Jutarnji List, the Portuguese captain was photographed looking out from the balcony of the Amphora Hotel in Žnjan to the east of the city. If the hotel balcony Cristiano Ronaldo in Split was pictured in is his, the Juventus forward will have a glorious, unobstructed view of Brac island from his room.

Playing under manager Zlatko Dalic, the Croatian National Football Team will be desperate to avoid relegation to League B in the UEFA Nations League with the result against Portugal tomorrow. Meanwhile, Portugal have little to play for - their hopes of finishing at the top of League A's Group 3 were ended by their defeat to France in their last match.

Cristiano Ronaldo in Split, as seen on the sports pages of Jutarnji List © screenshot Jutarnji List

The Croatian National Football Team have been drawn in one of the most difficult groups within this year's UEFA Nations League. Portugal are the defending champions of the league and France are the current World Cup holders. Croatia have lost four of their last five matches in the competition, their only win so far being against Sweden. Sweden are currently at the bottom of Group 3 with only three points, the same as Croatia. Croatia are placed third, above Sweden, having scored more goals. The final standing of the teams will also depend on the result of the Sweden France game which will be played simultaneously.

To get the most up-to-date news about tomorrow's game and the Croatian National Football Team, plus all international Croatia sports and domestic leagues, be sure to follow Total Croatia News dedicated Sports pages

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August 25, 2020 - Numerous Croatian media outlets revealed on Tuesday that sources close to HNS have said Croatia and Portugal will meet at Poljud this November. Here's what we know so far.

As 24 Sata and Index.hr reported on Tuesday, the Croatian Football Federation is in talks to hold the Nations League match between Croatia and Portugal on November 17, 2020, at Poljud stadium in Split.  

If all goes to plan, the famous Hajduk stadium will host the Croatia national team for the 14th time. After the match against Hungary passed without incident last year, and after absolutely everyone praised the organization, HNS allegedly decided that Modric and company would play at Poljud once they had the next big opportunity. We'd say bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Poljud warrants just that. 

24 Sata reported that UEFA might allow a certain number of spectators for the November match. However, UEFA initially reported that the upcoming Nations League games would be played without the presence of spectators. We will have to wait and see what the umbrella organization decides given the current epidemiological situation.

Cristiano Ronaldo's national team, which is still the current European champion, should come to Split in the last round of Group 3 as part of the A League of this UEFA competition. Apart from Croatia and Portugal, Sweden and France are in that group.

Croatia kicks off their Nations League campaign on September 5 in Porto against Portugal, and three days later, they will play in Paris against France. The first home game in this competition will be played on October 11 against Sweden, and that game should, for now, be played at Maksimir.

Three days later, France should play at the same stadium, and before the spectacle at Poljud, Dalic's team will visit Sweden. That match will be played on November 14, three days before Portugal's visit to Split.

24 Sata concludes that the Croatian Football Federation has sent a letter to Split, in line with what they said after Hungary - and that is that the national team will play at Poljud very soon. Now, we await an answer from Split, though we foresee no issues. After all, who wouldn’t want to host Ronaldo?

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After a very important week, where his team Juventus lost in Torino to Ajax and has been kicked out of the Champions League, but managed to secure yet another Italian champions title (first for him!), Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to take a brief vacation. And in order to have a couple of relaxing days away from the football pitch, the Juventus striker decided to come to - Dubrovnik!

Dubrovački vjesnik reports that Cristiano and his fiancée Georgina Rodriguez came to Dubrovnik late last night, several hours after the win against Fiorentina which secured the Scudeto for the team, on a private jet. Not much is known about their plans, but it's obvious they decided to spend Easter in Croatia. They are not expected to stay in Croatia for long, as Cristiano has another game coming in a couple of days: Juventus is playing Inter in Milano on April 27th.

There isn't much doubt that his teammate Mario Mandžukić helped convince Cristiano to visit his home country, but one question remains: why wasn't Luka Modrić able to do the same in all those years the two shared a locker room in Madrid?

We'll keep an eye on Cristiano's Instagram feed, where he will no doubt be sharing some of the photos of his Dubrovnik vacation!

March 15, 2019 - You might recall Hajduk making international headlines last month as their iconic badge became the center of Liam Gallagher’s clothing line Pretty Green. The Split club has grabbed media attention once again, but this time, for a goal celebration by one of their youngsters. 

Namely, Hajduk U19 player Tino Blaž Lauš put Hajduk up 3:1 against Hrvatski Dragovoljac in the Junior Croatian First League over the weekend. Lauš scored in the 57th minute to win the game, and after the ball hit the Dragovoljac net, he chose to celebrate in the rather controversial style of Cristiano Ronaldo and Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone. 

The Hajduk player’s celebration, which is now coined the ‘Cojones Celebration’, was first done by Simeone after Atletico scored the second goal in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Juventus. You can see the act below.

No one:

Diego Simeone: pic.twitter.com/ao1EuDTpoO

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) February 20, 2019

“I did it as a player at Lazio and I did it again to show our fans that we have cojones,” Simeone said after the match. 

Cristiano Ronaldo then mimicked the famous move in the second leg after scoring a hat trick to advance Juventus to the quarterfinals. 

#Ronaldo come Simeone #JuveAtelti pic.twitter.com/hh3veIMKuk

— Tutti Convocati (@tutticonvocati) March 12, 2019

While Simeone was only fined for his celebration, UEFA announced they would open an inquiry into the Ronaldo gesture, which could see the famous footballer receive a fine, and even a disqualification for a game.

Who did the celebration better..

Simeone or ronaldo? ???#JuveAtleti pic.twitter.com/MDOc5gBQUA

— Night_kyng (@Public_Enemyy) March 12, 2019

In Croatia, however, referee Ivan Vučković was not so forgiving. After Lauš imitated Simeone and Ronaldo, he received a red.

Hajduk Split youth star sent off for Diego Simeone celebration https://t.co/tLLGxodj6K pic.twitter.com/CYF7wsHWV0

— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) March 15, 2019

International media including Bleacher Report, The Sun, Daily Mail, and Sport Bible have all picked up the story, and many users on Reddit wonder if the Croatian call was fair at all. 

“Am I the only one who doesn't think anyone should get carded for this?” said one user. “Let the boy play” said another. “Refs are just football mods. Ignore half of the rule-breaking but if you dare make fun of them they'll use all their spergy rage upon you,” was also among the comments. 

And then there are those who believe it was the only fair decision. 

“Deserved. Have some manners on the pitch” and “Don’t do everything you see on TV kids” are just a few. 

Should Lauš have been sent off? We’ll let you decide. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

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