It rained goals for the Croatia
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
It rained goals for the Croatia
The Mississauga News
Aug 13, 2003
The solution to Toronto Croatia’s season-long struggles may have only been an ocean away.
On the backs of three overseas additions, the Canadian Professional Soccer League squad broke out of a
terrible scoring slump to beat London City 4-1 Friday at Memorial Park, in pouring rain.
Drawn from second-division Croatian squads, forwards Mario Zupetic and Jure Pavic added an immediate
spark to one of the league’s worst offences. Both scored goals, while Zupetic also drew a call that led
to a successful penalty kick by forward Paul Grguric. Forward Peter Curic, who played his first game
since returning from a one-month stint in Portugal, rounded outCroatia’s scoring.
After being out-scored 9-0 in their two previous matches, Croatia’s offence was so suffocating that
London barely got any scoring chances. City defender Keith Andrew netted his team’s only goal in the
final minute of the game, breaking Croatia goalkeeper George Azcurra’s shutout bid.
The effort looked good on Velemir Crljen, who was in his first game as previous head coach Drago Santic’s replacement.
“If we play like we just played, we’ve got a chance in the second half of this season; we’ve got good
players here,” Zupetic said, through a translator.
With the win, the 3-7-0 Croatia passed the idle 2-5-2 Mississauga Olympians on their way out of the
Western Conference basement and are six points out of a playoff position.
“There’s a new attitude,” Grguric said. “We definitely have a shot to grab one of those spots.”
Croatia travels to London on Friday for a rematch with the City. The Olympians face Brampton Hitmen, the
conference’s top team, Sunday in Brampton.
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