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Croatia two from two in the Eastern European Tri-Nations

  • Friday, July 28 2006 @ 03:50 pm ACST
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Europe

Croatia hosted its first-ever footy tournament last weekend, with the Vienna Kangaroos and Czech Lions visiting Zagreb on Saturday July 22nd. The Croats repeated their form from the first tri-series tournament in Vienna, winning both their matches. Around 100 spectators attended the games, including some local press and the Australia ambassador to Croatia, Ms Anna George, who presented the trophies to the winning team.

This report courtesy of Kolja "the Croatian Crusher" Koracak.

CROATIA WINS 'PB GRUPA' CROATIA OPEN

This past weekend saw the first ever International Australian Rules Football tournament to be held in the Republic of Croatia. The 'PB Grupa' Croatia Open, the second tournament in the Tri-nation series, was contested by Croatia, Austria and the Czech Republic. After last month winning the first tournament of the series in Vienna, the Croatian side once again remained undefeated and won its second trophy of the year.

Croatia easily beat Austria in the opening game (16.8.104 to 7.0.42) and after the Czech Republic beat Austria in the next game (16.9.105 to 4.3.27), the last game between Croatia and the Czech Republic became the decider. After a very close first half, Croatia scored 4 unanswered goals in the third quarter to move away and win the tournament (9.6.60 - 4.3.27). Croatia thus kept its undefeated record intact and has announced a bright future for this sport in Croatia. The last tournament of the Tri-nation series will be in Prague in August or September this year.

Australian Ambassador to Croatia, Ms. Anna George, gave the trophies to the winning side, while the "Alan Didak Best and Fairest" trophy was won by Croatian Ivan Sprek. Jacob "Tiger JD" Dedek from the Czech Lions won "Horny Top Goalscorer". We had around 100 people in attendance who enjoyed a barbie and plenty of Fosters. Nick Zdunic was mixing some Australian and Croatian tunes and the party lasted 'till 2:30 next morning. The event was a huge success and we hope that next year we can make it bigger and better.

The Zagreb Giants will soon unveil a brand new website at http://www.aussieruleszagreb.hr