We are ready for Istra and Slaven Belupo more than other matches we had before i come to club. Its trough it was very had lose against Groningen on Oosterpark Stadion but we "have been quick". I given players day off in Antwerp ... except few strikers, i do not want to name them... but they know why. We had talk on training next day and little training ... today we arrived to Pula, and we will do light training.
So anyway players know and belive we did good all the way to this match so its sure we will like we play and players will for sure enjoy in next matches with hope of good result and perfomance which will come for sure.
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I also belive Soudani will get back into form and for now he will be in first eleven and starting mostly from first minute in important matches. We had talk and we need forwards to start work. No more bullshit.
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So Groningen is still in our head, we want revenge at Maksimir but now we need to focus on local competititon and as i sayed we are ready with motivation to play.. so there should be no problem before Sevilla which we scout already and will scout till match us best we can.
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Also hard games after that ... Hajduk, Rijeka, Liverpool... name it... so i look toward wins and boost morale before that. Thank you.
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NK Istra 1961
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with NK Istra.
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Nogometni Klub Istra 1961 (English: Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961 or simply Istra 1961, is a football club from Pula, Croatia, currently playing in the Croatian First Division.
The football club NK Uljanik from which the club originates was founded in 1948. In 1961, it joined with another local club, NK Pula, to form NK Istra. For this reason, 1961 is occasionally considered as the club's founding year.
The greatest club success was in the 2002–03 season when they finished runners-up in the Croatian Cup, losing to Hajduk Split 4–1 on aggregate. In the 2004–05 season, the club changed its name into NK Pula 1856, because the year 1856 was the year that the Austro-Hungarian Empire made Pula the port of its arsenal and the shipyard Uljanik was opened. Also in the same year, in competed in the Prva Liga for the first time.
In 2005, it was renamed again to NK Pula Staro ?eško due to a sponsorship contract with the brewery Daruvarska pivovara (Staro ?eško is a beer brand, a fcking good quality beer). Just one year later, the name was once again changed, this time to NK Pula.
Again, just a year later in summer 2007, the name was changed for the fifth time in as many years, to NK Istra 1961. The change of name came after an ultimatum from the local fans Demons who said the club would have their support only if the club changed its name and club colours to the traditional city colours (yellow and green).
Its crest features the city's Roman Arena in Pula, as well as the old team crest.
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Pula play their home matches at the recently renovated Stadion Aldo Drosina, which has a capacity of approximately 10,000 spectators.
Nk Istra 1961 was bought by an American Investment group in 2015 (USA all the way), who led the team throughout the 2015-2016 season, and continues to lead the team into the 2017 season. The NK Istra academy system is very strong and consistently competes for top spots in the rankings (they are going down tho). The current head coach of NK Istra 1961 is Marijo Tot who has found success both on and off the field as a player as well as a manager. After retiring at the age of 26, Marijo enrolled into the Croatian Federation Football academy. At 31 years old, he became one of the youngest ever manager in all the former Yugoslav republic club. Nk Istra 1961 has a rich fan history.
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The group of die hard fans are referred to as the Demoni, and are known for their explosive chants and celebrations as well as their extreme pride for the club.
