By Eric Anderson
Croatian Eagles SC and the U.S. Open Cup were among the first dots on the national soccer map, but it’s taken over 80 years for them to connect.
The Milwaukee club was established in 1922, eight years after the country’s oldest cup crowned its first champion. During their long history, the Eagles consistently have been among the best teams in Milwaukee, winning eight city titles, and have been competitive in state and regional tournaments and Croatian events across North America.But this is believed to be the first year they have entered U.S. Open Cup competition.
And what a debut it has been.
As one of three teams in the Wisconsin U.S. Open Cup last fall, the Eagles drew a first-round bye and faced the Milwaukee Kickers in the final Nov. 5 at Uihlein Soccer Park – with the high school boys state championship game being contested on the next field. It was a strange November day in southeast Wisconsin, with thunderstorms interrupting play twice.
With the game scoreless in the 70th minute, the Eagles’ Matt Haberli went in hard on a tackle and was shown a straight red card. Somehow, the 10-man Eagles were able to hold on and force overtime. The game’s first goal came in the second overtime period when former MLS player Dan Stebbins put the Kickers ahead in the 112th minute, only to see the shorthanded Eagles equalize three minutes later with a goal from another former pro player, Ramon "Choko" Alvarado.
Neither side was able to find the game-winner in the final five minutes, leaving the match to be decided by penalty kicks. Both teams made their first four attempts, but the Kickers misfired on their fifth and the Eagles converted to claim the victory.
“I’ve never been a part of a game like that in my life,” said Eagles coach Tomislav Markovic, who replaced his father, Pero, as coach of the club’s top team two years ago. “I believe the game started at 1 (p.m.) and I didn’t get home until 6:30.”
The win gave the Eagles a spot in the six-team USASA Region II finals, which likely will start in late April. The draw is scheduled for April 12.
No matter who they draw, Markovic believes the Eagles will be able to compete.
“This is probably the strongest team we’ve had in a long time,” said Markovic, 30, who used to play with the team – more recently, he had been playing with the Eagles’ second team until suffering a knee injury. “Everybody’s back from school, everybody’s back from playing their pro games, so on and so forth, and a lot of the guys are interested in playing this year.”
The Eagles’ roster features an interesting mix of players with a variety of experience. Former professionals, ex-Division I and Division III college players, as well as local talent, make up the 2006 squad. Their average age is about 25, and most of them came up through the Croatian Eagles youth program.
“A lot us have grown up here, we’ve played here since we were 8, 7 years old,” said Alvarado, a 24-year-old forward who played in the A-League with the Milwaukee Rampage and Milwaukee Wave United. “So it’s nice to come along this whole way with the team, the same players, the same guys. We get new faces here and there, and they’re always welcome."
“And it’s nice to get those players that have a little bit more experience and pass it down to the rest of the players.”
Forward Jason Willan is the most experienced player on the Eagles’ roster. The 34-year-old played eight years in the A-League with the Rampage and the Minnesota Thunder, and had a solid indoor career. He was the 1995-96 NPSL Rookie of the Year with the Detroit Rockers, and then returned home and played several seasons for the Milwaukee Wave.
Midfielder Paul Dolinsky, 23, has European experience, having played in the Dutch Eredivisie with Feyenoord and Heerenveen after leaving high school when he was 16. Dolinsky, whose father, John, is the former Wave coach, returned to the U.S. in 2002 and played with Indiana and Pittsburgh in the A-League and was named an MISL All-Star for the Kansas City Comets.
Defender Pat White, 31, played for the Rampage and Wave United along with the Wave indoor team and has played for the U.S. national futsal team. Forward Aaron Lauber also was with the Rampage, and goalkeeper Brad Swenby spent time with the Thunder.
Lauber, midfielder Dave Martinez and defender Joe Anderson (Wisconsin), Swenby (UW-Milwaukee) and defender Chris Knepper (UW-Green Bay) were Division I college players. Backup keeper Ryan Dineen, defender Brad Haga and midfielders Shane Lohr and Derek Kasten played together on the UW-Oshkosh team that advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals in 2003. Mike Vuckovic, Justin Ruiz, Aaron Schroeder and David Markovic – the coach’s younger brother – all came up through the club.
The talent level and the players’ drive is what prompted the Eagles to finally enter the U.S. Open Cup, trumping previous concerns that included the cost of a potential Cup run.
“We’re an amateur team, so it’s hard,” Tommy Markovic said. “We always thought we could get past the first round and the second round and maybe get by the Midwest teams, but the traveling ... it costs a pretty penny to travel.
“(The reasoning was) What happens if we have to drive to Rochester (N.Y.) to play an A-League team? Who knows? You might get lucky, but ... they never wanted to take that chance of having to travel.”
So did Markovic have to work hard to convince club president Franjo Vukovic to let the Eagles enter last fall?
“No. It was more of a case of he wanted a commitment from every guy on the team to say they will be there,” said Markovic, who also coaches an Under-13 boys team in the club. “It came down to the guys saying they wanted to do it, so the president said ‘Let’s do it then.’ It’s worked out so far, so good.”
Franjo Vikovic, who joined the club when he moved to Milwaukee from Croatia in 1972 and is in his 20th year as club president, said he had a more pressing concern that money.
"It wasn’t always the finances. We’ve talked about it for a number of years," he said. "That is an expensive cup to be in, but in my mind, I have to feel comfortable with the team we have. You have to have the team...I think we have a good chance, I really do."
Some of the Eagles’ players got together in February to play in the President’s Cup indoor tournament in Madison, which they won. The full team kicked off weekly training sessions later that month at its facility in suburban Franklin just south of Milwaukee -- the club has five regulation-sized fields and two youth fields on its 30 acres.
Now the Eagles are training three times a week in preparation for the Wisconsin Soccer Association majors spring season – the Eagles were in first place after the fall portion of the season – and the Region II Cup finals, of course.
“(The Cup) means a lot for our club – it’s a big step,” said Mike Vuckovic, a nephew of the club president. “It took us a while to get a good team.”
Like Mike Vuckovic, Alvarado started playing with the Eagles when he was 6 years old. But unlike his teammate, who’s been with the club the last 21 years, Alvarado turned pro when he was 18. He returned to the Eagles last year when he started a family.
“This Cup is a big deal for us, because we really haven’t had a strong squad,” said Alvarado, who is hoping for another chance to resume his pro career. “We’re getting everything together, everything’s coming together nicely.
“Eventually you can play against (USL First Division) teams and then maybe MLS teams, you’ve got to go out and give it everything you’ve got. ... You want to prove to them, just because they’re at a little bit higher level – or a way higher level – that guys, we’ve got the heart. You get paid, that’s your job, but it also takes a lot of heart.”
Tommy Markovic feels good about the Eagles’ chances of making some noise in their U.S. Open Cup debut.
“It’s going to be nothing new for us to travel and go somewhere and play a big game,” he said. “These guys have been in that situation plenty of times."
“I’m confident with the players we have, and we’ve been around enough. It takes a lot of luck to win a game of soccer, too – but with the players we have, I’m not afraid to play anybody. ... We’re looking forward to it.”
