CROATIA SHOWED GUTS & DETERMINATION, WHILE THE THREE LIONS FLATTER TO DECEIVE
As the referee blew the final whistle at the Luzhniki
Stadium, there was a contrast of emotions, elation on the face of the Croats
and utter dejection on English faces. Once again England had bottled it when it
mattered most. Although England got to the semifinals they had yet to face a
decent team, a team who were comfortable on the ball. England’s road to the
semifinals includes Tunisia, Panama, who were one of the worst teams at the
world cup, Belgium (although I don’t count this game as both teams made
wholesale changes). A round of 16 tie against a Colombian team who were lacking
the skill and guile of James Rodriquez. A quarterfinal against a not so great
Swedish team. The big game players for
England failed to “turn up”. Harry Kane
had a poor game by his standards, and he missed a great chance to double their
lead in the first half. The team generally failed to create chances. The
midfield setup was also wrong as England had Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and
Jordan Henderson, against Ivan Rakitic, Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric. Alli
and Lingard are not renowned for their ball recycling abilities instead they
are known for making runs from midfield and getting on the end of balls in the
box. In actual fact, the only natural central midfielder in there was Jordan
Henderson. Croatia with the aid of their midfield trio controlled most parts of
the game. It’s safe to say the loss of the midfield battle by England was key to
Croatia’s victory.
It’s not all doom and gloom for England as nobody
tipped them to reach the semifinals. Credit must go to Gareth Southgate for
achieving that feat with such a young and inexperienced squad. They have
overachieved and can be proud of their world cup campaign, winning the third
place playoff will be a good way to sign out. The English should look to build
on this ahead of Euro 2020.
Croatia on the
other hand was not really on anyone’s radar ahead of the world cup, but they
have proved us all wrong. They topped their group winning all three games which
included a superb 3-0 victory over Argentina. They made it to the semi-finals
having won the round of 16 and quarterfinal ties against Denmark and Russia on
penalties. They had less recovery time as played a total of 240 minutes in the
last two matches before facing England. They were given little or no chance by
the media with many tipping England to victory. It’s a testament to their gutsy
display, laced with drive and determination. Although much of the talk centered
around Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, they showed
they are by no means a two man team.
Zlatko Dalić, Croatia’s coach also deservesa huge
amount of accolades for their wonderful tournament, his ability to utilize his
squad and keep everyone on their toes was key. He also showed that he had no
time for disgruntled elements within the squad by sending home striker Nikola Kalinic for refusing
to come on as an 85th-minute substitute in the 2-0 group stage win over Nigeria claiming he had
a back injury. In a press conference after the game Dalić said "The
same thing happened during the Brazil friendly in England, as well as before
the practice session on Sunday," Dalic said. "I have calmly accepted
that, and since I need my players fit and ready to play, I have made this
decision." It was a brave decision as Kalinic could not be replaced on
the squad, so Croatia had continue in the tournament with 22 players and had
only two recognized strikers in the squad in Mario Mandžukić and Andrej Kramarić.
Twenty
(20) years after they reached their first world cup in which they finished
third (3rd). They have gone a step further and are one win away from
writing their names into the History books. Win or lose the final on Sunday,
they can be proud of all they have achieved in Russia.
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