THE ENGLAND CROATIA RIVALRY REPEATS ITSELF YET AGAIN
His name is Tin Jedvaj. He is a defender and plays for Bayer Leverkusen. I had never heard of this player, more fool me, but on Thursday night he was the most important person for England FC that evening. Forget the pros and cons of the Wayne Rooney benefit match as Mr Jedvaj is also a Croatian international and scored two huge goals (his first and second for his country) including a 93rd minute winner as Croatia beat Spain 3-2 to blow their Nations Cup Group wide open. Spain were cruising after winning their first 2 games , but they have lost their last 2 and now its all up for grabs this coming Sunday, a shootout as England take on Croatia at Wembley, the winner takes it all and tops the group, the loser gets relegated. A draw lends itself to a number of permutations, one most definitely being both sides will not qualify for the playoffs in June – here’s hoping we don’t have to worry about that.
WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY
Whilst you cannot forget the Croatians in all this, what a chance this now is for England. Win a home match and you qualify for the Nations League playoffs, a situation they were a long way away from after a home defeat to Spain and just picking up a point in Croatia. Avoiding relegation was the target then, however their 2-3 victory in Sevilla left the door ajar for a potential comeback and now with the Croatian victory over the Spanish, it is now firmly in both teams hands to clinch top spot and a finals playoff place next summer.
FAMILIAR FOES
This will be the 3rd time these two sides will have met in just a matter of months. October’s Nations League encounter was a largely forgettable 0-0 draw though England just about edged it but couldn’t break through. Obviously the small matter of a World Cup semi-final was their previous engagement in which Croatia prevailed. Maybe this time it will be England’s turn. They will be favourites, especially as a most of the starting 11 would not have played many minutes (if any at all) in the so called friendly against the USA, so will be fresh this coming Sunday. Croatia would have played a tough match and then had to make the journey to London, with a tight turnaround from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. However they are a proud nation and just keep powering on in any sort of adversity (during the World Cup they played an additional 30 minutes in the round of 16 and the quarter finals before beating England in extra time at the semi-final stage) , so they will not be taken likely I am sure.
REVENGE REPEAT?
The most famous Wembley encounter between the sides was a wet mid October night in 2007 – the ‘Wally with the Brolly’ game, where Croatia won 2-3 and ended England’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. Less than 2 years later the hosts got their revenge under Fabio Capello in World Cup qualifying, a 5-1 thrashing which in the end meant Croatia failed to qualify for the 2010 finals. Maybe again some comeback for the English is in the air. It won’t replace the heartache of Moscow, lets be honest winning a World Cup semi-final means a lot more than Sunday’s game. But England need to show they have progressed since that time and getting to the playoffs for the Nations League is a good way to go. I predict a glorious afternoon for Southgate’s men. A 3-0 victory to seal top spot and a trip to the playoffs next June, and a fantastic end to the year for England with plenty to look forward to for 2019 and beyond.
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