THE FINAL BECKONS FOR ENGLAND WITH CROATIA IN THE WAY
All hail England, a dominant performance against Sweden has now put them into the final four of World Cup 2018, where they will play Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. There were still some questions prior to their quarter final victory that needed answering, especially after a loss and then a draw (normal play) in their previous two matches. They emphatically put the Swede’s to the sword in Samara, pretty much controlling the whole game and whilst they were indebted to a couple of excellent saves from keeper Jordan Pickford at key times, the fact is they should have won by more than the 0-2 scoreline. By a long way this was their most complete performance of the tournament and a pretty good time to hit your straps.
‘GS’ SPOT ON
In my previous blog, 
I mentioned that it was likely that there may be 1 or 2 changes after their long night against Colombia just a few days earlier, especially after it was clear there were a few knocks to some players. However Southgate went with the same team and one of the men he stuck by, Dele Alli, scored the second goal in the win, even the first breakthrough was from a player that was a surprising pick by the manager for qualifiers last September in Harry Maguire, everything is going perfectly and at the optimum time too. As already proven I am no psychic, but I have a very strong feeling that the same 11 will take the field against Croatia, unless there is an injury late in the day.
CROATIA
I have already read and heard people bleating on about how Croatia will be easy pickings, especially as they struggled to beat both Denmark and Russia, prevailing both times on penalty shootouts. Whilst there is some logic to that, I am sure if England had done the same ‘people’ would have claimed how the Three Lions had showed bottle, never know when they have been beaten and dealt with adversity well, so my view is that Croatia don’t deserve to be disrespected in this way, credit where credits due, this team no doubt have earnt their place in the last four. Before their two epic wins in the knockout rounds, they were up there as one of the teams of the tournament, only Uruguay and Belgium also won all their group games . Their 0-3 victory over Argentina is most definitely up there as the best performance of the competition taking into account the quality of the opposition. This is a team that nobody should be underestimating .
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
It is clear that this will be the sternest test England will face and it should be a footballing contest. In a similar vein to Colombia, Croatia have some magnificent footballers and instead of being used to bully and intimidate like the South Americans, they will be put to use to play the game as that will be their best opportunity for a win. For me if you match up the teams Croatia have a better and most definitely more creative midfield (Modric and Rakitic – says it all) and England the more potent strike force. Defensively they are both similar, with the English having the edge in goal, though if this one goes to penalties both Jordan Pickford and Danijel Subasic have shown they have the pedigree to be a match winner, though it should be noted that the Croatian stopper did have a hamstring issue and is a slight doubt for the game.
PREDICTION
England are favourites, but by no means as heavy as they may well have been against Sweden. The Croatians will be no pushover and I think they will feel slighted that they are not the favoured team. I would imagine that thought process relates to the fact their form has dipped since the group stage and played deep into the night to win their quarter final on penalties as England had their feet up already secure of their place. It should be noted, however, that this situation did not seem to bother the English when they played Sweden after their second round clash in similar circumstances, though it helps when you dominate and take your chances.
Croatia have not really turned up in the knockout phase, though maybe it was because they were up against teams whose first thoughts were to dig in and put plenty of men behind the ball, something their opponents in this match wont be doing, the game will be more open which will suit the Croats. I can see them starting well and taking control early, maybe even taking the lead, fatigue may well set in at some point and unless they get a couple of goals up they will be vulnerable and I feel England will as the game goes along get the ascendancy – though Croatia will always have that inherent fight in them and will never give up. This is going to go long for me 1-1 after 90 minutes with GS’s men winning the match during extra time to make their first World Cup (or any major senior men’s tournament) final for the first time since 1966 and the dream of ‘is football coming home?’ will become a very distinct possibility.
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