England vs. Croatia Semifinals: Half a century of waiting for England, Croatia will be desperate

The 2018 World Cup semifinal match between England and Croatia is a special match for both teams, which were not expected to enter the last four.

For Britain, which is considered the inventor of modern soccer games, the success of entering the final will be the biggest achievement since the 1966 World Cup.
England coach Gareth Southgate said opportunities like this might not exist in the next few years and urged his team to 'make history'.
The statement of the former boss of the Middlesbrough club was understandable.
England came to Russia not as a superior team, which made public expectations in Britain this time not so great. Understandably there are no star players in the national team outside names like Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson or Raheem Sterling.England began to be taken into account after winning a penalty shootout against Colombia in the last 16 and after that, the Three Lions-nickname for the England national team, successfully passed Sweden in the quarter-finals.
Since then, the World Cup fever has gone crazy.The Three Lions song, which one of the lyrics reads it's coming home everywhere. This phrase refers to the hope that football will return home, return to ancestral land.
Southgate said the mysticism in his team was very optimistic about Croatia.
"This team consists of young people who are very proud to be able to play for the national team. They play confidently in big tournaments. We are confident in their abilities," Southgate said.
The lack of big names is considered as one of the added values ​​for England, which causes why players can be very compact both on and off the field.
Croatia, no doubt, are the toughest opponents facing England so far in the 2018 World Cup.Croatia is too tired?
The team from this small country - only a population of around four million - is not a team carelesslyThey qualified for the 1998 World Cup semifinals in France before being eliminated by the hosts.
"It was a sweet memory for us. The players recorded history ... we will try to repeat that sweet memory, even though we realize it won't be easy. But we will try," said Zlatko Dalic, Croatia national team coach.
"We respect Britain as well as France. But to be honest, they are no better than us," Dalic said.
Defender Dejan Lovren, who strengthened Liverpool, said the ticket to the final was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "Maybe this opportunity will come again, but maybe it will never come."
Croatia advanced to the semifinals after beating Russia's hosts on penalties and Lovren said Croatia would play it out and dismiss fears Croatian players were too tired after winning over Russia.
"I am ready, my teammates are also ready. Under these circumstances, we all forget the fatigue that we might experience," he said.
England vs. Croatia record

    The two met in the official competition, the 2004 European Cup group stage, England won 4-2
    This semi-final is the eighth game for both teams, so far England have won four times, Croatia twice, drawn once
    The last time Croatia won was in 2007, in the 2008 European Cup qualifying round. Croatia won 3-2, while making England fail to compete in the 2008 European Cup finals
    Six of the previous seven matches were held on Wednesday European time
For England, this is the third semi-final since 1966, the tournament they won.
The last England drop in the World Cup semifinals was in 1990, when it lost on penalties from West Germany.i 2018 World Cup, England recorded 11 goals, eight of which came from dead balls or set-pieces.
As for Croatia, they have scored 10 goals and only three have started from dead balls.
Since being beaten 1-0 by Turkey in 2017, Croatia are unbeaten in nine competitive matches.
Team ability evenly distributed, eight different players scored in the 2018 World Cup.
Only Belgium is better, recording nine different players who have scored goals against their opponents.
Source : BBC

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Ditulis oleh Unknown pada tanggal Kamis, 12 Juli 2018