Croatia and France hear stories in the World Cup final (PODCAST)

Before the final of the World Cup, we discuss the different moods between the press conferences of Croatia and France and we also talk about the match between England and Belgium.

Stay tuned for an interview with Fox's Alexi Lalas, and be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes to hear every episode of the 2018 World Cup.

Here's an excerpt from the last episode:

GRANT WAHL: Let's bring Brian Straus from the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow where you attended press conferences before the final, how are you?

BRIAN STRAUS: Ah it was great.

GW: (laughs) Were the press conferences as brilliant as I thought? [19659003] BS: They are never very easy to pin down, but there was certainly an obvious theme that emerged from the contrast between the two. … There is a clear difference between Croatia, you know, a very, "We will enjoy this final." Dalic, the manager, talks about "we are here, there is no pressure on us, we can not be more happy and proud". People in Croatia, he used the term "will create a seismic event" in support of us. Just very motivated by their trip here, as it's unlikely, how chaotic it was. And they have nothing to lose and I think there was a real subtext of him saying, "Yeah, guess who's the pressure?" This is not us. "

Then you go to Hugo Lloris and Didier Deschamps and Lloris who talk about being in a bubble and focus solely on the game and a lot of questions to Deschamps about the defeat in the final of the Euro 2016 and how to reverse it? Deschamps said the other day that the finals are here to win.There is no other option.It is clear that both sides know the story here, that Croatia was not supposed to be here.They went through a crazy period of adversity to get here, both in the tournament and, as we all know, in the stories on this that happened to the federation, which happened with some of their players. "Luka Modric asked thoroughly how the war pushed him to go that far and this It's not something he wants to talk about, but it's clearly something that's in the shades of many of these guys.

A championship path very obvious for a long time in terms of player development, in terms of structure, in terms of how Deschamps has built the team, in terms of the approach they have. There is really only one possible outcome for them that is close to satisfying, while Croatia does not give a s —. They are just going to throw caution in the wind, as they have all the tournament, and you have had that sense on both sides today. So, that was the essence of [the press conferences].

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