England vs. Croatia: 2018 World Cup live

Old vs. Young

The inability of Croatia to impose on England may be less related to fatigue and more to the fact that it is an older team that plays younger. Of course, England is motivated and hungry. But Croatia too. They simply did not seem to have the means to get things done in England in the first half, to start asking questions and to create openings. The discipline of England, especially Henderson and the three back was great.

The numbers of Croatia

Among the players who stood out statistically in the first half were members of the Croatian defense. Sime Vrsaljko may not have caught your attention, but he opened the way by advancing the ball (143 meters), touching (25) and pbading (33). Domagoj Vida had seven points of the Croatian defense

Halftime: England leads, 1-0

The whistle for halftime on another shot of Croatia blocked, and just as Kane and Sterling are trying to take off with the ball.

England will be satisfied with this half: a quick goal, a lot of possession and a load of speed and danger. Croatia surrounds referee Cakir at the start; they thought Lovren had a penalty call for a tick on the final free-kick before the half. But Cakir would like not to listen, and he takes his ball and his linesman and ignores the Croats.

45: Great luck for Croatia

This is probably the best chance for Croatia: a panicked authorization from Pickford, which has too often been used as a safety valve, sends Croatia inside. But Walker and Stones hasten to retreat and the shot is blocked.

43: Vrsaljko Lets One Fly

Vrsaljko ends up escaping from 35 yards and gives a field kick. It's frustration too. But the central defenders of England are part of it: they regroup very tightly in the center each time Croatia arrives on the field, and they win every ball that comes in.

44: Off Target

Both teams look for a more accurate shot: England has four shots, and only Trippier's goal was on target. Croatia fired four shots, only one by Ante Rebic on the net

40: Croatia Frustrated

Rebic starts Young from behind, giving a free kick to the left sideline. This is not a danger, it was at the end of England and did not go very far.

38: England Playing Fast

This last piece, and another follow-up of Trippier in the next moments, show that England is a little faster, a little faster, a little bit faster. still younger. They have a length ahead of Croatia with each ball, and that is a problem, especially in Croatia. Each lost ball is won by an English player, each lucky bounce seems to find an English player. Croatia is just looking … well, old or tired or slow. None of them is a good thing against this England.

But it also shows on the other end with Mandzukic. Croatia simply does not have the speed needed to punish England, turn a half-chance into a good opportunity, a breakaway to a breakaway.

36: Lingard Misses

A pbad from Kane and a breakaway from Vrsaljko Dele's sources on the left, but the defender is recovering. Dele waits, waits, waits and then rolls a perfect ball to an open Lingard in the center. He, unfortunately, corks and sends it wide.

33 "Young pulls England out of trouble

Ashley Young's super tackle on another dangerous Croatian cross. He snuck on Rebic – again – at the last second, and without clogging, to sweep what would have been a clear shot at Pickford on the run.

32: Collision!

A few seconds later, Rebic He steals himself this time – colliding with Pickford on a high balloon served in the top of the England penalty area. But Cakir calls a foul – they do not like the players who face the goalkeepers – and England is safe

32: Pickford Saves

Rebic meets the Another end with a laser shot after a good job Modric deep, but the ball is heading straight at Pickford's chin, and he easily removes it with both hands

30: KANE … No!

I do not know how Kane's two plans stayed there. A superb Lingard ball pushed him behind the offside trap (barely) and his shot from the right foot was ejected. But he controls the rebound at an even tighter angle next to the left post and makes a second attempt. It hits a few things, but neither the back of the net nor turns too high and – safely if you are in Croatia – of limits

27: Sterling Hits the Gas

Sterling wins a run with Lovren – well, not a race, since Sterling was always going to win. But Lovren brings him back with one hand to the chest and kicks the shin, and Sterling falls as the smallest porcelain cabinet in the world. Free kick. It's a good one: Subasic has to pick him up. But he strikes a blow to temporarily end the threat.

25: Another lost chance for England

Jesse Lingard is back on the right but his shot in the middle is terrible – he misses two teammates, maybe three.

22: Kane Off-Game

Now Kane is moving away from a few steps too far, and when the turnover of Croatia falls to Sterling, he returns it to the big attacker, has not yet retreated onisde. It did not really matter at the end: Kane was shooting to the left. But he was two yards from the game.

21: Lovren Kane Clobbers

Lovren hammered Kane in the middle to stop a breakaway. It was a N.F.L. security tackle there, but he had no choice. Kane looked around him, and it would have been deadly.

20: Sterling Working

England clearly loves the Sterling-Vida clash on the right: he continues to try to get him around the corner. But Vida is standing there.

19: Perisic Fires and Misses

Perisic shoots from far to the left and strikes a shot into Pickford's side net. He stepped out of Stones' heel, but Cakir did not see that and kick of goal – to the conspicuous consternation of Perisic.

17: Fans Helping Out

Feeling their team needs an elevator in a piece "Cro-Ah-C-Yah". But as soon as the team moves upward, it runs out.

14 & # 39 ;: More danger in turns

Ashley Young and Dele Alli argue among themselves. He feeds Trippier on the other side, and his cross is blocked for another turn. He finds Maguire – again – and he gets a little closer, but sends him anyway.

12 & # 39; Maguire Heads High

An English corner, their first. Young to take. No more danger of piece set up. Harry Maguire puts his head on it, but he sends it well

11: Croatia needs to regroup

Croatia seems a little bored, and a little offside, after the goal. Lovren just hit a ball in the midfield stands after a teammate sent him back to the place with England players around. Not smart.

9: Croatia makes a corner

Now it's Croatia with a corner. Modric to take it, but there's a little jostling on the spot so we take a break. England clears – awkwardly – and Kane comes out almost Sterling. But his mark returns to expert poke free with a toe around-reached. Risky game, done beautifully.

Photo

7: Sterling scares Croatia

Raheem Sterling causes two problems to the right, but Subasic is about to smother the second left of his goal .

6: Set Pieces Regulate This Cup

I guess we should not be surprised by another goal in the series: 70-70 !!!!!! – In this tournament. Or almost half of the total.

5 "GOAL! England Leads

Kieran Trippier just went into action and took it as a pro. Super free shot up and right – and Subasic never had a chance. This goal is the first goal of Trippier for England

What a success of Kieran Trippier!
Beginning of dream for pic.twitter.com/NSCG58AXXb
Via: @TelemundoSports

–
The18 (@ the18com)
11 July 2018

4: Free kick for England

Dele wins a free kick in a dangerous place at the top of the circle in front of the Croatian goal. Trippier and Ashley Young stand on it, and now Maguire arrives with his two cents.

2 & # 39 ;: The referee exercises control

An interlocutor for Lingard's referee Cakir, just after Dele has one. A lot of nervous energy here, and the referee wants to keep a lid on extra things right away.

Croatia's manager, Zlatko Dalic, is a pacer. Gareth Southgate is in the shelter, keeping his vest tidy.

1: Wrong departure for England

A turnover in England and Henderson commits a fault to stop what could have been a quick counter. Expect a lot of that

1: Kickoff!

It was the loudest roar for the countdown of the coup de send: and we left.

Clbady

The end of Croatia unfolds a large banner that says "Thank you Russia" in Cyrillic during its national anthem. That's how you win on neutrals, people.

Cree Rally of England

Well, it is strange: they play the success of the 1990s "Football Coming Home" on the speakers inside Luzhniki. Long joke – the song laments the failures of England – it has become the rallying cry of the team. But I would not be delighted with singalong if I was Croatian.

Croatia: The Odds

England is a slight favorite in this game, with the chances of translating into a 60 percent chance of moving forward. The over / under is two goals. Harry Kane is the big favorite to score the first goal, at 4-1, followed by his teammate Raheem Sterlin at 9-1. Mario Mandzukic is the most likely candidate of Croatia at 11-1

England vs Croatia: the fans

The two fans seem to feel the story inherent in tonight's match – a first-ever Cup final world for Croatia, a first since 1966 for England – and have become in force. The English are already singing, and they roared for their team. But Croats also have numbers and full voices. The atmosphere, at least, will be more electric than France-Belgium was last night. The role of Raheem

Raheem Sterling continues to be a lightning rod when people talk about England, which continues to be confusing, at least for director Gareth Southgate. Sterling, Southgate notes (correctly), is an essential part of what England does. His speed destabilizes the opposing defenses, allowing him to attack from deeper positions than some of his teammates. He can work on either side of the field, change sides to unbalance the teams. And his ability to work in tight spaces and to hunt even the most hopeful of long balls makes him dangerous at any time. Yes, he has not scored for England since October 2015, a point that his critics know by heart. But that's not always what Sterling does on the match sheet, which is the most important, really; it's the mere threat that he can do something that increases his value.

"I'm not surprised that Croatia has identified Raheem as a key player," Southgate said this week. "If you look at all of our attack patterns and how our top four combined and played, he played a role in that."

Starting Line of England

Alignments are out and England does not change thing:

Guardian: 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Defenders: 6 Harry Maguire (Leicester ), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 12 Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 18 Ashley Young (Manchester United)

Midfielder: 20 Dele Alli (Tottenham), 8 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), 7 Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)

For: 9 Harry Kane (Tottenham), 10 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

And why? would they be, with everything that works so well so far. It's the same three-way back line, with Walker, Stones and Maguire, flanked by Trippier and Young, who will again look to advance and help in the attack. Henderson gets the lone duty in the central midfield, and his teammates (Lingard, Dele Alli, Trippier and Young) will have to make sure that he will not be overrun by Modric and Rakitic.

Croatia & # 39; s Starting Lineup

For Croatia, Marcelo Brozovic was chosen ahead of Andrej Kramaric. Brozovic was the choice against Denmark in the round of 16, but Kramaric played in the quarter-final against Russia. Brozovic's choice is a defense move because he is a deeper midfielder, while Kramaric is playing just behind the attacker, Mario Mandzukic.

Goalkeeper: 23 Danijel Subasic (Monaco)

Defenders: 21 Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), 3 Ivan Strinic (Milan), 6 Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), 2 Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielder : 10 Luka Modric (Real Madrid), 7 Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), 11 Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan)

Attackers: 17 Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), 4 Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), 18 Ante Rebic (Fiorentina) [19659104] England vs. Croatia: History

England has not played against Croatia since it's qualified for the FIFA World Cup ™. World 2010. England has won both matches with ease, 5-1 at home and 4-1 away. English stars in such games as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. are no longer part of the configuration of the national team. But one of Croatia's two goals was scored by Mario Mandzukic, 22, who scored the winning goal in the 16th on Denmark.

The representative of the Lone Premier League of Croatia

living in the Premier League, and the league had players scattered throughout the first semifinal of Tuesday, too. But Croatia has only one player who makes a living in England: Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren

Set Piece Trending

Samuel Umtiti's goal against Belgium on Tuesday was the 69th goal of this World Cup, on 158 all. This is a drastic increase in recent years, and speaks of technical changes (it's easier to draw coins in a short window than flowing attacking moves) and tactical (referees badist the potential faults in the repair area). But Croatia and England are both capable of scoring points, so we can expect the trend to continue today.

• Eight of England's 11 goals in Russia stand out. And Harry Kane is probably a representative collection: three shots on goal, two goals stopped and a shot from someone else who hit him and came in. So, it's not exactly Brazil around 1970 or anything.

Harry's Golden Boot? 19659115] The Englishman Harry Kane is still online to win the Golden Boot as top scorer in the World Cup. Kane has six goals. The Dutchman Romelu Lukaku is fourth in the match for third place and the only active players with three are the French Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé

England Vs. Croatia Top Story Lines

• England played a semi-final World Cup in 1990, when he lost to penalty kicks in West Germany, who won the trophy . Croatia played its only other semifinal of the World Cup in 1998; • The stakes of a World Cup semifinal – the mere idea that a team is within 90 minutes of the final – can sometimes undermine the daring and risky outbursts of the teams. But fatigue too. Croatia emerged from two consecutive penalty-winning overtime games and finished Saturday's quarter-final by caring for several players through what looked like overwork injuries.

How will Croatia recover? but the fact that many experts still choose them to advance shows the depth of their talent. And England also played an extended game against Colombia last week, and while its quarterfinals against Sweden ended up being a little further, games and miles added up [19659116] Interactive Feature

Spot the ball: the knock-out round

Messi is gone. Ronaldo is gone. Germany has been gone for a long time. But Spot the Ball survived the knockout round of the World Cup! To celebrate, we shot some photos of the round of 16 and made a very important change – we pulled the ball. See if you can guess where it was.

• The only previous team to win two consecutive shoot-outs in the round of 16 World Cup was Argentina in 1990. She lost her next game against the # 39, West Germany in the final. Former Argentine player Jorge Valdano has written an ode to Croatia midfielder Luka Modric for The Guardian today. Valdano wrote: "We are not talking about a gift like that of Diego Maradona, but rather of a game that involves completing the game of common sense. He does not do impossible things; when he plays a pbad, you see him and you think: "That's what I would have done." There is a beauty in Modric's play – an effortless shine combined with tireless effort – that any fan can respect

Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) and Ivan Perisic ( Inter Milan) behind striker Mario Mandzukic (Juventus) likely give Croatia its best shot on a World Cup title in a generation, and for a generation

OPEN Interactive Feature

Some Preface Readings

• France beat Belgium to win first place in the final, but you still have the feeling, Rory Smith writes in The Times, that they are set back from the best they can be.

• Have you noticed that many players do not seem to drink their energy drinks? That they just seem to move a little and spit out the liquid? Jeré Longman noticed, and he went about what was happening.

Continue reading the main story

• England is struggling to come to terms with the unique race of its team in Russia, amid a continuing political crisis in the country that has forced many people to reevaluate what it means to be English. "Nobody expected that," said a fan. "We are not used to this kind of success."

Continue reading the main story