England will have regrets but will be stronger for the World Cup experience | Dominic Fifield | Soccer

I In the end, he did not limit himself to the excellence of the centerpiece nor even to more important energy reserves. The notion that Croatia would like this game to lag behind, that they could crumble after two exhausting playoff games that had extended through periods of extra time and shootings to shredding nerves, was foolishness. The sight of Ivan Perisic, a glorious brute of a player, pioneering himself so aggressively late on this naive broken theory

This, in fact, was a much more conventional elimination. Gareth Southgate's team may have composed his most fluent football tournament through the first half, but it was a lack of cruelty in that same period of ascent, which allowed the 39, England to participate in a World Cup final. 52 years. This combined, of course, with the management of the game crooks of Croatia because they felt that they had been released. It was an education, imposed by the dynamism of Perisic, the subtle incentives of Luka Modric whose influence would not be mitigated, and probably the unique contribution of Mario Mandzukic all night long.

England has never conceded a goal so late in the world. Cup Cup and, although he suffered such a cruel blow, leaving a team deflated and defeated while his supporters screamed with pride and defiance, this collective will be stronger for all that they have lived in Russia. The third youngest team in the tournament has fueled the belief that their future is bright. Yet the frustration that will dog them in the months and years to come is that it has been such a glorious opportunity, with failures familiar to them.

All the fluid and enterprising approach game gave only chances. It was the final product that they lacked. Jordan Pickford left cursed an ability to stave off "that second goal of killing the tie". Southgate echoed such a feeling after the defeat: "When you are in charge of the game and you have the chances you have, you must take a second goal."

It may seem perverse to invoke a lack of advance while England will probably boast of winning the gold medal of this tournament. But briefly return to Volgograd when, in this swarm of pungent flies, they boasted of having received only Harry Kane's first attempt to reward an attractive match against Tunisia. On this occasion, the captain again won the victory at the end. Still, when his radar was slightly down as he was here – he had a free kick on a free kick in the last minute of regulation time – or when he was even more midfield, England was lacking calm to compensate.

Raheem Sterling was undoubtedly their best player at the Luzhniki stadium during the first hour, as English scouts identified a lack of athleticism across the Croatian backline that the Manchester City striker had been looking for. to exploit. Domagoj Vida and Ivan Strinic were vulnerable, so Sterling hovered in the pocket of space between them, confident that he could slip every time England pbaded in the void behind the defense. Dejan Lovren was embarrbaded even when Sterling offered the half-length of 10 yards to center

. The 23-year-old is focused on short, pointed sprints rather than a covered field volume. An English quintet, led by Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard, ran over 5.06km from Sterling in the first half. But it's number 10 that has dragged its markers into uncomfortable areas to let Croatia's defense appear run down. It was excellent, a live wire. Sterling himself seems to doubt his own finish, the underlying anxiety betrayed by an apparent reluctance to shoot when he accepted Strinic's rebellious contact in the middle of the opening period. There was also indecision when released momentarily by Jordan Henderson after the break. It was a 25th consecutive scoreless goal, although Sterling could be more troubled by the fact that the penalty slipped by Icelandic Hannes Halldórsson at Euro 2016 provided him with only one help when three major tournaments.

far from being alone. The same lack of conviction seems to annoy Alli and Lingard, players who never stop running but whose influence ends up darkening in the company of equally avid opponents of possession. Kane, hitting a pole at point blank range, looked long. It was Croatia, "hardened warriors", according to Southgate, whose understanding appeared, especially after the equalization of Perisic

Even that should not have been a surprise. "Many of their players have been involved in huge games, they are more experienced than us," said the manager of England. "We lost Kieran Trippier, and others gave everything, just as we tried to refresh ourselves with substitutions, the players were out of breath, and that's partly because of the They still come to physical maturity – you have to credit Croatia for going through three extra periods before the final, which says a lot about the team they have. "

This defeat says a lot about England too. They are young, fiery but still learning. They are far from the finished article and yet they have delighted a nation when no one had dared to dream. Now, once the disappointment is diminished, they must come out stronger to have experienced all of this.