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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's strange: they play the 90's success "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 odds of translating into a 60 percent chance of advancing. 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 the Southgate manager Gareth. 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 could do something that increases his value.
"I'm not surprised that Croatia has identified Raheem as a key player," said Southgate 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."
The starting line-up of England
The alignments are out and England does not change
Goalkeeper: 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)
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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 solitary duty in the central midfield, and his teammates (Lingard, Dele Alli, Trippier and Young) will have to make sure he will not be overrun by Modric and Rakitic
Croatia & # 39; 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 defensive move, as he is a deeper midfielder, while Kramaric is playing right 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)
Forwards: 17 Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic 4 (Inter Milan), 18 Ante Rebic (Fiorentina)
England against Croatia: history
England has not played against Croatia since it's qualified for the 2010 World Cup. England has won both matches with ease, 5-1 at home and 4-1 at the outside. 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 able to score points, so we can expect the trend to continue today.
• Eight of England's 11 goals in Russia came out of the competition. And Harry Kane are probably a representative collection: three shots on goal, two goals at goal and a shot from someone else who hit him and came in. So it's not exactly Brazil around 1970 or anything.
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Harry's Golden Boot
The Englishman Harry Kane is still online to win the Golden Boot as top scorer in the World Cup. Kane has six goals. Dutchman Romelu Lukaku is fourth and the third active player is Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and Romanian Kylian Mbappé
England vs Croatia Top Story Lines
• England played in 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 semi-final World Cup – the mere idea that a team is 90 minutes from the final – can sometimes undermine the bold and risky outbursts of the teams. But fatigue too. Croatia have just won two consecutive penalty shoot-out games and finished Saturday's quarter-final by caring for several players through what looked like overuse injuries.
How will Croatia do it? 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 [19659042] 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.
OPEN Interactive Feature
• 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 – effortless brilliance 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 at a World Cup title in a generation and for a generation
The time-out was completed
There were 23 goals scored in the 90th minute and second half of the World Cup, breaking the previous record of 14, established four years ago in Brazil.
OPEN Interactive Feature
Some pre-game readings
• France defeated Belgium to win first place in the final, but you still have the feeling, Rory Smith writes in The Times, of retaining the 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 began to understand what was happening.
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• 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."
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