Can Southgate wake up England before the match against Croatia?

Southgate, who did not play against Brazil, missed Eriksson after the 2-1 defeat, comparing the cold speaking Swede to a widely regarded conservative opposition leader. as boring.

"We needed Churchill, but we had Iain Duncan-Smith," an anonymous advocate, later identified as Southgate, was quoted as saying in a book by Joe Lovejoy in 2004.

No word if Southgate will offer his "blood, toil, tears" With the coach keeping his strategies close to his now-famous vest, a young team led by Harry Kane hopes to succeed where Gary Lineker, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney failed

ranked 12th in the world and Croatia 20th.The winner will qualify for the final against France or Belgium, which will also take place at Luzkniki stadium.

Croatia lost its only half Final victory in 1998. She defeated Denmark in the round of 16 and welcomed Russia in the quarter-finals and this year she became the second team with consecutive wins in the shootout since the defeat of Yugoslavia and Italy in 1990.

"It will not be easy for us," said Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic through the intermediary of a translator. "We will focus in the next few days to recover as much as possible, we will look for the best solutions before the match, as we have some players with minor problems after the match against Russia, it will not be easy, but it will not be easy. Is a new motive for us. "

WAY BACK WHEN

In the last game of the English semifinal, Andreas Brehme's shot in the 60th minute deflected Paul Parker's L & # 3939; England equalized the score when Parker's center bounced on Juergen Kohler and fell to Lineker, who beat goalkeeper Bodo Illgner at the far post. In the shootout, Stuart Pearce was stopped by Illgner on England's fourth attempt, Olaf Thon converted for a 4-3 lead and Chris Waddle shot on the crossbar

CHECKER PAST [19659016] Croatia took the lead in the semifinals of 1998 In the second half, Aljosa Asanovic split the defense with one pass, and Davor Suker scored his fifth goal of the tournament. Lilian Thuram equalized the score a minute later after stealing Zvonimir Boban's ball near the Croatian penalty area and swapping passes with Yuri Djorkaeff. Thuram scored the decisive goal with a curling shot in the 70th minute

COLORS

Croatia will wear its navy blue and black jerseys and black shorts for the fifth consecutive game, and England will wear shirts white and white shorts. The Croats have not worn their white and red checkered jerseys since their first match against Nigeria. England wore all red against Tunisia, Colombia and Sweden, and white shirts with blue shorts against Panama and Belgium. The English also wore white in the semifinals of 1966 and 1990.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Croatians played for Yugoslavia before separating in 1990. England has four wins, two defeats and a draw, including a 4-2 win in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship. The teams have not met since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, when England has won 4-1 in Zagreb and 5-1 at Wembley Stadium.

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson missed a pass from Gary Neville, allowing goalkeeper Scott Carson to miss Niki Kranjcar's shot in goal for Croatia. England lost 3-2 to Wembley the following year. McClaren held a large red and blue umbrella on the margin and was mocked as "Wally with the brolly", and he was fired the next day.