Croatia vs. England Bits.
This match presents two squads that weren't expected to get near this far. Croatia had to beat Kosovo to get into a playoff with Greece, and win that in order to qualify for this tournament. They are in their second ever World Cup semifinal. Apathy abounded the English through the fans and media. Everyone was waiting for the latest embarrassment to reveal its ugly head. It hasn't happened yet and England is in its first World Cup semifinal since 1990.
So, what caused the fires to be lit under both of these teams? The luck of the draw in the knockout stages is one reason. This side of the bracket was the most wide open in anyones memory. Another reason is that both of these teams have world class players and are capable of knocking anyone out.
There are many teams that would relish having a group of midfielders like Croatia has. Stars such as Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic are joined by superstar, Luka Modric. If Modric plays well, Croatia plays well; and its unusual for Modric to not play well. He has two goals in the group stages and two more on penalty kicks.
Croatia is the first team ever to win back to back penalty shootouts in the World Cup; but what kind of toll has those two grueling matches taken on them? Defender; Sime Vrsaljko, was taken off in the 97th minute of the Russia match with a knee injury and will be out. That causes coach; Zlatko Dalic, to probably move center back; Domagoj Vida, to Vrsaljko's right back spot. Vedran Corluka will play Vida's vacated spot beside Dejan Lovren. Starting goalkeeper; Danijel Subasic, pulled his hamstring the other day against Russia.
There is no injury concerns for England other than midfielder, Jordan Hendersons' hamstring pull. He is expected to be good to go for Wednesday. England slayed a huge demon in their penalty shootout win against Columbia last week. They followed that up with easily their most impressive performance of the tournament with a 2-0 win against Sweden; a team who historically gave the English problems. Harry Kane leads the tournament with six goals.
Kane could have another great outing against Croatia and Dejan Lovren. Last fall; during a Premier League match, Kane quickly put two in the back of the net, causing Lovren to be subbed out very early in Tottenhams' victory over Liverpool.
England's formation requires movement without the ball in order to get defenders out of place. Midfielders; Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard, will be instrumental in achieving this task, especially since Vrsaljko is out and his ability to pinch forward. His replacement; likely Vida, will sit back more often which should open up space for England.
This will be a match that features two teams that like to attack, but how much is left in the tank for Croatia? The 32 year old, Modric will have to will them to their first World Cup Final.
The English apathy, in all intents and purposes, is washed away in the beer that covers most English communities today. Their fans have finally made their presence and voices heard the other day against Sweden. They nearly drowned out the drum and bugle guys who are seemingly at every England match. Nobody expected coach, Gareth Southgate, to get this team this far. I believe they will get their shot of 'bringing it back home' and finally participate in a World Cup Final. If not; and they lose to Croatia, the apathy will return for sure.
England; 2-1
