Forest of Dean Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Croatia are the better side but England have an advantage with how tired Croatia could be after two games that went to penalties. They looked totally shattered in ET against Russia so England's pace in attack could really cause them issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackdaybob Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Mon the Croats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsr Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 England are due an absolute doing. I hope Croatia provide it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomo Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 The commentators and media seem to have completely forgotten this game needs to be played. Everything has been about England in the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detournement Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Looking forward to Lingard and Henderson vs Modric and Rakitic. England are bringing a spork to a gun fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrmad Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 ffs, England getting to play another poor team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 On 08/07/2018 at 10:31, Slacker said: England have performed pretty much as expected, really, but have obviously gone further than anyone expected simply because of the way the quarter final draw opened up for them. Always thought if they face any of the 'elite' teams (Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Argentina, Belgium) then they'd lose. Trouble is they won't face any of them in a meaningful match until the final. And then you just never know. Tunisia and Panama they were expected to beat comfortably, Belgium - who I'd just class as 'elite' - beat them, then the Colombia match was always going to be a 50/50 shot, and it came down to penalties. I'd have put them about 65/35 against Sweden and they strolled through that one. And now Croatia is another 50/50 for me - so wouldn't be surprised to see it go the distance. Only thing in England's favour is the fact that Croatia have been taken all the way twice already and could be shattered. The impressive thing is the way in which they've handled the pressure. Like I said, I'd have always made them favourites against Sweden, but they still had to get the job done and they did it without breaking sweat. That and finally winning a penalty shootout would obviously give them a great deal of confidence. I think they'll win 2-1. The draw has been incredibly kind to them, but you never really remember the winners' route to the final. I'm shitting myself. Very much this. This is a decent England side with a real chance of winning the whole thing. I'd have them down as slight favourites tomorrow and, should it come to it, slight underdogs on Sunday. What's happened has not however been that remarkable really. They emerged safely from their group despite failing to impress in two of the three matches. Had that Colombian pillock kept his penalty under the bar, the pattern would have been entirely familiar with Southgate and his charges constituting the latest batch of failures. Since then of course, the rest has been history, but it's been a brief and straightforward history - ie. they beat Sweden in a football match. My point is that it was bound to fall into place for them like this at some stage. They were similarly charmed in 1990 for instance. It's also true that although they've been eliminated in knockout ties by Brazil, Italy and Germany before, it's also happened against sides like Portugal and even Iceland. Despite prolonged underachievement, England is a football power and there's nothing especially remarkable about the draw being sometimes kind, or an opponent occasionally being worse than them at penalties. As with many, I'm not keen on seeing England winning it, but I've felt for lots of tournaments that the success they crave hasn't been that far apart in practice from the failure they endure. They've not been brilliant this time, but neither has how it's panned out for them been all that outlandish. It was bound to come round this way again sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I like the idea of a nation the size of Scotland (Croatia) reaching a World Cup Final. Sadly it’s not Scotland, but still it gives you hope it could happen.Whoever gets through I hope they go on to beat France in the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewDon Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Henderson has had a very good tournament, but tomorrow will undoubtedly be his toughest test so far. I'd imagine Southgate will go for the same team that beat Sweden, but I don't think bringing in Delph or Loftus-Cheek, even though they both like to roam a bit, for Lingard or Alli would be totally daft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I expect England players will be diving about all over the place looking for fouls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I think England will win this one comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
git-intae-thum Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Surely they are gonna get found out before the final. They are well overdue a thumping by a decent side on form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 I've got the fear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeefc1783 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Surely they are gonna get found out before the final. They are well overdue a thumping by a decent side on form.They are not facing one tonight. Not been impressed by Croatia since group stages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Croatia score first they’re through imo. Can see this being a real low quality shitfest and think England might sneak it. Hopefully proved wrong however France v England will make for a better final imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Kinnear Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 1 minute of BBC news was all I could handle this morning.Please, please, please Croatia stop this fear and panic that is building inside me and send this mob packing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bairnardo Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 The state of them down SAAAARF is a sad indictment of their underacheiving. England shouldnt be this excited to be in a semi. Absolute small time behaviour IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 7 hours ago, git-intae-thum said: They are well overdue a thumping by a decent side on form. What's this belief based on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMc99 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 i think they will win but it'll be france lifting the trophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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