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Semifinals: Croatia vs England

Who wins?

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but the team who knocks out the hosts, doesn't that team usually always reach the final? That record surely doesn't favour England at all.
 

I think England will win this.But France or Belgium, should be too strong for either team in the final.But this is a very likeable England side.There's no egos in this England side.England have sent out better teams in tournaments, but it looks like Southgates boys, could finally get England into a long awaited major finals appearance.btw This world cup has been a brilliant tournament so far.
 
The battle of attrition is on now. Two games a week for players who don’t usually play that often and haven’t recovered from a season of league and European matches. The quality of play is going down pretty much across the board so I wouldn’t read too much into how a team looked in the last couple games.
 

ilikecheese said:
Hoping those Hajduk ultras make their way back to the forum for some banter.
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Some Hajduk supporters aren't in ecstasy over this run (so they claim...I have a hard time believing them. One of them sat next to me and was screaming his head off when Vida nudged in the go ahead goal), in large part due to Zdravko Mamić's corruption. I don't totally blame them. Mamić has been awful for Croatian soccer, and the way Modrić and Lovren fearfully flipped from the prosecution to the defense (subsequently perjuring themselves) was hard to watch and pissed off a lot of people. Here's a recent write up with a slightly different take, but related: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/06/croatia-world-cup-success-divides-nation

That being said, the firecrackers are nonstop in Split right now so maybe the rebel angle is a bit overplayed :) I am a Hajduk fan and can't stand Dinamo, but I am in full support of the national team because I figure, hey, if you can't get excited about the world cup then what's the point? Ajmo vatreni.
 
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gmb said:
There's a saying in split, "ništa tekma, ništa repka, samo Hajduk" (roughly translated to "there's no game, no republic, only hajduk"). A lot of hardcore Hajduk supporters aren't in ecstasy over this run, in large part due to Zdravko Mamić's corruption. I don't totally blame them. Mamić has been awful for Croatian soccer, and the way Modrić and Lovren fearfully flipped from the prosecution to the defense (subsequently perjuring themselves) was hard to watch and pissed off a lot of people. Here's a recent write up with a slightly different take, but related: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/06/croatia-world-cup-success-divides-nation

I am a Hajduk fan and can't stand Dinamo, but I am in full support of the national team because I figure, hey, if you can't get excited about the world cup then what's the point? Ajmo vatreni.
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It's all gonna kick off.
'Bout time.
 
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Of the last 8, only Brazil underachieved and that might be only when viewed through my sentimental historic 1970 tinted glasses... they're still not the team they were and may still have the echoes of the 7 the Germans put on them running through their minds.
The other 7 have hit what you might imagine to be a minimum pass mark for both coach and team.

Of the now semi finalists, granted the slight possibility Belgium might have had their own cup final vs Brazil, I don't see any of the last 4 having used up all their luck, scraped through on a jammy VAR, deflection or otherwise reached their highwater mark and over achieved in just making the semis.

It's anybody's to lose now, all in the lap of the football gods, true one-off knockout stuff.

Edit; Oh and keep calm on (and off) the field and hope the Reff deals with all the silly stuff that the Croatians will inevitable pull
 
England should be fresher but they have to make it tell by making Croatia chase. Drop Alli or Lingard and bring in Cheek for more of a true midfielder
 

Croatia struggled against a poor Russian side, and they are poor, going into it they were awful but had a real good tournament, Croatian legs will be gone after an hour. A nice tight first half with the lions unleashed in the last 30 minutes to see them off with ease.
 

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