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Semi Final 2: Croatia Vs England (ITV, KO @19:00)

Hodgy

By Hodgy,
in 2018 World Cup Forum

Who will win and go through to the World Cup Final?  

61 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Croatia
      23
    • England
      38

This poll is closed to new votes

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  • Poll closed on 11/07/18 at 18:00

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Hodgy

Hodgy

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Just now, av3ry said:

Do we all want to win the bronze medal? Better than nothing I suppose, although it pretty much killed the Netherlands who having been shocking since their bronze four years ago.

I genuinely couldn't give a toss, I won't even watch it, two losing teams playing, I stated the same in the playoff thread that I've never ever watched one as they're irrelevant to me so won't watch this one because England are in it, Belgium wished they'd already flown him and England would love to leave Russia tomorrow, waste of time.

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Marc Albrighton

Marc Albrighton

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3 minutes ago, av3ry said:

Do we all want to win the bronze medal? Better than nothing I suppose, although it pretty much killed the Netherlands who having been shocking since their bronze four years ago.

Not really, its a nothing game, hope he just plays 11 lads who haven't had a chance in this comp yet.

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Bliss Seeker

Bliss Seeker

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1 minute ago, Marc Albrighton said:

Not really, its a nothing game, hope he just plays 11 lads who haven't had a chance in this comp yet.

:D

Who one cares. Hope the reserves get a kick a bout though. 

No going to bother watching. Glad to have my life back :)

 

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PMLF

PMLF

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1 minute ago, Bunkerossian said:

The Mandrill goes on and on. He is made of reinforced concrete.

A country of about 3.9 million inhabitants could win the World Cup.

Croatia becoming the new Uruguay.

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av3ry

av3ry

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1 minute ago, Marc Albrighton said:

Populations have absolutely nothing to do with anything football related, we all know this so lets not do that.

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

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GunmaN1905

GunmaN1905

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3 minutes ago, PMLF said:

Croatia becoming the new Uruguay.

Tbh, considering all the Croatians around the world and that no relevant player chose to play for another country, it's closer to 10mil.

And it's always been a constant with top players, it's just that there was no indenpendent country from '45 to '91.

Just now, av3ry said:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

We got top athletes in other sports and a lot of trophies/medals.

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PMLF

PMLF

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1 minute ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Tbh, considering all the Croatians around the world and that no relevant player chose to play for another country, it's closer to 10mil.

And it's always been a constant with top players, it's just that there was no indenpendent country from '45 to '91.

It's still impressive though, an optimistic prediction before the World Cup would be Croatia reaching the quarterfinals. Now if they win it will look more than fair.

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The_jagster

The_jagster

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1 minute ago, av3ry said:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

Well there's a reason France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain and Brazil have consistently been near the top, and it has quite a lot to do with population compared to countries of similar wealth and interest in football.

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GunmaN1905

GunmaN1905

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Also, maybe you guys should convict some football-related people or throw someone down to League One.

2006. - calciopoli, Italy wins

2018. - Croatian FA leaders get convicted for money laundering, players about to be prosecuted for perjury, Croatia in the final.

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Federico

Federico

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7 minuti fa, av3ry ha scritto:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

And I'd add Finland with ice hockey to the list.

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PMLF

PMLF

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1 minute ago, The_jagster said:

Well there's a reason France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain and Brazil have consistently been near the top, and it has quite a lot to do with population compared to countries of similar wealth and interest in football.

Brazil's growth and the biggest success also coincided with the period our population grew faster, probably a side effect of the 'youth bulge'. Now as our population is aging (fecundity rates below replacement levels already), we will probably produce less players too (although still more than most, given our big population).

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PMLF

PMLF

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1 minute ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Also, maybe you guys should convict some football-related people or throw someone down to League One.

2006. - calciopoli, Italy wins

2018. - Croatian FA leaders get convicted for money laundering, players about to be prosecuted for perjury, Croatia in the final.

Brazil have had awful football related people too, just as bad as those ones, but it hasn't brought any success in recent years...

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Big Geordie

Big Geordie

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No shame tonight. It's been a great run and couple of weeks. It's allowed to many of us to reconnect with the national side and I think that's great. :thup: For the match itself - we had no-one in midfield to change the game, as Croatia gradually got on top. That's why Jonjo Shelvey should have gone - because he can take a risk and pass the ball forwards. Eric Dier isn't going to do that!

Have had a cracking night at the local club, with my family. :) Everyone stay safe, as doubtlessly some nuggets will see it as an opportunity to cause bother.

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av3ry

av3ry

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If Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn't injured we'd have done more I reckon. There was a slight criticism that we should have brought another central-midfielder in the 23.

Lingard and Alli are both too attack minded, there were a few times in that game where Jordan Henderson was our only midfielder and with him marked out of the game it forced our back three to either pass back to the keeper or go long.

 

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Astafjevs

Astafjevs

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How strong are Croatia mentally? Absolute granite. Got to respect that

* Go behind in all three knockout games

* Play 120 minutes in all knockout games, still have more energy than England

* Miss a late penalty against Denmark, beat them on penalties

* Concede a late equaliser to Russia, beat them on penalties as well

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Firehouse

Firehouse

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5 minutes ago, Astafjevs said:

How strong are Croatia mentally? Absolute granite. Got to respect that

* Go behind in all three knockout games

* Play 120 minutes in all knockout games, still have more energy than England

* Miss a late penalty against Denmark, beat them on penalties

* Concede a late equaliser to Russia, beat them on penalties as well

They were playing it safe, especially with their interviews. But with Modric as their leader, they were only thinking about reaching finals between themselves. 

I am really really over the moon right now, even though I dont really realise what we have done tonight. I think France is too much for us in finals, but I still do believe.

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ReSpawn

ReSpawn

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2 hours ago, grff said:

Agreed. Croatia could've easily buckled after barely being in it first half but they showed almost total control in midfield from then on. We just weren't able to hold the ball in midfield like Modric/Rakitic could which dictated how the game was going to go.

 

I just love how Modric always come short for the ball and is in almost everything. He is the type of player I aspired to be like.

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JD nawrat

JD nawrat

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Posted

Ultimately I feel bad for you guys because I've enjoyed the experience of England doing well (not that I'll admit that in public up here :D) and seeing fellow Brits love a WC as I've always felt a WC should be experienced (never experienced Scotland at a WC before) is great. In the past England always had this self-entitled opinion that they should be WC winners before a ball is even kicked and that irked many onlookers and made your failures all the sweeter. But I don't get any of this with this team. 

however I also predicted England would make the semis. I had them down to finish 3rd in the whole tournament. I'm actually not so surprised by this overall result - I think pre-tournament England had a very exciting outlook due to the fresh start and so many young players or inexperienced players getting a chance. Whether it was down to a bit of luck in the draw or not doesn't really matter, I think England should be rightfully proud of a great showing this WC. 

also watching the game now - about the 20th minute Kane gets a chance but he's offside then smashed it wide about 6 yards anyway. Why is nobody on his back like the abuse Sterling gets for missing wide open goals from an offside position? :D

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themadsheep2001

themadsheep2001

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1 minute ago, JDownie said:

Ultimately I feel bad for you guys because I've enjoyed the experience of England doing well (not that I'll admit that in public up here :D) and seeing fellow Brits love a WC as I've always felt a WC should be experienced (never experienced Scotland at a WC before) is great. In the past England always had this self-entitled opinion that they should be WC winners before a ball is even kicked and that irked many onlookers and made your failures all the sweeter. But I don't get any of this with this team. 

however I also predicted England would make the semis. I had them down to finish 3rd in the whole tournament. I'm actually not so surprised by this overall result - I think pre-tournament England had a very exciting outlook due to the fresh start and so many young players or inexperienced players getting a chance. Whether it was down to a bit of luck in the draw or not doesn't really matter, I think England should be rightfully proud of a great showing this WC. 

also watching the game now - about the 20th minute Kane gets a chance but he's offside then smashed it wide about 6 yards anyway. Why is nobody on his back like the abuse Sterling gets for missing wide open goals from an offside position? :D

I'm so bored of banging on about Kane's lack of movement, you know where I stand on it. 

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JD nawrat

JD nawrat

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2 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

I'm so bored of banging on about Kane's lack of movement, you know where I stand on it. 

Think every night England have played you'd easily find a good 15-20 posts from just you and I bashing Kane and his lazy non-existent movement :D

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JD nawrat

JD nawrat

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Holy **** :eek:

I've just saw Kane miss about the 30th minute. How hasn't he scored? For a player of Kane's ability that should be instantly in the back of the net. Worst miss of the tournament for England, that :lol:

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themadsheep2001

themadsheep2001

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3 minutes ago, JDownie said:

Think every night England have played you'd easily find a good 15-20 posts from just you and I bashing Kane and his lazy non-existent movement :D

Big Mario showed him how to move. And yes that miss was awful. Especially when you see he could have rolled it to Sterling for a tap in. 

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JD nawrat

JD nawrat

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1 minute ago, themadsheep2001 said:

Big Mario showed him how to move. And yes that miss was awful. Especially when you see he could have rolled it to Sterling for a tap in. 

Kane going for goals rather than ensuring the team wins - why am I not surprised? :D

Always felt Mandookitch as Hoddle has called him a good few times now :D was better than most for your big man striker type, his movement is brilliant. Probably helps that he has spent a lot of time playing in teams where you need to break down players but crossing isn't always an option - Bayern and Juventus both perfect for that. Also recently been a winger where just standing still isn't an option. Kane is just too used to great service at all times I guess... either that or Southgate purposely told him to play like a statue, I don't know. But if Kane tries making any dangerous runs whatsoever he probably scores a good 4/5 goals on top of what he already has. 

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themadsheep2001

themadsheep2001

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9 minutes ago, JDownie said:

Kane going for goals rather than ensuring the team wins - why am I not surprised? :D

Always felt Mandookitch as Hoddle has called him a good few times now :D was better than most for your big man striker type, his movement is brilliant. Probably helps that he has spent a lot of time playing in teams where you need to break down players but crossing isn't always an option - Bayern and Juventus both perfect for that. Also recently been a winger where just standing still isn't an option. Kane is just too used to great service at all times I guess... either that or Southgate purposely told him to play like a statue, I don't know. But if Kane tries making any dangerous runs whatsoever he probably scores a good 4/5 goals on top of what he already has. 

What annoyed me the most is that he is entirely capable of that movement. So he was either injured, lazy or told not to play that way. Which is madness on all fronts 

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